"Fine family drama"

In 1988 Kansas City, wealthy Daddy Lambert and his chauffeur Charles McKay catch the former's daughter Jilly with the latter's son Chase. Daddy pays for Chase to attend Cornell as an architect student while mom takes Jilly to Europe with her, punishing her other daughter Dory for spying on her older sister.

Several years later, Mom pressures her Daddy into hiring her English nephew James at the Lambert Bank and Trust. Over the next few years, Dory obtains a business degree, Chase becomes a wealthy successful architect and due to his aunt, James becomes the wire room supervisor. In 1994, while Daddy and Mom cruise the Caribbean, James and an accomplice embezzle 34.6 million, but the evidence incriminates Daddy too. Daddy and Mom live in exile to avoid arrest; Dory and her aunt struggle to save the family fortune and make retribution to investors. However, when Chase returns to Kansas City, he and Dory are attracted to one another, but he seems to spend his time with Jilly. Will he select the wrong sister again even as personal problems involving the missing James continue to surface?

This is an exciting contemporary romantic suspense though the intrigue plays more of an enabler than that of an action thriller as readers see how various members of the Lambert family cope with adversity. Dory and her aunt adjust nicely while Jilly struggles but tries. On the other Mom is a caricature who is unable to see how her actions led to the downfall although James is the culprit taking advantage of his relative's stupidity. Fans will enjoy this fine family drama.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 1, 2005

Something old, something new--sister one or sister two? After her parents' vast fortune is stolen in a shady wire transfer, Dory Lambert, armed with a hard-earned M.B.A. and a savvy entrepreneurial spirit, vows to clear the family name and recover their wealth. But just as she sets her plan in motion, Dory is thrown off-kilter by the return of her childhood crush: the chauffeur's son, Chase McKay. Can Dory charm this handsome man using her dark good looks and sharp mind, or will he fall prey--again--to Dory's gorgeous blond sister, Jill, a carefree soul whom every man desires? Nearly sixteen years ago, Chase was caught in a compromising situation with Jill--and he was quickly sent away to college. Now he is a millionaire architect, returning to the Lambert estate to visit his father. Dory is certain that this time the attraction between her and Chase is mutual. Wedding bells are ringing . . . but will true love answer?