It Started with a Secret

By: Jill Mansell

Narrated by: Katherine Press

Feel-good chick-lit from international best seller Jill Mansell, with a chaotic cast who must let go of their grudges and secrets to build the lives they've dreamed of.

Thanks to a little white lie, Lainey and Kit arrive at their new jobs in blissful, summery Cornwall only to find themselves in the midst of a lovable but overwhelming family - where every family member is having an identity crisis at the same time.

Widowed mom Majella has done her best for years, but can't quite grasp why things are falling apart. No one can guess what's causing the chaos because everyone is keeping secrets.

In classic Jill Mansell style, Lainey and her friends are drawn through a hilarious multi-generational soap opera. By the end, happily-ever-afters are available to anyone willing to tell the truth about their heart's desire.

©2020 Jill Mansell (P)2022 Tantor

A fabulous feel good novel

Jill Mansell is one of my favorite authors, and this book was a fantastic feel good book. just what the world needs now.

Good story but could have been better with a different narrator.

Enjoyed all the intermingling love stories and pleased with happy endings for everyone. The only thing I didn’t like was the narrator’s rapid delivery.

Good story but too long too many characters

I like Jill Mansells writing style and humor, so I continue to read the free books included in my Plus access acct. However As a rule all of here books need editing. There is just too much erroneous information, too many complimentary characters that do not add value. Too many storyline and POVs. it just becomes a confusing mess at times where I have to stop and rewind, pause to figure out who these current characters are or just go forward in the confused state hoping the author will make the point of that chapter or section relevant, which does not occur often enough. I've learned to enjoy the book I try to focus only on the MCs and the secondary characters around them... even that amount of characters become overwhelming. For example there was a sub-story regarding the MMC's half sister. Who out of the blue became a troubled teen. Around her she had an insignificant twin sister and younger brother who were haphazardly mentioned but added little value other than taking us into another unnecessary thread. I can understand these diversions when writing a murder mystery but for romance comedy it just muddied the waters. At the conclusion we find the very weak reasoning for the sullen teens angst. Again completely unnecessary, only adding morefluff and word count rather than value to the plot of the story. Sigh.I think an edited version of all her books would truly make this author an A lister... but not as they reads now.

Love love this book

I didn’t want this story to end. I’m looking forward to reading more books by Jill Mansell. Katherine Press brought this very well written story to life making it even that more perfect.

Book was fine. Easy story for summer days.

One major flaw in the book happens near the very end, when the writer mentions that one of the characters is “newly gay”. A person who is gay is always gay. You might say they are “newly out”, or something like that, but the “newly gay” comment is ridiculous and offensive.