Book Review: Her Mother’s Secret
A WHOA romance!
This emoji depicts my reaction after reading Natasha Lester’s Her Mother’s Secret in one sitting on-board a flight overseas! Except, I also exclaimed a “WHOA” with my hand flip — more dramatically so than I realised as the guy wearing fancy Bose noise-cancelling headphones seated across from me in the aisle turned his head with a smile — ‘Good book, eh love’? Oh, if he only knew!
What an adventure. I’d just spent six glorious hours with protagonist Leonora East and I felt like a new woman! From small village Sutton Veny to big city New York City— I laughed (out loud, more than once), I gasped, I cried (again, more than once!) and, seeing as I have only recently discovered my penchant for romance novels I say this blushingly, I breathed VERY heavily in meditation of impassioned love throughout several chapters!!!
There is nothing not to love about this book: smart, strong women; handsome men (with exceptional manners); New York City; red lipstick; spellbinding love-making; copious champagne; intelligent business banter (yes, I find talking shop sexy!); Balanchine ballets; plot-twists that will leave you dazzled; did I mention New York City?!?
My copy of Her Mother’s Secret has a sticker on the front cover that states: ‘***** FANTASTIC READ or your money back’. Good news for the author, Natasha Lester, there is no chance I’ll be claiming my money back!
Lester has a remarkable ability to sweep you up and hold you captive throughout a story. Her writing style is as elegant as the characters she depicts in her novels, and she has a knack for all things seductive.
You will literally not be able to put this book down. Unsurprising, I read Lester’s other novel, A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald (also set in NYC but during the roaring twenties) in one sitting earlier this year, and it left me feeling the same way as I do right now — begging for more!
In the age of instant online dating and woeful Tinder nightmares, there’s something magical about romance in the early 1900s — it was a time where people allowed themselves the suffering of falling in love and truelove was patiently courageous.
“If you wait long enough, you always get what you want’ —Benjamin Richier, Her Mother’s Secret
I wrote to Natasha via Instagram as soon as I stepped off the plane asking (ok let’s be real here, begging) ‘Pleeaaaasssse tell me there’s another novel in the works’, she replied: ‘Yes, there’s another book coming in late March 2018. It’s called The Paris Seamstress’. I was tempted to ask for a pre-order sneak peek, BUT the hopeless romantic in me knows it’ll be worth the wait.
In the meantime, add Her Mother’s Secret (and, if you haven’t already indulged, A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald) to your to-be-read pile. Just like the sticker promises, it’s a FANTASTIC READ!
