Thursday, October 02, 2003

Two to Tangle, by Leslie Kelly

I tried a new-to-me author the other day, Leslie Kelly. Her book is Two to Tangle, a Harlequin Temptation.

She'd heard of brotherly love...

Window dresser Chloe Weston doesn't believe in lust at first sight-until she catches her boss, Troy Langtree, reveling half-naked in a rainstorm. So when she finds herself alone, on a secluded beach, with the object of her nightly fantasies, she decides to go for it. And wakes up to discover she's had the best sex of her life--with Troy's twin brother!

...But this was ridiculous!

Trent Langtree has a fledgling business, a nosy family...and a bad case of the hots for sassy Chloe Weston. The gorgeous brunette is smart, spirited and sexy as hell. She's everything he's ever wanted in a woman...except she thinks he's his brother, Troy. But Trent has plans to convince Chloe that he's her man. After all, in the battle between the sheets, this brother always comes out on top!
I enjoyed it, it had nice things and nothing that irritated me, but also nothing all that special. Still, it was a satisfying short read: B is my grade.

The book had an interesting setup. Yes, it was probably an "only in a romance novel" kind of thing, but I liked it because while it depended on coincidence, it didn't depend on the characters acting like idiots or reasoning like no sensible person would. They reacted plausibly, and that is something that will make or break a book for me.

There were a couple of contrived, less believable details, like Trent's "signed contract" with his grandmother, but this was kept to a minimum and wasn't a major conflict in the story.

Both characters were likeable, and I enjoyed Trent's campaign to "win" Chloe. It helped that Chloe wasn't stupidly stubborn about it, she simply had a couple of doubts due to her family history and to the very rude shock she had received. She didn't hold what had happened against Trent, and was very reasonable about it. Refreshing. Oh, and plus, I liked them together, they were a nice fit.