Secrets

March 3, 2008
Romance titan Deveraux (Someone to Love
, etc.) packs her latest with jagged surprises, but the pieces fail to fall together satisfyingly. At age 12, Cassandra Madden has been in love with also 'tween Jefferson Ames, whom she meets on a business trip with her mother. After college, Cassie moves to Jeff's hometown of Williamsburg, Va., and eventually becomes nanny to widower Jeff's daughter, Elsbeth. Jeff treats Cassie as part of the family, but reserves his romantic feelings for gorgeous Skylar, who despises Cassie and ignores Elsbeth. When she hears gunshots next door and finds aging film star Althea Fairmont lying prone but unharmed, she and the famous Althea become friends. As Cassie begins to archive Althea's Hollywood memorabilia, she uncovers Althea's hidden history and is drawn, with Jeff, into a dangerous web of secrets, lies and murder. The story has moments of humor and romantic chemistry, but they do little to salvage the unruly plot.

May 1, 2008
Deveraux's ("Someone To Love") latest romance has an old-fashioned feel to it. Cassie Madden was a lonely 12-year-old when she fell in love with Jeff Ames. Years later, Jeff is widowed, and Cassie is nanny to his daughter in his home, still in love with this man who appears oblivious to her feelings. But things change when Cassie hears shots from a nearby estate and, upon investigating, meets infamous actress Althea Fairmont. The old movie star claims the shots were fired by her ex-husband, but Cassie has her doubts, and further involvement with Althea leads to the realization that not everyoneincluding Jeffis who he/she seems. The re-creation of a 1941 murder at a Hollywood house party, complete with Cassie costumed as Althea and Jeff playing Althea's lover, a man acquitted of his young wife's murder, fittingly concludes the book. Readers will care about Deveraux's characters, and she manages to convey the feel of a classic Hollywood movie (gowns by Adrian) in a tale combining humor, romance, and mystery. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 1/08.]Elizabeth M. Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA

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