This twin switch will save her business -- as long as it
doesn't get personal…
Talent agent Kendall Squire desperately needs actor Max
Dunn to leave his self-imposed retirement. As the agent for his identical twin
brother, Kendall may have signed up her client to do a commercial without
finalizing one tiny detail: his availability. Max would be the perfect
stand-in, but when she goes to his mountaintop cabin to pitch the idea, they
end up trapped by a blizzard. Soon, convincing Max to pose as his twin gives
way to a much more intimate negotiation…
Fun opposites attract story. Kendall is a Hollywood agent
who is determined to make a success of her chosen career. Unfortunately, things
aren't going so well for her. She mistakenly committed her client, Isaac Dunn,
to doing a sponsor's commercial without checking with him first. With his
upcoming part reprising the role that made him famous as a child actor, they
can't afford the bad publicity if he doesn't follow through. So Kendall travels
to snowy Virginia to convince Isaac's twin brother, Max, to play the part of
Isaac.
Max walked away from Hollywood fifteen years ago, burned
out on everything he experienced working as his brother's double. He swore he'd
never go back and bluntly refused all attempts to convince him otherwise. He
prefers the privacy of his mountaintop cabin and the friends who don't care
about his former life. His relationship with Isaac is strained because of it.
I loved the first meeting between Max and Kendall. Kendall
shows up on his doorstep in the middle of a snowstorm, obviously ill-prepared
for the weather conditions. She immediately launches into her proposal that he returns
to Hollywood with her to do the commercial, thereby helping his brother. Max
tells her no. Every reason or incentive she comes up with, he flatly refuses. When
he tells her to leave, she plans to return to the town, stay at the hotel, and
then try again. However, fate has other plans. She doesn't get far before
wrecking her car and walking back to Max's house, where she is snowed in with
him for the next several days.
I enjoyed watching the relationship between them develop.
The sparks between them fly fast and furious despite their differences. Max is
settled on his mountain with the privacy he craves, but he can't deny that he
finds Kendall fascinating, entertaining, and sexy. With her fashionable clothes
and Hollywood career, Kendall is all California, but Max's sexy mountain man vibe
sucks her in. I loved watching her try to convince Max to go along with the
plan. It's not until she opens up about why it means so much to her that he
begins to soften his stance. I loved watching their interactions, as both excel
at teasing and innuendo while their attraction builds higher and higher.
The chemistry between them is explosive. Neither expects
the depth of the connection they feel, and they try to ignore it. After all,
their fling has an expiration date. When Max agrees to shoot the commercial
himself with Kendall as his costar, the result is incredible. But trouble looms
when someone at the sponsor's office leaks the commercial long before its
release date. Suddenly everyone believes that Kendall is involved with Isaac,
and Max doesn't like that. When Isaac shows up at the cabin, all hell breaks loose.
I felt terrible for Max and Kendall. He hates the idea
that people think Kendall is with Isaac. He hasn't quite accepted that he's in
love with her, but he knows he's in deep. Kendall knows she's in love with Max,
but her work is essential to her. She feels it is vital to do damage control, which
means pretending with Isaac for a while. I feel as though if they had just told
each other how they felt, Max would have been okay with the pretense. Instead,
Max refuses to go with them and lets Kendall walk away. And Kendall chooses
Isaac over Max because of her career. Each of them deserved the misery they
felt. While Kendall tried to make the best of it, Max wallowed in his
unhappiness. I loved the advice from his friend Luca, "Woman like that
comes into your life, one who makes you tromp out in the snow and kick your own
a$$ for her bonking her car into a tree, you don't let her leave. You drop to
your knees and beg her to stay." Max's big moment at the end was sweet,
romantic, and fun to watch.
I loved the setting of the book. Stranded together by a
blizzard gives them plenty of time to get to know each other. Kendall sees a
different side to Max when she visits the small town with him. The people
accept Max for who he is without making a big deal over him, and he returns the
favor by investing in the town itself. I also loved Max's pleasure in showing
Kendall around his world and his surprise at how well she fits.
I liked the few secondary characters. Luca knows Max well
and is one of the few people who can call him out when he's being stupid. One
that I surprisingly liked a lot was Max's ex-wife, Bunny. Though she has a bit
of a one-track mind, she was unexpectedly loyal to him. At first, Isaac rubbed
me the wrong way, as he seemed all about himself. Hearing about how he treated
Max when they were younger didn't help. I feel like he's got some growing up to
do and can't wait to see how the author makes it happen.
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