"Two free spirits get their own stories!"

This double Duets by Dawn Atkins was delightfully refreshing. The best friend free spirits had me chuckling at their antics.

Wedding for One is the first story and tells the story of Mariah Monroe. It opens with her getting ready for her wedding to Nathan Goodman, foreman to her daddy's candy plant. Mariah's mother accidentally lets it slip that Nathan thinks Mariah is pregnant and that's why he asked her to marry him even though they'd not even had sex yet. Mariah runs away with her best friend Nikki and stays away for eight years flitting from job to job. She finally comes home when her parents call and tell her that Nathan's planning on leaving his job just when her dad wants to retire. Mariah comes home and is going to stay just long enough to talk Nathan into staying. What she and Nathan don't know is they have never gotten over each other and that's part of the reason Nathan wants to leave. Her parents have something else in mind but will it work for the duration?

Tattoo for Two tells us Nikki's story. Nikki is the proud owner of a tattoo parlor and lives next door to her business. She's not been home in ten years because of her strict parents. Her father was high school principal and her mother was an English teacher. She was in trouble all the time so when Mariah ran away ten years before, Nikki went right along with her. Now though, Nikki has a whole life made up for her parents benefit. She's happily married to a doctor and they live in a nice apartment and she owns a boutique. Then her perfect sister Donna calls and says her dad had a heart attack and Nikki needs to come home. Now Nikki has to come up with the husband. In walks Hollister Marx, the perfect candidate and he owes her because she talked his sister out of getting a tattoo. Will Hollis go along with her or will she have to wing it alone?

Both of these stories intertwined so well with each other and the most important part is both of these free spirits found their happily after. These are the first stories I've read by Dawn Atkins but they certainly won't be my last!

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted January 15, 2003