A Mother's Secrets (Intrigue, 577)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent wrap-up for the Randolph Family Ties series
Review: The final Randolph brother meets his match in "A Mother's Secrets," Joanna Wayne's last Family Ties book. We learned in book three that Ryder Randolph is the father of the mystery baby who was dropped on the Randolph family doorstep. Now the mother is back, running from killers and trying to save Ryder from a murder rap she knows he isn't guilty of. Ryder can't understand this woman who abandoned him and their child. That can't stop him from wanting her. Can he save them both and dare to find a future for them?

"A Mother's Secrets" is an acceptable read, though a letdown after the other books in the series. It took me a while to write this review because I couldn't quite figure out why I didn't like this book more than I did. Then I figured it out. A pregnant young woman chased by danger runs from the man she loves. She later hatches a plan to leave her child with the father while she faces the risk on her own. The man no longer trusts her, and his brother Branson, the town sheriff, treats her with suspicion and disrespect. The hero finally understands the danger she's in, decides he has to trust her, and works with her to save her. That's the basic plot of "A Mother's Secrets," but it's also the basic outline of the first Randolph book, "Family Ties." The specific details are different, but this book still seems very familiar. It's annoying enough to see an author reuse plot elements. I had a hard time believing that such a similar set of events would happen twice in the same family. Both of Mary Randolph's grandchildren were secret babies born in the circumstances explained above. Isn't that a bit much for one family?

I was also bothered by the heroine. The heroine of the last book, "The Stranger Next Door," never really came to life for me, but it was okay because she had amnesia. She didn't know who she was, so it was understandable that I didn't either. Kathi had her memory, and I felt I knew her even less than I did Danielle. Perhaps it's because she only does one thing in this book: cry and say she has to go on the run again. We learn almost nothing about her family or who she is as a person; all I knew by the end was that she wanted to run. It wasn't enough for me to form any attachment. What are her likes and dislikes? We never know.

I was also bothered by the characters' inability to ask necessary questions until long after they should have been voiced. When Branson (back in jerk mode after a brief reprieve in his own story) finally questions Kathi, he neglects to ask some very obvious questions about her story that any logical person should have wanted to know. In the end the author does wrap up all the loose ends that nagged me all through the book. It still took too long to satisfy me.

I know there are those who will disagree with me. The Romantic Times made this book a Top Pick. Then again, they also gave a mediocre rating to the original "Family Ties," a book I still think is Wayne's best. "A Mother's Secrets" is a must-read for those who have been following the Randolph saga. But if the original "Family Ties" was the best book and "The Second Son" was the second best, for me "A Mother's Secrets" definitely comes in a distant fourth out of four.

Rating:
Summary: A Mother's Secrets
Review: The final Randolph brother meets his match in "A Mother's Secrets," Joanna Wayne's last Family Ties book. We learned in book three that Ryder Randolph is the father of the mystery baby who was dropped on the Randolph family doorstep. Now the mother is back, running from killers and trying to save Ryder from a murder rap she knows he isn't guilty of. Ryder can't understand this woman who abandoned him and their child. That can't stop him from wanting her. Can he save them both and dare to find a future for them?

"A Mother's Secrets" is an acceptable read, though a letdown after the other books in the series. It took me a while to write this review because I couldn't quite figure out why I didn't like this book more than I did. Then I figured it out. A pregnant young woman chased by danger runs from the man she loves. She later hatches a plan to leave her child with the father while she faces the risk on her own. The man no longer trusts her, and his brother Branson, the town sheriff, treats her with suspicion and disrespect. The hero finally understands the danger she's in, decides he has to trust her, and works with her to save her. That's the basic plot of "A Mother's Secrets," but it's also the basic outline of the first Randolph book, "Family Ties." The specific details are different, but this book still seems very familiar. It's annoying enough to see an author reuse plot elements. I had a hard time believing that such a similar set of events would happen twice in the same family. Both of Mary Randolph's grandchildren were secret babies born in the circumstances explained above. Isn't that a bit much for one family?

I was also bothered by the heroine. The heroine of the last book, "The Stranger Next Door," never really came to life for me, but it was okay because she had amnesia. She didn't know who she was, so it was understandable that I didn't either. Kathi had her memory, and I felt I knew her even less than I did Danielle. Perhaps it's because she only does one thing in this book: cry and say she has to go on the run again. We learn almost nothing about her family or who she is as a person; all I knew by the end was that she wanted to run. It wasn't enough for me to form any attachment. What are her likes and dislikes? We never know.

I was also bothered by the characters' inability to ask necessary questions until long after they should have been voiced. When Branson (back in jerk mode after a brief reprieve in his own story) finally questions Kathi, he neglects to ask some very obvious questions about her story that any logical person should have wanted to know. In the end the author does wrap up all the loose ends that nagged me all through the book. It still took too long to satisfy me.

I know there are those who will disagree with me. The Romantic Times made this book a Top Pick. Then again, they also gave a mediocre rating to the original "Family Ties," a book I still think is Wayne's best. "A Mother's Secrets" is a must-read for those who have been following the Randolph saga. But if the original "Family Ties" was the best book and "The Second Son" was the second best, for me "A Mother's Secrets" definitely comes in a distant fourth out of four.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent wrap-up for the Randolph Family Ties series
Review: The mother of Ryder's baby had stepped out of his life rather than bring the man she loved and her child into danger. But when Ryder is arrested for murder and she may be the only one who can prove his innocence, she is forced to come back on the scene. It is a very emotional reunion, but that in no way slows down the danger or decreases the level of suspense. And readers will be surprised by the ending which ties all three of the stories in the series together and brings everything to a satisfying conclusion. It is a must read for fans of Joanna Wayne or of romantic suspense.

Rating:
Summary: The Cowboy Daddy
Review: This is the last and most suspenseful of the saga of the Randolph brothers.

This is the stoy of Ryder being reunited with Kathi Sable, the mother of his baby daughter Betsy. He finds out why she left the baby on his doorstep in the first book of this saga, and what she is runnuing from. She comes back to save him after a body has been found on the ranch, and is the suspect in the murder. You are with them every step of the way as they try to unravel the mystery of who is trying to kill her, and what the connections between Kathi and the other murdered man found on Randolph property.

It's a book riddeled with mystery, everlasting love, between a man and his woman, and the love of family and standing up for each other in the face of diversity.

This a very good book, and if you haven't read the other books in this saga, I would recommend them as well.

Rating:
Summary: The Cowboy Daddy
Review: This is the last and most suspenseful of the saga of the Randolph brothers.

This is the stoy of Ryder being reunited with Kathi Sable, the mother of his baby daughter Betsy. He finds out why she left the baby on his doorstep in the first book of this saga, and what she is runnuing from. She comes back to save him after a body has been found on the ranch, and is the suspect in the murder. You are with them every step of the way as they try to unravel the mystery of who is trying to kill her, and what the connections between Kathi and the other murdered man found on Randolph property.

It's a book riddeled with mystery, everlasting love, between a man and his woman, and the love of family and standing up for each other in the face of diversity.

This a very good book, and if you haven't read the other books in this saga, I would recommend them as well.