Secrets Between Friends in Aussie Readers

Sep 05, 2017 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-release, own-read, arc, uncorrected-proof, reviewing-by-request, aussie-authors, sent-by-publisher, contemporary-fiction

Ricki’s day to day nursing job had become stale – her superior was a nasty piece of work and while Ricki realised she wasn’t happy, she didn’t know what to do about it. Her live-in boyfriend Peter and she were happy; she loved him dearly but still felt that fission of unhappiness.

Peter and Jess had been best friends since childhood – they had been through much together and Peter knew everything about Jess. Jess lived in a little country town called Wandering not far from Perth with her baby son Ricki’s day to day nursing job had become stale – her superior was a nasty piece of work and while Ricki realised she wasn’t happy, she didn’t know what to do about it. Her live-in boyfriend Peter and she were happy; she loved him dearly but still felt that fission of unhappiness.

Peter and Jess had been best friends since childhood – they had been through much together and Peter knew everything about Jess. Jess lived in a little country town called Wandering not far from Perth with her baby son Ollie. She was a school teacher and loved her work, idolised Ollie and was content.

While Abbie, who was best friends with Ricki and Jess as well as Peter, was settled into her real estate job –and had been thinking of opening her own business one day; she had a great boyfriend whom she was sure she would spend her life with – what more could she want.

The three day cruise on the Pacific Eden from Fremantle to Albany was fast approaching and the friends were looking forward to the escape. Jess was not sure about leaving Ollie – it was her first time away from him, but her mum assured Jess he would be fine. But would the friends be fine on the cruise they’d been looking forward to for so long? It seemed there were secrets they were ALL hiding from one another. What would be the outcome when those secrets came to light? Would the friendships still be intact?

Secrets Between Friends by Aussie author Fiona Palmer was a brilliant, emotional roller-coaster of a ride! I loved the closeness between the friends; the loyalties and love they shared. But the secrets they kept from one another, thinking it was better that way, were heartbreaking. I loved the authenticity of the cruise as well – I’ve been on the sister ship to the Eden, Pacific Aria, and I could imagine the places on the ship which the friends went to – I’d been there too! Secrets Between Friends is a book I highly recommend from an author who is fast becoming a favourite.

With thanks to Hachette Australia for my ARC to read and review.
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Jan 26, 2019 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-authors, fiction, 4-stars, reading-list-2018, reading-list-2019

I enjoyed the cruise ship setting - all the more as it was a P&O line ship, which is a line whose home bases are Australian ports. The story was a little predictable in parts, but no less enjoyable for all that. It was a quick and easy read - I finished it on Australia Day (appropriate!) and had only started it the evening before! A great holiday read!

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Sep 11, 2017 Bree T rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle-version, netgalley, arc, australian, women-s-fiction, contemporary, aww2017

This is Fiona Palmer’s first foray away from her strong background of rural fiction/romance and more into women’s fiction. Jess, Abbie and Ricki have been best friends since school and Jess and Peter have been best friends since childhood. Peter and Ricki are now dating and the three girls thought it’d be fun to celebrate their ten year anniversary graduating from high school by revisiting Albany, a place they went to for a school trip. They decide to take a cruise – a few days of fun and cockta This is Fiona Palmer’s first foray away from her strong background of rural fiction/romance and more into women’s fiction. Jess, Abbie and Ricki have been best friends since school and Jess and Peter have been best friends since childhood. Peter and Ricki are now dating and the three girls thought it’d be fun to celebrate their ten year anniversary graduating from high school by revisiting Albany, a place they went to for a school trip. They decide to take a cruise – a few days of fun and cocktails. Their girls trip gets derailed slightly when Peter decides to come with them and use the trip as a way to further his romance with Ricki.

Firstly, I loved the setting. Fiona Palmer has been setting her books in rural Western Australia for a long time, which I always enjoy but it was quite fun to board a cruise ship with the characters. I’ve never been on a cruise ship before but the idea of a short cruise is appealing. I’ve never visited WA either so perhaps that is why I always enjoy visiting it so much in fiction. It’s a way to experience it.

Each of the women are hiding secrets – some more serious than others. Abbie is hiding a lot about her life and in particular about something that she’s just discovered which is hanging over her head on the cruise. Ricki is feeling a bit restless, perhaps not even realising what the problem was until someone reignited feelings in her about her job and about her life. And Jess, well Jess is carrying two intertwined secrets which definitely threaten two of the friendships she holds dearest.

