Title:  Emma and Her Daughter
Series:  Emma Le Goff #3
Author:  Linda Mitchelmore
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  January 9, 2016
Publisher:  Choc Lit
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Can ‘second love’ be true love?

It’s 1927 and Emma has returned to England from Canada with her teenage daughter, Fleur. After the tragedies of the past, Emma is ready to start again in Devon, the place she used to call home – despite the bittersweet memories it brings back.

But memories are not the only thing that she has to contend with. There’s also the secret she’s been keeping from her daughter; the secret that’s revealed when an unwelcome visitor comes back and threatens to turn their lives upside down.

Throughout it all Matthew Caunter is rarely far from Emma’s thoughts and, as it happens, much closer than she thinks. Could he be the key to her finally finding happiness, or will Emma discover the hard way that some people are just destined for heartache?

Read on for my thoughts on Emma and Her Daughter.  No true spoilers, promise.

Emma and Her Daughter is the third and final story in the Emma Le Goff series – and whenever possible I would try to read the previous novels in an unknown to me series before reviewing the final act.  Unfortunately, time was not on my side and I will have to go pick up the previous stories later.

You do not actually have to have read the earlier novels to understand what is happening in Emma and Her Daughter.  While it wouldn’t be fair to call this story a standalone, there is enough details around previous events when mentioned that you have a good idea of what is going on.

I found this story to be very realistic and believable, even without the background of the previous novels.  Emma is such a strong woman who now has the chance to make a new life from the ashes of what once was.  As a widow with a teenage daughter, Emma is returning to the one place she feels is home – over the protests of a young girl who does not want to move away from her friends.  Her deceased husband has left his family well enough off that she can decide where to make her new life and she wants to go back to Devon – in spite of or perhaps because of the memories held there.

Matthew might still be here – although she had no idea if he would be as unattainable as before.  Still the thought that he might be close enough to run into occasionally makes returning to this place a good decision.  Life changes us all, and who knows what might have changed Matthew or his circumstances.  She’s already taking a risk, a bit of wishful thinking cannot be a bad thing.

Secrets rarely stay that way forever and when one secret is revealed lives will be changed.  The important part is life after the secret is told.  Life moves on and how that happens will determine the future happiness of several people.

I enjoyed Emma and Her Daughter very much.  It is insightful, engaging and shows us that time periods really don’t matter that much – love remains the same whether it’s today or yesterday.  Finding happiness is often a risk and one that we choose to either take or ignore and live with the consequences.

*I received an e-ARC of Emma and Her Daughter from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

(on a side note – I hesitated to release this review today (I try to release reviews closer to launch day) since Amazon is showing the Kindle edition available but the paperback is not yet available until January 2016.  So if you have been waiting for this release and want to read it right now – as of this date Amazon had it for the Kindle)

Available in paperback, audio and for the Kindle