Twice the Spice

Double Dare #1

by Patricia Ryan

DOUBLE DARE Emma was in for the adventure of a lifetime—or two. Emma Sutcliffe was content playing the "good" twin to her outrageous double, Zara. But after she walked a mile in Zara's killer spike heels and leather miniskirt—followed by the sexiest man she'd ever seen—there was no going back. Gage Foster was determined to meet Zara Sutcliffe and he was damned if some high-flyin', jet-set New Yorker was going to play hide-and-seek with him! He'd dog her heels until she gave him what he wanted. "Double Dare is a smashing success!"
Romantic Times "Double Dare…. As Patricia Ryan laid down the gauntlet, Pamela Burford picked it up and completed the classy run with Twice Burned ."
Affaire de Coeur

Genres: Harlequin

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Patricia Burford Ryan (born August 9, 1954 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States) is an American writer of romance novels as Patricia Ryan, mystery novels as P.B. Ryan and erotica novels as Louisa Burton. She is the twin sister of the romance writer Pamela Burford.

She won a Golden Heart award in 1994 in the category "short contemporary series" and a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her book Silken Threads also won a RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers of America, for "Best Long Historical Romance" of 2000.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkable writing. Of course, its P B Ryan. Hesitant to read Book 2, since she didn't write it! But this book totally leaves you hanging!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the romance wasn’t an insta-love, but the suspense side of the story was fast paced and engaging. The ending isn’t exactly a cliff hanger, but the story definitely isn’t over.

I hope I enjoy part 2, written by her sister, Pamela Burford. I like Burford’s Janey Delaney mysteries, but find her romances very hit-or-miss.

[K.J. Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a two part mini series written by identical twins Patricia Ryan and Pamela Burford. Although the suspense plot continues in the second book (Twice Burned) but both books are romance novels in their own right, so you don't have to read both.
This was a great book, the romance between the Emma and Gage was believable and the suspense plot was thrilling without detracting from the romance element or feeling like it was tacked on.
Emma and Gage are very believable as a couple who are attracted to one another and falling in love. I also loved that once Gage had come to accept that Emma wasn't trying to trick him and that she had tried to tell him who she really was, she didn't instantly forget him. To me, that seemed much more realistic, the way people are likely to really behave, than some other books I've read.
I really enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down once I had started. Although you don't have to read Twice Burned, I do want to see how the suspense angle is going to pan out, so I'll be checking that out too. I'm a big fan of Patricia Ryan's books and this was no exception.
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review. The opinions stated are my own and I was not paid for this review.

I first stumbled upon Patricia Ryan books with her Nell Sweeney series. I really fell in love with her characterization and the love story that bloomed over the course of the books. This book, on the other hand, brings the romance up fast and steamy.

In this book, Good to Be Bad, the plot is fast-paced and the romance comes quick. The main character, Emma, is shy and anxious but easily a heroine that most people could identify with. She is incredibly inexperienced in romance, and through circumstances in the plot, she meets up with Gage. Gage is your typical handsome southern boy charmer. He is kind and patient, and basically the perfect man.

Romance isn't my usual genre, but I enjoyed reading it. It was a fast read and the sex scenes were detailed but not crudely so.

One thing that is a bit weird is this book ends with a lot of loose ends. The author's twin sister is writing the companion book, where I assume the loose ends would be tied up, but that does mean you need to buy both books in order to finish the story. As a result, I feel that the ending leaves a lot of questions and is a bit confusing until you realize what is happening. In the midst of a struggle, a random character comes in from seemingly out of nowhere, though he is featured prominently in the novel written by Ryan's sister from what I gathered from the preview chapter.

Either way, it leaves almost a not-finished feeling to the end of the book. While the synopsis says you can read one without getting the other, I, personally, would not be able to do that. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since the book was enjoyable and I was captivated while reading it.

[Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Whoa. That’s it. That’s my review! Okay, seriously, I had forgotten how much I like reading books with a bit of mystery, intrigue, mayhem…with a love story and sassiness thrown in. Be warned that this book is part one of a duo of books and will not be fully “completed” until book two. I will say that the story does have an ending, of sorts, but not a conclusion. That’s okay because this story rocks! Seriously, I started it at 1 in the afternoon and just read right thru until I was done. It will keep you on the edge of your seat, as it did to me. I have no way to tell you about the book, you will have to read the blurb, but book one is about Emma Sutcliffe, twin sister to Zara (the next book is Zara’s story) and Gage Foster, former surgeon and now bestselling author. I like how Ms. Ryan describes Gage as “a laid-back son of the South”; cracks me up every time I read that. And yes, there were times I wanted to slap him upside the head – great job with his character! I loved, loved, loved their story and really hope that we get a little more in the Book Two conclusion. I’m really looking forward to reading more about this “situation”. And you will love Emma and Gage as much as I do.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of Good to be Bad by Patricia Ryan in exchange for an honest review.
Note: this review contains spoilers.
This book started out sounding like city mouse and country mouse. One twin, Zara, loves living in New York City, having a high profile job, and jetting all over the world. The other twin, Emma, wants her books in alphabetical order, a yard, solitude.
Enter their mother the queen of B horror movies. She has posters and props from all of her movies including a ray gun that someone is willing to spend $2,000,000 to get. That's right. Two million dollars. Enter Mac the sleezeball who is to collect the ray gun. Enter Cowboy, better know as Gage Foster, the hot new writer who the city mouse wants to bring to her agency. Now mix them all together and you get a sometimes delightful, sometimes scary, sometimes romantic story about a ray gun, love, and greed.
I can't wait for the next book in the series to come out!

[Christine Croke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive!! Nicely done Patricia Ryan! It hooks you on the first page and reels you in. Emma the sweet nieve twin gets roped into impersonating her literary superagent sister Zara to make a sale of one of thier mom's movie props. Gage flew up for a meeting with Zara and meets Emma who he thinks it's Zara. She tries to set him straight but he doesn't believe her. Things get interesting when her life is suddenly in danger. Can he save her life? Will he forgive her when he finally believes the truth? Can they make it work?

I was given an advanced copy for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated in any way.