The Secret Sister

The Secret Sister by Brenda Novak. Canada: MIRA books, 2015. 388 pages. Questions for Discussion. *****

Maisey Lazarow returns home to Fairham, a small island off the North Carolina coast, to recover from a nasty divorce, help her brother with his drug addiction and to overcome her writing block. Refusing to stay in the family home with her over-bearing, controlling mother, she decides to stay in a bungalow by the beach. Her life gets complicated when she finds out that her mother has sold one of the bungalows to Rafe Romero, someone from Maisey's past, who she would rather avoid. The fact that Rafe is hot, has matured and is a wonderful father to his daughter softens Maisey's resolve, but she is just not interested in a relationship. Rafe finds a box of pictures hidden in a bungalow he is renovating and it raises questions as to whether Maisey and Keith have a sibling and if so, what happened to her. What is their mother trying to hide?

Lots of twists and turns, kept me interested throughout the book. I had read some teasers about this book on Facebook, so I borrowed it from my local library. Novak spins a tale about betrayal, grief, mystery, love, and secrets. I read it in one day because I wanted to know was there another child and what happened to her. I recommend it if you like mysteries, complicated family relationship type books. Novak tells a good story and I will definitely read others by her.

"It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak's career as a best-selling author---she caught her day-care provider drugging her children with cough syrup to get them to sleep all day. That was when she decided to quit her job as a loan officer and make a living from home." Brenda, who lives in Sacramento, has five children--three girls and two boys. When she's not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually fund-raising for diabetes research. Brenda has raised $2.4 million to date. http://www.brendanovak.com.