The Secret of You

Ms. Connelly has another spectacular book!! I hope that there is a book 2 or she is working on book 2! I loved how she took an extremist who doesn't like any clutter and sends her to write about a man who collect antiquities. Once again her attention to the surrounding landscape and the Manson is outstanding! I also love the way she brought the siblings together. One set upon the death of a cruel mother/stepmother and the other through shopping addiction which was caused by their mother leaving them after their father dies. Last but not least, the lovely 350 year old woman. Now if that doesn't make you want to read this book.....ENJOY! I certainly did!

This book was mildly disappointing. It's not atrocious, but it's not as enjoyable as I was hoping for either, based on some of Victoria Connelly's other books that I've read. I'll admit, the secret was not anything I would have guessed, but at the same time the story is still a bit too predictable, the main characters a bit too unlikable (other than Meg), and it just left me feeling a bit flat. This is one I probably would have preferred as a library book, as Ms. Connelly has better books to spend your money on.The story basically follows Anna and her assignment to write a story about a collector, William, and a woman named Meg whom she meets during the story. There's also a side story involving Anna's sister, Libby, and her family. Meg is really the only character I liked much out of the four main characters, though Libby's husband, Charlie, and her son, Toby, are also enjoyable characters, they're just fairly minor in the story. Without giving too much away, William is a wealthy collector with an absolutely *huge* collection who's a bit odd about the whole thing, Anna is completely obsessed with being a journalist and finding out the truth (to the point of rudeness, in my opinion), and Libby calls herself a collector, but is basically a shopaholic and hoarder. Anna's behavior during the story is just downright poor, as she tends to do whatever she wants no matter what's been asked of her. William is a relatively cold fish during the story, even during the romance scenes, and is overprotective of Meg, causing him to be rather rude to Anna, and Libby just seems rather unhealthy with her obsession during most of the story. Meg is, however, a lovely character, but still almost a bit too undeveloped.Ultimately, Anna and William fall in love waaaay too quickly given their relatively short acquaintance and the way they spend that fairly brief time treating each other. It just made their romance a bit unbelievable. And Libby's issues are just a bit painful to watch during the story. You have to realize that I didn't enjoy the one Shopaholic book I read either, precisely because her shopaholic tendencies and massive skill for denial annoyed me. (Denial - it's not just a river in Egypt!) Anyway, the book also ends rather abruptly, though not in an unexpected way. It just ends the way that you'd pretty much expect after you figure out what the secret is, and ties very little up in the process, which is why it feels abrupt.I do like Victoria Connelly as a writer, I just don't love this book. It's okay, but for the most part left me with a meh feeling at the end. If you've never read any of her books before, start with a different one as I feel she has better ones out there.  A Weekend with Mr. Darcy (Austen Addicts)  is a good one to start with in my opinion. This one just isn't as well done, nor are the characters anywhere near as likable.

Its impossible and far fetched, that somebody should be that old and was always waiting towards the end, that that mystery would be solved and more would be said about her real age to make it believable. Predictable and disapointing end of story.

Two good characters well rounded for the reader and perfect for each other add a nice spin to a modern love story. Mix in an older mysterious woman to get a novel to remind us that each day is precious

Great read

I'm very sorry to have spent any money on this. The heroine was awful.

Loved Meg. Wish I could read Anna's story of her life. And I want to hear Anna and Williams story. Did Libby earn enough from the auction to clear up her debt? This story is begging for a sequel

I couldn't put it down. A great book it made me cry but made me feel good at the same time. A book for everyone. Hope to read more from this author in the future.

This novel had all the right elements for me to thoroughly enjoy it - beautiful setting in the English countryside, interesting look into the world of auctions and collectibles, intergenerational relationships, family dynamics, a budding love story, even two cute little dogs but here's why I'm not giving it a great review: I didn't like the characters! Okay, some of the characters were okay some of the time. But mostly, and especially in the case of the heroine, I just simply didn't like them. I want to try more by this author because I suspect she has much better writing in her than this novel represents. I would not, however, recommend this particular book.

The book was ok but did not bring anything special to it so I cannot say that I loved it. The story was ok but I didn't find it was very well developed or elaborated upon

Great angle of story had me looking forward to the next chapter of the book, well written and would buy another by this author!

I enjoy Victoria Connelly's books but although the story was good, I did not like the way she jumped between different characters. For example you are reading from one character's viewpoint and then the very next paragraph is from another character's viewpoint even though the two characters were in entirely different places. Most, if not all, other authors I read usually separate the paragraphs by dots and/or a space when changing characters or even start another chapter otherwise it can (and did) become a bit confusing and rather annoying. It just seemed a bit jumbled.However having made that one criticism, I did like the actual story.

Because they are all so different and they always grab me by the heart. Anna and Libby, William and Charlie became my friends, and as for Meg, well I loved her too. The descriptions of the countryside around Fox Hall ,so drew me in that I could almost smell the freshness. Victoria you’ve done it again,