A
Choice of Secrets
A
Dark Glass Novel Book 4
by
Barb Hendee
Genre: Historical
Fantasy
Ever
since raiders from the north began attacking villages, Lady Nicole
Montagna has known that defending her people would come at a
cost. The betrothal of her sister Chloe to a neighboring lord
seems the perfect solution, forging a powerful alliance. But
shortly before the wedding, Nicole is shocked to discover that her
sister is with child—and not by her husband-to-be. Now she
must make a choice. She has just hours to decide . . .
~ Should
she tell her soldier brother—who will take swift, ruthless action
to ensure the family’s safety?
~ Should
she hold her tongue, let her sister deceive her husband into
believing the child is his—and then hope Chloe can get away with
the lie?
~ Should
she tell her family, hoping they will know the right thing to
do?
With
the help of a magic mirror, Nicole lives out each path, fighting to
protect herself and those she loves with the weapons she has: wits,
herbs, and fortitude. But no matter her cleverness, neither she nor
her family can escape unscathed—for there are repercussions she
could never have foreseen, involving her own heart . . .
A
CHOICE OF SECRETS
New
York Times bestselling
author Barb Hendee spins a tale of intrigue, integrity, and the bonds
of love and loyalty as one young woman finds her place in a turbulent
world . . .
EXCERPT
Chapter 1
At the age of seventeen, I had no real understanding of the danger
of secrets…of keeping them, of sharing them, of telling the wrong personfor the
right reasons.
But I was soon to learn the depths of my own ignorance.
One afternoon, in mid-summer, I was in the vast kitchen of my
familyhome, with six other women, rolling dough for both peach and
strawberrytarts. One of our housemaids, Jenny, stuck her head in the back
door.“Lady Nicole,” she said to me. “Lord Erik and Lord Christophe havearrived.
They’re in the hunting hall.”
This news made me smile. “Does Lady Chloe know? Or my motherand
father?”
“Not yet. I’ll go and find them.”
“Thank you.”
Not bothering to even take off my apron or shake the flour from
myhair, I hurried out the door and into the open-air center of what was knownas
White Deer Lodge. All around me, ten large log buildings had beenconstructed in
a circle. Small paths connected each building to the next.Two of the
constructions functioned as our family’s residence. Othershoused guests or
servants or our guards. One was designated for storage.The largest construction
was called the gathering hall for communalevents. On the outside of this
circle, a village thrived, with dwellings,shops, stables, and a smithy.
A stone wall surrounded the village, and heavy forests surrounded
threesides of the wall, but not far beyond the west side, the ocean
stretcheddown the coast of the nation of Samourè. This lodge was my home and my
father, Gideon Montagna, was lord of these lands.
In that moment, though, I gave little thought to my home or my
father,and instead, I continued in my quick pace to the smallest of the
logbuildings—known as the hunting hall. I’d never cared much for this hall,as
it was decorated with spears, longbows, and the heads of animals.
Butnonetheless, once inside the front door, I looked toward the unlit
greathearth with a flood of happiness rising inside me.
MY REVIEW
I loved the other books in this serties (see my blog post and review here) so I jumped at the chance to read "A Choice of Secrets".
Nicola is a charming character - her older sister, Chloe, is bethrothed to Erik, a nobleman who has sworn to protect her family's lands in exchange for a mariage contract. Erik is a complex character - at first I didn't like him much because he seemed too interested in simply getting an heir for his domain. But when the story unfolded, things changed. In this story, the three choices didn't affect Nicola as much as they affected those around her. All choices had their good and bad points, and I was interested to see which choice Nicola made (I would have made the same!)
All in all, a superb addition to this wonderful series!
Barb
Hendee is the New York Times bestselling author of The
Mist-Torn Witches series. She is the co-author (with husband J.C.) of
the Noble Dead Saga. She holds a master’s degree in
composition/rhetoric from the University of Idaho and currently
teaches writing for Umpqua Community College. She and J.C. live in a
quirky two-level townhouse just south of Portland, Oregon.
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