Alice’s Secret (Mill Valley Girls #2) by Lynne Francis
Release: March 5th 2018
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Avon
Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
The second gripping novel from the author of Ella’s Journey, prepare to be captured by the story of Alice …
Alys’s life hasn’t quite turned out the way she thought… By now she should be married, have children and working in a career she loves. How did she end up making all the wrong choices? Escaping to Yorkshire to help out her aunt by baking cakes and cookies for her café might be just the change she needs. Only to uncover a long-buried family mystery, one that Alys can’t let go…
1890s Alice is the sole bread-winner for her family, working at the local cotton mill. She enjoys her job, until she suddenly begins to attract the wrong attention…
A beautiful and heart-breaking novel, that brings the past and present together in a gripping story of love, loss and hope.
Perfect for fans of Rosie Clarke and Tracy Rees
Alice’s Secret Review:
A big thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of “Alice’s Review” for my opinion. This is the second book in the Mill Valley Girls series; however we can read it as a standalone book.
Let me start off by what I liked in the story. Firstly, I liked the shift in story-lines between the past and the present and how they are all connected to each other. It was interesting to see how Alys tries to discover what happened to Alice many years ago, given her limited resources. Also, the author does a really nice job in setting the landscape and beauty of Yorkshire and the cafes, and made me want to visit such an idyllic place.
Having said that, this book was average and not memorable. My main issue with the story is in its pacing. I found the story to be way too lengthy with a lot of unnecessary details. For instance, I did not need a constant reminder of how Alys loves fancy china cups. Nor on how she goes around town repeatedly looking for antiques.
In fact, other than the scenes where Alys tries to find out what happened to Alice, I felt Alys story very boring. Moreover, even the supporting characters like Rob, Aunt Moira and Tim etc. feel very generic and there is nothing that makes them stand out. I liked Alice’s story-line in itself and thought the booked could have focused only on her. Some of the scenes are pretty dramatic and you wonder if Alys will get together with Richard or not. Williams felt like a potential villain but we do not see much of him.
Overall “Alice’s Secret” is a somewhat charming tale, but again, I felt like the author could have easily shortened it. Like I said, my main issue with the story was in the lengthy way in which it was written, and due to this, I feel uncertain about picking up the other books in the series.
