Reviews

Atmosphere Press, Lizzie's US publisher, reached out to authors and professional review organisations way before Family Secrets came out, asking them to read the book and write a review. Lizzie was promised two blurbs (which you usually see at the start of a book: PRAISE FOR FAMILY SECRETS) but was lucky enough to get four of them.
As they were the first reviews that came in, let's start with these.

1. Sonja Koch, author of Bookends of Life

In Family Secrets, Lizzie Mac presents us with a captivating tale of love and mystery that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. With vivid descriptions and a touch of intrigue, every page is a sensory delight, inviting readers into a world where secrets are as rich and tempting as Belgium chocolates. A delightfully engaging read from beginning to end!

2. Cathy Schieffelin, author of The Call and Snakeroot and Cohosh

Family Secrets tells the story of Nina and Ben who meet at a café in the chocolate capital of Brussels. Both are on assignment for work, but have no idea their destinies are entwined. Their physical chemistry and playful banter are underscored by secrets they both keep from each other, including their real names. Exploring chocolate shops and wandering picturesque, cobblestoned streets, Nina realizes she’s fallen in love. Hard. A chance glance at Ben’s phone changes everything and begins to unravel the world she knows. As more truths are revealed, Nina is forcex to confront the harsh glare of familial betrayal. Hold on to your hats, Mac’s Family Secrets is a sexy romp of a novel with two compelling protagonists you’ll be rooting for.

3. Quinn Jamison, author of The Art of Time Series

A romance built on lies collides with a truth that changes everything. The slow unraveling of the past made every chapter heavier than the last. Family Secrets by Lizzie Mac is addictive and full of twists you won't see coming.

4. Kevin Rowlett, author of Travel: A Project Outrigger Novel

Lizzie Mac's Family Secrets is an intriguing tale, blending elements of mystery, intrigue, romance, and deep, dark secrets into a cocktail readers will be thrilled to consume. The cast of characters is compelling and makes you want to read it all the way to its thrilling — and shocking — conclusion. Be prepared for masterfully executed twists and turns as the story draws you in and takes you on a wild ride!

Professional reviews

Then there were several professional reviews.

1. First professional review from Readers favorite: five stars!

"In Lizzie Mac’s Family Secrets, Ben, an American in Brussels who's preparing to relocate to England, meets Nina, a British woman who refuses to share her real name or the details of her work. Intrigued by a sense of recognition, they invent aliases and agree to exchange only limited facts while spending several charged days together across the city. Their conversations move from guarded banter to personal history, yet both remain bound by obligations neither will explain. When they discover they are booked on the same flight to London, the coincidence begins to feel deliberate. Unseen forces seem to be guiding their movements, and fragments of family history hover just out of reach. As private messages and long concealed connections begin to surface, Ben and Nina realize their meeting may not have been accidental, and that whatever brought them together has implications far beyond a fleeting encounter abroad.

Lizzie Mac’s Family Secrets examines how concealing the history of people, even from different continents, will reshape whole identities long after they're formed. Mac has written an extremely thoughtful novel with a lot of moving pieces. Yes, there are all those Clover family secrets, but they rest on the development of humanity. There's a heartbreaking hospital scene with Nina that seriously choked me up, and a public declaration that had me doing fist pumps. The points of view transition between Nina and Ben, so we are in each of their heads throughout. The writing is intelligent and immersive, especially as Mac gives us a little travelogue for an armchair adventure with the pair. The King Charles suite, with its sea view and separate sitting rooms, frames a private reckoning, whereas Juliette’s disordered French house is reflective of a family’s grief. For readers who love a family-centered novel that includes inheritance, secrecy, and romance, this is where to find it!"

