The newest contemporary romantic suspense from George (The Mating Game) has everything her fans have come to expect: searing sex scenes, lively prose and a virginal heroine. This time, however, the author laces her tale with dark characters, gutsy language and an overdose of melodrama. The action starts when naïve Abby St. James steps into the shoes of her wild and worldly twin sister, Michaela, in an effort to run Bastion, their deceased father's glossy men's magazine. Since Michaela had been running Bastion
for the past several months, Abby didn't expect to inherit it and hasn't a clue how to run it, but she figures that posing as Michaela while her twin vacations in France will buy her time to learn the ropes. Pretending to be Michaela has a definite downside. The magazine's darkly handsome publisher, Stefan Massari, hates her; the staff treats her with blatant disrespect; and someone in the building across from her is threatening her with horrific sex acts. True to the romance genre, Stefan is drawn to Abby, whom he believes is Michaela, for reasons he (and the reader) can't fathom. An uneasy history of sexual abuse in both Stefan and Abby's past, plus Abby's life-threatening illness, take the story over the edge for a groaningly melodramatic finish. (Nov.)
