Lakshmi still as engaging!

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The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (Jaipur Trilogy #2) by Alka Joshi    

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




The Henna Artist grabbed my attention from the get-go. Diving back into that world with the Secret Keeper did exactly the same thing but in an entirely different way. The tone has shifted, but the drama is just as heightened. We are treated to the ongoing lives of people met in Lakshmi’s story, including her former ward Malik, who is now a man.
Lakshmi Kumar now lives in Shimla in the State of Himachal Pradesh, a northern state in the Himalayas and is married to Dr. Jay Kumar, a physician at the Lady Reading Hospital and director of the Community Clinic. She is director of the Lady Reading Healing Garden, a herbal garden designed to collect and use indigenous healing plants the people of the region are able to identify with as a valid medicinal source and to serve as a bridge to further treatments the people might be suspicious of.
The story opens with a heart stopping tragedy in Lakshmi’s former home of Jaipur that effects many of Lakshmi’s close friends, including her sister’s son’s adoptive family (important secret!) and her ward Malik. As we are treated to the back story of events prior to this tragedy we become part of Malik’s journey to the now.
He has moved to Jaipur apprenticed to the Facilities Office of the Palace working on a huge cinema has been with This includes the young hill’s widow (not that the Himalayas are mere hills!) Nimmi and her two children.
There’s the fascinating and dangerous encounter with gold smugglers operating in the mountains and the implications of this, including the method of transport.
Lakshmi ends up back in Jaipur and her past relationship with the maharanis becomes important. After all she was custodian of secrets as the Henna Artist. 
A satisfying read putting us in touch with the growth and development of these old friends
There are just so many threads drawing me on. I was fully present!

A Harlequin Trade ARC via NetGalley 

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