Returning to Lovett, Texas, after a 15-year absence, Daisy Lee Monroe has a couple of things to deliver to Jackson Parrish: a letter that Daisy's now-deceased husband, Steven, has written to him, and Nathan, the son Jack doesn't know he has.

Though Jack makes it clear he wants nothing to do with Daisy, they have to get along for Nathan's sake. Meanwhile, Jack contemplates whether he'll be able to forgive Steven and Daisy for keeping Nathan from him. Daisy hopes so, since the relationships he is building with both his son and her depend on it.

This is a wonderful, warm romance. The love Daisy has for both Steven and Jack is poignant and heartbreaking. Jack's reaction to Daisy's news is both genuine and reasonable. A bit predictable and frustrating at times, this story is still one you won't want to put down until the last page. Gibson's tale is the second of Avon's four-part Romance Superleader Confidential series. Each story, penned by a different author, features a hero with a "super secret." (Feb., 384 pp., $6.99)

—Susan Mobley