While I still felt this book was well written in some aspects (wonderful in setting the locations for instance), the relationship between the two main characters did not work for me one bit. Former best friends, Kate and Tilly meet up again at their Catholic boarding school, this time as teachers sharing a cottage. Kate is a quietly out lesbian, and Tilly is engaged to a much older man. That’s basically the setup and while it’s a given that the two will get from point A to B, how they got there was uncomfortable to me. As a deeply religious, almost-nun, Tilly is exceptionally naive and tends to rely too much on Kate to tell her her own feelings. Her fiancé is written as an emotionally abusive jerk, which is a pet peeve of mine in this books. The man always has to be some kind of asshole instead of allowing the characters to have to make difficult decisions between good people. That aside though, I also found Kate to be equally emotionally manipulative and being that we’re basically reading inside of Kate’s head, her actions read to me as the more damaging because they’re written to make them seem right. I didn’t love these characters together.
Also, am I crazy and just missed it? What the heck is the relevance of “The Secret Chord”?

This is a difficult review to write. I love this author and am impressed by her writing skills but this story did not work for me.

Pros; Hale develops her characters so well. She takes the time to let us get to know Kate and many of her students, their pasts and their passions. Her settings are vivid and easy to visualize. She pulls you into her stories and makes you feel like you are right there among the teens on the passenger ferry, listening to their weekend chatter. She challenges you to ponder the lives of both Kate and Tilly and the reasons their lives turned out the way they have.

Cons; Tilly and her naivete. Time spent with Tilly made me feel awkward and uncomfortable. A cloistered life is one thing. Reality in this world of social media and round the clock news channels made her innocence feel almost comical. The students on the island were more mature than Tilly. I struggled to stay engaged with this read because I didn’t feel Tilly was worth the effort on Kate’s part.

When I don’t engage with the characters in a novel a read becomes an endurance challenge.

ARC received from publisher via NetGalley for review.

3.5 stars

Tilly Wattle lost her parents at an early age and having no other family she was sent to live with her aunt who just happened to be a Cathloic nun who lived and worked at an all girls school, St. Joan of Arc. She grew up with a strong belief in the church teachings and traditions. When she grew up she dreamed of becoming a nun..
When Kate York was enrolled at St. Joan, she quickly became Tilly’s best friend. Kate had been sent to St. Joan’s after her parents divorced to get her away from all the stress. For her having Tilly, a kind, fun pretty girl as her roommate was a plus.
The two girls loved each other but when they became teens their feelings for each other changed. Kate wanted to have a life with Tilly but Tilly already had her plan and nothing, not even Kate was going to change that. When Kate went on to college, her and Tilly drifted apart.
Now years later they each find themselves back at St. Joan’s working as teachers. A lot had happened in the intervening years but deep down the feelings they shared were still there. At least that’s the way Kate felt but Tilly was now engaged to an older man, who had two young children. So when Kate’s contract ends she finds herself back where she was the last time they parted. In love and alone.
Well paced, with lots of well developed supporting characters makes ‘The Secret Chord’ a truly nice read. This is the second book I’ve read by Ms Hale and I’m already looking forward to her next book. A very, very nice read.
ARC via NetGalley/Bella Books

In a perfect world, Tilly and Kate are the angsty high school sweethearts of many long told tales. Stolen moments in bell towers, soft kisses on Ferris wheels, and that life and death longing that you feel most when you’re 16 and everything is so incredibly raw. I say perfect world because two girls together as a couple in a Catholic prep school present a dilemma. Tilly lives inside the boundaries of her faith and won’t cross, not even for Kate.

The book begins 12 years after graduation when the two reunite back on the island school as teachers. Tilly never became a nun but did travel the world as a missionary and is now engaged to an Anglican Vicar. Kate is a recognized music teacher and lives her life openly. The story doles out that sweet pain of will they won’t they because Tilly struggles with what does my heart want vs. what do I think I’m mandated to do by church and society. Meanwhile, Kate is devoted to Tilly body and soul. Details are the champion in this book and they’re used to lovingly create the seaside towns and all of the characters. It’s third person pov but we only get Kate’s pov so we never know about Tilly’s decisions until they happen. Frustrating but I never feel bad about accepting an author’s storytelling decisions.

