#BookReview: PLAYING FOR KEEPS by Deborah Fletcher Mello

Synopsis: As an accomplished architect, single dad of teenage twin girls, and co-owner of The Playground, Raleigh’s hottest jazz and blues club, it’s an understatement to say Malcolm Cobb has his hands full. Add to that an ex-wife who knows how to bring the drama, it’s no surprise he has little time or inclination for a personal life. But when he spots stunning, voluptuous Cilla Jameson, he’s suddenly considering rearranging his schedule and setting aside his concerns.

Independent and successful, Cilla would love to be in love. But when it comes to men, she has a lengthy list of requirements. And “no children” is at the top. Yet she can’t help being intrigued by Malcolm. He’s handsome, fascinating, respectful—and up for a challenge. But is Cilla? After all, the man has baggage—and it is fully packed. Can she handle the ex who’s determined to keep him single? Or the twins who are not quite the angels Malcolm thinks? She’ll have to decide, if she wants to play for keeps.

Review: Typically romance novels have a little bit of a cat & mouse feel to them, but I didn’t notice that so much with Playing for Keeps. Cilla and Malcolm jumped right into a relationship that quickly blossomed into a love affair and then marriage. And perhaps that’s why it rang untrue for me.

Cilla, a successful woman with no children of her own and the freedom to do as she pleases, willingly gives up that freedom almost immediately to parent her boyfriend’s twin daughters…teen twin daughters at that. What was her motivation for that? Malcolm’s love was just that strong? The reader never really finds out because while the author takes the time to create a background for Malcolm, outside of a friend/coworker that Cilla speaks with a few times, we don’t know much about her and the people that shaped who she becomes.

On the other hand, we’re introduced to Malcolm’s mother, his daughters, his business partner/best friend, that friend’s wife, etc. We know what attracts him to Cilla, how he came to own two businesses, all about his failed marriage, etc. Though some readers might be delighted to see a story that relies heavily on the point of view of the male protagonist, I think it’s important to tell stories from both sides, in the name of balance.

Billed as a romance, Playing for Keeps spends much more of its time focusing on everything but romance. At times, it was easy to forget that I was reading a love story. In fact, it reads more like a Tyler Perry script except, for once, the woman saves the man. That’s not to say that I won’t read anything else from the author. I’ll just have to do my due diligence before I do.

320 p.
Published: October 2015
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.

#BookReview: UNTWINE by Edwidge Danticat

Sixteen year olds aren’t supposed to die, but sometimes they do. Giselle and Isabelle Boyer are as alike and different as twins can be. Isabelle is the creative flute playing twin, while Giselle is the more analytical of the two. From birth their parents have encouraged their individuality, insisting that they be placed in different classrooms, wear different clothes and have different sets of friends.

A fatal car accident on the way to Isabelle’s flute recital leaves the already fragile Boyer family fractured. Through error, the hospital believes that Giselle is the deceased twin. However, it’s Giselle that has survived, but is unable to communicate with them. Imagine being trapped within your own body while doctors and medical students observe you and talk about your twin as if 1) the twin they’re discussing isn’t really you and 2) wondering where your parents are.

Giselle uses her time in the hospital to reminisce on her childhood with Isabelle and family and friends. Edwidge Danticat’s love of her native country is always apparent in her writing and I love how she weaves in the Boyer family’s life in Miami with their return visits to Haiti. We learn of how Giselle and Isabelle loved spending time at their grandparent’s house and how their parents first met as students in Haiti.

Explorations of friendships, boyfriends, things that teens dwell on, swirl around in Giselle’s head as she lies in bed and even after she’s released. What she doesn’t explore, at least in my opinion, is grief. We don’t see the denial and anger that often comes with grief, perhaps it’s muted, but we see her parents act out. We see Giselle push people away, but her grief is a bit underwhelming and not what I would expect from someone that’s lost a sibling, let alone a twin. That would be the only misstep from the author that I can find, though it's not my place or anyone else's to tell someone how to grieve.

Untwine is meant for the Young Adult (YA) reader, but it’s easily relatable for adults. Fans of Danticat’s lyrical writing will appreciate this read.

320 p.
Published: September 2015