When returning to a place means uncovering the truth.

Synopsis

Monte Carlo means different things to different people; a billionaires playground, overflowing with glitz and glamour but also where dangerous secrets hide.

For Nanette Weston, and her then fiancé, F1 racing driver Zac Ewart, their dream life came to an abrupt halt 3 years ago following a car accident which Zac walked away from, but left Nanette being airlifted back to the UK, never to return and never to see her fiancé again.

Monte Carlo was a place she wanted to forget, not revisit. But when her friend and employer, Vanessa asks Nanette to look after her children in the Principality for a few months, Nanette knew she had no choice but to return.

As the F1 circus once again comes to town, with Zac in pole position, mistakes of the past, leave legacies for the future…

This book was previously published as Follow Your Star by Jennifer Bohnet.

My review

Three years ago, Nanette Weston had a terrible accident in Monte Carlo. Not only does she not remember anything of the accident, it caused also her fiancé, F1 racing driver Zac Ewart to walk away from her in her time of need.
So it’s obvious that when her friend but also employer Vanessa asks to look after her kids there, Nanette is not over the moon.
But not wanting to disappoint her friend and making sure the children are looked after, Nanette returns to the place that caused her so much pain, literally and emotionally.

Her return to Monte Carlo takes place at the same time the F1 is there. A meeting with Zac seems inevitable…

I have to admit, I had a whole different story in mind. But also I have to say that I was glad this was not what I expected.

From the very start, it’s obvious that Nanette had a terrible accident, but the details are not clear, just like they aren’t clear to Nanette.
She is now living in the UK, employed by her friend Vanessa, and is looking after Vanessa’s children.
When Vanessa asks her to move temporarily to Monte Carlo, so that she can still look after the children while staying at their father’s place, it’s crystal-clear that Nanette wants to do everything except that.

When Vanessa explained why the move to Monte Carlo was necessary, I had to frown my eyebrows for a minute. I found it a hard concept to understand that Vanessa wanted to go with her new husband to the Amazon forest, but it was clear that there is a bigger picture in this story.

I have been just once in Monte Carlo, as a passing visit, so it was lovely to see all those places again. Just like Nanette I was discovering the Principality all over again.
But for Nanette it was also a place with an ugly past and encounters she truly didn’t want to make.
Slowly the cloudy mists over her past are chased away as her memory is returning. But it’s not at all what I expected.

Also the character of Zac was not what I expected, in a bad way. I hoped there was some kind of logic in what he did to Nanette, but the truth was just plain ugly…

This story was full of mystery, deception and secrets. Nothing was what it seemed, people surprised me both in a good way and in a bad way. I couldn’t see where some characters were going.
But it was also full of hope, because Vanessa found a purpose, love has been found in an unthinkable place, and laughs were caused by Nanette’s sister!

I found it a very difficult book to put away, because I wanted to know the truth, the outcome of everything and hoping for a happy ending for everyone I started to care about.