I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for the fabulous Island of Secrets by Rachel Rhys. Thank you to Anne Cater and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.
About the book:
‘Say, wouldn’t it be a gas if all of us here are pretending to be something we’re not?’
1957: Iris Bailey is bored to death of working in the typing pool and living with her parents in Hemel Hampstead. A gifted portraitist with a talent for sketching guests at parties, she dreams of becoming an artist. So she can’t believe her luck when wealthy socialite Nell Hardman invites her to Havana to draw at the glittering wedding of her Hollywood director father.
Iris is thrilled to escape to a faraway city by the sea. But she soon realizes that the cocktails, tropical scents and azure skies mask a darker reality. As Cuba teeters on the edge of revolution and Iris’s heart melts for troubled photographer Joe, she discovers that someone in the charismatic Hardman family is hiding a terrible secret. Can she uncover the ugly truth behind the glamour and the dazzle before all their lives are torn apart?
About the author:
Rachel Rhys is the pen-name of a much-loved psychological suspense author. She is the author of the Richard and Judy bookclub pick, Dangerous Crossing and the bestselling A Fatal Inheritance. Rachel Rhys lives in North London with her family.
My Review:
Island of Secrets by Rachel Rhys is a rich and atmospheric tale set in the hot and climate of Havana during the 1950’s. Iris Bailey is a gifted portraitist who dreams of becoming an artist, but working as a typist and living with her parents in Hemel Hampstead is far from the life she wanted for herself. So when wealthy socialite Nell Hardman invites her to Havana to be the portraitist at her Hollywood director father’s wedding she jumps at the chance.
Arriving in Havana, Iris begins to feel a little out of her depth. As Cuba teeters on the edge of a revolution and Iris begins to fall for troubled photographer Joe, she discovers that someone is hiding a terrible secret. What really happened to Hugh Hardman’s second wife, who died in a tragic accident several years before? With the help of Joe and reporter Eugene, Iris finds herself on the hunt for a possible murderer. Is it possible to go ahead with the wedding without the secrets and lies the charismatic Hardman family have kept so carefully hidden being exposed? Can a scandal be prevented? Or are their lives about to be torn apart?
Rachel Rhys is an author at the top of her game and in Island of Secrets she instantly transports you to the glitz and glamour of 1950’s Havana. I was captivated from the very first page, the glorious setting and fascinating characters taking a hold of my imagination and sweeping me along on a voyage of discovery with Iris as she slowly but surely begins to uncover the truth behind the secrets and lies. The tension ratchets up to breaking point as the story races to a conclusion that I did not see coming, the shocking truth finally revealed.
Island of Secrets is a clever and superbly plotted tale of love, corruption, secrets and lies. A fantastic summer read that I would highly recommend. Simply wonderful!
Island of Secrets by Rachel Rhys is available to buy now: Amazon UK
Follow along with the blog tour to see what these other fabulous bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 
Thanks for the blog tour support Cal xx
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You’re very welcome, Anne. ❤️ xx
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