Mentions of their past are brief and pop up naturally the way memories are often triggered by present events so they integrate into the flow rather than interrupt. There’s such an easiness to this book that I never felt a lull or a break. A very smooth read.

Great book! I really enjoy books that look further into the complex topic of religion and sexuality. It was an added bonus that it was located so close to where I live which never happens so that was exciting!

I loved following Kate on her journey at St. Joan of Arc. It was a very beautiful romance but also really loved the little community in the students and sisters that we enjoyed as a part of the story.

The story of Kate and Tilly was one I really enjoyed. It is such a difficult topic for some religious people around sexuality which I have always found it brave to watch someone work through their conflicts to come out the other side to find love. I have seen it in real life and really love reading about it in fiction as well. Virginia Hale did a very good and respectful job I felt in showing us the struggle the two went through while keeping the story very sweet.

Books about unrequited love make me feel all twisted and anxious. Then when you add a whole lot of religion into the mix, I'm at risk of panic attacks. However, I couldn't stop reading it. Kate has a temporary job as music teacher and house-mother at the catholic boarding school she attended as a child. When her childhood friend, Tilly, also turns up to teach at the school, all Kate's memories that she's been trying to bury for years, return to her with heart-breaking clarity. Tilly is engaged to an older Anglican vicar with two children, having given up her desire to become a nun.

I loved the setting of an island school in Melbourne, steeped in traditions and religious conformity. Sometimes it seems the former colonies retain a stronger sense of tradition and decorum than is evident in the contemporary UK. Kate's strength of character and her resilience, in spite of her enduring love for Tilly, is always evident. She has consistent respect for Tilly and her religious beliefs even when her heart is breaking.

Tilly is too nice a person to dislike but she's frustrating. Having been raised in that repressive catholic environment I could see where she was coming from and the ongoing battle she seems (we only get Kate’s point of view) to be having with herself. I enjoyed the writing, the angst and the very sensual dynamic they had with each other but there is still a part me saying, 'that will never last'.

Book received from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

This book starts out telling the story about Kate who is a music teacher working in a Catholic school. She’s a popular teacher and does do you some extra work as a house mother to several of the resident students. Kate is a lesbian but does not talk about it because she wants to complete her contract working as a music teacher. She thinks so much about Tilly who was someone she went to high school with and she had a massive crush on her and it seemed that they would sneak off whenever they could so they could kiss one another. Tilly was very clear with Kate that she was going to become a nun when she graduated high school so she could not have anything further to do with Kate Once they graduated.
Kate goes on with her life after college and started teaching career and she had some short term relationships with women but she always thought about Tilly and wondered what she was doing now 12 years after graduation. One day they had none of the school told Kate that Tilly was going to return and work as a teacher until the end of the school year. This sends Kate into a tailspin and it only gets worse when till he shows up with an engagement ring on as a country vicar who has two small children proposed to Tilly and they were about to get married.
Kate is beside herself with the knowledge that Tilly did not go into the convent and she’s about to get married to someone much older than her. Since the two of them are living in the same cottage, they develop a relationship and even though Kate knows it’s hands off, she finds herself falling even more in love with Tilly.
This book went into great detail about the struggle philosophically and religiously as someone who is deeply involved in her faith and knows that being with another woman is not something that she can easily deal with. The author does a great job in describing her dilemma especially since Tilly is embarrassed by the fact that she too is falling in love with Kate.

Is there any hope for these two? I found the first half of this book to be somewhat repetitive but the second-half moved along at a great speed with some terrific plot twist thrown in. I would have given it a five star review if the first half of the book was cut down to maybe two chapters. It is the well written book despite my feeling about the first half of the book.

Kate York is trying to move on from her last relationship when she accepts a temporary teaching position at her former Catholic boarding school. A few months in, her old roommate returns to the school as a substitute teacher. Tilly Wattle was raised by her aunt and the rest of her convent nuns after her parents died. She planned on devoting her life to God as a nun, but after all this time, Kate realizes Tilley never took her vows and is now engaged to a vicar. Having to share the same cottage at the school, old feelings awaken and Kate and Tilly must navigate a past and a present filled with challenges in order to save their relationship.

