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Sophie's Secret
Sophie’s calm, cool professional facade hid many secrets. For a start Sophie had an incurably romantic nature. So, when she was offered a post as Marc Washington’s PA, she jumped at the chance to return to Venice... a place for lovers, a place for dreams.Yet Marc Washington hardly seemed the sort of man who would tolerate Sophie’s romantic heart — or her past, should he ever remember the part he’d played in it!
- GenresHarlequin RomanceRomance
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
4 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Anne Weale
225 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2024
Sophie’s secret is that her new boss, an aristocratic Italian tycoon, is someone she met 15 years ago, when she was a child of 11 living a bohemian life in Venice with her grandfather, and he was a 22 year old heir to a vast fortune. She is so ashamed of the circumstances of their prior meeting that she does not reveal her identity to him. Her source of shame is that she and her grandfather were living a destitute life, shunned by locals, and left to themselves to scrape out an existence by selling her grandfather's caricatures for tourists on the streets of Venice. One day, her grandfather suddenly went into cardiac arrest and the hero happened to be nearby and takes them to the hospital, in effect saving her grandfather's life. Hero leaves them in good medical care, promising to return to check on them later but he never does. Heroine thinks it is because they are beneath him and she has carried that pain around all her life. After her grandfather's death, she changes her identity and manages to grow up into a well-to-do, educated, career woman, until, at the age of 26, she is hired by the hero (who does not recognize her) as his new P.A.
As they work closely together, building a friendship, and they are obviously attracted to each other, she is so ashamed of her past, and the huge gap between their respective social and financial status, that she doesn’t believe anything romantic between them will amount to more than a short, no-strings affair. To her great surprise, it turns out that the hero does love Sophie and he has done so from the first sight of her at her job interview (which he admits that he creepily observed from a Seekret one-way mirror). He eventually also remembers her as the child he once helped out and wonders why she did not tell him the truth from the beginning. He is torn between his desire for her and her seeming untrustworthiness in not disclosing her past to him.
His lack of trust in women comes from a secret of his own. When he was 18, he got one of the family maids pregnant. He was in love with her and wanted to marry her but his grandfather offered the maid money to go away and the maid eagerly took it. A few weeks later, she married someone else and since then, she has been raising their son with her new husband , adding numerous half-siblings to the mix. Hero seems to treat this episode as an example of the perfidy and greed of women, conveniently forgetting the ruthless tactics of his own grandfather or the fact that at any time in the past 16 years, he could have taken steps to acknowledge his child but he hasn’t bothered!
The hero and heroine reveal their secrets to each other, declare their love, and plan to marry for the HEA. I was really appalled at this so-called HEA offered up by the author. She usually writes characters who have moral integrity and dignity. This guy was a cad. Aside from the Seekret Illegitimate Son he never bothered to acknowledge, he hires his P.A.s based on their good legs and ogles them through a Seekret one-way mirror while they are having their interview! I am really surprised at this being published in 1997, it felt more like something out of Old Skool Harlequins of the seventies.
There are a ton of other meandering plot lines that are never resolved, side characters, including many OWs and OMs, who are introduced flamboyantly only to disappear in the mists of the Venice Canal. The love declaration and marriage proposal at the end seemed to me totally unfounded. The best thing I can say about this story is that it’s a lovely Venetian travelogue.
As they work closely together, building a friendship, and they are obviously attracted to each other, she is so ashamed of her past, and the huge gap between their respective social and financial status, that she doesn’t believe anything romantic between them will amount to more than a short, no-strings affair. To her great surprise, it turns out that the hero does love Sophie and he has done so from the first sight of her at her job interview (which he admits that he creepily observed from a Seekret one-way mirror). He eventually also remembers her as the child he once helped out and wonders why she did not tell him the truth from the beginning. He is torn between his desire for her and her seeming untrustworthiness in not disclosing her past to him.
His lack of trust in women comes from a secret of his own. When he was 18, he got one of the family maids pregnant. He was in love with her and wanted to marry her but his grandfather offered the maid money to go away and the maid eagerly took it. A few weeks later, she married someone else and since then, she has been raising their son with her new husband , adding numerous half-siblings to the mix. Hero seems to treat this episode as an example of the perfidy and greed of women, conveniently forgetting the ruthless tactics of his own grandfather or the fact that at any time in the past 16 years, he could have taken steps to acknowledge his child but he hasn’t bothered!
