Secrets and Lies - Janet Woods (A stand-alone sequel to Tall Poppies)

A destructive secret is guarded by a network of lies  . . . until they begin to unravel.

1933. Nurse Esmé Carr travels to Australia with her friend Minnie in search of adventure. Left behind is Esmé’s adolescent niece. Meggie Elliot. After a broken engagement to a dancer on a cruise ship, who literally swept Esmé off her feet, in the light of day he is exposed for what he is – a deceiver.

Minnie goes a step further, marrying a dreamer and gambler who proves to be little more than a wastrel. The two women nurse his mother back to health and they become good friends. While Minnie tried to make her marriage work Esmé is torn between her family and her independence.

The two women move to an outback medical centre to work, and fate throws a former acquaintance into Esmé’s lap. Leo Thornton is an outgoing Australian doctor and aviator who works as a locum for the flying doctor service. When they fall in love Esmé realizes she must follow her heart.

Esmé’s teenage niece, Meggie Elliot, is of imaginative and independent frame of mind, but there is a mystery surrounding her birth – one she intends to unravel, despite her mother’s warnings to leave the past alone. When the truth surfaces it’s not what Meggie wants to hear, and Esmé must reconcile the rift that developes between mother and daughter. 

“A lovely and thoughtful historical romance.”

Booklist on Lady Lightfingers

A fine, fine novel!

Historical Novels' Society Issue 58 

A gentle, pleasant romance about a woman whose grace is justly rewarded.

Booklist on Tall Poppies