Ummm... Keith - without trying to be offensive: your question, though stated reasonably enough, is not actually very reasonable.
You say 'most texts state ...' then go on to discount the information in those texts.
Maybe you meant to say 'I don't really understand this, please explain', but it reads as 'the texts are wrong - explain that!'.
You're not (I expect) denying that there is thrust (I mean, we've all seen that jet aeroplanes fly, right?) - just questioning where in the engine it appears. Which surfaces, that is, are acted upon by the exhaust to propel the aircraft?
I don't know. I would send you back to the texts you mention - if they're decent books, they'll tell you, or tell you which other book to read. From my reading, Cumpsty and Kerrbrock's books are decent starting points.
If you want a guess, based on having read a bit about how gas turbines work (but by no means being an expert of any kind) - any compressor fan (large effect in high bypass engines), plus the nozzle (small effect in high bypass engines).