Okay so as well as things I did like about the story, there were a few things that I did have trouble with. Some of those revolved around the secrets, which seemed strange. I mean, I understood why some things were kept secret, as difficult as those were but the reasoning behind keeping some of the lesser secrets kind of confused me. Also – there’s some people that behave quite horribly and I didn’t really find it okay because “both of them did it”. That’s not good reasoning to me, especially as they were unaware of each other doing it and it felt quite uncomfortable to read. It’s also a bit of a deal breaker for me generally, depending on the circumstances but I didn’t feel as though these ones felt like enough. One element of the story felt almost too good to be true, like a convenient out for the other to occur in a way. And some of the fallout felt quite one sided, like some of the issues on both sides weren’t really discussed or explored, it was really more focused on one particular side and the people involved in that situation.

I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but I did have some trouble connecting to or liking some characters because some of their actions were so dramatically unpleasant and unnecessary. But I did admire the friendship between them and the fact that it was built to withstand an awful lot and that they were remarkably understanding about each other’s secrets and indiscretions – but I wasn’t sure if that understanding came from a place of love and friendship or because several of them were doing the same thing and couldn’t really be angry. A lot of drama certainly came out during this brief cruise though, that’s for sure!

All in all this was a bit of a mixed bag for me – loved the setting and some elements of the story. The idea of the four of them going on the cruise was a lot of fun and a perfect place for secrets to come out because they can’t really escape, they have to face each other and sort things out. But some of the secrets made it difficult to really care about the characters, who were being a bit selfish and unfair to those that they cared about. And I wasn’t really expecting a part of the ending, which had some bittersweet elements to it. If you’re looking for a full and total HEA this might not be the sort of story that you’re after.

**Copy received from the publisher/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ...more

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Aug 26, 2017 Janine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review

Secrets Between Friends is Fiona Palmer’s first venture into Women’s Fiction and I hope it won’t be her last! I can honestly say that this book had me in tears at the end with the epilogue very hard to read, there are very few books that have made me cry!
It tells the story of three childhood friends Ricki, Jess & Abbie who decide to go on a short cruise from Fremantle to celebrate their ten year reunion. Abbie is a real estate agent who hates her job, Jess is a single mum who is a teacher, and R ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Stacey (sassysreadingnook) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, review-book, blog-tours, own, 2017-read

Oh, how I loved this story.

Review to come soon.

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Sep 07, 2017 Helen rated it it was amazing

This is such a beautiful, moving, touching story about three friends who met at school and just bonded together forever Jess, Ricki and Abbie there is also Peter who started out as Jess’s best friend but became best friends to them all and then partner to Ricki. Jess is a single mum to Ollie and a teacher now living in the country, Ricki is a nurse and lives with Peter and Abbie is a career girl in real estate. They plan a reunion on a three day cruise to Albany Western Australia to party, remin This is such a beautiful, moving, touching story about three friends who met at school and just bonded together forever Jess, Ricki and Abbie there is also Peter who started out as Jess’s best friend but became best friends to them all and then partner to Ricki. Jess is a single mum to Ollie and a teacher now living in the country, Ricki is a nurse and lives with Peter and Abbie is a career girl in real estate. They plan a reunion on a three day cruise to Albany Western Australia to party, reminisce and just have fun, Peter has plans as well and joins them for this journey, little do they all know that secrets will be uncovered and their lives will change forever.

Jess will go to any lengths to help her friends she loves them all but has kept a secret for some time now that will impact on them all, although the girls know that she has loved Peter forever he is as close to family as possible, they were neighbours growing up and with the home life Jess had Peter and his family were her life savers, but maybe now it is time to cut ties with Peter and stay in the country town she teaches with her gorgeous son Ollie.

Abbie has just had her life turned upside down by her partner and the job that she loves is not what it used to be and with so much going on this cruise is going to be a blast and when she gets back then it will be time to think about the future and she is determined to keep her secret and be strong as always.

Ricki has been happy with her life she loves Peter but her wish to travel and nurse in under privileged countries is getting stronger especially after having met a new nurse at work, is it time to make a change in her life?

The time for the trip arrives and with each one of them having things on their mind this trip turns into a roller-coaster of secrets that have been kept from each other which is so out of fashion for them as they are just so close but these secrets are doozies that will leave each of them shocked and hurt in some ways but as true friends they need to pull together and be there for each other.

I really loved this book the bond these friends share is just beautiful the love and the strength they show through the hurts will have you turning the pages but do make sure you have the tissues handy because there will be tears but smiles as well, thank you MS Palmer for a story that is going to stay with me for a long time to come and yay for cruising I have been on a few and the memories of being on the ship are good.
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Sep 04, 2017 Tanya rated it it was amazing

Fiona Palmer has made the transition from rural romance to life lit with her latest book, Secrets Between Friends. And I've gotta say, she has nailed it!

Jess, Peter, Ricki and Abbie have been friends for ever. As a celebration of shots, the four head off on a cruise along the West Australian coast. All four board the ship with a secret (or secrets!) that could irreparably damage the group.

The individuality of the characters, and the focus on friendships rather than romance, is what really makes ...more

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