Secrets

Jude Deveraux

When she was 12, Cassandra Madden was attending a business retreat with her mother. She met Jefferson Ames, a young man included in the security team. She falls in crush with him, especially after he saves her life. She's not the businesswoman her mother is. After Cassie finishes college, she becomes a teacher in Williamsburg, Virginia. One of her students is Jefferson Ames' daughter. He is now a widower in need of a nanny. Cassie takes the job caring for the grieving man, his daughter Elsbeth, and his father. Jeff is engaged to a rich woman who dislikes Cassie. They live in an exclusive gated community next door to an American legend.

Althea Fairmont is an American treasure and legend. She became an actress before World War II and has won every acting award possible (think Katherine Hepburn). One day Cassie and Althea's other neighbor Dana heard gun shots from Althea's home. Both women run over to discover the older woman is fine. An ex-husband had threatened her. Soon the three women form a friendship. When Cassie isn't taking care of Elsbeth and the family, she is visiting with Althea, learning Althea's history and memories. She is also spending time with Brent, Althea's groundskeeper.

What Jeff knows but Cassie doesn't is that Althea is a manipulator. She arranges for Cassie and Brent to leave for a weekend in a remote cabin the same weekend Jeff and his fiancee will be there. Cassie knew Jeff was hiding something. After that weekend she knows life can't go on as it is.

On the back cover of the paperback is a quote from Booklist: "A sweet love story filled with twists and turns." That's a perfect description of Secrets. There's a bit of a mystery, a bit of espionage, and a bit of glamour. Jude Deveraux kept this novel - well, sweet is definitely the right word. It's a good romance, overall predictable, but with enough twists to keep the reader satisfied.

OK, Jefferson is rather dumb with Cassie. He and his wife had followed Cassie since the retreat. When she becomes the nanny he is still grieving for his wife. As he gets past that he starts to be attracted to Cassie. But he can't tell her because of his job - or so he believes. His first wife died because of his job. He's afraid for her, too. Cassie gets angry when she starts learning more from Jeff. She's entirely right when she walks away from Jeff.

Secrets isn't great, but it is attractive. It fulfills a romantic's heart.

Notice: Suggestive dialogue or situations

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