1942, New York. As war rages in Europe, Lily Rose is grateful for her perfect life: a wealthy family who love her and a dream job working uptown as a restaurant chef. Times are changing for women and Lily is determined to run her own kitchen one day. She hopes handsome Tom Morelli, son of Sicilian immigrants, will be at her side. Together they work late, dreaming up delicious meals for New Yorkers struggling with wartime rationing and the threat of sons and sweethearts being called up...
Then Tom receives a devastating telegram that changes everything: he is drafted to fight in Italy.Suddenly alone, Lily turns to her parents for support. But when her mother finds out about Tom, she is furious. When the war ends, Lily's duty is to marry the man picked for her, keep house and raise children. They give her a heart-breaking ultimatum: end her relationship with Tom or lose her family and inheritance forever.
In the middle of the war, Lily is left in an impossible position. Will she choose to stay with her family and live the safe life she has always known, or will she follow her heart and her dreams?***
Lily Rose put on her red felt hat, reached for her matching coat and gloves and dashed out of her Grammery Park home. 1, LILY
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(@Bookouture, 12 March, 379 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 12 March)
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Ella Carey has become one of my favourite, go-to author's and I couldn't wait to read A New York Secret. The book is set during WWII, territory the author has covered before but is very different from her other books focusing on high society and as the war progresses money, status and connections cease to mean anything and cannot prevent the loss and tragedy of war. Lily is a great character. I fell in love with her, she's feisty, hardworking and nothing like the high society women she's surrounded by. I wanted her to have everything and it seems that way when she's promoted at work and falls in love. But the end of the war brings further, unexpected changes. I'm still fuming about the way Lily and the other women in the restaurant are treated when men come home from the front. A New York Secret is a terrific book and the first in a series, Daughters of New York. I can't wait to read the rest.
