Although this was not rotten for the YA audience I feel that it would be best read by that age group. It involved lots of quirky people that added colour to the story and would relate more readily to the younger reader. The story is set with Now and Then chapters depicting life 20 years apart. I could not relate to Liz at all and certainly did not like the nasty other that she had. The story was good depicting both the lovely home life with the not so good one and there were other comparisons throughout the book .
I did it enjoy the writing style and the repetitive phrases that came up every so often. As a detective book this could have easily met the mark as the story basis had enough in it for me as a reader to. Want to find out the ending.

Super fun mystery/thriller. I received a copy of this ARC a week before publication date, and I was happy to read it right away. I really enjoyed the character of Liz - fantastic. She both strong and a bit of a mess. The supporting characters are great as well, and you really get a sense of the town of Easthaven. The ending is quite dramatic, but the overall book is such a delight that it didn't detract from the story.

The old house hides her darkest secret—and there’s no running away this time…

Twenty years ago, Liz left Easthaven to escape the memory of one tragic night at Lakewell Manor. Only she and her best friend Tamsin saw what really happened, and in the aftermath they drifted apart. Now she’s forced back after a nasty divorce, with two daughters in tow, the shadows of that terrible night lurking on every corner. With a custody battle looming, she’s one wrong move away from her life falling apart completely.

So when news arrives that Tamsin, too, is returning to Easthaven, Liz fears their reunion will bring the awful truth spilling out into the open. But when she finally meets Tamsin, now mistress of the clifftop house whose locked gates have guarded the friends’ secret all these years, she’s in for a surprise. Tamsin looks different, and she doesn’t remember Liz, let alone what happened that night…

Something is clearly wrong. But confronting Tamsin means reliving the nightmare Liz has been running from for twenty years. Can she risk exposing what happened that night, knowing that the truth will destroy everything?

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK/Lake Union Publishing for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

I want to thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this galley in exchange for a honest review.

Tamsin and Liz become besties in Easthaven, a small Oceanside town, even though and in spite of difference in wealth and background. Both girls fall for the same guy and he plays both sides and ends up dead.

This is not your typical story. Both girls feel responsible for the guy's death but were they.? The truth does not come out for 20 years.

Both girls reunite in Easthaven after 20 years and the truth does come out finally but not without a lot of drama and detective work on Liz's part. A tale of true friendship for sure.

Great read and well written , I will definitely read and follow this author in the future!

Predictable suspense novel.

I liked the character of Liz even though she had a lot of personality quirks and issues. Having said that, she was the type of character that you rooted for to finally stand on her two feet and lead the way. Her mother was a piece of work, and I wish I could have crawled into the pages of the book and gave her a good smack.

The plot was very predictable and nothing new for the genre. The writing wasn’t bad, it was just predictable. Having said that, it was entertaining enough that I’d read another book by this author.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

In Secrets Between Friends Liz (our heroine) learns that no matter how many years ago something happened it doesn't always stay in the past, as one might want. Tracey Buchanan does an excellent job of bringing Liz's past to the present. I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Press for an early copy to review.

Secrets Between Friends is a lighter mystery with a touch of a thriller element. The story is told in a duel timeline of past and present.
It took me awhile to get into the flow of the story. There are lots of twists and turns with so much mysterious things popping up which did keep me engaged in the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

So many ideas packed within the pages of this entertaining read…first love, triad romantic entanglements, secrets, best friends, murder, cheating husbands, family dynamics, custody battles, impersonations, supportive vs. mean mothers…the list is endless. Somehow they all worked together to have a role in this story. Liz, a curious postal carrier, was so quirky and interesting. Her friend, Tamsin, so mysterious. Their story, told bit by fascinating bit, is slowly revealed in chapters from 20 years ago and the present.
The most heartwarming part for me was the day of Liz’s visit to the courthouse. Tracy you have my sympathy. Losing a mother is so very painful.
Many thanks to Tracy Buchanan, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this soon to be published book.

