Two distant relatives, drawn together in companionship are forced to confront their pasts and learn that some people are good at keeping secrets and some secrets are never meant to be kept.

A bittersweet story of love, loss and life. Perfect for fans of Patricia Scanlan and Adele Parks.

The beautiful old Bath House in Ballytokeep has lain empty and abandoned for decades. For devoted pensioners Archie and Iris, it holds too many conflicting memories of their adolescent dalliances and tragic consequences – sometimes it’s better to leave the past where it belongs.

For highflying, top London divorce lawyer Kate Hunt, it’s a fresh start – maybe even her future. On a winter visit to see her estranged Aunt Iris she falls in love with the Bath House. Inspired, she moves to Ballytokeep leaving her past heartache 600 miles away – but can you ever escape your past or your destiny?

If you haven’t come across Faith Hogan yet then boy, are you missing a treat.  I read her debut, My Husband’s Wives, and was completely blown away by the effortless warmth of her writing that I knew from just one book that I had become a Faith Hogan fan! Faith is definitely an author to get excited about so I was eager to read her second book, Secrets We Keep.

Kate has a heart-breaking story in her past which has seen her throw herself into her work and become one of the top divorce lawyers in London.  Her last relationship saw her very publicly being left at the altar and she has found it difficult to trust men again – so you can see why she has become a ruthless and much sought-after divorce lawyer!  On a visit to her roots in Ireland, she finds an abandoned bath house and decides to renovate and reopen it, with a little help from her family and new friends.

When the rumour mill starts churning about a buyer for the old ruined castle in Ballytokeep, Kate could never have imagined that her past would come back to haunt her.  Or is it fate?  As Kate begins to unearth some well buried family secrets, she realises that her roots go a little deeper in Ballytokeep than she originally thought.  Home is indeed where the heart is.

I have to say that the setting is simply amazing – the quiet (fictional) coastal town of Ballytokeep in Ireland.  Now being a coastal girl myself, I found it easy to visualise the location and could almost taste the salt on my lips and feel the wind in my hair.  I loved the thought of a ruined castle on the cliffs and an abandoned bath house by the shore.  I was reminded of my love for fairytales and how it’s possibly every little girl’s dream to live in a castle.  Faith Hogan has successfully captured this magical essence and moulded it into a modern day fairytale with real-life heartbreak, secrets and the inevitable (and much sought after) happy ending.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.