The Right Brother: Seasons In A Small Town
by Patricia McLinn
Published by Silhouette Special Edition
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Reviewed by Caron Smith
Jennifer Truesdale is a real estate agent who is recently divorced from her husband, Eric Stenner. Eric had mismanaged his family-owned car dealership until the business was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Jennifer, left without any income and no child support, had been forced to sell their home, only to discover that the house had been heavily mortgaged by her ex-husband. The sale barely covered the mortgages and the loans he had made without her prior knowledge.
She and their child, Ashley, a teenager, were forced to move into a tiny apartment and barely had enough money to scrape by. Jennifer is attempting to sell the car dealership, hoping that her commission will be enough to support both her and her daughter.
The prospective buyer is Eric's brother, Trent Stenner. After buying the dealership, Trent decides he wants to follow his dream of coaching high school football and names Jennifer as the manager of the business.
Wedged into the mix is Jennifer and Eric's daughter, Ashley, who adored her father and wants nothing to do with her Uncle Trent. She continually makes comparisons between the two men, with Trent coming out the loser.
Although Trent had purchased the dealership with his own money, his father, Franklin, still tries to run the show from behind the scenes. His one motive is to punish Jennifer, blaming her for his son, Eric's, failures.
Trent discovers that somebody has set up a phony account at the dealership and money is being laundered through this account. Jennifer is the main suspect until Trent's mother, Ella, tells everybody that Franklin is the one who had been siphoning money through the dealership and was sending it to Eric.
Trent and Ashley form a fragile bond that he hopes will strengthen with time. Trent and Jennifer decide to marry and have other children who are born into a family of love.
This book is full of emotional webs, capturing the hero and heroine in lies and deceitfulness that pulls them apart, yet love prevails in the end.
Armchair Interviews says: Another family's secrets well-written.