A Matched Set

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!