Liz, along with her two daughters, has reluctantly returned to Easthaven, despite disturbing memories of events which happened at Lakewell Manor, an old house built on the cliffs overlooking the sea. When Liz sees Tamsin, an old friend, she is concerned to find that she is back living in the house with its disturbing secrets of 20 years ago.
However, Tamsin looks and seems different to how Liz remembered her, and she doesn’t seem to recognise her old friend. Having previously been a journalist and becoming suspicious, Liz decides to use her skills to investigate her concerns.
The book is written from two timeframes, the past and present, and is full of intrigue and suspense with its mysterious old house and suspicious characters. I felt empathy for Liz living with a mother who is bitter and abusive, always putting her down, although you do wonder what secrets she is hiding from the past.
Characters are well drawn and develop well, though it would have given Liz’s mother’s character more depth if the reasons for her bitter, uncompromising attitude had been explored. Though parts of the plot seem far-fetched, there is a sense of mystery and suspense as this gripping story unfolds, which keeps you turning the pages.

Secrets Between Friends is written on a dual timeline between present day and twenty years ago. It tells the story of two friends (Tamsin and Lizzie), a handsome young man and a tragedy which has remained secret for many years. Shortly after the event, Tamsin left the village. But now she is back. After time away, Lizzie had already returned and settled with her two teenage daughters, moving in with her difficult elderly mother after her divorce. The story is about reunion, family issues and revenge. There’s also a mystery which Lizzie is determined to solve.
The plot moves seamlessly between past and present. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, in fact some felt a little one dimensional. Lizzie is a big of a gung-ho character, acting from instinct, rather than thinking things through, which usually sees her getting into a lot of trouble. As a failed journalist now working for the post office delivering mail, she still keeps notes about neighbours (snooping really) - something that eventually is her undoing. Lizzie's mother is rude and devious, a horror of a woman and one I wanted to have her comeuppance. There were parts of the story where I felt I had to suspend belief, but the main thing was, by the end of the book I finished feeling I had been entertained, hence my decision to award four stars.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Tracy Buchanan for an ARC of Secrets Between Friends in exchange for an honest review

Wow! I absolutely loved reading this. Great story and very well written. Liz knows something is amiss with her old "friend" and is determined to get to the truth. Brilliant. Highly recommended.

The idea behind the story is a good one but I found this book rather disappointing. The characters never really ring true, and the plot is unbelievable. I found it a struggle to finish this book and I wouldn't really recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I throughly enjoyed reading this book, I couldn’t put it down and would highly recommend everyone to read it!

Great story of best friends, Liz and Tamsin. They have a twenty-year-old secret that drove Tamsin and her mom away and would be devastating to the present if found out. When Tamsin returns to her home by the sea - Lakewell Manor - because of her mom's death, things start to happen that are certainly very weird. Liz, well known for being impulsive, lost her previous job last year because of it, she is split from her husband, and can’t afford any trouble. Her exes' suit for custody of their two daughters' court date is looming. But how can she ignore the mystery of her very best friend?
This story is told from two eras, twenty years prior and present. It flows easily between the two times and is well-defined so you don’t get lost. Liz is struggling to walk the straight and narrow and her character is tested to the limits. I like her and feel for her with a mother so mean and spiteful one who doesn’t know how to love. Tamsin has a mother the complete opposite one who’s loving, caring, and sweet. Tamsin as a teen was reclusive and homeschooled for unknown reasons. The friendship between the two is immediate and deep. Each experienced their first love that fateful year so long ago.
Well written and easy to read, it keeps your interest and most of the events stay a mystery until the end. I recommend this story, it’s a quick read and there is no off-putting language. Thank you NetGalley and publishers Lake Union for this eARC this is my honest opinion. This is my first Tracy Buchanan book but won’t be the last. I give it four stars, not five even though I really like it because it didn't grip you and give you the heart-pounding action I crave but it is still a great read.

I like the premise of this book but unfortunately it was just too slow paced to keep my interest.

If you are looking for a slow easy read then I definitely recommend it. I just found I was too easily distracted from it and it didn't quite grip me.

The cover is what drew my attention to "Secrets Between Friends" and I was not disappointed. What a great read.

This was so middle ground that it's a firm 3 star book. Not great but not bad. Pretty slow and not really shocking, but the writing is very well done.

