"Fun frolic"

In the middle of the night, Cary Mitchell flees Charleston to obtain help from his twin brother Grant better known as "Mitch". Cary owes bookie Flash Gorman twenty grand that if he does not pay now will lead to broken kneecaps. Cary also mentions that he has stolen from the till of a bar filled with dirty money to pay off some of the debt. What he fails to tell his sibling, an Atlanta cop, is that the reason he fled town is that Flash expects Cary to pay his tab by breaking the kneecaps of other clients behind in their remittance.

Mitch decides that the best course of action is to hand Flash over to the police so when Cary refuses to play, Mitch offers to go undercover as Cary in a BAIT AND SWITCH operation. The first problem surfaces when Cary's girlfriend Peyton McDowell, daughter of a DA, arrives yelling at the switched Mitch. Others surface, but as he tries to solve his brother's problems, nothing goes right especially when it comes to Peyton because he begins falling in love with his sibling's girlfriend.

Siblings switching places is a theme that is as old as the Old Testament yet Darlene Gardner keeps her story line fresh by enabling the readers to distinguish between the twins because their personalities remain intact. This especially occurs with Peyton confused by Mitch's change in behavior and attitude. Thus amusing situations arise, as nothing is smooth as expected with a long-term identity exchange. The BAIT AND SWITCH of Mitch and Cary leads to a fun frolic for readers.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 3, 2002

Summary

To save his brother's skin and catch a criminal, Mitch agrees to switch places with his identical twin. As a cop, he feels comfortable with the undercover assignment. But nothing could have prepared him for the gorgeous knockout on his doorstep.

It isn't just her drop-dead good looks that have him in a tailspin. The blond bombshell is spitting mad, and Mitch's course of action is clear: He would have to win back his brother's girlfriend.

Wooing the funny, smart and caring Peyton is no hardship. It's keeping his hands to himself that is pure torture. And it doesn't take a crack detective to realize Mitch has set a baited trap, but it's his heart that's been ensnared. Which leaves only one question: Has Peyton fallen for him or his mirror image?