The Art of Inheriting Secrets: A Novel

I always love Barbara O’Neal’s books because her Characters are lovable and believable. This time, however, I had trouble warming to her heroine, who seemed somewhat one-dimensional. Also, the details weren’t consistent. The character (who had recently broken her leg) went back and forth between limping so badly that she couldn’t climb stairs, even with her cane, to “dashing” in and out of shops and houses in the rain. I also got annoyed with some of the huge plot gaps and lack of resolution of several of the plot lines. All that being said, I still enjoyed the book, and will no doubt read it again.

So much to love about this book! I adored Olivia's journey of discovery and rediscovery. The setting was amazing and evocative, the Priory so richly imagined I wished I could explore the rooms and the grounds myself. And the food! Indian food isn't my go-to cuisine, but I loved learning more about it. O'Neal's books always make me want to cook. However, my favorite thing about her work is the relationships. I love the way they develop, and I love the way they're described. There's always at least one passage that grabs me by the throat and chokes me up. In this book, it involved her mother. I also enjoyed getting good and enraged on the heroine's behalf at one point in the story, and her "boyfriend" is a piece of work. So naturally, I fell in love with the real hero, who was an exciting, where-have-you-been-all-my-life, super-sexy keeper! Just like the book.

What do you do when your mother dies and you find out she was an heiress who let her estate decline into ruin? Olivia Shaw travels from her posh San Fransisco life to the English village where her mother once lived, only to discover the hostile villagers are not happy she has arrived. But there are also people who knew her mother growing up, and they are eager to share their stories and ask their own questions. A delight she didn't expect is the Malakar family, who shared a past with her mother.

Lady Shaw, Countess of Rosemere, is intrigued by Samir Malakar, a younger man who is as smitten with her as she is with him. The roof thatcher turns out to be a novelist with some accolades he isn't comfortable sharing. As they explore the relationship they uncover clues and get to know each other more intimately.

Author O'Neal's descriptions are lush and delicious, whether she talks about landscapes or food. You will be drawn into the fictional world of Rosemere and all the ghosts residing there. The transition from food writer and Editor to nobility is not an easy one, but this author paints the picture of the journey with mystery and humor (and grief that strikes a woman as only the loss of a mother can do). I loved the Oliva Shaw character so much - she's sophisticated but grounded. Any Leonard Cohn fan is automatically a friend to me, and the fact that her mother loved him, too, is poignant.

While she wraps her head around the fact that her mother wasn't just a famous artist but also an heiress, Olivia discovers many family secrets she never even knew existed until after her mother died. I cannot recommend this book enough - I am a huge fan of this author. Read every other book she has written!!!

Filthy book. I threw it in the trash

I was not expecting to find myself trying to skip over pages of detailed sexual content nor reading about a plot twist involving homosexuality. This was just not for me.

This book was mildly interesting, However, it was also slow moving in places and way too long. The main character worried so much about her age and her weight. The solution to the mystery came out of nowhere and was very unbelievable.

I just finished reading this wonderfully written novel by Barbara O’Neal and I’m going to read it again, slower this time so I can savor all the evocatively written passages. This book has everything: mystery, romance, a hauntingly beautiful mansion, the English countryside, a garden of secrets... The list could go on, but, I urge you to grab yourself a copy, clear your schedule, and settle in for a very satisfying read!

I love reading Barbara O'Neal's stories. She makes you feel like you are a part of the story. You feel the characters sorrow and happiness. You root for them to find answers and happiness. You picture the places she writes about. This is not a story about just Olivia Shaw. It is about how she finds out more about a mother she adored. A grandmother who she never meet. A place she never knew about. Olivia finds out what she wants in life and where she belongs. This is a wonderful book you can fall into and escape in.

When I first started reading it, I very much liked The Art of Inheriting Secrets by Barbara O'Neal, but in the end some things just didn't jive with me and I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to.

The Art of Inheriting Secrets is about 38 year old Olivia Shaw who has been the editor of a highly respected magazine when she gets into a car accident and has to take time off work. As if that hasn't hit her life hard enough, her mother then passes away and Olivia finds out she is the heir to an estate in England named Rosemere. A very old and very crumbly estate. She travels to England from San Francisco and she starts falling in love with the small village and the people in it. However, things aren't always what they seem, and she has a lot of secrets from her mom's past that she must unravel as well if she ever hopes to find peace and figure out what to do with Rosemere.

As I got further into this book I realized that this is not just a women's fiction book with mystery, it is also a romance novel. So there are a couple sex scenes that are on the graphic side (for me anyway) that were a little TMI for my liking and I ended up skipping over them completely.

I also think this book could have been much shorter; and the secrets aren't all reveled until pretty much the last 5% or so of the book. I wouldn't mind this normally, but I thought there was some filler in between I could have done without and things could have moved a bit faster. Also, the explanations were very confusing to me and unfortunately I didn't fully understand exactly what had happened.

One other thing that really frustrated me was that one revelation is entirely glossed over by Olivia when she finds out something big. She just continues speaking to someone about something else entirely without even touching on how much surprise she should have been feeling. I'm sure this won't bug everyone, but it really bothers me when things that should be touched on just get completely passed over.

On the bright side, O'Neal's writing is truly beautiful and I did love how she described everything. I was also really loving the crumbly mansion and family secrets aspect, along with Olivia's friendships with the villagers (mostly 3 in particular).

Another thing to note is the descriptions of food in this book are MOUTH WATERING. Like they are completely legit, and reading this book made me hungry.

Final Thought: I feel like this review is fairly negative, but I don't mean it to be. I just couldn't get past the romance aspect slowing the mystery down for me and the very confusing conclusion. I definitely recommend checking this book out if you are a fan of romance with a mystery aspect. It just caught me so off guard that I couldn't get past it. There isn't even that much romance, at least as far as sex scenes go, so check this out if it sounds appealing!

Story just drags and repeats it self. The main character has a leg injury and complains about it constantly. she repeatedly goes to the house and does nothing. Had to quit 1/2 way through