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

You can find this review here:

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/family-secrets/2

2. Second five-star review from BookView!

BookView Review: Family Secrets: The Clover Clan I by Lizzie Mac

BookView Review rated it:

"Love, secrecy, identity, and the pull of destiny intertwine in Mac’s emotionally charged romantic suspense novel. On her first solo trip abroad, Nina arrives in Brussels expecting little more than a series of interviews, some indulgent spa time, and boxes of fine chocolate to take home. What begins as a fleeting encounter in a Brussels brasserie quickly deepens into something neither Nina nor the enigmatic American can explain or fully trust. Bound by secrecy, they build a connection on borrowed names and withheld truths. In London, a single discovery reveals how deeply their lives are entangled.

Mac leans on sharp, fast-moving dialogue to carry both romance and suspense. The opening is well paced, with Brussels vividly drawn and thematically aligned with indulgence and risk. Nina is quick-minded and conflicted; Ben’s cool exterior slips over time. Their exchanges—smart, playful, edged with subtext—anchor the novel. The romance is immersive, though the mystery develops more gradually, at times yielding to extended dialogue and reflection. That restraint ultimately serves the novel, allowing its themes of identity, trust, and family legacy to land with greater weight. At its core, the story asks whether love built on secrecy can endure, and what truth ultimately costs.

A tender, suspenseful, and engaging story of connection, concealment, and the risks of falling for someone you may not fully understand."

You can find the review here: https://bookviewreview.com/2026/03/29/bookview-review-family-secrets-the-clover-clan-i-by-lizzie-mac/

3. Independent Book Review

Reviewed by Tara Peck

An entertaining, mysterious, and spicy read about a budding relationship and the family drama that could change everything

Nina’s about to take a business trip to Brussels to conduct research for her boss’s new book. A famous author and close family friend, Henry, is not only her employer but also her dad’s closest friend. As a favor, he’s asked Nina to conduct interviews at a brasserie called Au Coin with one requirement: keep her identity and whereabouts private, for safety reasons. 

With the full expectation that she would simply conduct interviews and sample the finest chocolates Brussels has to offer, Nina finds this request silly. Nina is known for vowing off men to the point where her close friend, James, says, “She won’t even register hot people.” Of course she’ll keep her identity hidden; she has no one to truly share it with since dating is a chore.

Henry’s kids, who Nina views as her closest friends and also her family—James, Olivia, and Alice—still encourage her to at least keep her options open to the possibility of meeting an attractive man, if it lends itself. And lend itself it does.

As soon as Nina walks into a café to meet her interviewees, she sees Ben sitting at a table, and it’s as if a force hits her: “Their eyes locked. Time stood still.” Instantly, she feels as if she knows him. With ginger hair and blue eyes that feel like they “see straight through her,” she’s mesmerized…and a bit confused. How could she know him when they’re from completely different countries? She’s twenty-eight years old from the UK with a French mother and Ben’s an American, sent to Brussels on a business trip with a similar request from his boss to hide his identity. 

To bypass the difficulty of not knowing each other’s real names, they create pet names—Gretchen for Nina, and any name Nina thinks of on a whim for Ben—and begin to connect over the truths they can share, such as their love for chocolate and delicious food. 

Within a few hours of meeting each other, Nina asks if Ben would like to venture into the city to sample chocolate. Over bites of the most delicious chocolate, sparks fly and Ben thinks, “The velvety chocolate filling was so delicious that he immediately associated it with sex. It made him horny as hell.” Between the amazing chocolate and their intense chemistry, Nina and Ben can’t get enough of each other. They can’t sleep or work; they can only think of the other.

When Ben drops Nina off at her hotel that first night, he admits, “I don’t do one-night stands.” Instead, he gently lifts her onto a step and says, “What I would like to do, spontaneously and truly, is kiss you.” In reply, “She said nothing but gently pressed a kiss against his lips. Tasting, touching, breathing him in. He whispered, ‘More?’ She nodded. ‘Yes. More.’” 

More is exactly what happens as the trip continues and their intimacy builds with the ever-looming deadline of their departure in the back of their minds. Yet, just as the two prepare to fly to their separate locations, their phones ping with texts, showing that they’re on the same flights heading to the same destination. Such luck couldn’t be real, could it? Could they possibly have the chance to continue their relationship? That would be their wildest dream.

