Customer Reviews

Secrets

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Two weeks ago, I read my first Brenda Joyce book, The Conqueror. Although it is a politically incorrect book for today, I still thought The Conqueror was a fantastic story. I eagerly acquired a few more Joyce books and Secrets was my next choice. It, sadly, did not reach the standard of The Conqueror in many ways. However, the primary problem with Secrets is the moody hero, Slade Delanza, who seemed to be in a bad mood for nearly the entire book.

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.

I LOVE the way Brenda Joyce used to write. Her heroines were almost always strong, powerful women NOT willing to let their fears rule them. There is always the constant miscommunications, misunderstood actions, wrong assumptions and way too much pride in both the lead characters. I LOVE Slade, in both character and description, physical as well as emotional. He is the kind of man women love completely and usually right off the bat, but who drives us crazy in ALL kinds of ways. His and Regina's wedding night is sensual in the extreme. I love the way Regina will NOT take no for an answer and won't give up, alot like her sister Nicole in Joyce's "Scandalous Love". Where Regina was once a very proper, but very sensual, (totally a Bragg trait) english Lady and daughter of an Earl, she now brings out her own true character.
The love scenes border on erotica and definetly get YOUR pulse racing, the fights are about normal for this kind of genre. What makes it really unusual is that SLADE is the character that cannot make up HIS mind. He desparately wants Regina, but refuses to feel good enough for her or anybody. In a previous review,the reviewer got the Slade's father's name wrong. It was Rick, not Roy, and Regina backs him straight up and makes him finally see Slade as what he is. AN EXTREMELY HONORABLE & SENSITIVE MAN. I love this book. No bodice rippers here, these are MEN and WOMEN at their finest. The little flirtatious scene Regina does on the beach, cracks me up. SHE slowly seduces HIM, and wears HIM down. The scene in the woods and driving rain, left me so hopeful and breathless. I ALMOST FELT AS DISAPPOINTED AS REGINA DID. BUY THIS BOOK, AS WELL AS
"THE GAME", Liam O'Neil is THE MOST SEDUCTIVE MALE CREATURE I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED, AND KATHERINE MUST HAVE ICE IN HER BLOOD TO WITHSTAND THE FIRST ASSAULT. Also very good books by Joyce are, "Fires of Paradise" Shoz meets his match in Lucy, "Violet Fire", Grace wipes Rathe out, "Firestorm" Storm Bragg wups up on Brett, another awesome male character. Try Joyce's old books. They are worth it.

Slade and Regina attracted to each other right away and the story develops when they get together and the problems that evolve of their coming together. I thought Regina was real brave in the story. She was willing to fight for her love for Slade from the beginning to the end. She deceives Slade into marrying her only because she did not want to lose him to the real Elizabeth. Only when she realizes that Slade runs out on their marriage did she want to end it. At the end, she was the one that convinced Slade that he was wrong in thinking she could not live a hard working life. I thought it made the hero look weak in the story. And Slade was also running away the marriage because he did not want to fall in love with his brother's fiance and to end their attraction toward one another. At the end where Slade and Roy make up was also due to Regina's interference. I thought Slade was brave only when he refused to divorce Regina and tried to win her love back. It was well worth to read.

Brenda Joyce is obviously a talented author because she fooled me into believing that I cared about these characters for the first half of the novel. I'm sorry but the heroine needed to be clubbed over the head. Everytime Slade saw her he would angrily ask her, "What the hell are you doing here?" I don't know about you but I think I'd get the hint after the second time. Even though Slade loved Regina it just didn't seem realistic. He was abusive and nasty to her and she just kept coming back for more. I think a well bread lady from 1899 would get the hint and tuck her tail between her legs and run back home.

When Slade finally came around the relationship went well for about 5 days and then the nastiness started all over again. At one point he kicks her out onto the streets and what does she do? Comes back for more. Wow. The type of woman every man wants!


I gave this book 2 stars for the sex scenes which are usually last on my priority list. Very steamy!

If you like being fulfilled by only half a novel then grab this one.

***SPOILERS
At the end Regina informs Slade that her inheritance has been transferred into his name and that her father had forgiven him everthing the day that he kicked her out onto the streets. How unlikely is that!

