Published: January 12, 2008 01:35 pm      

Get a double shot

If you’d like a fast-paced novel with lots of trouble, you might like “Love, Lies, and a Double Shot of Deception” by Lois Winston.

Emma Wadsworth is Philadelphia’s version of royalty. Her family rubbed elbows with the founding fathers and her personal story has endeared her to the city. Orphaned as a small child, Emma had no one to guide her through life and she was easy prey for a conniving man who married her and made her life miserable.

But now Phillip Wadsworth is dead and Emma should be free, but she isn’t. There are too many secrets still to be kept.

Then she meets Logan Crawford, a very successful businessman and quite the ladies man.

Emma can’t believe that Logan might be interested in her when he has the most beautiful women in the world throwing themselves at him.

Logan is tired of the one-night stands and when he bumps into Emma at the coffee shop, he falls instantly in love. But he’s going to have a tough time convincing Emma that’s the truth.

He can’t really blame her, either. His reputation has definitely preceded him. One of his recent paramours is out to get him, but Logan doesn’t realize Leslee Howell has a connection to Emma and will stop at nothing to destroy her to get back at him — including dredging up the past and secrets that Emma would prefer to keep buried.

Leslee’s not the only one trying to hurt Emma. District Attorney Roy Harper wants to make a run for the mayor’s seat, but it’s held by the popular Ned Ralston, who, along with his wife, Molly, are close friends of Emma Wadsworth. When incriminating evidence about Emma lands on his desk, Harper sees it as an opportunity to take down not only “The Princess of the Hill”, but pave his way to the mayor’s office.

Logan and Emma will have to fight not only the ghosts of the past, but some very real adversaries in the present to insure Emma’s freedom.

This is a romance novel for the smart and sassy crowd. Logan’s assistant, Beryl, is not afraid to give him her honest opinion, and she’s blunt and funny. Other people get in some good one-liners, as well.

Sweetness and light really aren’t in evidence here; there are some pretty vicious characters who know no boundaries, including Emma’s deceased husband, Phillip, who used her in a variety of ways. You’ll probably agree with Molly when she calls him some unprintable names.

Winston isn’t afraid to pour on the trouble for Emma, either. Not only is the poor girl still trying to pull her life together after her husband’s death and trying to accept the fact that Logan really loves her, she’s having to deal with a variety of charges cleverly set up by someone who really hates her. No wonder she winds up in the hospital.

Fortunately for Emma, Winston has put some ingenious people in her life who are capable of getting her out of the trouble. Winston manages to bring all the threads together for a satisfying ending — not easy considering all the balls she’s tossed into the air.

If you like your romance with a lot of sass and trouble, you’ll like “Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception” by Lois Winston.