And another entry into my Romance Rereads.

This one fared better then THE SELFLESS SISTER only in it involved twins, which next to mistaken identities is one of my favorite romance tropes.

This being said 16 year old Lexie was a nodcock. Sweet stars but I do worry about younger me's reading habits. My only defense is that I read anything I could afford and let's be frank, romances are usually incredibly cheap and plentiful, especially at Used Bookstores, Thrift Stores and flea markets.

This is kind of like Sweet Valley High as well; two identical in looks but diametrically opposite in personality, same guy catches their interest and the "good" twin often suffers because the "bad" twin pushes blame.

Now to be fair neither Elizabeth nor Jessica Wakefield were peerless paragons of virtue - it's easy to argue that despite their cardboard traits they were both equally likely to do the "bad" things.

Kennedy here however makes it very clear, very early on, that Clarinda is a selfless, retiring sort while Clarissa is a selfish, brash sort. I don't find it unlikely their parents would have trouble telling them apart if not for the obvious necklaces (especially since the mother INSISTED on having dress identically) since the Peerage rarely seemed to deal with their kids, but I do take umbrage that EVERYONE ELSE was the same practically.

Four people could tell them apart:
- Alexander, their sickly younger brother
- Stormont, the love interest
- Estelle, their lady in waiting
- Sara Sophia, Clarinda's friend

These gals were out at parties, going for house visits, presumably had other people in their lives outside of the above mentioned, but no one could tell the very obvious in personality differences? Come on now.

I did appreciate that this was a book about both of the girls though; Kennedy splits focus between the two almost equally so we see alot of mutual scenes from both POVs. Clarissa was truly the most selfish, clueless, shallow girl to ever be written. ( )

Fiction,romance,European historical,piffle loan

Clumsy and cliched, twin issues overpowered book. Too much trivial detail and what period detail there is was wrong in many situations. At one point hero rides a horse to ball in court dress! Good plot, characters very black and white- no shades of grey. ( )