Ahh, this book was so lovely to sink into. I could imagine the highland views and the immense castle. This is a well written, funny and readable book. I liked the characters, particularly the sisters who couldn't be more different! I loved the romantic storyline and was willing it to all end happily ever after (no plot spoilers here). I'd recommend this as an easy and engrossing read.

I just couldn’t get into this book. It was just so so for me. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. 2 stars.

SECRET THINGS AND HIGHLAND FLINGS - Tracy Corbett
Avon Books UK
ISBN: 9780008299491
May 2019
Contemporary Romance

Windsor, England and Shieldaig, Scotland – The Present

Lexi Ryan owns an art gallery where she sells copies of master’s paintings. She is already having a bad day when her crook and cheating ex-husband Marcus Aldridge enters the store. He left her financially strapped. During the divorce he claimed their property in Andalucía, outside the court’s jurisdiction. Now he tries to charm her, but she has learned better than to believe him. Lexi suspects he wants the 27K pounds she found in a holdall when she cleaned out their house lost to bankruptcy. She did not tell her identical (although very different) twin Tasha about this, even though they are very close. Despite Lexi’s usual moral integrity, she did not report the funds to the proper authorities as Marcus had stolen and sold a collection of original paintings from her gallery and kept the profits. While in the gallery Marcus looks at one painting, Woman at the Window, and tells her she is not too financially impaired if able to buy such a treasure. She tells him it is a copy. Then she discovers he still has keys to the store’s lower storage area and intends to search it. He escapes from her when an investigator from the insolvency headquarters enters. From him she discovers that shortly after they were married Marcus took out a life insurance policy, forged her signature on it, cashed it out before the divorce, and received 27K pounds which the agency now wants her to repay. After the agent leaves, she finds her basement in disarray and the backdoor unlocked, but her stack of valuable paintings is safe, including a shipment from the Wentworth estate. Marcus left a note. He wants his money.

Oliver (Olly) Wentworth, the Earl of Horsely, after taking his pregnant sister Louisa to the hospital, returns her home to Rubha Castle, the Wentworth family home for four-hundred years. Louisa broke her leg stumbling over a pony while her husband was absent. The Castle’s continual upkeep is financially devastating, but Louisa calls it home. His other sister, Sophie, lives at the family’s Windsor house. They all know one of the properties will need to be sold. Neither sister has a good opinion of Olly. He left eleven years ago at age eighteen and has only recently returned. Their parents are dead, and his sisters think him self-centered and wayward. He won’t tell them the truth. He left because his parents used one of his drawings to perpetrate an art fraud. They used it as proof that one of his mother’s paintings was a Renaissance artist’s work. For them to purposely do this to make money made him ill. They were cold, unforgiving parents who constantly preached moral integrity. Now he learns Louisa sent his mother’s paintings to an independent art gallery in Windsor, including one he thinks is another forgery. The thought shakes him. He must retrieve that painting to prevent anyone learning of his parent’s fraud.

When Lexi finds Olly rifling through paintings in her lower work area, she thinks him a thief. When she is requested to return the paintings, she finds the thief follows her and soon discovers he is indeed who he said he was, and titled, too; but she still believes him a liar. That doesn’t stop the attraction she feels for him. She felt that for Marcus, too, so cannot trust her judgement.

SECRET THINGS AND HIGHLAND FLINGS is filled with colorful, quippy, argumentative characters who keep secret while clutching their guilt. Marcus is easy to hate, and his misdeeds are worthy of jail. Lexi and Olly are also caught in a morass of lies, but theirs are to protect their family. Working through the details of their adventures to find the truth, and hopefully earn forgiveness for their dishonesty, makes this a different and interesting story romance readers will enjoy.

Robin Lee

Lexi and her twin sister Tash are both ‘arty’ with advanced degrees from Oxford and their own way of looking at the world. Where Lexi is, after being scammed by her ex-husband and barely holding on to her own place, a gallery owner with a solid reputation and a penchant for medieval artworks, Tash has embraced the art scene with a twist as a tattoo artist. The two appear as different as night and day with Tash’s dark clothing, tattoos and ‘in your face’ approach to life where Lexi is fond of her vintage style, baking and trying to build her business. Sharing a building left by their grandmother, the two have neighbouring shopfronts and share one of the two flats upstairs, the other is rented out for extra income. With a query to evaluate a collection of paintings from Ruhba Castle in Sheildaig Scotland, she’s got a new plan. But a receiver at the door shortly after her ex-husband’s reappearance and his demand that some ill-gotten funds be returned have Lexi worried about the next step. This worry increases when she catches Olly in her storeroom, obviously hunting for something that doesn’t belong to him.

Olly left the family home some eleven years ago after he decided he couldn’t deal with his parents’ judgment, demands or the lack of belief he had in them. With his artistic talent honed by his mother, he was tired of always trying to ‘be enough”. But his return has made one sister very happy, angered the other, and left him smack in the middle of a struggle about finances, two homes and which is sold. Dealing with the anger from his sister Sophie, even from her townhouse in Windsor is bad enough, but not being able to share why he left leaves him feeling as if nothing will ever be enough. Of course, things are even more fraught as his sister Louisa doesn’t want to leave the castle, is pregnant with her first child, collects stray animals like others do shoes AND is confined in her movement after being run over by a renegade Shetland pony that resulted in her broken leg.

