Secret Surrender

Jarrett Family Saga #4

by Vivian Vaughan

“An emotionally layered and thoroughly engaging story of love lost and found” in the Old West from the author of A Wish to Build a Dream On (Paperback Forum).
 
The year is 1880, and Molly Durant has fallen on hard times. When her mother dies, Molly is left with a dilapidated boarding house and five siblings, all of whom she is determined to keep together. But with no boarders, and her banker fiancé set on sending her siblings to foster homes, fate seems against her. Then Molly gets an unexpected knock on her door.
 
Standing before her is the man to whom she once foolishly gave her body, the same man who abandoned her: Rubal Jarrett. Or someone who looks like him? The man claims to be Jubal Jarrett, twin brother of Molly’s old lover, here to survey a route for a railroad through the timberland.
 
“Jubal” soon has the boarding house brimming with paying guests. He plans to help her turn her life around. Only then can he leave without a guilty conscience. He will not run out on her again. But as memories of that long-ago night with Molly race through his head, will he finally be able to make amends, or will he get caught in his own trap?
 
“A superbly spun tale of love and desire that will capture your heart from the beginning.” —Paperback Forum
 

Genres: Romance

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Vivian Vaughan is the granddaughter of Texas ranchers and Texas Rangers. She grew up on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau, where there has always been a scarcity of water and grass – and an abundance of self-reliance, a place where people don’t take themselves too seriously and laughter comes naturally. Vaughan’s books reflect her love of the land, the people and their stories. Vivian lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband of fifty-four years, a retired NASA engineer. Their two sons, two lovely daughters-in-law (one from England; the other Mexico) and five of their 6 grandchildren live nearby.

Reviews

[George the Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself loving this book! It had a few really silly cringe moments, but overall it was hard to put down. You start with Rubal, still obsessed with a girl he had what he thought was a simple fling with. He can't get her out of his mind, so he heads back to see his Molly, taking a job in his twin's place to give himself an excuse. He finds Molly, running her Mom's bed and breakfast, and trying to raise her siblings since her parents death. She's not having an easy go of it, with judgmental townspeople, no money, no customers, and rebellious kids. She pulls a gun at the sight of Rubal, not amused at his having left her after there night of passion. He lies, saying he's actually his twin brother Jubal. This is the part that made me cringe. First, I dislike the names. Second, of course this isn't going to end well when she finds out. Still, Rubal comes along, and helps to wrangle her siblings (he knows how, coming from a large and extended family) he is a brawny do it all man, so he fixes up the place, and he advertises for her business and brings in customers. All the time he's being an awesome macho alpha, Molly is still being independent and fiery. I love this combo! It has it's issues, but bottom line is I couldn't put this old paperback down. Fun times!