The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley is the third book in her seven book series that began in 2014 with The Seven Sisters (see my blogs on The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister). I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy and enjoyed this one as much as I had the first two in the series.

This one is set in England, both in the story set in the present, and the interweaved story set in the past. Unlike the other two books there is therefore less travelling the globe, but that made it no less enjoyable. I was always going to like reading a book set in London and in Kent, where my family have lived for many years. As usual the settings are so well described I felt I was in the beautiful house in the Weald of Kent, or pottering around the shops in Tenterden. It is also set in the Lakes, near the home of Beatrix Potter, and it put that area back on my list of places I must visit soon. Reading Lucinda Riley can feed an expensive travelling habit.

The sister in question this time is Star, who has lived in the shadow of her sister CeCe, whom she has realised she needs to distance herself from in order to start to live her own life. As she begins to trace her background, she discovers her past is caught up with both Beatrix Potter and Alice Keppel, whilst her present becomes increasingly entangled with the lives of a family of struggling aristocrats in their ancient family home.

Suffice to say it is a very satisfying reading – the sort of book for a long flight, or to curl up with, with a cup of tea in a comfy armchair if it’s raining outside. I am already looking forward to the next one.