This is a friends to lovers story, but what I really enjoyed was the coming out story. This was my first book by Ms Hale and it will most certainly not be my last. What a wonderfully written, beautiful story about two friends that find each other again. The story is narrated in third person from Kate’s point of view. While I admit this created intrigue surrounding Tilly’s character, I wish Tilly’s side was better explored since she is the one with the largest conflict. We all have our coming out story/journey, but I can only imagine how difficult it would be for someone like Tilly. Her entire life revolved around the Catholic religion, which we all know can be inflexible. The author did a great job of showing us the inner struggle Tilly goes through shy of providing scenes from her point of view.

I also enjoyed the setting tremendously. The boarding school is in an island in Australia and it made things almost magical. The back and forth in the ferry, the isolation and how it made the city seem as the only place to be yourself. Ms Hale’s ability to describe the different settings such as the beach, ferry, cottage and garden made me feel connected with the story. The secondary characters were also well done and there were several touching moments involving the girls that boarded at the school.

My only frustration was I felt the story’s pace was slow at the beginning of the book. Once Tilly started acknowledging feelings, things picked up for me. This brings me back to wishing there was some narration from Tilly’s point of view as I feel it would have been very interesting and the real conflict of the story.

Overall an original, well written story for romance fans. 4 stars

ARC generously provided to me by BB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I JUST finished this book and cannot wait to talk about it. It’s been a minute since I plowed through a solid romance, and it was just what I needed over a holiday weekend. I started it on Thursday and finished it in exactly two days.

Kate York is finishing up a teaching year at her old boarding school, St. Joan of Arc. She needed time away after her last break-up, and with only three months left, her old best friend and roommate, Tilly Wattle, shows up to teach temporarily. This would be a regular, old reunion, except Kate has been in love with Tilly since they were teenagers, and Tilly’s life plan was to become a nun. She didn’t, but now she is engaged to a Vicar with two children, and Kate isn’t so sure she can fight her feelings and just get through the next three months. When Tilly shows signs of maybe returning some of Kate’s feelings, things get even more complicated.

This book checks two huge boxes for me. Lesbians and boarding schools. I’ve read a fair bit of YA set in boarding schools, but it was refreshing to read about grown ass lady, lesbian teachers. Well, one is a lesbian at least, the other remains to be seen. I am a huge sucker for boarding school settings.

I loved (and hated) the tension in this book. Loved, because Hale built it agonizingly well, and hated for the same reason. I kept reading even when I needed to go to bed, because the back and forth between Kate and Tilly drove me nuts. I wanted them to work out so badly, and they were so cute. Totally two sides of a coin.

The secondary characters were great. I loved the boarding school girls. The perfect blend of bratty and endearing teenagers. Sassy, cute, sweet, and not afraid to get into a LOT of trouble. They made huge mistakes, and I loved their dynamic with Housemother Kate and how they really fell in love with reserved and shy Tilly, too.

If you’re looking for a solid romance with a lot of “will they won’t they,” and enough heartache to make for quality drama but not enough to rip your soul apart, definitely check this one out. It’s out on the 27th, and it’s worth adding to your summer TBR.

As I sit here thinking of how to describe The Secret Chord by Virginia Hale, the one word that keeps popping into my head is intense.

This story grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go until the last page.
This is a pure romance and is definitely character driven. The setting is a Catholic boarding school for girls in present day Australia, located on a small island. Kate and Tilly were once students, best friends, and roommates here years before this story begins. At that time Tilly wanted to become a nun when she graduated and devote her life to God. Kate just wanted to devote her life to Tilly. For twelve years after the end of school they lived separate lives until they both end up back at the boarding school, this time as temporary teachers. Kate still secretly feels the same for Tilly, who no longer wants to be a nun. However, she is engaged to be married to the local vicar in town.