As soon as they land, an unexpected twist of events challenges their relationship: Henry has a secret, one that involves both of them.

Throughout the novel, enough tension—non-sexual and sexual—is built between the two characters to encourage reading until the end. The sex scenes show both respect and longing between the two that creates true anticipation and excitement. For instance, Ben lovingly gives Nina control in their sexual intimacy, which allows her to experience deeper pleasure, making those scenes much more intense and satisfying. Even more, enough coincidences occur for there to be tension and conflict that readers will want to figure out. 

For example, at the beginning, one questions how they could end up on the same plane, and once that secret is revealed, another secret comes to be, and then another. This tension creates wonder: will their relationship survive the twists and turns? Will their chemistry outlive the practical hardships they face as a couple in a world that’s full of fame and fortune? These questions drive the plot.

Description boxes about each character feel a bit unnecessary, and some repetitiveness gets in the way, pulling the reader occasionally out of the story. The reason for those boxes is difficult to follow; they often repeat what’s already in the story.

However, the family dynamics are refreshing, especially between Nina, her father, and her father’s close friend, Henry. It’s lovely to read about a platonic friendship between two men who take each other’s kids under their wings, as if they’re their own. Even more, the sibling relationship between James, Olivia, Alice, and Nina shows how a healthy family relationship can work, even when jealousy or grief mix in. The work they’ve put into creating a lack of animosity in their group—which is explained toward the middle of the book—adds a depth to their sibling relationship that is heartwarming.

This is a fun literary read with an extra umph of spice and mystery. Readers will enjoy putting puzzle pieces together about their family secrets while also being entertained with sex and humor.

You can find this review here:

Family Secrets by Lizzie Mac - Independent Book Review 

Goodreads reviews

Goodreads is a social platform for book enthusiasts. Users can search books, create personal reading lists, and generate virtual bookshelves to organise their reading habits. Users can rate books from 1 to 5 stars, write reviews, share favorite quotes, and participate in discussions, polls, and book-related groups. Two reviews of Family Secrets were posted there so far.

***** review by Avira N., Author

Love, secrecy, identity, and the pull of destiny intertwine in Mac’s emotionally charged romantic suspense novel. On her first solo trip abroad, Nina arrives in Brussels expecting little more than a series of interviews, some indulgent spa time, and boxes of fine chocolate to take home. What begins as a fleeting encounter in a Brussels brasserie quickly deepens into something neither Nina nor the enigmatic American can explain or fully trust. Bound by secrecy, they build a connection on borrowed names and withheld truths. In London, a single discovery reveals how deeply their lives are entangled.

Mac leans on sharp, fast-moving dialogue to carry both romance and suspense. The opening is well paced, with Brussels vividly drawn and thematically aligned with indulgence and risk. Nina is quick-minded and conflicted; Ben’s cool exterior slips over time. Their exchanges—smart, playful, edged with subtext—anchor the novel. The romance is immersive, though the mystery develops more gradually, at times yielding to extended dialogue and reflection. That restraint ultimately serves the novel, allowing its themes of identity, trust, and family legacy to land with greater weight. At its core, the story asks whether love built on secrecy can endure, and what truth ultimately costs. A tender, suspenseful, and engaging story of connection, concealment, and the risks of falling for someone you may not fully understand.

***** review by Anne Brooke, author

This is a charming romance with a twist of family secrets which threaten the budding relationship between Nina and Ben. I enjoyed the development of the romance and it was lovely to have the initial setting in Brussels - which is excellently described and brought back a lot of happy memories for me! The relationship Nina has with her real and found family is very strong indeed, and it was great to explore how Ben is integrated into the family setting. It is here where the secrets really start to make their presence known and there is much for the young couple to discover about each other and to come to terms with. The ending is very satisfying indeed. A lovely read!