Ties That Bind: A Novel » (REV)

Brenda Jackson is the award-winning author of 12 novels. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband. You can visit her at brendajackson.net.

It all started in college, in the turbulent sixties, when Randolph and Jenna became lovers. Randolph knew the moment he saw Jenna Haywood that he had to make her his. But the path to love is not an easy one. His wealthy Grandmother Julia disapproves of the match and unbeknowst to him, his brother's seemingly docile fiancee has a few plans of her own that she would like to set in motion. Betrayal and devastation lurks in unexpected places and tests the bond they believed was unbreakable. As they struggle with love and passion, secrets and lies the question is: Is love enough to help them see each other through the storms that await them ahead?

Publishers Weekly

A sordid betrayal lies at the heart of Ties That Bind, a novel by Brenda Jackson (Family Reunion) spanning 35 years in the lives of two couples who become friends at Howard University in the 1960s. Randolph Fuller's wife, Angela, had to drug him to get him to sleep with her, but in the end she got her way: she became pregnant and forced Randolph to leave his true love, the modest, bookish Jenna. But 12 years later, Randolph and Angela are separated, Jenna conveniently widowed and the old lovers have an opportunity to start over. Jackson also follows the more sedate lives of Randolph's friends Noah and Leigh Wainwright and the various couplings of their offspring. In spite of all the action, the book offers a resounding moral: cheaters and sluts never prosper.