In “Secrets Between Friends,” Liz and Tamsin, two women who were best friends when they were seventeen, both return to the fishing village of Easthaven twenty years after someone they knew named Gabe died under the cliffs of Lakewell Manor, Tamsin’s family mansion. Liz now works for the Royal Mail delivering the mail, while Tamsin is now a famous poet. Tamsin has returned because her mother just died and Tamsin is trying to decide what to do with Lakeview Manor, which has fallen into disrepair after twenty years of neglect. Liz returned to the village to live with her cantankerous mother and Liz’s two teenage daughters on the heels of a recent divorce and a mysterious disgrace at her work as a postal worker in Manchester.

Liz sees Tamsin at Lakeview Manor shortly after Tamsin’s return and their friendship appears to be rekindled as they reminisce about old times, carefully avoiding the topic of Gabe. With Tamsin is a Gabe lookalike called Carl, with whom Tamsin appears to be deeply enthralled. But the next day, when Liz returns to the manor, she discovers an entirely different Tamsin. Her hair is darker, her features are slightly different, and she remembers nothing about their shared past. Instead she is rude and dismissive. When Liz discovers Carl and the woman she thinks of as the “Fake Tamsin” burning Tamsin’s clothes, Liz begins to suspect that something sinister is occurring and that the real Tamsin is in serious trouble. However, Liz cannot report her suspicions to the police, because of her mysterious fall from grace in Manchester, which makes her an unreliable source.

I wanted to like this book because I generally love novels set in England; however, this book failed to resonate with me. It felt like it plodded along as Liz dealt with her postal rounds, her mistreatment by her horrible mother, and her concerns about a custody battle with her ex-husband. Moreover, the characters, particularly the “villains,” felt somewhat one dimensional, almost like caricatures. This may just be my own personal bias, because the underlying plot was fairly interesting with the intrigue surrounding what happened to Gabe twenty years ago, what happened to the real Tamsin in the present, and what “Fake Tamsin” and Carl’s plan involved. Moreover, the character of Liz was well-drawn with all her eccentricities. For these reasons, others may find this book entertaining enough.

Twenty years ago, tragic events at a manor house saw Liz and her best friend Tamsin fleeing from the small coastal town of Easthaven. Now, after a messy divorce and losing her job, Liz has had to return to the town, and she and her two daughters move in with Liz's nasty mother, who belittles her at every opportunity.
Liz soon discovers that Tamsin too is returning to the manor house where she was brought up, so she goes to see her. Even after all these years they find their relationship was just as if they had never been apart, and they enjoy a lovely afternoon in the garden, along with Tamsin's new partner.
However, the next time she sees her, it is just as if Tamsin doesn't recognise her. She doesn't even look like the same woman. Tamsin is a published poet, and loved her books & poems but when Liz visits the manor she finds some of her books strewn about the place, and some left out in the garden. Tamsin would never do that to her beloved books!
Liz is convinced that this isn't the Tamsin she saw in the garden on that first day, and realises that she could be in danger. Are the events of the past be coming back to haunt her? And more importantly, can she help her old friend?......
I abslutely loved this book! Well written and fast paced, with a while mix of differing personalities, and an old mystery. I would love to read more from Tracy Buchanan.

This is my first read by Tracy Buchanan. It started out slow and took me a long time to read. I liked the dual timeline the book presented. I felt it flowed easily back and forth. The MC was not great and found her to be annoying. The plot twists were okay but did not wow me.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Liz is going through a divorce and has moved back to her home town and is living with her cruel mother, who has never shown Liz any love or understanding.
Her ex husband is trying to get custody of their two daughters, Ruby and Mia.

Liz and Tamsin were friends when they were teens, and were both in love with the same guy, Gabe. One night, something shocking happens, and Gabe disappears, and Tamsin moves away.


Tamsin returns home after the death of her mother, with her boyfriend, Carl, who is the spitting image of Gabe.

Liz meets Tamsin and feels as at home with her as she did as a teenager.

Yet, the next day, Tamsin is just so different. Liz feels as though she could be a different person.

The story is told from the past and the present, and is truly dramatic and absorbing. I liked that Liz is a 'postie' and keeps tabs on the people on her route. However, her dream is to be a journalist, and she writes down all of her observations, which ultimately gets her into a lot of trouble!

I really liked this book, it is the first that I have read by Tracy Buchanan, and it flowed beautifully and many secrets were uncovered by the end of the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.