By Sophie Kinsella

In Can You Keep a Secret? an ordinary girl with a kind heart becomes involved with the owner and founder of the multinational company she works for. She is a kind of a Bridget Jones character in a kind of Bridget Jones-type position. Jack, the founder of the company, is a Steve Jobs type (but a decent human being). It is an unlikely romance, and certainly kept my interest. There was a lot of chemistry between them. Emma has quite an inferiority complex due to her family circumstances, and is prone to get herself in embarrassing situations. Kinsella shows us rather than tells us how charming, and attractive she must be despite her self-deprecating inner voice that we, the readers, are privy to. A flight attendant upgrades her coach seat to business class for no apparent reason that is told to us, her best friend is a high powered brilliant lawyer, people she runs into are friendly, nice, and seem as fond of her as I was: the waiter at the high end restaurant Jack takes her to on their first date, Antonio the restaurant owner, and Aiden the barista. Not to mention, her boyfriend Connor. He is successful, handsome, nice, and quite a catch. He is crazy about her and heart-broken when she breaks up with him. I loved Emma from the beginning and was really invested in her and her relationships. Unlike the heroine in the other Kinsella I read, Remember Me?, she is not a doormat. She stands up for herself. I loved Jack as well. The scene at the picnic where he puts her mean cousin Kerry in her place is priceless. The inevitable misunderstandings and conflicts are understandable and resolved in a timely manner; neither party being too dumb to live. Oh, did I mention? The book was hilarious. The ending was very satisfying and I loved the epilogue. **5 out of 5 stars

July 27, 2016