Secret Sister

Secret Sister
by Emelle Gamble
Published by Marsha Nuccio
Genre: literature; mystery
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3.5 / 5


Two women are such good friends - have been forever - that they call each other their "secret sister." But one horrific day, they are in a car accident and one of the women dies. How does her secret sister recover? How does she go on?

One thing you learn in this book is that there are different types of survival. Roxanne drives the car that kills Cathy (whose last name is Chance ... I mean ... grab that frying pan and beat yourself over the head with it), so she bears some survivor's guilt. Roxanne lost all memory of the crash, as well as chunks relating to her life; she doesn't even remember her own name. She has to survive that, as does her mother, who is forced to adjust to a daughter who does not recognize her. Nick Chance, Cathy's husband, must survive the loss of his wife. The women's friend Bradley must survive the physical loss of one friend and the emotional loss of the other. Even Cathy's dog faces questions of survival.

This is sort of two books in one. In the first part, Roxanne must come to terms with the accident. There are mysteries afoot: Roxanne must come to terms with the accident, she needs to try and recoup her lost memories, and she needs to make sense of the flashes of what she does remember. Her memories are confusing and unsettling. Once she does, the second half kicks in, and we have Roxanne's attempt to regain her lost life.

The narration comes from the perspectives of Roxanne, Cathy, and Nick. At various times, you will hate one or all three of them. These are some self-involved people, and sometimes while reading this book, I wanted to quit and go read about people I like. But I kept reading. The story seeps into you, and you find yourself wanting to know what happens next. What is up with those memories Roxanne has? And as the memories clarify, more questions are asked. You will want to know the answers.

There is some romance here, and even some sexy times. Don't get too excited, though. The true romance is the friendship between Roxanne and Cathy, and the sexy times are not wildly explicit.

I will not give away much about this book, nor should you go looking for spoilers before reading it. You will want to enjoy the plot twists (even if you see one of them coming), and you will want to enjoy the wild ride(s). At the end, you will have some questions. The ending is not as neat as it appears, and you will find yourself asking "what if ..."

It's a good book, even if the characters are occasionally annoying.

P.S.: the cover for this book is atrocious. For reals. Publishers, you need to fix that, post haste.