Keeping Her Secret

This was a super fun and cute story about childhood best friends who got seperated due to an incident at the age of thirteen. Unexpectedly, they met again at a summer camp a few years later...

The fact that one of the protagonist Riya is an openly bisexual half Indian girl made me really happy. She also has a great support system that is her family.
Courtney, on the other hand, is still very unsure about her sexuality. Although she grew up in a rich family, she doesn't feel the freedom she is supposed to have. Her family gives her exact directions in which she'll have to go in the future.

What I loved:
- Courtney & Colt's relationship and how understanding Colt is
- how Dee defended Riya from the very beginning
- the PRANKS
- Courtney's passion for ballet & Riya's passion for volleyball
- consent (!) during a problematic situation

A cute (but a bit angsty) romance. I liked that the main characters had a pre-existing friendship before the events of the book so the romance was more believable. It was a quick read, but a very engaging and interesting one! Highly recommend for those looking for a swoony f/f YA romance.

4.5 Stars!

This book was an unexpected hit for me. This was my first F/F Romance, and I loved every word of it. I had pretty low expectations going in, but quickly realized how wrong I was. I know, I KNOW, never judge a book by its cover. But really, this book kept me up reading. I kept pushing myself to go to bed, but instead I kept saying one more chapter. That is my my ultimate definition of a good book.

Riya is a gorgeous, exotic volleyball player on scholarship. Courtney is a beautiful, rich dancer whose parents have high expectations of how they want her life to go. They were childhood best friends and shared a secret first kiss. Reuniting at summer camp is something neither expected.
I loved Riya. I loved Dee. I loved Colt. Really, this book was filled with great characters that all deserved their own books. I think the romance was well done, not explicit, and perfect for the age range. The prank war was so much fun and I loved the development of the characters as the book progressed. I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for more Sarah Nicolas.

A step forward for the LGBT community, Keeping Her Secret is a strong tale of friendship, courage and love. The book was moving and honest at all times, and kept a reasonable pace, making me want to continue reading the novel. Which is exactly what I did.

Entangled: Crush novels are quickly becoming fast favourites (with the exception of the odd few), and Keeping Her Secret highlights why exactly. I adore the simplicity of the novel, that allows me to read it while feeling switched on and motivated, or bummed out and ready to sleep. That’s the beauty of these books – they’re your every day kind of novel and not just the paperback you buy in The Works to take on holiday, but never get around to reading. In summary of that – they’re fantastic, and right up my alley-way. There is a nagging feeling in my chest which is really my gold-digger side, begging me to spend money on physical editions. If I could, I would – but I be broke. Any who, Keeping Her Secret was a big reminder as to why I treasure the stories Entangled provides to readers such as myself. There was a fluid, fast writing style which helped ease me into the novel, quickly understand the background and aid me in sliding through the book. It took all about two and half hours (a rough guestimate) to finish and it had had me hooked. I was like a fish on a hook. Something which I found useful was the ability to just slip into the book without having confusing anecdotes or overly complex characters. The beauty of this book is its simplicity. This is a book stripped down to its roots.

Characters are always something I look forward too. Rhia and Courtney were absolutely no different than any other character I have ever come across. As protagonists and the focus of the story, you feel their guilt, their passion and their courage with every written word. The incorporation of a separate ethnicity was a real hit with me, as a lot of YA lit tends to focus on Caucasian protagonists. Keeping Her Secret definitely hit on the goal with strong female vibes. Since Fifth Harmony stepped on the scene, claiming to be the ‘boss’ and ‘worth it’, there has been a dramatic increase in the idea of a strong female leader. Courtney was most definitely a strong female leader, and definitely captured the ‘queen bee’ essence. It’s important that books such as these, which are targeted at young women and new adults stress the importance of being your own boss and living for yourself. It’s all too easy to let our worries and loved ones dictate our actions, words and behaviour. Keeping Her Secret really emphasises the need to make yourself happy, especially through the embodiment of Courtney.

If you are now a regular reader of this blog, I thank you. Also, you will by now understand that I am a total sucker for romance. From sobbing my eyes out at Me Before You to wanting to rip my heart out with The Fault in Our Stars, happy endings mean the world to me. And who doesn’t love a good happy ending? Although the LGBT theme is quickly being injected into mainstream YA, it was refreshing to find a novel about such an issue in its simplest form. It makes me immensely happy that there are novels out there like this, which promote social harmony and inclusion. Another winner was the breaking down of the social backgrounds – proving that this is 2016, we are in the modern world and it’s okay to want to be more than a privileged middle-class girl – just the same as its okay to break down the stigma behind parents of a certain ethnicity who might generally be portrayed as negative towards the LGBT community. Generalisations had absolutely no room in this novel, and for that, I am glad.

Let it be said that this was definitely a book I enjoyed. It had incredibly positive vibes, was fun to read and the simplicity of the writing made it a breeze to take on. I expect big things from this author, and will continue to adore Entangled: Crush so long as they endorse fantastic novels such as this one. Keeping Her Secret earns a fabulous 5 out of 5, and maybe a spot on my Christmas booklist.