Customer Reviews

His Brother's Secret (Harlequin Super Romance)

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Years ago Jenna Murphy had been taking a college art appreciation class. Shane had been in that class with her. Though both had been interested in each other, they never got together. Then came the night of the party. Alcohol continually flowed. When Shane saw his twin brother, Adam Osterberg, with Jenna he left. Soon afterward Shane learned that someone had slipped something in one of Jenna's drinks and she had been physically violated. Shane never forgot Jenna's face as he spied her leaving in the back seat of her parents' car. When Shane discovered Adam was the guy who had harmed Jenna, it was the last straw. After years of dealing and living with the cruelty of his twin and father, Shane cut all ties to them. He changed his last name to Reynard, his late mother's maiden name.

Now Shane Reynard is a Hollywood success. He is a producer, director, and television screenwriter. His latest project puts him in Jenna's hometown of Sentinel Pass, in the Black Hills. Of course, Shane also needs to see for himself how Jenna has faired since Adam's assault. The attraction between Jenna and Shane is still there. Jenna seems to have dealt well with her past. Though she still cannot stand for a guy to get close to her, she is living her life again.

Since the death of her science professor father, Jenna has taken over the Mystery Spot. It is a tourist-oriented business that, quite literally, boggles the minds of those who take the tour. Her dad's dream was to make physics interesting to kids and hopefully influence some of those kids to study science. The business takes up most of Jenna's time, and money is tight due to having some emergency repairs pop up with the place. So when Shane offers her a part-time job as his script consultant with high pay, she eventually agrees. As Jenna and Shane become close, Shane feels he must confess about Adam. But once Jenna knows the truth, there is a real chance she will never want to see Shane's face again. Things take an even worse turn when Adam, now a politician with powerful connections, comes to town.

***** FIVE STARS! No one writes drama like Debra Salonen! This is the second story in the "Spotlight on Sentinel Pass" series. Though it is a stand alone story, the man destined to star in Shane's television series (which is based on the people and places within the town) is Cooper Lindstrom. Coop and Libby's story was told in the previous title, Baby By Contract (Harlequin Superromance). If you have read the title, then you will be happy to know that they are background characters this time. I enjoyed seeing how they are doing.

Jenna's mother, Bess, adds lots of humor to this tale. Bess keeps matching people to dog breeds. (For example, Cooper is a golden retriever and Shane is a bernese mountain dog.) I fell in love with the character of Bess fast. She stole the spotlight more than once. (No pun intended.)

I have come to learn that Debra Salonen has a talent for tackling touchy topics, that other authors' shy away from, while delivering humor and romance with her own unique style. (Sigh, no tongue twister intended either.) I can hardly wait for the next visit to Sentinel Pass. *****


Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This second addition to Spotlight on Sentinel Pass series adds to the wonderful overall story of the town being a TV sitcom - Sentinel Passtime. So many characters to profile and create LOL

Jenna Murphy is the best friend to the heroine, Libby, of BABY BY CONTRACT and our new hero, Shane Reynard, is the best friend of the hero, Cooper, in BBC and they do have a link to each other from the past--his brother, Adam.

Jenna and Shane had went to the same college, even had a class together but never really got together. Jenna and he went to the same party one night--that was the end of Jenna's college. She came home a few days later and has never left.

Shane takes the job of producer of the show but plans to be involved in all the stages personally. He needs to see Jenna and admit he's guilt to her.

Shane doesn't know how to tell her without her turning away from him and he doesn't want that. He's so mixed up he even hires her to work on a script everyday with him--what's he doing?! On top of that he sends Jenna's mother, Bess, for a screen test to see if she can play one of the characters in the show LOL

Jenna and her hypochondriac mother run her father's dream The Mystery Spot. A tourist tap of possible scientific anomalies but really optical illusions but they needed the income from it.

What a wonderful story with all the ups-n-downs of a real romance <G> a little mystery adds to the story too.