Joanna is the timid twin, the one who would rather paint than go out into society. Henrietta is the brave one, the renowned beauty who was engaged at seventeen to a handsome and rich young man. But when Henrietta’s fiancé is suddenly killed in a cholera outbreak, the twins and their cousin Brook are sent back to England. Joanna starts noticing herself blushing around her cousin Brook, who suddenly seems an excessively handsome young man with a new awkwardness around her. But even thinking of marriage would be impossible for the two cousins, as they are both impoverished and quite busy chasing Henrietta. Henri, still grief-stricken over the loss of the man she was to marry, has chosen to throw herself at every married man and rake in sight. When yet more tragic news reaches the three cousins, Brook takes comfort in the arms of a woman who seems to be Henrietta, his experienced and wild cousin. In fact, the woman who spends the night with him is Joanna, and Brook makes her question her desires, her character, and her resolution not to follow a path of passion. When Joanna discovers that she is with child, the twins are faced with a harsh choice – to be penniless and helpless little ladies trying to make their way in society, or to put a dangerous scheme in place and provide for both their futures. And Brook, Joanna’s beloved, is the only person standing in the way.
Was not really able to get into story until second half in which the story line flowed smoothly & ending came too quickly. The first half seemed disjointed & I only stuck with the book due to online reviews that indicated the second half made the story worth reading. The French encounter served no purpose & certainly should have been eliminated. The scene aboard the ship was not necessary. My biggest disappointment is that the scene between the cousin & Henri was totally from left field. How can you love one twin & then make love to the other twin on several other occasions & never have closure with the twin you love? The ending was quick & several paragraphs was all the closure for the misdeed the twin love scene. Ending very poorly done.
I choose this rating because there is no fun in reading this book. This book is dull and boring. I wasted my time, I will not read anything by this author again. I will not recommend this book to anyone. What was the author thinking when she wrote this book.
I choose this rating because there is no fun in reading this book. I will not recommend this book to anyone I prefer not to read anything by this author again.
I'm sorry I felt this book was boring. I had a hard time reading to chapter 9. I really had a hard time understanding. The book seemed to go back & forth from when the main character was young then it was current.
I really struggled with this book. There was a HEA which is good but large gaps in time, the beginning of the story was confusing in India and the writing style was also confusing. I get there could have been more done to detail the characters as even by the end I did not feel that I knew them.
This is absolute rubbish the spelling and word phrasing is wrong in many places the story line silly waste of my time how does this even get published when of such a low standard ????
Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a great book either. There were several typos - "Book" instead of "Brook" for example.
The writing wasn't bad overall, Joanna is a believable character, but I found Brook to be on the shallow side. Henrietta wasn't what I would call "believable" either, she seemed pretty selfish in my opinion. Grandmama and Grandpapa seemed sweet and kind, which made up for it.
The story seemed to progress quite slowly for most of it, but once it hit a certain point, it felt like it was rushed, to get it wrapped up within a certain word count or number of pages. The Epilogue seemed like it was added on at the last minute, without much editing, or thought to say what Brook was doing for a living, or why he was gone so much.
Sorry Ms. Bloom, I may read another book of yours sometime, but I probably won't be rereading this one again.
My Sister's Secret by Bianca Bloom is a historical romance. Ms. Bloom has delivered a book that has lots of twists. The characters in this story are entertaining. Joanna and her twin along with their cousin Brook. Brook and Joanna's story is packed with smokin' hot sex and drama. There is a little ick factor in the story, as Brook and Joanna are cousins. My Sister's Secret is book 1 of the Free and Fetching Ladies Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
Living India during a plague Joanna and Henrettia were sent to stay with an aunt outside of London. Along with them their cousin. When the girls bother and dad were taken by the plague their cusion took it bad. He stuck into Jos bedroom and later realized she was pregnant. This is when the deception started. Will they find out they switched and will they tell who the father os
Really enjoyed the book but was confused about her one time bedding of the old man who seduced her. Felt it was unnecessary for the story but really enjoyed the rest.
I finished the book by skipping much of it, but it was not for me. I didn't get into it at all, and the only reason I finished was because I always need to know how it ends.
My twin sister Henrietta was getting married in India. But Cholera takes all away and now Joanna, her sister and Brook, their cousin are returning to England. So read about what happens.