Her Secret Family
Sherry Lewis
Harlequin Super Romance, May 2006, $5.50
ISBN: 0373713495

Tulsa Narcotics Detective Jolene Preston is stunned to learn that the man who raised her is not her biological father; instead she learns she is Native American. Already an outsider within her unit as its only female, Jolene wonders how much additional prejudice the men will toss her way once they discover her background. Still feeling a need to know more about her paternal culture, Jolene asks her neighbor Mason Blackfox for help.

Mason does not want to help Jolene trace her roots as he has his own secret that he hides even from his daughter. Still he feels obligated so he guides Jolene on her quest to know more about being a part Cherokee. As Jolene and Mason begin to fall in love, his somewhat on the wild side daughter Debra demands to know more what happened to her grandparents, part of a three decade old cover-up by powerful adversaries who will kill to keep secrets buried.

HER SECRET FAMILY is a solid contemporary romance in which the adult love subplot takes a back seat to the issues facing Native Americans as assimilation vs. traditon is deftly interwoven into the storyline. Mason is an intriguing protagonist who has in many ways turned his back on his heritage to the point of rejecting his best friend's request to honor the deceased man who raised them and aliening his daughter by rejecting her need to understand her roots. Jolene forces him to confront his past and present if he wants a future with her. Though their romance is secondary, fans will enjoy Sherry Lewis' fine contemporary.

Harriet Klausner