The hero and heroine reveal their secrets to each other, declare their love, and plan to marry for the HEA. I was really appalled at this so-called HEA offered up by the author. She usually writes characters who have moral integrity and dignity. This guy was a cad. Aside from the Seekret Illegitimate Son he never bothered to acknowledge, he hires his P.A.s based on their good legs and ogles them through a Seekret one-way mirror while they are having their interview! I am really surprised at this being published in 1997, it felt more like something out of Old Skool Harlequins of the seventies.
There are a ton of other meandering plot lines that are never resolved, side characters, including many OWs and OMs, who are introduced flamboyantly only to disappear in the mists of the Venice Canal. The love declaration and marriage proposal at the end seemed to me totally unfounded. The best thing I can say about this story is that it’s a lovely Venetian travelogue.
April 22, 2017
This is only a 3-star read since I'm particularly fond of Anne Weale and willing to forgive a lot.
First Title. Sophie's secret, so the reader is pulled in imagining some substantial secret to be revealed. It starts off well, our heroine Sophie accepts a PA job for a mysterious millionaire because the job is located in Venice. We know this is the inducement for Sophie. Of interest is the requirement that applicants for this position have nice legs. Hmmm anyway. Sophie actually meets her new boss on the plane when he sits beside her. Marc, the boss says he arranged it that way so he could familiarize her with the job while on the flight. Sounds reasonable, I still don't get why he was mysterious in the beginning and had his other PA interview the applicants while he watched through a one way mirror. Sounds creepy if you ask me.
In Venice, we find out that Sophie in fact spent a good amount of her childhood there, but she doesn't reveal this to Marc her boss. She meets up with an old childhood friend of hers, and they go out on a date. Marc, it seems is jealous, but he does nothing to change their working relationship to something more. Marc also seems familiar to Sophie and she realizes that they had met before. When she was around 11 living with her grandfather, in Venice, he got a heart attack and she had to look for help. Marc was the young man who helped them at the time. Even when she finally remembers this she never lets Marc know about their connection in the past.
Things go on between them in a tepid boss-PA manner, events happen but the relationship hardly moves on. At this point I was thinking, was that the big secret? It seemed hardly relevant. On her birthday, Marc gives her a wonderful book that she likes and takes her out for an unforgettable romantic evening. They go back to her place and start making love but are interrupted by a phone call. Then Marc pulls away. When they next meet, it's a blow cold situation once again. She even thinks Marc is falling for the landscaper he hired.
At one point her childhood friend tells her about local gossip that Marc fathered a child in his teens with one of his housemaids. Sophie doesn't want to believe it. Finally in the end Sophie and Marc get caught in a rainstorm and have to shelter in a shed. This just gave the author a chance for them to get together and declare their feelings which they do. Then Marc reveals that he had realized that Sophie was the child he helped years ago. Why she didn't want him to know? She didn't think he and her grandfather's way of life would be acceptable to Marc and his high class relatives. Marc also revealed that the gossip about his kid was true but his grandfather paid off the maid and promised to support the son for life. Why the author had to add this to the story, I don't know. Maybe so the H would not be so perfect? Anyway it seemed he had the big secret, not Sophie!
Oh it was never explained why he had a "nice legs" requirement for the applicants to PA position.
First Title. Sophie's secret, so the reader is pulled in imagining some substantial secret to be revealed. It starts off well, our heroine Sophie accepts a PA job for a mysterious millionaire because the job is located in Venice. We know this is the inducement for Sophie. Of interest is the requirement that applicants for this position have nice legs. Hmmm anyway. Sophie actually meets her new boss on the plane when he sits beside her. Marc, the boss says he arranged it that way so he could familiarize her with the job while on the flight. Sounds reasonable, I still don't get why he was mysterious in the beginning and had his other PA interview the applicants while he watched through a one way mirror. Sounds creepy if you ask me.
In Venice, we find out that Sophie in fact spent a good amount of her childhood there, but she doesn't reveal this to Marc her boss. She meets up with an old childhood friend of hers, and they go out on a date. Marc, it seems is jealous, but he does nothing to change their working relationship to something more. Marc also seems familiar to Sophie and she realizes that they had met before. When she was around 11 living with her grandfather, in Venice, he got a heart attack and she had to look for help. Marc was the young man who helped them at the time. Even when she finally remembers this she never lets Marc know about their connection in the past.