Also a major character comes back from the dead. Leading to a sequel? No thanks.

This was one of the best romance novels that I've read. I really like Masqurade by Brenda Joyce and thought I would never find one that equals that, but I think I have in this one. The heroine was so strong and wouldn't give up on her man..I wish that BJ would write one about the brother, James. It would be interesting to find out what happened to him...

I have never read a Brenda Joyce novel that I did not immediately become totally involved in. She paints her characters vividly. The problem is I read them faster than she writes them.

I really liked the last two thirds of this book. It took the author some time to get their story off the ground, however. I selected this book, based on the high rating, but really yawned right through the first 150 pages or so. I would recommend it but just can't give it the '5' because of the poorly written beginning. If you have patience and are a Joyce fan, give it a try.

I love how she writes. This was a nice story where the heroine fights for her love.

This last in the Bragg series (see list below) takes us back to the west for a glimpse of turn of the century California. For all the wonderful setting of rural California and San Francisco, and Joyce's great writing, I found this one very disappointing. It just wasn't believable. And, a better title for it would have been "Deception."Everyone was deceiving everyone else. Ugh!

When Regina Bragg Shelton (sister to Nicole from Scandalous Love), is in Texas attending the wedding of Lucy and Shoz (The Fires of Paradise), she decides to linger in America as her father has denied her beau's offer of marriage and she is not anxious to return home. She plans to travel west to California via train to visit her aunt and uncle (Storm and Brett from Firestorm). When robbers strike, fearing for her virtue as well as her person, Regina jumps the train. Discovered unconscious by a cowboy, Slade Delanza, Regina wakes to find she has no memory. She is told her name is Elizabeth and that she was engaged to marry Slade's brother, the eldest Delanza son who recently died. Confused and afraid, she accepts the offer to live at the Delanza ranch until she recovers her memory. But the father knows who she is and secretly wants her to marry Slade, to bring them her dowry.

I did not find this story believable. A woman who jumps off a train and has amnesia a few days later agrees to marry a stranger? No, I don't think so. Wouldn't you at least try to find your family or wait a few months to see if you got your memory back? Of course you would. A man who lusts after a woman proposes a marriage in name only? Please. And then we're supposed to believe in a relationship of a few days she is deeply in love? Don't think so. A hundred pages in, I began skipping paragraphs. I love Brenda Joyce's work but Scandalous Love and Secrets weren't nearly as good as the others in this series.

As some reviewers noted, the heroine was truly annoying at times, reminding me of her sister Nicole. The chemistry between Slade and Regina was a bit too soon in developing, particularly on her part. (She was more interested in Slade's body than her memory or who she was.) Slade, who supposedly didn't want to marry her, jumped at the chance to use her money for his ranch. His father was a true snake, sacrificing Regina and her family for his own greed. I hated all of them. And that was the problem...a story of unlikable characters. Unlike some reviewers, I thought it picked up toward the end when Slade's true character came out of the closet, but it never achieved the high note that was Dark Fires and The Fires of Paradise, which were excellent. As Secrets is the last in the series, I was very disappointed.

The Bragg Saga:

Innocent Fire, June 1988 (Derek Bragg and Miranda)
Firestorm, November 1988 (Storm Bragg and Brett)
Violet Fire, May 1989 (Rathe Bragg and Grace)
Dark Fires, June 1991 (Nicholas Bragg and Jane)
The Fires of Paradise, April 1992 (Lucy Bragg and Shoz Savage)
Scandalous Love, November 1992 (Nicole Bragg Shelton and Hadrian)
Secrets, April 1993, (Regina Shelton and Slade Delanza, last in the Bragg saga and 1st in the Delanza 2-book series). See also After Innocence (Edward Delanza and Sophie), 2nd in the Delanza series.

See also, The Darkest Heart, December 1989. It's connected to The Fires of Paradise--it's the story of the hero's parents (Candice Carter and Jack Savage)

This was the first book I have read by Brenda Joyce and I enjoyed it. The first half of the book is far better than the last part. But, it was an enjoyable read all together. Yes, I recommend it.