This second book in a series by Ms. Bliss definitely held my attention throughout, but as with her last book, Here Comes the Groom, parts of the plot devices just didn’t work for me. Some of the referenced family dynamics are explained more fully in the first book, but you can still read this as a standalone.

Identical twins Vivienne Jansen (Viv) and her sister, Meredith (Merry) have never been close. Goody-two-shoes Merry desired chumminess while Hurricane Viv desired uniqueness; the resulting conflict created an unspoken schism. After hearing about her twin’s separation from her husband, Viv hopes to rectify that. The night of Merry’s arrival, they drink a jug full of margaritas and Viv convinces her sister to apply for a nursing position an hour away, and then persuades her that wearing high heels (“Stature adds confidence”) would be a good idea. Except Merry, not used to wearing heels, falls and breaks her tibia. Afraid that her hospitalization will cause her husband to move their children to her mother-in-law’s house and sue for full custody, Merry panics. Viv agrees to keep her accident a secret, and goes to pick up her nephew Harry at “bad granny’s”.

Ross Coltrane, known as “Iceman” by his SAS peers, is just trying to get back his mother’s embroidered sampler from his step-mother. His parents separated when he was young, but were talking reconciliation when his father’s mid-life fling played her pregnancy trump card. Ross’ mother died when he was twelve, requiring that he live with his father and new wife and half-brother, Charlie, who is now Merry’s husband. Ross’ father has now been dead for four months, and since this the sampler is the only thing he has of his mother’s, he would like it back. However, Linda, the “bad granny,” blames him for keeping alive her husband’s guilt and refuses. Ross storms out of the house, runs into his half-brother’s wife, and gives her hell for cheating on her husband.

Viv is startled when she meets Ross coming out her sister’s mother-in-law’s house. Eight years ago she made a play for him but he turned her down. Now he seems very antagonistic toward her which doesn’t make sense, until she realizes that he believes she is Merry. As she comes in to pick up her nephew she finds Linda in the process of removing a sampler with the intent of burning it. Escaping to the bathroom to wash her hands, Viv hears a thump, and finds Linda unresponsive on the floor. After flagging down Ross, she faints after assessing the soft boggy feel of Linda’s skull, and upon waking finds that Ross has told the police that she is Merry.

From there the masquerade is on, fooling only the town’s people and Charlie. Ross initially can’t understand why he is now attracted to his sister-in-law, but soon figures it out. Viv is unable to fool her niece and nephew and Salsa the family dog, but how is she able to fool her sister’s husband, the individual who should know her best? The author attempts to explain this by minimizing their interaction and emphasizing Charlie’s distraction with his mother’s death; still, this was an intrusion.

Ross is obsessed with rejoining the SAS operational side and going back to Afghanistan. It has been eighteen months since his two friends died, and he feels that they only way to honor them is to continue the fight. Since he doesn’t plan on being around, a short-term affair with Viv makes perfect sense. While I was completely able to empathize with his loss, I had problems retaining sympathy as he ignored his body’s warning signs and advice from his friends, fellow soldiers, and commanding officer.

Viv, after watching her parent’s marriage fail miserably, is only comfortable with short-term affairs; still she can’t get Ross out of her mind. Viv is a likeable character, assertive and caring, but since she is the one who convinces everyone to go alone with the deception, I questioned her intellect.

The humor in the book is great, and I think the balance between comedy and angst is better than in the previous book. Still, at the end, I felt that the romance between Ross and Viv is given the short shift as so much of the book deals with the ruse.

The amusing scenes between Ross and Viv made me laugh and the sexual attraction between the couple is what allows me to give this one a recommendation. While I doubt that I will ever re-read this book, there are certain scenes that made reading it worthwhile.