The Secrets of Happiness is an extraordinary tale of sisterhood, from Lucy Diamond author of The Beach Cafe.

The best things in life . . . can be just around the corner

Rachel and Becca aren't real sisters, or so they say. They are stepsisters, living far apart, with little in common. Rachel is the successful one: happily married with three children and a big house, plus an impressive career. Artistic Becca, meanwhile, lurches from one dead-end job to another, shares a titchy flat, and has given up on love.

The two of them have lost touch, but when Rachel doesn't come home one night, Becca is called in to help.

Once there, she quickly realizes that her stepsister's life is not so perfect after all: Rachel's handsome husband

has moved out, her children are rebelling, and her glamorous career has taken a nosedive. Worst of all,

nobody seems to have a clue where she might be.

Nice to read a book that doesn't revolve around men...although there were relationships in there! This is a story about sisters, families and family secrets. Rachael and Becca are stepsisters, and not close ones at that. But after an accident and Becca stepping in to help, the relationship starts to heal.

I wish family relationships were that easy to fix, but they're not. They are messy, complicated and sometimes irreparable. But reading this gives hope to everyone who has a fractious relationship with a sister.

It was a good read with characters that you could relate to, although getting as fit as Becca in a short space of time is a little far fetched!! A good quick read for the summer! ( )

I just loved this novel! Don't want to say anything else. Just plain wonderful ❤️

The main protagonists in this book are Rachel and Becca, who are step-sisters, about eight years apart in age, and not particularly close. The story covers just a few weeks, as Becca gets unexpectedly involved in Rachel’s family, and becomes very fond of her three very different children.

What I liked best about this book was the characterisation. The contrast between Rachel and Becca is nicely drawn; they grew up in the same household but have very different values. The children, too are realistic if a tad caricatured: a hormonal teenager, an emotional middle child, a cute youngest.

Inevitably there are romantic pairings - predictable from the first meetings - but they’re quite low-key. The focus is on the family, and the relationship between Rachel and Becca. The writing is informal, switching viewpoint rapidly at times, but I soon got used to that, and found the book difficult to put down once I had started.

What I did not appreciate was the amount of bad language. Conversations and thoughts regularly degenerate into four-letter words, disturbingly sometimes used as compliments as well as to express anger. The excess makes my recommendation somewhat guarded, and reduces the star rating to four. If you don’t mind swearing, and enjoy character-based women’s fiction, then this would be an excellent holiday read. But if 'strong' language disturbs you, give it a miss. ( )