A Taste of Fear — Lorena Ann Olmstead

When young Joan Winslow's uncle died, Joan found it necessary to go to work for the first time in her life. And luckily for the blue-gray-eyed girl, she was able to secure the position of secretary to a famous retired actress, Lora Galin.

After joining Lora's household in Hollywood, Joan met the members of the actress's family. There was Roger, Lora's son; Carol, a pretty young woman who called Lora her aunt; Calvin Matthews, Lora's brother, and Ted Grandon, her business manager. Then there was Delma Page, a house guest and a beautiful actress who had set her cap for Roger.

But there was still one other member of Lora's household. Emory Bryant, whom Lora had almost adopted, was a handsome and charming young man whom Lora adored but no one else trusted. For some unexplained reason he was thought to be dangerous, and Joan was warned to keep her distance from him.

From the start Joan was strongly attracted to Roger, but she hesitated to put herself in competition with Delma, so much more glamorous than she. And then a surprising thing happened. Emory began to pursue Joan romantically, and before she knew what had happened to her, she realized that everyone -- including Roger -- thought she was engaged to Emory…