This book was not very good. She kept bringing up ideas and then dropping them, pulling things out of nowhere, and on top of that, the writing itself just wasn't very good. The clumsiness is cute - but I would have liked it better if she'd spent the time developing her character's internal conflicts rather than her external ones. Perhaps she'll get better, as this is her first book, but I can't say it's a very strong debut. ( )

The Heir and the Spare by Maya Rodale is a splendid debut novel and the first in a series.

Phillip and Devon are twins and the sons of a duke. Phillip is the heir and Devon the spare. Devon was always forced to pretend to be his brother and following a duel where he was almost killed, he fled to America. Five years later, he's back in London but only a select few know he's home.

Emilia is an American heiress who is in London to find a husband. At her first ball, she trips on some stairs and falls into the arms of a handsome man and quickly falls in love. But is it Phillip or Devon?

I met Ms. Rodale in an online chat where she was discussing this book and I was intrigued. When I came across it at the library, I snatched it off of the shelves. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the plot and the characters (many of the secondary characters were a hoot and I hope they appear in future novels). While the mistaken identity and good twin/bad twin themes have been used in the past, Ms. Rodale finds a fresh and interesting spin.

http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2007/11/heir-and-spare-by-maya-rodale-is.html ( )

This is the debut book for Maya Rodale and it was great, just as the reviews on Amazon said it is hard to put it down.

Devon Kensington had just returned from 5 years in America and he has decided to go to a ball as his identical twin brother, Phillip, the future Duke of Buckingham and into his arms falls an American Heiress, Emilia Highhart who has come to London to find a titled husband. Later they share a kiss and she is smitten.

There is fun ahead when she finds herself seeing both Devon and Phillip and wondering how someone can be so different at different times. It takes her awhile to work out that there are 2 different people, especially since Phillip has put forward the story that his brother had died.

I thought it was written very well and the story flowed along easily. It is easy not to like Phillip as he is quite ruthless and the ending was quite fitting. ( )

I really enjoyed this love story. From their first, very hot encounter, I was hooked. ( )

Beautiful American heiress Emilia Highhart would have no trouble taking the London ton by storm were it not for her infernal clumsiness. But because of her tendency to trip over anything (including her own feet), Emilia finds herself dreading her first ball in London rather than relishing it. Emilia's lack of grace soon proves a boon, however, when she is saved from falling by the extraordinarily handsome but entirely unsuitable Lord Phillip to whom she feels an instant and powerful attraction. There's just one problem, he's not Lord Phillip - rather he's Phillip's twin brother Devon. And the entire ton thinks he's dead. So how can he keep Emilia from falling for his brother?

From the title and the synopsis on the back of the book, I was hoping for something full of hijinks and screwball comedy. What I definitely wasn't expecting was an emotional story about sibling rivalry, jealousy, and slowly learning to trust. But that certainly didn't keep me from loving every page of this story.

Truly this is one of the better debut novels I've read in quite some time. The characters' emotions run deep and ring true; the love scenes practically sizzle. And although Phillip came across as a bit of a caricature at times, near the end seeds of his probable redemption had been sown.

I adored just about everyone else in the novel, the untiring butler, shrewd and warm-hearted Lady Palmerston, Emilia, and, of course, Devon. Unlike most romance novels where the focus tends to be on the heroine and her response to the hero, the real center of this story is Devon - his pain at his father's rejection, his struggle for love and appreciation, and his ambivalent animosity towards his brother. He's a wonderful caring man, but he makes mistakes. Devon is far more than just a perfect fiction of a man - he lives and breathes. And he makes Emilia (and the reader) fall in love with him, flaws and all.

Wonderful, I'm already excited for the sequel.

Also posted at my blog. ( )