The book is written in third person limited POV through Kate’s eyes. We can only see what Tilly is thinking by what Kate notices. While I connected with both characters pretty quickly, I wanted to see inside of Tilly the way we could Kate. I understand why the author did not write the story that way though, it adds to the intensity and the angst of the tale. The secondary characters, especially the students, are well-written and add some of the few lighter moments to an otherwise angsty romance.

I had a hard time putting this book down. It is a powerful love story full of the push/pull of religion over some people’s lives, and shows the strength of will it takes to find the way to love.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

This was a perfect read. People who read my reviews know that I don't give 5+ stars lightly. Honestly, I cannot fault this novel in any way, including my enjoyment. What a fantastic writer is Ms. Hale! She can write beautiful romances in diverse contexts like her previous 'Where there's a will' set in a murder house-turned into a tourist attraction or this one, in a Catholic boarding school. Talk about unromantic environments...

The 'friends to lovers' trope has been used quite a bit in lesfic but here Ms. Hale presents a plot with a clever twist. Best friends Kate and Tilly used to be classmates at St. Joan of Arc Catholic boarding school sharing some heated make-out sessions. After graduation, they parted ways, Kate to study teaching, Tilly to become a nun... yes, a nun. Twelve years later, they meet again at the same school, sharing teaching positions. Tilly isn't a nun but is engaged to an Anglican Church vicar, a much older widower with two kids. After so many years, Kate has lots of questions about the past and lots of feelings in the present, but Tilly is completely out of limits... or is she?

This book is written in third person from the exclusive point of view of Kate which provides Tilly's character with an air of mystery and focuses on Kate's emotional roller coaster of meeting again, and sharing the same living quarters, with her first and possibly only love. Some readers are not fans of third person single pov and it's true that sometimes a first person pov immerses the reader better in the character's headspace, but this is not the case. Ms. Hale has a talent to give us, word by word, scene by scene, a glimpse of the characters' feelings and emotions in an incredibly vivid way. What I love about this author is that she uses everyday situations to build up deep relationships. There is no need for overly dramatic gestures, just normal life circumstances and honest conversations that oh-so-slowly draw these characters together.

Without big declarations and avoiding patronising arguments, the author touches very controversial issues such as homosexuality and Catholicism, women's role in society, charity, celibacy, temptation, and religion. Both main characters are very well portrayed, Kate, disguising her insecurities with an apparent arrogance facade and Tilly deceivingly submissive and weak personality that hides a quiet strength and conviction. Tilly is such an unusual character in lesfic, whose naivety and relationship inexperience is endearing, while Kate is such a rock for her. They are completely made for each other.

The plot has a few flashbacks seamlessly intertwined with the present story that gives a sweet young adult feeling in Kate's and Tilly's interactions as teenagers. Ms. Hale writes sex so well, that the long lovemaking scene as adults is incredibly powerful and poetic in its beauty and intimacy. The very slow-burn buildup is really well done, temptation is such a powerful player in the plot that the tension could be cut with a proverbial knife.

Overall, a perfect friends to lovers book with an unusual setting. 'The secret chord' goes straight to my best books of 2019. 5+ stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at www.lezreviewbooks.com

Stories involving the line between religion and acceptance of LGBT members is a common theme in lesfic. The Secret Chord meanders that predictable path of religious nonacceptance. The chemistry between Kate and Tilley is tantalizing and built masterfully as Tilley struggles with accepting her sexuality and stumbles through her sexual naivety. The book had some odd pacing where it flipped between conservative Victorian to modern erotica but overall the story held my interest and I was vested in their happily ever after.

It's been we've years since Tilly and Kate have seen each other, not since they attended a Catholic boarding school and wrestled with their feelings towards each other. Now they've both returned to the school as teachers and they share a cottage on the island. Old feelings return, but the struggle is no easier solved now than then. Are their lives always going to be destined for different paths or will true love win out?

I loved both Tilly and Kate as characters, they were such strong and brilliant and caring women. I connected to them right away and gosh their sexual tension and chemistry was through the roof. I loved the pacing of this novel - it was a delicious slow burn.

The setting was just lovely and all the secondary characters painted such a lovely tapestry of warmth and love and life. The nuns and all the girls all had unique little quirks that really brought this story to life. The writing was gorgeous!

