Translate

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

  Finished: The Shadow Sister(Riley) Book 3 of the Seven Sisters Series!  Six sisters gather at their childhood home to mourn the loss of their very wealthy father, who adopted them all as babies from different parts of the world. The third sister, twenty-seven year old Asterope D'Apliese (or Star as she was called), is the sister who was very quiet and introverted as a child. So much so that the fourth adopted daughter, CeCe, who was only 3 months younger than Star, was the complete opposite and spoke for Star all the time. Star and CeCe were like twins, adopted so closely in time. And now, even as young adult women, they were still constantly together, living together, traveling the world together, with Star hardly speaking, and CeCe doing all the talking. As all the sisters travel to their home on an island in Lake Geneva, they gather, along with their longtime female caregiver, Marina (Ma for short). They are devastated that they can't see their father, Pa Salt (as they called him) one last time. He's already been buried at sea privately, per his last wishes. However, he has left them all a letter and the coordinates for the locations where they were born. He encourages them to go out and find their biological families when they are ready. Star and CeCe have recently moved to London, and into a fancy new townhouse that CeCe has bought with money, which we will find out about in her book. :-) Star is beginning to feel suffocated, feeling as she doesn't have her own purpose in life...her own dreams and goals. She'd even given up enrolling in Cambridge after accepted, because CeCe wasn't accepted there. After reading her letter from Pa Salt, she is ready to finally go out on her own and follow the clues. Does it hurt CeCe's feelings that suddenly Star is off and doing stuff without her? Yes, it does. They have their ups and downs as Star spreads her wings. Stars coordinates point her to an antique book store in London. When she visits the shop, she meets the eccentric Orlando, the bookstore owner. They make an instant connection as friends and he hires Star to work there. She tells him about her letter and how she's searching for her family and is supposed to look for someone named Flora MacNichol. Of course, Orlando knows who that is and as he begins to tell her the story, we are transported back 100 years earlier to the life of Flora. I really love the twists and turns of Flora's story. She the oldest sister of two, and her parents live on a huge estate, but like many of the "old" rich gentry, having fallen on hard times, they are wealthy in name and home, but not in actual money. They tell Flora this is the reason she can't be presented to society when she comes of age, but the very next year her sister is presented into society. There is definitely something her parents are keeping from Flora, and the mystery unwinds in a jaw dropping way. Meanwhile, to make things particularly difficult for Flora, the young man she loves, and who loves her back, is one of the most coveted matches in London and Flora's sister has fallen in love with him after meeting him at one of the balls. He doesn't lead her on in any way, as he truly does love the more down to earth Flora, but in the world of arranged marriages, he has no choice but to marry Flora's sister. It's a very good story which really sucked me in, so it was always shocking when the story popped back into current time as Star grows closer and closer to Orlando and his family, who she is very likely related to...and closer to finding (perhaps) one of her parents actually living! Another great tale in the Sisters Saga. :-)

No comments:

Post a Comment