Things go on between them in a tepid boss-PA manner, events happen but the relationship hardly moves on. At this point I was thinking, was that the big secret? It seemed hardly relevant. On her birthday, Marc gives her a wonderful book that she likes and takes her out for an unforgettable romantic evening. They go back to her place and start making love but are interrupted by a phone call. Then Marc pulls away. When they next meet, it's a blow cold situation once again. She even thinks Marc is falling for the landscaper he hired.
At one point her childhood friend tells her about local gossip that Marc fathered a child in his teens with one of his housemaids. Sophie doesn't want to believe it. Finally in the end Sophie and Marc get caught in a rainstorm and have to shelter in a shed. This just gave the author a chance for them to get together and declare their feelings which they do. Then Marc reveals that he had realized that Sophie was the child he helped years ago. Why she didn't want him to know? She didn't think he and her grandfather's way of life would be acceptable to Marc and his high class relatives. Marc also revealed that the gossip about his kid was true but his grandfather paid off the maid and promised to support the son for life. Why the author had to add this to the story, I don't know. Maybe so the H would not be so perfect? Anyway it seemed he had the big secret, not Sophie!
Oh it was never explained why he had a "nice legs" requirement for the applicants to PA position.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2025
I'm only 24 pages in and I am brimming with 'fuck you' energy towards this book.
We meet our heroine at the airport, and learn she is a high level PA who had just accepted a new job in Venice. But she's accepted the job without actually knowing what the job is, and the only criteria for the female only applicants is 'no husband/boyfriend/ties' and 'must have great legs'. Not at all dodgy. It just scream sexual harassment. She enthusiastically applied for the job while smugly thinking 'those sniffy feminists in America would have a fit'. She also wonders if she'll be expected to service the great boss man at night. What a cheeky chappie her boss must be. Urgh. It like somebody being excited to work for Harvey Weinstein.
Later, when she meets her boss, she asks him why he chose her over the other finalist candidates. He tells her she was the best looking one... and she's flattered. Oh you, giggle *peeks at him from under her lashes* ohh he's a commanding one. He's a fucking creep is what he is.
A few other lines here and there and this whole book is REEKING of 90s sexist bullshit that even women back then would have found hard to swallow. I actually started to get this angry feeling simmering in my chest, and I'm only 24 pages in! I can't take it.
I'll read some out there shit, but women simpering and trying to impress their gross creep of a boss makes me want to hurl myself under a bus. Have some fucking dignity Sophie. Christ.
We meet our heroine at the airport, and learn she is a high level PA who had just accepted a new job in Venice. But she's accepted the job without actually knowing what the job is, and the only criteria for the female only applicants is 'no husband/boyfriend/ties' and 'must have great legs'. Not at all dodgy. It just scream sexual harassment. She enthusiastically applied for the job while smugly thinking 'those sniffy feminists in America would have a fit'. She also wonders if she'll be expected to service the great boss man at night. What a cheeky chappie her boss must be. Urgh. It like somebody being excited to work for Harvey Weinstein.
Later, when she meets her boss, she asks him why he chose her over the other finalist candidates. He tells her she was the best looking one... and she's flattered. Oh you, giggle *peeks at him from under her lashes* ohh he's a commanding one. He's a fucking creep is what he is.
A few other lines here and there and this whole book is REEKING of 90s sexist bullshit that even women back then would have found hard to swallow. I actually started to get this angry feeling simmering in my chest, and I'm only 24 pages in! I can't take it.
I'll read some out there shit, but women simpering and trying to impress their gross creep of a boss makes me want to hurl myself under a bus. Have some fucking dignity Sophie. Christ.
abrierto-to-read-hr-other
July 23, 2022Sophie’s calm, cool professional facade hid many secrets. For a start Sophie had an incurably romantic nature. So, when she was offered a post as Marc Washington’s PA, she jumped at the chance to return to Venice... a place for lovers, a place for dreams.
Yet Marc Washington hardly seemed the sort of man who would tolerate Sophie’s romantic heart — or her past, should he ever remember the part he’d played in it!
Yet Marc Washington hardly seemed the sort of man who would tolerate Sophie’s romantic heart — or her past, should he ever remember the part he’d played in it!
May 16, 2022
I liked that this was not a typical love story. Sophie was intriguing without being forced. Marc was attractive if a little distant. I liked how Sophie was focused on doing a good job a living her life, not on Marc all the time.
March 30, 2022
Bland. Suddenly she’s in love. He is too.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews