Follow the lives of three friends in this story of friendship, tragedy, and love as they fight against the lives that have been forced upon them.
Victoria Anderson has spent her childhood preparing to be a pious, perfect wife and mother. As the eldest daughter of the Bishop, she feels the pressure to live up to her family’s status in the community. A secret threatens her family’s status but also … status but also her future. As she struggles with the choice she must make; family or love?
Rachel Grant is Victoria’s best friend. Her own arranged marriage to a terribly cruel man is also fast approaching. She’s desperate to escape a life that will break her yet she can’t find the courage to leave her best friend behind. A best friend who is also the love of her life. Will she choose love over her religion?
Elena Mason has spent her life trying to appease her father. When she comes of age, she’s forced to become the fourth wife of a man twice her age. Witnessing the abuse of the children in her soon-to-be family strengthens her resolve to protect the children regardless of the cost to herself. A tragic accident threatens to destroy everything she has overcome. Can her friend’s save her in time?
*** Trigger warning: Contains physical and sexual abuse and references to child brides.
Please read the forward for information on religious references.
This book contains sexual content and is intended for mature audiences. It is a prequel to Secrets in Suburbia containing F/F scenes. Though it is recommended for the best reading experience to read Suburbia books 1-3, which are reverse harem, this may be read as a standalone.
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This book really opened my eyes. Vicky, Elana and Rachel are trapped in their strict religious community but dream of something else. An opportunity arrives to leave and they grab it and run.
The book is really well written and you really feel the emotions and heartbreaking dilemmas they are going through.
I felt that more could have been written about Stuart and Mike as I didn’t feel like I knew them at all, but the story was about the girls rather than the boys.
The epilogue at the end confused me, there just wasn’t enough explanation, especially about ‘Jake’ and that just confused me, it also took me a while to understand who Samantha was.
Even though it’s a standalone, you would be best to read the other books to understand the epilogue better (I hadn’t read any).
This book was so beautiful it made me cry. Obviously, when you read this point in the series, you know there is a happy ending, so that was not a surprise, but the hardships the characters went through, were beyond horrifying. And yet, their will to break free, their love and friendship and their determination persevered.
This book offers the final puzzle in the story, the history of Victoria, Rachel and Elena, since their teenage years in their closed communities with strict rules and unfair treatment of women. Not all of their experiences were bad, there were some good times and good memories, but some were just shocking.
The author goes deep into these three characters and their relationships. She makes them more approachable, more human, and suddenly I don’t dislike them at all any more. And it was great to see that they finally got each other and the happy ending they deserved from the start. All of their hatred and maliciousness was just a result of tremendous unhappiness and abuse and suffering they went through.
This book was a perfect ending to the series, a full circle so to speak. I loved this story so much and the only ting I regret is that it’s finished. This whole series is absolutely fantastic and one of my favourites of all times. Thank you Melody Calder for this book and this series.
Books are best read in order: Secrets in Suburbia (Suburbia Book 1), Men in Suburbia (Suburbia Book 2), A Very Suburbia Christmas (Suburbia Book 3), and Escape to Suburbia (Suburbia Book 4 Prequel).
**I need to advise you to have tissues on hand when you read this book.**
Well I did not know what to expect when I volunteered to read this book. Let me tell you now, this book will shake you to your core. It is gripping, heartbreaking and emotional. It was beautifully written and so engrossing that I could not stop til the last word. You know that feeling when you are holding in your silent tears but the emotion is so strong that it hurts your chest and knocks the air out of you. That is what you will experience when you read this story. Rachel, Victoria and Elena have been on one heck of a journey. You get their story and what they endured.