A Stranger's Secret
Written by Laurie Alice Eakes
Narrated by Laura Kirman
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
As a grieving young widow, Morwenna only wants a quiet life for herself and her son. Until a man washes ashore, entangling her in a web of mystery that could threaten all she holds dear.
Lady Morwenna Trelawny Penvenan indulged in her fair share of dalliances in her youth, but now that she’s the widowed mother to the heir of the Penvenan title, she’s desperate to polish her reputation. When she’s accused of deliberately luring ships to crash on the rocks to steal the cargo, Morwenna begins an investigation to uncover the real culprits and stumbles across an unconscious man lying in the sea-foam—a man wearing a medallion with the Trelawny crest around his neck.
The medallion is a mystery to David Chastain, a boat builder from Somerset. All David knows is that his father, after lying and stealing his family’s money, was found dead in Cornwall with the medallion in his possession. And he knows the widow who rescued him from the water is impossibly beautiful—and likely the siren who caused the shipwreck in the first place—as well as the hand behind whoever is trying to murder David.
As Morwenna nurses David back to health and tries to learn how he landed on her beach, suspicion and pride keep their growing attraction at bay. But can they join together to save Morwenna’s name and estate, as well as David’s life? Can they acknowledge the love they are both trying to deny?
“Expertly crafted and filled with mystery and intrigue, Laurie Alice Eakes’s newest book is sure to delight historical romance fans.” —Sarah E. Ladd, bestselling author of The Thief of Lanwyn Manor
“With a fabulous mix of emotionally complex romance, gothic suspense, and characters who will stay in readers’ minds long after the book is finished, A Stranger’s Secret is a compelling, mystery infused love story that any historical romance lover will enjoy.” —Dawn Crandall, author of The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart, and The Captive Imposter
- Regency romance with inspirational elements
- Book 2 of the Cliffs of Cornwall series; can also be enjoyed as a standalone
- Includes a reading group guide
Laurie Alice Eakes
Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with a degree in English and French from Asbury University and a master’s degree in writing fiction from Seton Hill University. She now has nearly two dozen books in print. Laurie Alice lives with her husband in Houston, Texas, with sundry lovable dogs and cats.
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Reviews for A Stranger's Secret
20 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I liked the book before this one, but I like this one much better.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Stranger’s Secret is the sixth book I have read by this author. In some ways, I might say it was better than the previous title in series, with its somewhat worn characterization of the superfluous and wonderful American hero. Morwenna was an interesting character in the last book, and is the protagonist in this one, which made things somewhat more interesting to see her come into her own, and her perspective on events.
I am sure though that her son’s name was changed- I’m sure I remember her calling him Conan after his father in the last one- but now he’s called Mihal- some kind of Cornish version of Michael, apparently. As for the hero- well like most in romance novels is was hugely handsome- though not as annoyingly sanctimonious as Rowan Curnow from the last book, and was at least credible. Except perhaps his Somerset accent.
There were also some wonderfully evocative and realistic depictions of the Cornish landscape, with some exiting scenes- but- I could say the first part of the novel was better. By the end I felt that the mystery was drawn out for too long, and events as well as the characters actions and responses became too predictable and repetitive. I mean David was poisoned something like three times- and the device of every chapter, or almost every chapter, having to end with some dramatic event or cliff-hanger just didn’t always work for me.
Could this reader be forgiven for mentioning Drama at the expense of other aspects of good storytelling?
Sadly also, this novel seemed to have a lot of the clichés of romantic fiction, with characters kissing and touching at really inappropriate or illogical moments- including in company- beating themselves up about how it was totally unseemly- then doing it again. I also found some of the characters attitudes annoyingly inconsistent. Morwenna’s grandparents for instance seemed to be presented as loving and having her best interests at heart one minute- then shortly after she would be griping about how ‘authoritarian’ they were. I have noticed that a few other books by this author seem to level the same accusation at authority figures such as parents- and it times it seems to be for no other reason than that they won’t let the protagonist do what they want- even if it’s dangerous, stupid or illogical, because it goes against their ideas of personal ‘freedom’.
On a personal level, I did not appreciate the passage in which one of the characters was scornful of the idea of freedom and equality- saying another character who believed it was as bad as an American- which seemed to be implying that such ideas were alien and abhorrent to ‘proper’ high-born Brits. To me, this seems a very arrogant notion, suggesting that Americans invented freedom and had some kind of monopoly on it.
American readers might attack me for this- but neither of the above is true.
Gripes aside, I would say this book was a marginal improvement on the last one, which annoyed me for several reasons which were mostly not present here. It is honestly not a bad novel, I just don’t think it’s that brilliant or has much to make it stand out from the crowd. Certainly worth reading as a decent regency with an interesting backdrop and a solid Christian theme. This series and author are not personal favourites, but others make like them better.
I received a free Kindle Edition of this book from Zondervan via Booklookbloggers for review. I was not required to write a positive one and all opinions expressed are my own.