Then Come Lies (Silver Spoon 2) by Nicole French-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 30, 2023

Once upon a time, I fell for a dashing London restaurateur named Xavier.
He left me with a broken heart… and a positive pregnancy test.

Now, he’s back in my life and determined to stay.
He asks me just one question: will I move to London with him?

But as I enter Xavier’s world, our differences couldn’t be starker.
He’s tall, dashing, and practically royal.
I’m short, bookish, and the definition of common.

First comes love, then comes marriage.
Yet all I’ve got are half-truths and masked secrets.
If Xavier and I catch fire, the only thing left in the embers may be our deceptions.

••••••

REVIEW:THEN COME LIES is the second instalment in Nicole French’s contemporary, adult THE SILVER SPOON erotic, romance trilogy focusing on thirty-two year old chef/restaurateur Xavier Sato Parker, and twenty-seven year old, single mother, primary school teacher Francesca Zola. THE SILVER SPOON trilogy is a spin off from the author’s ROSE GOLD trilogy. Francesca is Matthew Zola’s sister. THEN COME LIES should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up several weeks after the events of book one FIRST COMES LOVE

NOTE: Some of the events of THEN COME LIES cross over with, and run parallel to some of the events of the ROSE GOLD Trilogy. If you have not read book one FIRST COMES LOVE, there may be spoilers in my review.

SOME BACKGROUND: Approximately five years earlier, Francesca Zola spent one wonderful month with Xavier Sato but early one morning, Xavier ghosted our heroine without looking back. Fast forward to present day wherein Francesca Zola is a primary school teacher and single mother, having given birth to Xavier’s daughter four years earlier. Francesca tried to find Xavier without any luck, and five years had passed without contact or knowledge. A holiday party would bring Francesca face to face with her past, a past that knew nothing about the daughter she was raising on her own.

Told from dual first person perspectives -Francesca present day, Xavier from the past- THEN COME LIES follows Francesca and her daughter Sofie’s journey to England where they will spend the summer with Xavier Sato Parker. Xavier Parker was ordered to return to his ancestral home in England in the wake of the imminent death of his beloved uncle. Xavier is the heir to royal title, a fortune and a position in high society but all is not well on his ascent to the throne. Desperate for the company of Francesca, and the daughter he barely knows, Xavier will bring American born Francesca into a world of which she was completely unprepared. From the volatile gossip, rumors and paparazzi, to the family infighting for power and control,Francesca would quickly discover she was no longer in control of her life, or the fall-out that would precipitate her arrival in England. As Francesca struggled to find a place within the royal halls, everyone else was working behind the scenes to ensure she would never succeed.

The relationship between Francesca and Xavier is turbulent yet passionate, unrestrained and barely controlled. Francesca will witness a different side to the man with whom she fell in love years before, a man she no longer recognizes in the face of dysfunctional family behavior, his need for control, and a campaign for the ultimate prize. Francesca will quickly become a punching bag for gossip fodder by the social elite and wanna-be royals but the man that she loves is blinded by his position to see the destruction of the woman he claims to love. The $ex scenes are aggressive, intense and not without some questionable behavior.

We are reintroduced to Xavier’s friend and COO Jagger Harrington; and art teacher Adam Klein, a man with secrets of his own, as well as the return of Francesca’s brother Matthew and sister Kate; Xavier’s mother’s best friend Elsie Crew, his step-brother Frederick, step mother Georgina, and Imogene, Xavier’s childhood friend and threat to his relationship with our story line heroine.

THEN COME LIES reads akin to the Harry and Meghan (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) battle with the Royal Family, and the fall-out of the destructive nature of discrimination, cultural snobbery, judgement and sanctimonious behavior of the social climbing royal and powerful elite. From the disrespectful actions of Xavier’s family and the people of the country he now calls home, there is no one and no where for Francesca to turn. The premise is heart breaking and emotional; the romance suffers in the face of contempt and obliviousness; the characters are struggling, broken and barely surviving. THEN COME LIES ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one FIRST COME LOVE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Nicole French is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. She’s also a hopeless romantic, Springsteen fanatic, and total bookworm. When not writing, she is hanging out with her family, playing soccer with the rest of the thirty-plus crowd in Seattle, or going on dates with her husband. In her spare time, she likes to go running or practice the piano, but never seems to do either one of these things as much as she should.

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