Stolen Hearts

Crystal and Ruby are twin sisters trying to find evidence against Joshua Westridge, the man who had their parents killed. From a young age they are trained by their uncles to be thieves - the only way to get the much needed evidence. Paul and Kade are detectives on the Westridge case. Problem is Paul is Ruby’s fiancé and Kade is falling for Crystal. When Kade is assigned to find out who is behind the spate of burglaries affecting Westridge, Crystal and Ruby have to keep one step ahead of them to avoid being found out.  It becomes more difficult when the men start to notice that the sisters are not as truthful as they show themselves to be.

The conflict and tension brought about by secrets kept on each side should have made this story more exciting.  Unfortunately, it felt as though the spark could not be sustained. The sub-plot overrode the main one, where more attention was given to the series of thefts than to the building attraction between Crystal and Kade. The use of internal dialogue detracted from the story’s flow. Employing this writing tool has to be done well within a third-person POV, as internal dialogue is written in the first person. Perhaps the author wanted to show Crystal’s determination to mete out what was due to Westbridge, but this was at the expense of the lukewarm connection between the two main characters. With tighter writing, more tension to show the attraction between the hero and heroine, Ms. Cooper’s novels will make for exciting reading of stronger women and swoon-worthy men.

M.P. Ceja