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Not all farewells are forever…
Evie Sutherland throws herself into everything. Like many on Scotland’s picturesque Orkney Islands, she works several jobs: managing her family’s shop, researching genealogy for tourists, and writing historical romance novels. Evie aces most challenges—except love. With a childhood diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and a disastrous dating history, Evie has convinced herself that guys won’t date the “sick girl” and the blame falls on the shoulders of her first love, a famous boy from London who spent his summers on her island.
To the outside world, Nikolai Balfour lives a charmed life. Starring in a popular British TV series as a teen, young Nick stole fans’ hearts from the Isle of Wight to Shetland. However, that was a lifetime ago, and the years since have been filled with “Didn’t you used to be…” moments, career wrong-turns, and empty relationships. Now finding success behind the cameras, Nick is still racked with regret and guilt over how things ended with the Orcadian girl he’d loved and left behind.
But when a television series filming in Orkney blows Nick back into Evie’s quiet life, they’re forced to face their heartbreaking past and revisit old secrets that should never have been kept.

When I first read the book description of ‘A Smile in a Whisper’ I knew I wanted to read this book myself. I’ve read two other books by this author before and really enjoyed them. So when the time came to start reading I dived right in.

In ‘A Smile in a Whisper’ we read the story of Evie and Nicolas. They met in the summer when Evie was working several jobs and Nicolas tried to get away from the attention he got as a young tv star. This book is about Evie and Nick and how life gave them a second chance.

‘A Smile in a Whisper’ was a fun read but it took me a while to really get into honestly. The book starts when Evie is in her early teens and has a major crush on child star Nicolas. We go from past to present through out the different chapters. And I found those first few chapters not very interesting, but it was the introduction that was needed for the story.

What I absolutely loved about this book was the setting on Orkney Islands, Scotland. I always love reading books that are set in places I don’t read a lot about. And Orkney Island just sounded perfect to me. And it was fun to read about the different characters and reading a little bit about how things work at a film set.

The main character Evie has Crohn Disease, and I really enjoyed how the author wrote about the main character dealing with a chronic illness. Evie’s struggles felt so real and I really felt for her. Especially when she was still a teen and wanted to be like everyone else.

The same goes for Nick’s character.. He had a lot going on in his life and also concerning his health. I really enjoyed that.

But overall I just couldn’t really get into this book the way I hoped. It seemed to be a little slow at times and I missed the chemistry between the two main characters.

‘A Smile in a Whisper’ was a nice read with a great setting.. but not really for me.

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Check out my other reviews of books by Jacquelyn Middleton:

About Jacquelyn Middleton

Jacquelyn writes love stories for hopeful romantics—‘hopeful' because her novels are always optimistic and she believes 'happily ever afters' are more important now than ever before. But life is messy, relationships are messy, and her books aren't afraid to go there, too. If you enjoy character and relationship-driven stories about people dealing with the triumphs and disasters we all face, Jacquelyn’s books are for you.

In 2019, she was named BEST CANADIAN AUTHOR at the Toronto Romance Writers 'Northern Hearts' Awards for UNTIL THE LAST STAR FADES. Her Christmas in London romance, THE CERTAINTY OF CHANCE, earned a coveted Kirkus starred review and had Entertainment Weekly raving, naming it to their list of the best holiday romances of 2021.

An own voices author, Jacquelyn has dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression all her life, and is dedicated to depicting mental health challenges realistically and empathetically in her novels.

A life-long Maple Leafs fan and Anglophile, Jacquelyn previously worked in television broadcasting and as an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in health and travel. She loves comic cons, London, and theatre, and lives in Toronto with her British husband and Japanese Spitz dog.

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I received this ARC through Grey’s Promotions.

Maureen Bakker

Maureen is a mom, wife, nurse, and Ravenclaw living in the Netherlands. She spends her days juggling mom-life, reading, blogging, planning date nights with her husband and working as a nurse. Maureen also is a big Anglophile, loves cooking, Gilmore Girls, Bridgerton and Harry Potter.. Always!  Facebook | Instagram