June Westwood is left reeling the moment she learns the father she never knew has died. Now she'll never meet him, and worse, the truth about why he abandoned her as a child will be buried forever. Bundling her two young daughters into the car, June escapes her crumbling marriage and heads to the secluded beach house her father has left her in Wishing Cove, Washington.
With a wraparound porch and surrounding wild meadows, her father's hideaway leaves June breathless. But it's his oil paintings decorating every wall that surprise her most. How could someone see and paint other people so beautifully, but reject those closest to him? And why is every drawer in her father's workshop locked? June hopes her new neighbour-her father's handsome apprentice, complete in paint-spattered overalls, Caleb -will provide the answers. But Caleb won't talk about the past. Then, hidden in her father's workshop, June discovers a box of newspaper clippings that reveal why her father left years ago-and uncovers Caleb's own devastating secret...
***
When the phone rang at 10:45 that morning, Juniper Westwood knew before she answered that the call was going to ruin her day. CHAPTER 1
***
(@Bookouture, 17 May 2021, 299 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 21 May)
***
***
This is a new author me for me. I really enjoyed Her Family Secret. I wasn't all that fussed about the love story between June and Caleb but thankfully this isn't the main storyline which revolves around June and her sisters discovering the truth about their parentage, long hidden by their reckless, party loving and often irresponsible mother and the bond between them. Most of the story is told through June's eyes as the truth about her father forces her to face some hard truths about her own life, marriage and the choices she's made. I found this an engrossing read.
