Secrets [Mass Market Paperback]

Slade Delanza is the second son of a California rancher who owns a vast ranch that stretches from the ocean into the mountains. The ranch is Slade's first love although you find that hardly conceivable. Ten years previously, at the age of fifteen, he had left the ranch in a rage at his father, Rick Delanza. He had moved to San Francisco and started working for a very successful man who now treated him like a son. Slade had spent most of the past ten years in San Francisco and rarely came home. But he still cared deeply for his two brothers, James, the oldest, and Edward, the youngest. Now James, his father's favorite son and heir is dead. Slade is home for the funeral but the arguments between Rick and his son, Slade, still rage. Slade is now the heir to the magnificent ranch and Rick wants him home. Slade, always angry with his father, fights him every step of the way. When Rick forces upon him the situation of marrying an heiress to save their ranch, Slade is more bitter than ever before. It seems his dead brother was to wed an heiress with enough money to save the ranch from its debtors. Rick now wants Slade to marry his dead brother's fiancé to gain the inheritance and save the ranch. Slade despises the idea and does not want to take James's fiancé as his wife - even if he is dead. For some reason, it strikes him as dishonorable.

Regina Bragg Stratton is the daughter of an English earl and is in the States visiting her large family. (Apparently this is one of a large series called the Bragg series.) Regina is traveling, by train, to visit her aunt and uncle in San Francisco when the train is robbed and she jumps from the train to save herself. When she regains consciousness after her tumble from the train, she is staring into the face of the most handsome man she has ever met and has no memory. The man is Slade Delanza and he thinks Regina is Elizabeth Sinclair, his dead brother's fiancée. Having no memory, Regina hesitantly accepts the Delanza family's invitation to come to their ranch and take the time to recover. She soon discovers the reasons she is really there and tries to accept that she is this Elizabeth Sinclair. All she knows is that, whoever she is, she deeply cares for Slade. And in his own moody, unsociable, and resentful ways, Slade seems to care for her.

Several overused plot lines in Secrets are among my least favorite. I really dislike the "amnesia" line and even more the "marriage of convenience" line. On top of that you have such an angry hero that takes every chance to misunderstand any little thing concerning Regina (Elizabeth). I tired of his extreme moodiness and reluctant company by the midpoint of the book. At that time, I thought the book could rate no higher than three stars. I let myself skip ahead about 70 pages (something I rarely do) to determine if there was any hope and gratefully I did see a large necessary shift in the story. So I turned those 70 pages back, continued reading, and found that I loved the rest of the book. This latter portion was five star reading. Since Slade is still very moody, I wondered why the heroine was even attracted to him at times. Slade still uses every excuse he can find to distance himself from Regina or misunderstand her. But Regina is different. She has gotten some backbone after he secretly left her at the ranch the day after their wedding. When she next encounters him, she demands something from Slade that has him almost speechless and as the reader you are thinking "Way to go Regina!" Their relationship takes a whole new turn and we begin to understand some of the reasons for Slade's moroseness. Away from his father, Slade actually has the ability to smile and laugh.

Although the first half of the book drags, I still recommend Secrets for some good reading. I did relish nearly every page of the last half and felt it well worth my initial impatience. Regina is a very likable heroine and finds herself making stands that even surprise herself. Of course, the very influential and immensely rich Bragg family eventually gets into the action and cause more than one problem. Through it all there are highs and lows. Joyce certainly knows how to keep a lively pace (once it got going) and the secondary characters add to the overall interest of the story rather than detract from it. There are some great sensual scenes that rate a solid 4.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). Slade is the character that matures in this story. He has much angst to work through but it is not nearly as pitiful as we see in many romance stories. He actually has a lot to be thankful for and that only makes him appear more angry and immature. But Regina seems to have commitment and determination on her side and she eventually has a great influence on Slade's pessimistic outlook on life. I have already chosen my next Brenda Joyce novel for reading. I still expect some great reads from her huge backlist.