A Matched Set (Harlequin American Romance #249) [Paperback]

Karen Toller Whittenburg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1988

THERE WAS A MAN SINGING IN HER SHOWER...

And widowed Lesley Snow wondered what he was doing there. Her sprawling old Texas house had plenty of room for her and her eight-year-old son, Sam, as well as for her aunt and uncle, but she had no intention of taking in boarders, Certainly not handsome widower Adam Frazier and his young daughter, Erin. But Aunt Bentley and Adam had already struck up a bargain.

For Adam, this friendly home, with maternal Aunt Bentley cooking up a storm and eccentric Uncle Eli puttering around, was perfect. And Erin had found a friend and playmate in Sam. Only Lesley tried to keep her distance. But how could she resist a man who fit so neatly into all the not-quite-complete corners of her life?

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin; First Edition edition (May 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373162499
• ISBN-13: 978-0373162499
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,796,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Matched Set, March 5, 2007

By 

Anna M. Ligtenberg "AnnaLovesBooks" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Matched Set (Harlequin American Romance #249) (Paperback)

ISBN 0373162499 - NEVER thought I'd 5 star any romance novel, but here it is. It is my fondest wish that Whittenburg give writing something else a try, because she's a huge step ahead of the romance pack and I think she could do well in mystery novels.

Lesley Snow, widow of Jeff, mother of Sam, niece in-law of a couple of crazy people, climbs the stairs in her own home and discovers that there's a man in her shower. Not only that, there's a little girl in the kitchen. Turns out Aunt Bentley has rented the attic to Adam Frazier and his daughter, Erin. This is - and isn't - a surprise. Aunt Bentley and her brother, Uncle Eli, have lived here their entire lives and just don't understand that they don't own the place - and certainly can't just rent out rooms!

Convinced to make the best of the situation, Lesley finds herself part of a unique blended family, as Erin and Adam easily fit in the eccentric Snow household. Adam's job, to write a report about border communities, makes it sensible for him to accompany her to her Border school class, where she teaches English to Mexican immigrants. There, Adam meets Martin, a bright young man who seems torn between a desire to learn and a reluctance to stay - one of many small clues that something isn't right, and they all lead back to Lesley's boss and sometime dinner companion, Heston.

Whittenburg does a great job with characters like Aunt Bentley, whose kitchen is off-limits to pretty much everyone and who compares everyone and everything to an actor or movie and Uncle Eli, who fancies himself a composer and mis-hears things all the time. The romance is secondary to the mystery of what Heston is up to, making this the best romance I've read yet.

The book is slightly dated, with "record albums" and 45s, and the author, writing about a town on the Mexico/Texas border, mentions Salsa music but means Sousa (Uncle Eli strikes again), seeming to not realize that Salsa actually IS a type of music and a little research of the region she's writing about ought to have turned that up. This book's entry into my "worst line in a romance novel" competition: "Her heart waltzed like a young girl and, released finally from the past, it sailed into Adam's keeping." Overall, way better than the usual romance!

- AnnaLovesBooks