A Tender Lie

A TENDER LIE
Barri Bryan
ISBN: 1-891020-21-8
January 1998
New Concepts Publishing
Ebook
Contemporary Romance

Lonely Rachel MacCall finds herself inexplicably drawn to rugged rancher Jake Reardon. She falls in love with him as only a bereft teenage girl can and gifts him with her innocence. Due to a tragic set of circumstances, the two are cruelly separated for more than twenty years and are only reunited due to the death of Rachel’s grandmother. Rachel finds herself desperately needing funds that Jake controls as the executor of her grandmother’s estate, and from that point on, the two engage in a classic battle for dominance in the relationship. Will these two ever find their way back to the love they once shared?

A TENDER LIE is just that – the story of two star-crossed lovers kept apart by a series of lies told by well-meaning loved ones. Although this reviewer found the beginning of the story containing the back history of Rachel and Jake and how they met a little slow, the tale quickly became much more engrossing. The husband and wife team Barri Bryan have once again crafted a tale that tugs on the reader’s heartstrings and does not let go until the satisfying conclusion. Although Rachel and Jake had several character traits that were less than admirable, such as Jake’s obstinacy and Rachel’s distressing tendency to over-mother her grown son and both of their unwillingness to trust others, somehow Barri Bryan managed to make both of them sympathetic and understandable in spite of their flaws. The secondary characters were richly drawn as well and definitely added to the angst between Jake and Rachel. The love scenes were surprisingly erotic without being explicit and showed a deft command of the language of love. This reviewer heartily recommends A TENDER LIE to all lovers of contemporary romance, especially those who enjoy rural or western settings.

Reviewed by Leah
July 2006