Romantic Secrets #14

Diane works at a penitentiary where she's engaged to Phil, a man saving up to marry her after his military service—but her resolve wavers when Larry Forbes, a charming new prisoner-trusty, arrives with six months of deliberate effort behind getting assigned there, just to be near her. As their forbidden attraction deepens through stolen conversations and clandestine meetings, Diane finds herself torn between the patient love she's known and the passionate intensity of a man she knows she shouldn't trust.

Martha Burnham returns to her small hometown after a year away at college with a newfound sense of superiority, looking down on the town, her loving parents, and Ray—the devoted young man she grew up with—as hopelessly provincial. When her wealthy schoolmate Jean Manners announces a visit, Martha's shame about her humble life reaches a breaking point, and she's forced to confront what she's been desperately trying to escape. As her carefully constructed pretense unravels, Martha discovers truths about herself, her family, and what really matters that might finally bring her back down to earth.

Jerry Neil works at Tidal Steel as a steel puddler, content with his craft and his sweetheart Carol—until ambition gets the better of him. When Laura Kimberly, the boss's daughter, takes an interest in him, Jerry sees a shortcut to the executive positions he craves and begins courting her while neglecting Carol, telling himself it's all part of a calculated plan to advance his career. As Jerry's feelings grow tangled and his divided loyalties spiral out of control, the choices he makes set three lives on a collision course toward heartbreak.