The Secret of You

By: Victoria Connelly

Narrated by: Jan Cramer

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

Journalist Anna McCall has never understood people who collect things. So, when she's asked to interview local collector and eccentric, William Kitson, she isn't exactly looking forward to the experience.

But she soon falls under the charm of Fox Hill Manor as well as its owner, even though she thinks there's something very strange about the collection there. What exactly is William hiding in the unused wing of the manor house? And is it a story Anna could sell?

Set in the beautiful Cotswolds, The Secret of You is a novel about love, trust and antiques from the best-selling author of A Weekend with Mr Darcy and Wish You Were Here.

©2014 Victoria Connelly (P)2014 Victoria Connelly

Ridiculous!

I had to force myself to finish this book. The narrator read way too fast with no pause in between sentences. The whiny voices of Anna and her sister when they were speaking to each other was almost too much to bear. And the Meg storyline would have been great had it not been so unrealistic.

Magical story filled with love

This was my first audio book and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to listen to your novel while doing the most mundane things. I was happily enjoying this story while having my brekkie, cleaning, cooking and just chilling out.

This was a lovely story filled with warmth and humour. It had a sort of magical, ethereal quality. I loved hearing about all the antiques and it was interesting finding out about Meg's background.

Victoria had created some lovely characters for this book all with secrets that were revealed in the storyline. Victoria's description of the location was perfect, you felt like you were having an adventure in the Cotswolds and in London.

A wonderful 5* read filled with moments of joy and sadness. Fun times and inspiring words. Tender moments of love.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A beautifully crafted story narrated Perfectly

This was my first Victoria Connelly story in audiobook form and I wasn't sure it would work. How wrong I was. Jan Cramer is a wonderful narrator. She's eloquent, and emotive .You can lose yourself in a different world as she brings a wondeful, moving story to life.

The Secret of You is a beautiful story, with just a hint of mystery, as is typical of a Victoria Connelly novel and I adored every second of my time with Anna, Libby, William, Mrs Boothby and Meg.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Loved it

A wonderful story in every way, even with some magic in it. A bit like books from Cecilia ahern, a page-turner that you'll remember after its done!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Average story. Dreadful narration

A run of the mill romance, made difficult to listen to by the narrator. It is read in an over emphasised manner that would be great for a children's book. Idiotic accents. Emphasis of sentences often mis judged. Listened on 2x speed to get through quickly.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Secret of You by Victoria Connelly

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I highly recommend Victoria's audio books. Brings the written words of the book to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Secret of You?

Loved all of the audio and how characters from other books get mentioned.

What about Jan Cramer’s performance did you like?

Jan Cramer did a good job and really brought the scenes between Anna & Meg to life.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend Victoria's books and I am so pleased that she has now brought them to audio. I love reading but audio books bring the books to life and give you a more in depth understanding of the characters. It gives them a real personality when they are given a voice and sometimes it is different to the voices you have in your head.

I was honoured to be asked by Victoria to review this audio. I am so glad she asked me. Fox Hill Manor sounded so much like a National Trust we have visited with all its collections in and you felt a real loving for Libby and her shopaholic tendencies. At times you felt like you were living an episode of a tv programme about people who hoard.

Love the description of the Cotsworlds and surrounding areas.

Within the first few pages you had fallen in love with all the characters. They were all very well written.

Can't wait for Victoria's next audio book.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Unrealistic and unbelievable

It's difficult to say why it's unrealistic and unbelievable without revealing too much and spoiling it for people who might enjoy it even so...
First of all, it's obvious from the beginning (and, I'd say, already from the publisher's summary) how it will end. So between the beginning you know and the ending you know, there's just an unbelievable story about a person living unbelievably long and some very quick and easy fixes to serious problems that take a long time and/or a lot of effort to solve in the real world, such as a serious addiction, a lot of debts and sudden (unwanted) fame.
I'm not very picky when it comes to narration, almost anything is good enough for me. I felt, however, that the narration could have been much better, so I'm taking off 2 stars for that. Not because it annoyed me, but because there was quite some room for improvement. Good enough, average, but not excellent or very good. I'm still grateful somebody else read it for me :)