A Secret in the Attic by Samantha Jillian Bayarr

Published synopsis:

Amy has just inherited her grandmother's coffee shop and bookstore. But in order to accept it, she must move away from her childhood sweetheart, Jonathon, whom she hoped was on the verge of proposing. When a wealthy, older gentleman visits the bookstore one day, he spins a tale of Annabelle, his childhood sweetheart, and talks of a family curse that tore them apart more than fifty years ago. While searching her grandmother’s attic for the wedding dress worn by three generations before her, Amy stumbles upon clues in an old steamer trunk that could help lead the stranger to his Annabelle. But what does this curse have to do with her? When Jake, Henry’s grandson, gets involved, everything becomes more complicated than Amy bargained for. How can she help Henry and break the curse without destroying her own chance at true love?

Review:

After Amy is given her grandmother’s coffee shop and bookstore, she moves out of the city and into small town life. She finds it a little slow for her taste but she has a business to run so moving back isn’t an option. To make matters worse, her best friend and her soon to be fiancé, Jonathon, keep putting off making the hour and a half drive to visit her, leaving her with an even greater sense of loneliness.But the time apart from Jonathon has given her doubts about whether they are truly well matched for marriage.

Enter Jake, the handsome and charming grandson of an elderly man who swears that Amy is the exact likeness of his first love, Annabelle. Jake and his grandfather welcome Amy into their lives with open arms but it doesn’t take long to figure out that Jake has more than just friendship on his mind. As if choosing between two men isn’t hard enough, it turns out that if she marries the one who is her true love, the family curse will kick in bringing heartache to all. Should she settle for second best?

A Secret in the Attic is a delightful read and being a novella, it can be read in one sitting. The main character has to choose between following the path that she always thought she would follow or to jump in with both feet and let her life take a new direction. It is a little bothersome that she doesn’t have the courage to do the right thing until it is almost too late, but she does redeem herself nicely in the end.The characters have an interesting innocence to them that makes it possible to believe that a curse could make them change their life course and sacrifice true love, but the paranormal aspect of the book isn’t strong. Overall, A Secret in the Attic is a sweet romance about choosing passion over safety and I enjoyed reading it.

I give this book 4 stars.

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