If you love Jill Shalvis and
Susan Mallery, then you won’t want to miss this newest novel by New York Times
bestselling author Jennifer Ryan.
There’s
nothing more complicated than the relationship among family…Especially when the
Silva Sisters are keeping secrets.
For
Sierra it means returning home with her two little boys after a devastating
Napa wildfire takes her home, her job, and even the last mementos of her late
husband, David. Determined to start over, how can she ever reveal the
truth—that her husband may have led a double life?
To
the world, Amy’s world is perfect: handsome husband, delightful children, an
Instagram-worthy home. But behind this facade lies an awful truth: her marriage
is rocky, her children resentful, her home on the verge of breaking up.
Heather,
impulsive, free-spirited, and single mom to an adorable little girl, lives for
the moment wearing a carefree smile. But she refuses to reveal the truth about
her daughter’s father, and his identity remains a mystery even to her family.
As
the Silva Sisters secrets are revealed, each realizes that there is more to
their family than meets the eyes…and forgiveness may be the only way to move
forward and reclaim true happiness at last.
Sisters and Secrets is a
moving novel of sisterhood, second chances, and the secrets that have the power
to break or bond families—and alter destinies.
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SISTERS AND SECRETS
A Standalone Novel
A Standalone Novel
© 2020
Jennifer Ryan
CHAPTER ONE
Flames burned bright orange and red on both sides of the two-lane road
as they consumed and destroyed everything in their path. Homes, businesses,
multimillion-dollar vineyards. Nothing was spared as the fire climbed over the
Napa Valley hills, unrelenting in its destruction. Sierra prayed it spared
everyone on the road leading out, especially her sons.
She drove, heart-pounding, fear amped to infinity, with her clammy
palms locked on the steering wheel. Bumper to bumper, traffic moved at a
snail’s pace. Like her, the other residents had been notified too late to
gradually evacuate. The sheer number of people trying to escape all at once
down a single lane prevented them from racing away from the flames. The other
lane was left open to emergency vehicles that occasionally sped into the belly
of the beast. Everyone had to feel exactly like her: desperate to flee before
this dark and dangerous road became their grave.
She loved watching the flames dance in her woodburning stove, but
driving through a wildfire made her feel like she was inside an inferno.
Trapped. A wave of terror shot through her, cold fear dancing down her spine.
She wanted out. Now.
Sierra glanced at her two small sons in the back seat, danger inches
away outside. Helpless to eradicate it, she sucked in a breath to calm the fear
and focus on getting them out of here as safely as possible. Every instinct
told her to stomp on the gas, jump in the other lane, speed past everyone, and
get them to safety no matter what. But like everyone else, she tried to stay
orderly and calm.
Noxious fumes, unbelievable heat, and fire surrounded them. Nothing and
no one was a match for Mother Nature’s firestorm. Ash, smoke, and sparks blew
all around them while the satellite radio cut in and out, the signal blocked by
the thick smoke obliterating their view of the night sky. Fear knotted her gut
and rising panic sped up her heartbeat. Every second trapped within the blaze
raging on both sides of them made it harder to keep it together for her two
little boys.
She thought about their lives, how they’d already suffered a great loss
when their father died, and all they had ahead of them. She didn’t want it to
end this way. She wanted to see them grown, happy, healthy, living the life
they chose and thriving.
“Mom.” Danny’s voice shook. “The window is hot.”
“Don’t touch it.” She’d flipped the vent system to recirculate, but the
smoky stench permeated the car along with the immense heat. The acrid scent
turned her stomach and left a sour taste in her mouth.
Oliver held his favorite blanket over his mouth and nose. His eyes held
a world of worry, too great for one five-year-old to face and understand beyond
the fact that the scene outside was scary as hell and he wanted to be far away.
So do I.
Frustration got the better of the guy in the pickup truck behind her
and he laid on the horn. Where did he expect her to go? The line of cars had
only moved ten feet in the last two minutes. At this rate, they wouldn’t get
out of the fire zone before dawn.
At least, it felt that way.
A rush of adrenaline shot through her again, signaling the
flight-or-fight response she’d felt when she’d seen the smoke and fire headed
toward their home. She could neither fight it nor flee from it when it
literally surrounded her. And so she tried her best to stay alert, remain calm,
and pray this all worked out.
Three more fire engines sped past in the opposite lane. Reinforcements
for the dozens she’d passed on the tedious and exceedingly dangerous trip out
of here.
We’ll make it out. We have to.
She’d worked too hard the last eleven months to keep her head above
water after her husband’s tragic car accident to have it all end like
this . . . in a car, on a dark road, consumed by fire.
It felt too eerily close to how they lost David.
Sierra gripped the steering wheel even tighter to stop her hands from
shaking and focused on the car in front of her, following it around another
curve, not getting her hopes up when their speed increased even marginally, but
telling herself steady as she goes was good enough, so long as they got out of
this alive.
The thought of anything happening to her babies . . .
She couldn’t go there. It stopped her heart. But that fear drove her to keep
her head and do everything possible to get them out of this situation even as
thoughts of their home, her job, and the future swamped her mind. She’d barely
made it by these last many months. If she lost everything . . .
What then?
How would she support herself and the boys?
More flashing red and white lights glowed against the thick smoke
ahead. She inched her way toward the emergency vehicles, the cars slowing ahead
of her as they approached what must be an intersection. Fire trucks and police
cars blocked the cross street, drawing everyone’s attention and slowing them
down as everyone stared to the side to see if the fire had destroyed everything
down that road. Ahead, cars shot forward as if they were racehorses released
from the starting gates as they passed the commotion and the open road broke
free of the fire border.
Relief hit like a crashing wave.
We made it.
Now what?
She didn’t really have a plan for where to go. She ran out of her house
with the clothes on her back, her purse, an armful of personal files, and her
two sons in tow with the stench of smoke heavy in the air and flames devouring
the houses only six streets away. By now, for all she knew, her house and all
those on her block were gone.
Bile rose to the back of her throat, the thought so terribly upsetting,
their future left uncertain.
Right now, though, she’d take the thirty-five-mile-an-hour speeds, the
open land and road ahead of her as she outran the fire and smoke and spotted
the sign for Yountville and the acclaimed restaurant the French Laundry.
“Is the fire gone?” Oliver asked.
She wished. “We’re getting farther and farther away from it.”
“Where are we going?” Danny leaned toward his brother so he could see
through the windshield.
Now that the flames weren’t licking at the sides of the car and bearing
down on them, Sierra took a moment to think about her next move. She needed a
place to put the boys down to bed tonight. In the morning, there’d be news of
the firefighters’ efforts to stop the massive blaze and whether or not her home
had been spared. She hoped, but her heart sank with the realization it didn’t
seem likely and they’d lost everything.
About the Author
NY Times & USA Today
bestselling author JENNIFER RYAN
writes suspenseful contemporary romances about everyday people who do
extraordinary things. Her deeply emotional love stories are filled with high
stakes and higher drama, love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after
we all hope to find. Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her
husband and three children. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds,
you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about
people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper. For
information about her upcoming releases, sign up for her newsletter: www.jennifer-ryan.com/newsletter.
Author Links
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To
celebrate the release of SISTERS AND
SECRETS by Jennifer Ryan, we're giving away a paperback set of Sisters
and Secrets and The Me I Used to Be to one lucky
winner!
GIVEAWAY TERMS &
CONDITIONS: Open
to US shipping addresses only. One winner will receive a paperback set of
Sisters and Secrets and The Me I Used to Be by Jennifer Ryan. This giveaway is
administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Books. Giveaway ends 7/31/2020 @ 11:59pm EST.
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