This is my first book from the author and I'm sure it wont be the last. I look forward to what comes next from this author and to go back to read her previous works!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Virginia Hale came out of nowhere a couple of years ago and blew me away with Echo Point, so I was really looking forward to this book. I absolutely love the way she writes, from her word choices and phrasing to the third person POV that feels like first person. This story was so layered and rich that I didn't want it to end. The setting, including school, cottage, and ferry, added so much to the story The buildup was the perfect length and I can't remember rooting for a couple to get together as much as I did Kate and Tilly. My heart broke for each of them as they fought their own demons. This is a story that requires a recovery period before moving to another book, and I know that at the end of the year The Secret Chord will be on my Top 10 list.

I have a confession to make, even thought this is her third book and she's won a Golden Crown, I hadn't heard of Virginia Hale before reading this gem. It really is one of the best books I've read in a long time and thoroughly deserves the five star rating.

Kate & Tilly are friends from St. Joan's convent boarding school who meet again when both wind up teaching in their Alma Mater (Kate has decided that living in and being in charge of a girls' boarding school is the best way to make a clean break with her ex-girlfriend!) Despite some fevered kissing as students, a memory Kate clings to, Tilly is now so buttoned up that the pupils of St. Joan's initially think she is a novice. With a wonderful Aussie/NZ turn of phrase, the girls describe her as "So daggy she's almost hipster".

From the off the tension between the two is palpable and Hale plays is beautifully. A simple act like Tilly closing the clasp of a watch over Kate's wrist can become the layered and sensual act: "Head-spinning, she let Tilly fold the clasp into place. As she carried her gaze over Tilly’s features—the slightest protrusion of her chin, her fine nose, porcelain skin—a sudden urge to kiss Tilly overcame her. It was strange, the marriage of anxiety and arousal, the need to run, the equal, all-consuming need to press Tilly back on the bed and discover every inch of her skin in ways Tilly had probably never imagined. With Tilly’s fingers curled around her wrist, her thumb pressing the clasp to lock, Kate’s fist tensed, contracted like a Venus flytrap." I very rarely quote passages of that length in reviews but I could easily put in fifty of them from this book, so striking is the descriptive writing.

As well as the romantic aspect, parts of "The Secret Chord" are very funny, particularly the passages featuring the school students. As someone who has taught teenage girls and worked as residential staff in a boarding school I can vouch for the accuracy of their portrayal! Some of the nuns are also hilarious, although they are a damn sight nicer than any of the ones I encountered in my convent school days.

Finally, I don't want to risk spoiling anything but when you get to the bit about "The Secret Chord", it's heart-wrenching. That's the other thing that Virginia Hale has done so well, made me cry my bloody eyes out!

I think the best recommendation I can give this book is that before I had even finished it I went and bought Hale's two other books, which I subsequently devoured and adored. Definitely an author on my watch list and I can safely say that Virginia Hale has achieved 'buy without needing to read the synopsis' status.

The Secret Chord is a well written book with interesting characters. The book kept me entertained and I would read more by this author.

This book was okay, it took a while to get to the point and there wasn’t really any angst. I honestly have no idea why these two likes each other. There was the connection when they were younger, but was Tilly really so great that Kate spent her entire life pining after her. I also hate books with cheaters in them. I don’t care the circumstances it’s a terrible trope. I also don’t think that Tilly having been so faithful to her religion would throw it all away for a romp. One which she was having an affair. I just don’t fundamentally believe that is in her character. Overall the writing was well done. It was a book I could finish. I did feel like it went on way too long. The author was trying to find ways for them to interact. Also the author could have done a better job of incorporating the school and the nuns into the story. I did not feel that Tully’s reasonings for not becoming a nun were good, they were really flimsy. Overall it was a readable book. If you like slow burn romances then this is the story for you.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be an outlier here. I haven’t read anything else by Hale, but chose this based on strong reviews. I liked it, but wasn’t blown away like the other reviewers.

Main premise is that two women who attended the same boarding school as kids are now teaching at the boarding school as adults. It’s a catholic boarding school, and located on an island.

