Secrets…

Synopsis

When new girl Ivy starts working at the café, Maddy suspects she might be hiding something. But when Ivy’s secret is finally revealed, it’s more heart-breaking than anyone could possibly have imagined.

My review

Ivy is over the moon that she has gotten the job at The Little Duck Pond Café. She believes that this could be the start of a new chapter in her life, after a devastating and heartbreaking event. However, the past is still haunting her somehow, and even at the café they suspect that Ivy is hiding something, especially Maddy her radar is going off. While Ivy rather wants to keep it all to herself, she also realizes how liberating it can be to confide in someone. And when the truth comes out, no one could have ever imagined what Ivy has been through…

It may not be a big secret that I am always over the moon when I can return to Sunnybrook and this delightful café. However, I have to also admit, that I wasn’t ready for this story and Ivy’s tale…

Right from the start it is obvious that Ivy is haunted by something/ someone from the past. It is not clear what exactly happened, and I have to say, Rosie did a great job to lead on down the wrong path 😊.

While Ivy is clearly not at ease and she is clearly tormented and even told a few white lies in order to get the job at the café, it is also obvious that she would be a great addition to the bunch that we all know and love. Because everything about Ivy says that she is a caring, loving and gentle character.

And then the moments of torment she goes through… those bits truly saddened me, seeing her scared in her own home, seeing her standing in the rain looking at the pond and searching for a specific duck… If it were possible, I would enter the book and give Ivy a big hug and tell her I am there for her and that things will work out, somehow… And that before I even knew her true tale of woe…

A tale of woe that absolutely broke my heart! A tale of woe that made me think the worse but also where my gut feeling was telling me there was more to it than we may think…

It is easy to think that Ivy got her heart broken in one of the worst possible ways, and I was perhaps also thinking not so nice things about her ex. And yes, perhaps Ivy shouldn’t have let her own self-doubts take the overhand, but I could also understand where she was coming from.

We see with Ivy’s story how perhaps you can self – destruct a wonderful relationship, but also how people’s interferences can ‘help’ with making things worse. Shows once again that there are some nasty people in this world, isn’t it? And then I am not talking about the discoveries later on in the book! Let me tell you I was flabbergasted!!!

Luckily Ivy can count on her new friend of The Little Pond Duck Café, who quickly show her that she is part of their group now and that means that Ivy can always rely on them, confide in them and they will always have her back and they will support her.

Maddy also plays a big part in this story, not only as Ivy’s biggest supporter, but also on a funnier, more hilarious way, her quest to buy a home together with the love of her life. And laugh that I did with Maddy!!! 😊Because let’s be honest, her attempts of gentle persuasion, playing innocent, nobody falls for it! 😊

Perhaps this next chapter in a just *marvellous* series broke my heart the most. Because what Ivy has been through, it is just terrible. But it is also, and that is as usual, an uplifting story, a warm story and even an inspiring story.

Because even if your heart has been broken in a million little pieces, it can be healed again, tiny bit by tiny bit again. By finding new, loyal and loving friends, by finding your passion again and finding the courage to pursue in that passion.

I don’t know how Rosie Green keeps on finding the inspiration to write amazing story after amazing story, without ever being repetitive somehow. Each new story is just something I *need* and *must* read, as in the end I always end with a big smile on my face and a feeling of contentment!