This book was just precious. It was your typical feel-good romance, and I found it very adorable from the beginning!

3.5⭐️
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an audiobook copy of Sing Me A Secret by Julie Houston. This was an entertaining literary fiction about four sisters and the troubles in each of their lives. One is a singer in an abusive relationship, another has a marriage that’s falling apart, one has many secrets that slowly unravel and a secret which they all share and love in fear of…
This was fun and deep all at once; I was hooked from start to finish. I had no clue the true reason why Pandora had made Lexi promise to never come back!
Although everything is told in a matter of fact and even lightheartedly, there are a LOT of dark topics covered.
The trigger warnings I noticed are as follows:
-infidelity
-miscarriage
-rape (minor and adult)
-adult/minor relationship
-domestic abuse
-physical abuse
-drunk driving killing
-blackmail
-infertility
-violence - stabbing
-mental illness
-institutionalisation

This book was a story about the Sutherland sister, 3 of whom have become drifted apart from their 4th sister who became pop star and married a footballer.

I really enjoyed listening to the story as the family drama appeared a broken marriage and some lacking confidence, kept you guessing and wondering where the story would lead.

I would recommend this book if you like bit of drama and family getting back together.

thank you to net galley for the advance copy for an honest review

Sing Me a Secret
Julie Houston
This is the tale of a dysfunctional family. The Sutherland sisters are like most siblings, each has their own personalities and interests. Again, like most siblings they have something in common, they can all sing. The siblings have a disagreement that has never be worked out. Lexia is the youngest; when her husband signs a contract with a new football club they have to move back to her hometown, Westenbury. Lexia does not look forward to living in the same town as her sisters. Ariadne teaches the classics; she is unmarried and has no children. Juno is a doctor; her husband has taken a position in America. Pandora is working with the local musical theater.
Kudos to author Julie Houston for a well written tale. The words seemed flow off the page. The characters and situations are realistic. This story is told from a humorous point of view.

This book was an ok story...

Everything was OK. The characters, the story, their lives.
I didn't dislike the story, but on the other hand, the story didn't particularly grip me, either.

It is a "Meh" from me.

Sing Me a Secret by Julie Houston admittedly took me a while to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. I feel like this would have happened sooner if there weren't so many characters to keep track of.

This is my second book by Julie Houston. I loved how funny yet serious How to Make Time for Me was and expected Sing Me a Secret to be similar. However, it was much more serious than funny. I enjoyed the secrets and didn't see most of them coming. However, I was saddened and angered by the selfishness of one of the sister's actions that went unchecked by everyone else. Overall, I give it 4 stars.

Laura Brydon is a good narrator. She added levity to the characters and her voice had a nice range/variety.

Thank you to Saga Egmont Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Narrated by Laura Brydon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great voice
by Julie Houston ⭐⭐⭐
This book was an ok story of family drama and hidden secrets.
Everything was just OK. The characters, the story, their lives. It didn't particularly grab me, but I also didn't dislike it. I would recommend it to my audience as an easy summer day read.

Juno Sutherland is just about managing to keep things together. Her job as a GP and raising a family mean that she is constantly on the go, and continually criticised by her smart as a whip daughter. Things have been a bit of a struggle since her husband took a years secondment to America. When a dishy new doctor joins the practice Juno begins to question whether her marriage is a happy one. Life becomes even more complicated when her younger sister, Lexia, returns home. Lexia left home at sixteen to become a sing star on reality TV and hasn't returned home since. Lexia's return home signals an unraveling of lots of secrets.

This is one of those stories that has a little bit of everything; romance, an unhappy marriage, precocious children, family secrets, heartbreak and so much more. I really enjoyed the mix of characters, particularly Juno and Lexia.

Juno's story focuses on the marriage she fell in to, the rest of her life is fine. The appearance of the handsome new doctor while her husband is working away is the catalyst needed to make her examine the status quo. There are some humorous moments, along with the inevitable misunderstandings, before the situation is resolved.

The elements featuring Lexia show the seedier side of reality TV and hammer home the fact that fame isn't everything we expect. From the outside Lexia appears to have everything but we slowly learn that her marriage to a waning football star has lost its gloss and huge secrets are ruining her happiness.

Along with Juno and Lexia there are two other Sutherland sisters, sisters who play more minor roles in the story, however they are hiding secrets too. Some of the secrets are darker than others but over time we learn that life becomes more complicated the longer those secrets remain hidden.

A beautiful story of sisterhood, wonderful characters and a sense of humor throughout, plus some drama and secrets. This book covers it all! There are four sisters all from a small village, all with different goals in mind. Juno is a doctor who is questioning herself if she ever loved her husband. Lexia is the youngest with dreams of becoming a music superstar but also is stuck taking care of her mentally ill mother. Pandora is a stay at home mom, the one who tries to keep everyone all together but for Lexia.. And to round it out is Ariadne, who is a teacher. All are very good singers something they got form their mom, but Lexia is a star and her dreams came true and after many years she is returning home.
The story involves the ups and downs relationships of the sisters, secrets that are revealed and finding your truth.
The narration was great, but I did wish for the book till I got all the sisters straight in my mind. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #SingMeaSecret

The four Sutherland sisters have been through a lot in their lives. When their philandering father leaves their mother, Helen, she descends into a mental health crisis, leaving the girls to fend for themselves. Each of them is affected differently by this trauma in their lives that gets carried into their futures with them. But rather than bringing them closer to each other, each of the sisters becomes an island unto themselves, trying to make their way in the world.

It's only when events bring them back together again years later that they realize the secrets each has hidden from the other, which finally draws them back to each other.

I did find the story to be a bit chaotic and hard to keep track of at times, with a huge cast of characters including husbands, children, parents, ex-partners, new partners, nannies, chickens and more. But it was paced well and was humorous at times.

Thank you to Julie Houston, Saga Egmont Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.