Kate, whose POV the book is told from, is on a year long contract as the music teacher, her BFF from way back, Tilly, is now coming back to the island to fill in on a short term contract and will be there for the end of Kate’s term. Kate and Tilly were best friends, who also liked to kiss each other in the bell tower when they were in their teens. Kate adored Tilly, but Tilly had always wanted to be a nun and Kate obviously couldn’t compete with that. The two haven’t seen each other for about 12 years.

So, all of this is an interesting premise, I’m usually a sucker for nun books, but this isn’t quite that, in that Tilly never became a nun, so while there are nuns in the story, because the nuns are the majority of the teachers at this school, Tilly is simply highly devout, but never took her vows. Kate is more surprised to find out that Tilly is engaged to a protestant vicar, who is decades her senior. She and Tilly are also sharing a cottage, so lots of forced interaction via that plot device.

I’ll start with the pros. I loved Hale’s writing style, the setting, the characters (bar one, I’ll get to that in a minute) and the exploration of faith/values. Kate was a great MC, and I felt her frustration with wanting to live an authentic life while still being adhered to her beliefs about faith. She treated everyone well, and only wanted the same. The nuns were also interesting, and I liked the exploration of how they moved within the contraints of their own faith. The girls at the boarding school were also fairly well fleshed out, and I enjoyed the side forays with their characters and their interactions with Kate.

Ok, so now the cons. Pretty much all of these revolve around Tilly. I could NOT warm to her. She’s just so... repressed. Her relationship with Declan was unfathomable, she ran hot and cold with Kate for the vast majority of the book, and I got tired of reading about her innate kindness by the 50% mark. Not only was she repressed, she was boring, and in all honesty, kind of stupid. I get that she wanted to help people but inviting people you don’t know to stay in your cottage (on a remote island!) is dangerous and Kate was flat out right about that. Not to mention the ridiculousness of bringing someone to an island full of nuns and girls and not caring about the possible danger she was placing them (or Kate) in. Sure the guy turned out to be harmless but Tilly couldn’t have known that for sure. She’s also ridiculously possessive of Kate, while still being engaged to someone else. Honestly, there was nothing about this character that I liked. Tilly describes herself this way “I’m hard to love. Maybe even hard to like.” and she is not wrong.

So, that made it hard to really immerse myself in the book, because my aggravation with Tilly (who also had a terrible name, Matilda Wattle, which as an Aussie just made me cringe every time I read it), kept cropping up and making me wonder why Kate wanted her, and then I’d be annoyed at Kate. I’d usually have finished a book this size in a day, but had to keep putting it down because Tilly was annoying me.

I enjoyed enough of this to plow through, and would try others by Hale, but didn’t love this. 3 stars.

This was my first book by this author that I have read and what a read it was. Ms Hale will be another new author to add to my growing list.

This was an emotional and intense read that kept you reading then before you know it you are finished. Kate and Tilly are part-time teachers at a catholic boarding school. I enjoyed the story line and I loved Kate from the beginning but Tilly grated on my nerves at the beginning and then as the story progressed I started to like her. The secondary characters were great. I loved the banter between Kate, Tilly and the students. They all had me in stitches a few times.

I would highly recommend giving this book a read. You will not be disappointed.

I received an ARC copy of the book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This book has made me revisit, albeit with enough differences, my past as a student in a Catholic school only for girls, basically how I can identify with the two protagonists. Although I'm much more like Kate and almost nothing like Tilly. But I remember how it was to be afraid of sin and, being sincere, even now that fear appears to me at unexpected moments. Leaving behind a Catholic education requires a lot of strength and will.

This book has a lot of struggle between what the body feels and what the mind allows, taking into account all the religious convictions that one has learned and still retains. And it does not consist in the homophobia inherent in most religions, it is quite surprising that this almost does not appear in the story. It is basically a story of love trough time, between two women who are known as teenagers in the Catholic boarding school and who are already reunited as teachers in that same boarding school.

There is innocence and desire and a lot of kindness, not only from the almost-nun Tilly, since Kate is in fact much more generous. And it is a good romance, despite the complications that surround the two women.