Veena’s review of The Sapphire Daughter (Lost Daughters, Book 4) by Soraya Lane
Women’s Fiction published by Bookouture 08 Mar 24 

When Georgia is summoned to a lawyer’s office, along with four other young women, the last thing she expects is to receive a small wooden box. Completely overwhelmed and not quite sure she’s ready to receive anything in lieu of a grandmother who abandoned her, she glances at the pink glittering stone and some newspapers in Italian, forgetting about the box.  It’s only when’s browsing through an auction house she sees a necklace of pink stones, similar to what she has that she starts to look into her inheritance.

The story alternates between the past and the present, so we as readers know about Delphine and her love affair with a wealthy Swiss financier, who pries the stone out of a crown and promises her an engagement ring. Unfortunately, he dies before he can make good on his promise, and she’s left pregnant and alone, not married with two children. So she gives birth in a home for women and gives her daughter up for adoption, making sure these obscure clues go with the child.

Georgia’s search for the story behind the bequest leads her to Geneva and a meeting with jeweler Luca, whose family has been tasked with protecting the crown and solving the mystery of the missing jewel. As is inevitable, Luca and Georgia fall in love, but Georgia is fearful of relationships, since she lost her parents and her grandmother disowned her. Fortunately, her friend Sam’s parents opened up their hearts and home to this abandoned child.

It is in her quest to learn Delphine’s story and her own history that Georgia opens her heart and mind to realize that she has always had a family in Sam and her parents and now Luca’s family has become her own. Can she further risk her heart and look for Delphine’s legal heirs?  The story plays out beautifully, as the past and the present finally connect and the crown is made whole again.

There are five other young women who have received similar clues to their biological origins. I have not read these stories yet, but I am definitely intrigued by this one to want to find out more about these mysterious boxes and what they contain and where they lead the recipient.

Grade: A

Summary:

Lake Geneva, 1951: Delphine looked up at Florian, her fingers grazing his cheek as she pressed her mouth to his, the sapphire tiara sparkling beside them. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “I will marry you. If you can find a way, then I promise you. I will marry you.”

London, present day. Georgia holds the rare pink sapphire in her hands, watching it glitter in the morning light. It was left for her at Hope’s House, a home for unmarried mothers whose babies were adopted. But how is it connected to the secrets of her family’s complicated history?

Georgia tries to forget about the sapphire, her heart too bruised by past hurts. But when she discovers the gemstone was part of a priceless tiara owned by the Italian royal family, she is drawn in by the mystery surrounding it. Her only way of finding answers is to travel to Lake Geneva to meet with the man who inherited the stunning tiara from his grandfather.

When she arrives at the breathtaking lakeside city, handsome Luca tells her he’s been searching for the missing stone for years and is eager to piece together how it arrived at Hope’s House. As they spend sun-drenched days together, Georgia and Luca grow closer and uncover the passionate, forbidden love story of Delphine and Florian, whose tragic romance forced Delphine to make a heartbreaking decision with devastating consequences…

As Georgia comes to terms with the decades-old secret, will it shatter everything she thought she knew about herself? Or will Delphine’s courage inspire her to open up her own heart and build a new life with Luca?

No excerpt available.