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A review by curls
A Choice of Secrets by Barb Hendee
5.0
“Keeping a secret was one thing. Living with it was another.”
Nicole is the youngest daughter of a wealthy lord. She has her older brother Erik, who is a soldier, and her older sister Chloe, who is very friendly and outgoing.
Her father is in need of soldiers and Erik’s closest friend Christophe is in need of a wife. An agreement is made and Chloe will marry Christophe and he will send soldiers to protect her father’s land.
Chloe is in love with Julian, who is living on her fathers lands. Christophe has no affections for Chloe, but is instead drawn to Nicole. When Christophe goes to her father to ask for Nicole’s hand instead of Chloe’s, she is shocked. Christophe has always been a kind friend of her brother’s, and changing the betrothal this close to the wedding would shame Chloe. So she politely rejects him.
Nicole overhears a conversation with Chloe and Julian that Chloe is pregnant. Julian knows if Chloe leaves Christophe for him, he will not get a dowry. So he tells her to marry Christophe and act like the baby is Christophe’s.
Nicole has a choice. She can tell her brother, she can remain silent, or she can tell her whole family.
Nicole was a great character and easy to relate. She’s kind, she loves her family, she loves Christophe as a family friend, and is truly agonized at the choices to be made. No matter who she picks, someone she loves is hurt.
I think what I love about this series is there is never a right choice. I’ve read all four books and only once has the protagonist picked the choice I would make. I wasn’t expecting Nicole to pick the choice she did, but after thinking about it, it did suit her character well.
Each book in this series is better than the last. There is romance, but it doesn’t overpower the story. I would love to see a little more character development in the next books, but it’s interesting to see how each choice affects the character’s personality and not just the plot.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Rebel Base for an ARC of this book. The opinions are mine own.
Nicole is the youngest daughter of a wealthy lord. She has her older brother Erik, who is a soldier, and her older sister Chloe, who is very friendly and outgoing.
Her father is in need of soldiers and Erik’s closest friend Christophe is in need of a wife. An agreement is made and Chloe will marry Christophe and he will send soldiers to protect her father’s land.
Chloe is in love with Julian, who is living on her fathers lands. Christophe has no affections for Chloe, but is instead drawn to Nicole. When Christophe goes to her father to ask for Nicole’s hand instead of Chloe’s, she is shocked. Christophe has always been a kind friend of her brother’s, and changing the betrothal this close to the wedding would shame Chloe. So she politely rejects him.
Nicole overhears a conversation with Chloe and Julian that Chloe is pregnant. Julian knows if Chloe leaves Christophe for him, he will not get a dowry. So he tells her to marry Christophe and act like the baby is Christophe’s.
Nicole has a choice. She can tell her brother, she can remain silent, or she can tell her whole family.
Nicole was a great character and easy to relate. She’s kind, she loves her family, she loves Christophe as a family friend, and is truly agonized at the choices to be made. No matter who she picks, someone she loves is hurt.
I think what I love about this series is there is never a right choice. I’ve read all four books and only once has the protagonist picked the choice I would make. I wasn’t expecting Nicole to pick the choice she did, but after thinking about it, it did suit her character well.
Each book in this series is better than the last. There is romance, but it doesn’t overpower the story. I would love to see a little more character development in the next books, but it’s interesting to see how each choice affects the character’s personality and not just the plot.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Rebel Base for an ARC of this book. The opinions are mine own.