{Review} THOSE SECRETS WE KEEP by Emily Liebert

ISBN #: 978-0451471871

Page Count: 336

Copyright: June 2, 2015

Publisher: NAL

Description:

(Taken from Amazon)

Three women. Three lives. Three secrets.

On the surface, Sloane has the perfect life—an adoring husband, a precocious daughter, and enough financial security to be a stay-at-home mom. Still, she can’t help but feel as though something—or someone—is missing....

Hillary has a successful career and a solid marriage. The only problem is her inability to conceive. And there’s a very specific reason why....

As the wild-child daughter of old family money, Georgina has never had to accept responsibility for anything. So when she realizes an unexpected life change could tie her down forever, she does exactly what she’s always done: escape.

When these three women unite for a three-week-long summer vacation in beautiful Lake George, New York, even with the idyllic location as their backdrop, the tensions begin to mount. And they quickly discover that no secret can be kept forever....

Mandy's Review:

There comes a point in a person's life when it's thought, "Have I taken the right path?" What if I would've chosen a different spouse? What if I would've gone off to college instead of staying home? What if I would've taken the hard road instead of taking it easy all the time? Would I still end up here? I don't know if these are mid-life crisis questions or not, but I've looked at my life at times and have wondered some of these. Sloane is in the same situation. Her husband treats her like a queen. He loves her and would do anything to make her happy. When you have a spouse that does that all the time, you become used to having it and start taking him/her for advantage. That's what's happened with Sloane.

Her time at her aunt's lake house is supposed to be fore Sloane trying to figure out if she wants to stay in her marriage. Instead, Georgina crashes the "party" and creates a situation for Sloane that wasn't expected ... reuniting Sloane with her ex-flame. Spending time with her formal lover has Sloane desiring a life of luxury and ease. Will she give in to temptation and go where the grass seems greener?

Hillary, Sloane's newest best friend, seems like she's got it all together. Her marriage is one of the best Sloane has ever seen. We all have a secret we don't like to share, though, and Hillary is no exception. She's hidden hers for three long years and she's starting to feel guilty enough to share it with her husband. Will he still love her after he finds out?

Georgina is the wild-child of the group and Sloane's long-time best friend. She's never been really reliable, always skipping out when the going gets tough. Which should've given Sloane some type of clue as to why Georgina would just invite herself to come to the lake house, but it didn't. Probably because Sloane is so wrapped up in her own problems.

At first, this book seemed like a light read and, if you don't contemplate it too much, it stays that way. Me, though? I like to contemplate. The three women really showcase what I believe is inside every woman.

Georgina represents the side of us that just wants to run away when we can't take any more. Some responsibilities scare the bejeezus (sp?) out of us and we just want to go somewhere and forget about things for a while ... maybe forever. What do most of us do, though? We stick it out - have a slight panic attack every now and then - and then pick right back up where we left off. Because, deep down, we're nurturers and our sense of responsibility weighs on us heavily.

Hillary represents the side of us that enjoys being Suzy Homemaker. We're good at it, we do what we're supposed to, and we're always prepared while doing it. We always look presentable and that we have it all together.

Sloane represents the biggest part of us whether we want to admit it or not. It's the part we keep pushing down and hiding because of our sense of responsibility. We're always wondering if we chose the right path, if we're with the right person, if we should've done something different. It feels too late to do anything about it now though, right? You can always change your life, you just have to decide if you can really live with the consequences of your decisions. That's the real dilemma.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and appreciated that it was a quick read. It kept my interest throughout. I also appreciated the way it ended. It felt real and not something written just to make people happy.


*A physical copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.