Things We Keep Hidden by Jill Lynn

 Book Review: Things We Keep Hidden by Jill Lynn 

4 Stars

Jill sure does know how to tell contemporary women's fiction stories with real life struggles, issues and characters with depth. This book follows 3 friends - they have swore not to talk about the night their friend CeCe took her life, but with them and their husbands back together at Isley's vacation home, there is a note left by a stranger that says "Tell The Truth or I Will." and they all think it has something to do with the circumstances surrounding their friend CeCe's death many years ago when they were young. Who is the message referring to? 

We see this friend group, Isley, Payton and Clara being together again and working through real life problems with their marriages and children, as well as revisiting memories of the past together.

I really enjoyed the story and how Jill brought these real life struggles to the forefront - we see some hard topics discussed such as suicide, grief, drug addiction, rehab, marriage issues, domestic violence etc. and Jill really reminds us all that we all go through hard things and we all make mistakes or do things we wish we hadn't but at the end of the day, those things do not define us. 

The end with the twists and explanations made me cry and while I wasn't as emotionally attached for all of the sisters collectively, the story is one that provides growth, emotions and relatability for readers.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing a copy to honestly read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content warning: suicide, grief, domestic violence, drug addiction, rehab, marriage issues, infidelity mentioned.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7753400821
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4lf0oYd

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The Summer of Keeping Secrets by Jill Lynn

 

The Summer of Keeping Secrets by Jill Lynn - 4 Stars 

This was my first book by Jill Lynn and I truly enjoyed my time with it. Releasing on June 25th, The Summer of Keeping Secrets is a clean, women's contemporary fiction story with little bits of romance included. In this story, we have family reconciliation, grief, healing and a great summer read. You will continue to turn the pages needing to know about the character's secrets and back stories. 

Marin Henderson is recently widowed and goes home to her late parents' Colorado home. What she doesn't expect is secrets being kept among her daughter Slade and son Reed. She can tell immediately things are not going to plan with their early arrivals to help clean out their grandparents home with Marin. She tries to keep more to herself and not push her children, because she too, is keeping secrets.... The story begins with the 3 of them trying to work to clean out the house but Slade finds a newspaper article from 1990 about a death that occurred on her grandparent's property and questions arise....

We see Marin dealing with the grief of losing her parents and spouse over the last several years, trying to clean the home out and keep her secrets to herself. She runs into Garrett, her old friend and high-school flame, and he starts to help her clean the home out too. Her daughter Slade is having issues with her job as a sexual harassment case had led her to quit and arrive early. Her son Reed is having marital trouble with his wife. Both Slade and Reed keep these things to themselves but as the story progresses, it certainly goes from the summer of keeping secrets...to the summer of sharing secrets. 

I loved the family element in this story. We see just how Marin deals with the grief she is going through and the worries she has for her adult children. As secrets unfold, I loved how the family came together to work through their issues and communicate so well about them. I really connected with each character and overall enjoyed the ride to uncovering the secrets each person had and their resolutions they planned to take on each one. It was nice to see Marin and Slade also having their own little romances throughout the story too, and seeing Reed and his wife working through their issues. The mystery of the death from 1990 was something unexpected and added to the story a great deal. Really enjoyed how that came full circle to their stories from the past too and seeing Marin open up with her children about the past.

I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys contemporary women's fiction and family stories. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a complementary copy to honestly read and review.

Content: Clean romance, death of parents and spouse, grief, parental affair mentioned, sexual harassment in the workplace, marital troubles and a few mentions of yoga but this is not a Christian novel so it's appropriate for the story. 

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6400486413
Amazon: https://amzn.to/45eWFDG

*Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.