Review: Her Best Friend's Secret by Anna Mansell

Your best friend deserves the truth. But it will ruin her life. What would you do?
In summer, the small Cornish village of Gorran Haven fills with tourists, but in the colder months its pretty narrow streets are blissfully quiet, the bell on the village shop door rings only for locals, the beach is unspoilt, empty and safe.

It’s been over twenty years since four very different teenage girls sat on that beach, and swore to be best friends forever. Their lives went different ways after Emily left. But each remembered that promise. And none truly found friendship like it again.

Now, Emily’s back, with a secret she can’t face. She tries to hide away, take time to heal and make some difficult choices, but she runs into one of her old friends, and soon the four are reunited. Lolly, warm as ever, is a successful physiotherapist, married with kids. Yet smart, strong Amanda, who cherishes her teenage daughter, is alone and seemingly stuck in a dead-end job. And creative Jess is so much quieter than Emily remembers.

The bond is still there, and Emily realises their friendship might keep her together, but there are reasons why the women fell out of touch. Secrets that have lain dormant for decades start to surface, and then one of the women discovers a betrayal so big, it could turn each of their lives upside down.

It’s always those we’re closest to who have the power to tear us apart. Can friendship give Emily and her friends the strength to survive a devastating shock, or are some things unforgivable? 

Kindle Edition, 386 pages

Expected publication: April 1st 2019 by Bookouture

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

The synopsis for Her Best Friend's Secret sounded so intriguing that I just had to read it. It sounded like it was full of deep, dark secrets that I was just dying to discover.

Her Best Friend's Secret was about four different women who were the best of friends in their younger teenage years. After Emily moved away they slowly all drifted apart and went their separate ways. Years later when Emily moved back for personal reasons, a chance run in with Lolly had them arranging a reunion of the four friends. Lots of things had changed for Lolly, Amanda, Jess and Emily and they all carried secrets and baggage that they weren't sure they could share with each other. Would they understand? Would they be supportive or would they judge? As much as they all wanted to reunite, they were reluctant because of the things they were going through and the secrets they were hiding.

At the heart of this book was friendship and the powerful bond that these four women had to overcome hardships with the support of each other. Each woman had her own issues but with the love and support of their circle of friends anything was possible.

So what about the secrets they had? I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in them. They weren't as overwhelming as I was expecting them to be and they were all pretty easily resolved except for one of them. I was not at all pleased with the outcome for Jess with her secret. It was never revealed to the other woman and although she showed great personal growth, it wasn't ever really resolved. The secret that threatened to destroy Lolly and her friendship with Amanda turned out to be a reoccurring problem that Lolly was already aware of but that didn't involve Amanda.

I honestly feel like the synopsis for this book should have focused more on the friendship angle than the secret angle. The secrets for the most part were not as exciting and shocking as it led me to believe and the friendship between the women were more enjoyable to read, in my opinion. I feel I might have enjoyed this book more had I not been expecting an earth shattering secret that would tear them all apart. I liked how it showcased that nobody is perfect and that we shouldn't be ashamed or hide who we are to the people we love because they are just as imperfect as we are.

Love, friendship and strong women was what this book was really about. If you go into this book expecting a book about the bond between these women than you should really enjoy it. If you expect earth shattering or shocking secrets you might be disappointed.

About the Author

Anna had a brush with 'fame' as a magician’s assistant back in 1977. She later decided that being sawn in half by her father, at barely 6 months old, was too submissive a role, vowing to channel the trauma in to something much more pro-actively creative. Having failed at acting, singing and professional murder mystery parties (she was ALWAYs the one to die!), she fell to something much more solitary: writing. How To Mend a Broken Heart was her first novel and her life was not on the line in order to write it, or The Lost Wife. Anna lives on a dairy farm in Cornwall with her two children, her husband, and her ex-racing greyhound, Olive Dog.

Connect with Anna

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