This time out, I have the last of our December releases, with Starr Ambrose's Our Little Secret (Pocket). Lauren Sutherland has abandoned her steady fiance to rush to D. C. to try to talk sense into her sister, who's just married a much older ladies-man Senator, who also happens to be her boss. But when Lauren arrives, her sister and the Senator are nowhere to be found, just Drew Creighton, the Senator's son, who mistakes her for her twin sister. Lauren has always been the good sister, trying to lead a sensible life, while Meg has been the more rash one, and this elopement is just the latest example. Except that it seems someone is after her, and Lauren and Drew have to work together to figure out just who has driven her sister and his father into hiding. Lauren poses as her sister more than once so they can try to find out just what's going on, and while they manage to find new clues, they also have someone trying to hurt Lauren while she's pretending to be Meg. A blackmail scheme coercing members of Congress to vote certain ways comes to light, and Drew and Lauren try to get to the bottom of the mystery, all while the time they spend together reveals that the initial attraction that sparked between them might be a lot stronger than either could have guessed. But first Lauren has to choose between her fiance and Drew. I quite enjoyed Ms. Ambrose's last book, and this one was a lot of fun, too, with the pair of inexperienced investigators stirring up a whole lot of trouble for themselves and others. Drew is deeper than Lauren assumes at first, but there's really no doubt he's the man for her. And Lauren discovers that being the good sister all the time isn't nearly as much fun as giving in to impulse on occcasion. If you pay attention, the identity of the villain won't be a shock, but that doesn't matter. This was one of those stories I didn't want to put down until I knew what happened next. A definite keeper. I hope Ms. Ambrose keeps writing for a long, long time. This one gets four of Cupid's five arrows.
Until next time, happy reading!
This book was sent as a free review copy.
