Mary's and Luke’s lives are in disarray. When they met it was a classic love story but now drugs and poverty surround them. They bring an angel into their squalid environment when they create a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, Luke is left to care for the baby as Mary is ripped away from her family. An Angel with Secrets is the story of that child, who spends the first five years of her life in an environment that is harsh and restricting. Sophia, Luke’s new partner, does her best to care for Angel, but she needs to work. Angel decides she needs to see more and finds herself at a farmers' market where she finds a savior in Joe and Bertha. They find her a place with Mitsy and Andy who look after children and teach them to value their talents and be creative. Angel finds herself in a place where she can flourish, and she delights everyone whom she encounters along the way. Marti Eicholz guides us through Angel's journey beautifully and tells the tale of a life well lived.

This is an extraordinary story of a girl who came from humble beginnings yet achieved so much. An Angel with Secrets by Marti Eicholz is an inspiring book that shows how positivity and nature can help us all live a better existence. Angel is faced with difficult decisions as she matures and chooses to keep the secrets of her past to herself. She achieves success in a difficult world but chooses to live a simpler life with a series of fulfilling relationships. Above all Angel, or Angie as she becomes known, brings together a group of individuals and shows that you can create a family that will nourish your soul and enrich your life. This is such a positive book that you cannot help but take away a brighter perception of life.

An Angel with Secrets by Marti Eicholz is the story of a child born and raised in prison until she is eighteen months old. Angel is sent to live with her father Luke and his girlfriend who runs a hairdressing salon, Sophia. A breakup between Luke and Sophia leaves the girl alone with Sophia. But at a very early age, she decides it is best to be alone. Hence begins a journey that takes her through a home filled with strangers to forging a character of her own to finding love and a reason to live.

This is a novel filled with many lessons. And one of them is: No matter where we come from, we can always choose who we will become. I enjoyed the psychological implications of this novel and its emotional depth. When I started reading, I expected that the protagonist would grow up to be a troubled child who can’t fit in anywhere. Being born in prison is already the genesis of personality issues, but the protagonist grows up and beats her childhood traumas to not only create a life for herself but one that is inspiring.

Family, romance, and adventure are some of the themes explored in this story, but what caught my attention the most is how Angie evolves through the narrative. Marti Eicholz’s writing is purpose-driven and while she succeeds in driving a powerful message home to readers, she also creates scenes and characters that readers can easily connect with. An Angel with Secrets is a book about self-actualization, skillfully written and featuring a character that readers won’t forget.

An Angel with Secrets: A Novel by Marti Eicholz is an inspirational story that follows the young heroine from being born behind bars, to running away at a very tender age, to finding a temporary home, to redefining her identity and finding love. It sounds somewhat straightforward for a plot, but it is not. From the very start, the reader is aware that Angel’s situation is a precarious one. She is raised by Mary, her mother, for eighteen months in the prison where she was born before being sent away to her father, Luke, a drug addict living with his girlfriend, Sophia. Angel runs away from Sophia after the breakup with her father and finds a new home among strangers. It is interesting to follow her as she grows up, redefining who she is and learning lessons of humanity and compassion along the way, until the ultimate encounter with Jonas and the love that not only binds their hearts but overflows to others.

An Angel with Secrets is a novel that will inspire readers to transcend their past and move towards the future. The author conveys the message that we are never defined by where we come from, but by the choices we make and how well we deal with what life throws our way. Being born in prison is already something that can fill a life with feelings of trauma and guilt, but Angel, also known as Angie, understands from a very tender age that she can be in control of her happiness, and she develops it until it finds a powerful expression in giving. An Angel with Secrets is a gripping story and readers will feel compelled to follow the protagonist as she navigates challenging situations in her life. It is written with powerful lessons on family, love, friendship, and freedom — real inner freedom.

An Angel with Secrets by Marti Eicholz explores social issues and the journey of a young girl from a dysfunctional family to creating her identity. Angel is born in prison. Her first eighteen months of life are spent there. But she is soon taken away to be with her father, Luke, and his girlfriend, Sophia. When Luke and Sophia break up, the toddler is left with Sophia. She runs away at six and is found hiding in a farm by Joe and Bertha who bring her to Mitsy. Mitsy runs a home for children and it's here that Angel finds a new family. A girl with a difficult past, Angel struggles to redefine herself and works hard over the years to find her purpose. A moment comes when she has to choose between letting her past go and facing it.

I found this novel to be engaging, presenting a protagonist who catches the interest of the reader from the onset. I wanted to know what becomes of a child born behind bars, what her family dynamics look like, and if she can grow up to be normal. Marti Eicholz writes beautifully and captures the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, and how environments affect the growth of children, in prose that is clear and enjoyable. The novel is emotionally and psychologically rich and the author weaves compelling streams of consciousness into the story to deepen plot and character. The setting is vividly captured against the backdrop of the action, with relatable locales. An Angel with Secrets is an interesting and engaging story that explores themes of family, identity crisis, and a young woman's journey to coming to terms with her history.

An Angel With Secrets is a dramatic work of fiction penned by author Marti Eicholz that presents a story themed around family, love and surviving hardships. The central character is Angel, with whom we journey through a troubled life after she is born in prison to her mother, Mary. At eighteen months old, Angel can no longer stay with Mary and is returned to the outside world, where her drug addict father Luke and his girlfriend Sophia reluctantly take her on. Angel, however, has other plans for her life, and as soon as she’s old enough to walk away, she journeys out into the world to find a family of her own.

The strongest accomplishment of author Marti Eicholz’s work is the dedication to atmosphere and character development that I found within this novel. Angel is a captivating character whom you can’t stop reading about, and it’s always exciting to see how she reacts to the world around her and how it shapes and forms the young woman she will later become. There’s a real charm about the descriptions of the world and people that Angel meets, especially the apparent strangers who come to help her and how she receives them. It is almost psychological in its attention to detail of how a character is shaped by experience, placing drama after drama in Angel’s path for us to see it all play out. Overall, An Angel With Secrets is a compelling coming of age read that is well worth the time.