Customer Reviews

Truth Be Told: The House on Poppin Hill (Harlequin Superromance No. 1353)

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TRUTH BE TOLD by Barbara McMahon
June 16, 2006

Rating **** (4 stars)

TRUTH BE TOLD is the third in a series of books focusing on three women who grew up together as foster sisters, but were suddenly separated and put into different homes when one of the three, Jo Hunter, accused their foster mother of beating her. Maddie Oglethorpe was their foster mother, a woman who truly loved the three girls and did what she could to give them a happy home. No one believed that Maddie would do such a thing, but after the accusation, the girls were sent away to separate homes and Maddie lost her license to keep foster children.

The three are now in their twenties, and Jo is a cop living in Los Angeles. She has just learned that Maddie had suffered a massive stroke. She returns home, after having vowed never to return, and finds that her other two "sisters" Eliza and April have already returned, the two acting as if they had never been parted. Jo feels like the odd one out, especially because it was her lie that tore them apart in the first place. However, Eliza and April welcome Jo back with open arms, and persuade her to visit Maddie in the hospital to resolve anything that had come between them. No one really knows exactly what had occurred all those years ago except for Jo and the man that had raped and beat her.

TRUTH BE TOLD is a good conclusion to this trilogy of stories about three foster girls who were split up as teenagers, but are reunited as adults. They say blood is thicker than water, but in this case, their ties are strong even without blood ties. Despite Jo's lies all those years ago, the three sisters continue to have a bond of true friendship and family. This is Jo's story and how she finds her way back to the only family that cared about her. It is also the story of how she finally finds love in the most unlikely man, a sheriff that is dealing with his own pain, the loss of his young wife. While this reader didn't like Jo as much as Eliza and April, Jo's story read true, as did her character. Jo was a very tough and aggressive woman who had been hurt badly as a child, who grew up lashing out at the world because that was the only way she knew how to deal with things. TRUTH BE TOLD, as well as the other two books in the series are stand alones, but the reader will want to read all three to learn how the sisters dealt with their separation as teenagers and how they were finally reunited as a family. This reviewer highly recommends this entire series to any readers of contemporary romance. Read them one after another for a truly pleasurable weekend retreat. -- Courtesy of Love Romances