DOUBLE TROUBLE
CLAIRE CROSS
ISBN# 0425-20179-1
2001
Berkeley Sensation
The Berkeley Publishing Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014
Trade Paperback
$13.00
376 pages
Chick Lit/Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4 Cups

Single, footloose, and bohemian, Maralys has always taken pains not to be like her twin. Her sister is wed to a stuffy attorney and must lead the dullest life imaginable. Maralys’ first clue that something is awry is a call from her ten year-old nephew. It seems his mom has gone missing. Although Maralys does not do kids, her brother-in-law clearly needs help. What can a girl do but step in? After all, it is family. Still, she does not even like James, so how can she be lusting after him so quickly?

James Coxwell is nearing complete meltdown. His wife has vanished, leaving him with massive debts, two children, and now no cushy, prestigious job. When Maralys breezes in, he cannot help but recognize she is the sexier and sweeter sister. Perhaps he married the wrong one. It will be tough, but he resolves to woo and win her once it is clear her sister is not returning. But first he has to get himself together to be worthy of her.

The old saw that opposites attract applies to Maralys and James. She soon learns he is not as stuffy and dull as she thought. Then she finds kids are not as horrible as she feared. The way both characters grow and develop is what makes this story a winner. There is plenty of humor along the way, mostly deriving from the situations.

A spin-off from the earlier book, Third Time Lucky, Double Trouble follows new members of the Coxwell family, revealing how one by one they tend to drift off from the family pattern and build new, better, and more genuine lives. Before the reader is done, she feels like she has known these people all her life. I recommend this enjoyable tale.

Alegria
Reviewer for Coffee Time Reviews
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books