Secrets of Young Brides #35

When a young woman named Marge Nelson repeatedly rebuffs the charming Dave Howard's dinner invitations at the drugstore where she works, she finally learns he's been buying perfume for someone named Eileen—and assumes the worst when a woman answers his home phone. Heartbroken and convinced he's a cad, Marge throws up walls against romance itself, only to discover the truth might be far different from what she believed. This 1963 romance explores how misunderstanding and wounded pride can blind us to what's really in front of us.

Lucia Rivera clawed her way out of the slums and into college, determined to leave her past on S. 14th Street behind forever—until she meets Gordie, a fellow student who sees something in her that her relentless ambition has made her forget. As Lucia builds the comfortable suburban life she's always dreamed of, she's forced to confront a painful question: has her desperate escape cost her the one thing that truly matters?

When John Parsons is introduced to Maureen by her friend Mary, Maureen finds herself drawn to him—so much so that she subtly encourages a romantic wedge between him and Mary, hoping to win his affection for herself. Years later, after Mary marries an Air Force doctor and is widowed, she returns home to stay with Maureen and John, and Maureen's old insecurities resurface as she watches the two grow close again. Maureen must confront what she's really willing to sacrifice and whether the man she loves truly belongs with her at all.