Oh this was fun and the families, both Tash and Lexi and Olly and his sisters are lovely, and when Lexi goes to the castle to evaluate other works and plan an exhibit, the lies and deceptions heat up, and even though the connection between Olly and Lexi is palpable, neither is being totally honest. We’ve got copies of old masters, a painter who hadn’t for over a decade, an ex-husband who won’t stop trying to run a scam, a very devoted and prickly sister (no wait – make that two sisters), secrets, more secrets and constant worries, questions and guilt for Lexi. She doesn’t like lying, and when her sister comes clean, she’s angry and feels deceived. Again. Of course, it will take both Tash and Olly with his sister Sophie, plenty of secrets unearthed into the light, and lots of confidences shared, but there is happy moments (and a big surprise) for everyone at the end. Light, fun, twisty and completely engaging, these are people you want to have as friends and neighbors.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-apV/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

I enjoyed this story, although I do think the description of Tasha was overkill. Loved the Scotland scenes. Believable romance. Art theme added interest. A relaxing read, albeit not one that will stick in the memory for long. Thanks Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cozy romance that ticks all the boxes, two likeable main characters, a cast of equally likeable secondary characters, a romance, a conflict, a happily ever after. I liked reading it, though there was nothing noteworthy that distinguishes this novel from all the other romance novels out there.

I would like to thank netgalley and Avon Books UK for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling romp from Windsor to the highlands of Scotland.

Cute and fun love story with charming characters and a bit of everything. The scenes were vividly described and now I want to go there.

Secret Things and Highland Flings by Tracy Corbett. Review: I really enjoyed this sweet story! I love when the setting of a book takes you to new places and the Scottish Highlands was a perfect backdrop. Who can resist a hot Scotsman? This starts off straight away with the right amount of drama and an awful ex husband you just want to punch in the face. The rest of the story is a dreamy romance in a castle and shows Lexi slowly learning to trust people again. A lot of the story revolves around the art world and the sale of the paintings which was interesting but did take up some time that could have been more focused on the love scenes between the two characters. I gave this book an 8/10 on my Instagram and Wordpress blog.

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A sweet, enjoyable read perfect for reading at the pool side. Likeable characters & being from
Scotland love it even more. I’d recommend this to anyone.

I liked this book, I found it engaging and entertaining.
Even the plot is full of cliche and it's the typical romance I loved the style of writing, the well developed characters and the well researched and detailed setting.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Loved this book. Love how it wasn't all about love and sex it was a proper love story with twists and turns. So glad it did have a happy ending. Can't wait to actually buy this one and read it as much as I can till I know it word by word.

Hope there is going to be an update on all the characters soon.
Thank you for a brilliant book

4.5 stars
I loved this book. I was hooked from the first page!!
Lexie has a struggling art gallery due to her husband bankrupting them, scamming Lexie and also running off with his PA. Olly returns home to Scotland after leaving home at eighteen with lots of family secrets.

Together they overcome obstacles, feelings and start to trust again. I loved the development of these characters, the way they worked together, also challenging each other. I loved getting to know Lexie's and Olly's familys!
I would highly recommend this book!

Thank you netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I loved this story - I was hooked from the first page and found it to be a well written addictive read that held my full attention right to the fabulous ending!

I loved the different characters and how well they were developed, the book was really well detailed and I thought it was a lovely, easy story to read and it was a lovely way for me to pass a few hours sitting in the sun.

It is five stars from me for this one, I thoroughly enjoyed it, it is a lovely fun story and one that I will be very highly recommending

This book was an odd mix - I enjoyed the book but didn’t really actually come to care for the characters individually. Can’t say that I’m desperately seeking more from this author but neither can I say that I didn’t enjoy it!

I received a copy of this book for free. Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books.

I think this is a good romance book. It features the recently-divorced Lexi who runs an art museum and Olly, a British aristocrat who ran away from his privileged upbringing and his duties. I liked this book well enough when I read it and it features strong characters, witty banter, and art. It's your pretty typical romance story- girl meets boy, they fall in love, some drama happens, and then happy ever after. I liked it enough for a light read and while there is nothing too remarkable about it, I did still enjoy it. Mostly because of the romance and the fact that art is a strong theme.

A sweet story set between Windsor and the Scottish Highlands. It was a typical romantic novel, boy meets girl, boy angers girl, girl angers boy, boy and girl make up. But I loved the setting of this story and the background details, such as the art works and auctions. I don’t know much about art but I felt like I’ve come away understanding a little more since reading this book.
I also thought them chemistry between the two main characters was clear and well developed. Overall a nice easy read, recommended for fans of Jenny Colgan and Katie Fforde.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review. I've read up to 31% but have decided to take a break as I'm not enjoying this novel as much as I expected.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a good romance book but was not a brilliant book either hence a 3 star rating.

Enjoyable, light read, perfect for a cold and rainy day; the reader cannot help but sympathize with every character.