The Hidden Daughter (The Lost Daughters 7) by Soraya Lane-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 13, 2025

Norway, 1951: ‘I need you to know how much I love you, Amalie. I never wanted us to be parted, and I will do whatever it takes to come back to you and our baby. Please wait for me.’

London, present day: Everything in Charlotte’s life is about to change. As she clutches a small box in her palm containing a diamond ring and a Norwegian crest, she knows she must return home to be reunited with her beloved great-grandmother Amalie and her Norwegian family.

Accepting her dream job as a head chef at Norway’s most prestigious hotel, Charlotte is welcomed by the hotel’s head designer, Harrison. For years, Charlotte sacrificed everything for her career. As she tours her new surroundings with Harrison, she soon starts to see a way of focussing on her heart too.

But when Charlotte takes the box to Amalie, everything Charlotte thought she knew about her family changes in an instant. As Amalie clutches the ring that she thought had vanished forever, she reveals a tragic love story and a precious secret that stayed buried for years.

When Charlotte discovers the huge sacrifice Amalie made to keep her family safe, will it give Charlotte the strength she needs to follow her heart? Or will she leave Norway forever?

•••••

REVIEW: THE HIDDEN DAUGHTER is the seventh instalment in Soraya Lane’s adult THE LOST DAUGHTERS historical / contemporary fiction. This is professional chef Charlotte, and architect / designer Harrison’s story line. HIDDEN DAUGHTER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

SOME BACKGROUND: In the late 40’s / early 50s, a young woman named Hope, opened a halfway house she would call ‘Hope’s House, for pregnant teens and unwed mothers. Each ‘mother’ was asked to create a memory box for the child they would never know-these are their stories of loss and acceptance.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives, following dual timelines THE HIDDEN DAUGHTER focuses on Norwegian born chef Charlotte, as she is tasked with retrieving a memory box in London England, she knows nothing about. Contacted by a lawyer, on behalf of a woman named Mia, Charlotte will quickly discover that her great grandmother Amelia kept secret a life they knew nothing about. Desperate to uncover the truth, Charlotte and her grandmother will venture into the past through great grandmother Amelia’s retelling of events that reveal a family secret that would have been lost but for the death bed ramblings of a woman who lived a life of secrets and lies.

The world building follows dual timelines as great grandmother Amelia recounts the events that will lead Charlotte to the answers she never knew she needed. Estranged from her own father, Charlotte is determined to make amends in the face of her great grandmother’s past, a past that would begin in 1950.

Meanwhile, Charlotte will be hired as the new chef at an exclusive resort and hotel in her home country of Norway, where she will meet British architect Harrison. Charlotte and Harrison’s romance and attraction is swift and immediate but Harrison struggles with secrets of his own, and sacrifices his happiness, leaving a heart broken Charlotte behind.

THE HIDDEN DAUGHTER is a thought-provoking story of secrets and lies, family and relationships, forgiveness and love. The premise is dramatic, heart breaking and emotional with moments of reflection and introspection. The romance is subtle-there are no $ex scenes-everything is implied. The characters are desperate, determined, flawed and tragic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Facebook / Website  / Goodreads / Twitter

As a child, Soraya Lane dreamed of becoming an author. Fast forward more than a few years, and Soraya is now living her dream! Soraya describes being an author as “the best career in the world”, and she hopes to be writing romance for many years to come.

Soraya loves spending her days thinking up characters for books, and her home is a constant source of inspiration. She lives with her own real life hero and two sons on a small farm in New Zealand, surrounded by animals and with an office overlooking a field where their horses graze. She is the author of The Devil Wears Spurs, Cowboy Take Me Away, and I Knew You Were Trouble.