The Twin Test

From Kenya, With Love #5

by Rula Sinara

His twins might be wild...

But she knows just how to tame them—and their father

Earthquake expert Dax Calder brings his eleven-year-old twins to the Serengeti to fulfill a promise to his late wife—never leave the girls. Meeting free-spirited teacher Pippa Harper feels like serendipity. She’s the perfect nanny for his mischievous twosome, even if her definition of rules is slightly different than his. But there’s one rule Dax never expected to break…falling in love again.

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published May 8, 2018

About the author

After a childhood enriched with exotic travels and adventures (both in books and real life), USA Today and Nationally Bestselling author Rula Sinara is now settled in rural Virginia with her husband, three kids and crazy but endearing pets. When she's not writing, she's busy attracting wildlife to her yard, watching romantic movies (despite male protests) or researching trees on her garden wish list.

She's a 2014 National Readers Choice Award winner and double finalist, a 2015 HOLT Medallion Award of Merit winner, a 2015 Golden Quill runner up and a 2015 Book Buyer's Best finalist.

Find out more or sign up for her newsletter at www.rulasinara.com or www.awritersrush.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable story for someone like me who reads a lot of children's books. It was almost like reading a middle grade novel from the adults' perspective! Though it's the fifth book of a series, it worked fine for me as a stand-alone, since the author makes sure to fill in any missing background details where needed.

From the beginning, I liked both Pippa, the geologist-turned-teacher and Dax, the seismologist and father of twins whom he asks Pippa to look after. I also found the twins to be believable eleven-year-olds and not just props or talking heads. Some parts of the story had a bit of a Parent Trap vibe (like the camping trip), but the setting (Kenya) and involvement of the Maasai community, elephant babies, fracking, and environmental preservation in the plot were unique aspects of the book that made it different from other romances I've read. This book has substance beyond just a simple love story, and I was pleased by that. I also love the way the author brings all the threads of the story together at the end. The dramatic climax and sweet resolution to the love story are both very satisfying. I've only read a few books from the Heartwarming line, but this is my favorite so far.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. The twins, Ivy and Fern, were a hoot! They were always pushing the boundaries, so definitely a handful, but they had their sweet sides and you couldn't help but love them. I had a feeling why they behaved the way they did, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

Pippa was a great heroine. I loved that she wasn't the picture perfect woman, but was still beautiful in her own way and was confident in herself.

The romance took some time to develop, which I liked, but when it started it moved pretty quickly.

I loved the setting and definitely want to read the other books in this series. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romances.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.

[Tabetha Waite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book painted a perfect picture in the life of Kenya, from the way of life to the animals. Pippa is an intelligent woman seeking to teach the children, and who has lived her entire life in the same area, knowing it like the back of her hand. I enjoyed how the twins grew throughout the book, and while it didn’t seem like much of a romance to me, rather focusing more on political subjects, if you are looking for a wonderful escape to Africa, this is it!

[Carrie Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first fell in love with the people (and animals) of the Busara Elephant Research and Rescue Camp in Every Serengeti Sunrise – which tells the story of three childhood friends whom readers first met as children in the previous books of the series. I was immediately enchanted by this idea of a multi-generational series and getting to hang out with beloved characters as their kids grow up and fall in love in their own stories.

We spent a lot of time with Pippa in Every Serengeti Sunrise and I adore her free spirit and compassionate heart! After the events from that book, I felt very protective of her heart going in to The Twin Test. Dax had some steep hurdles to pass before I would give him my blessing (like i have anything to do with it lol), and there were times when I wasn’t sure he was going to clear those hurdles. But he does have some mighty fine kisses in him – and that epilogue? ALL THE FEELS. I’m still not sure I’ve recovered from that sweet final chapter of the book.

And his girls – oh, my heart. They sure knew how to push everyone’s buttons at first – think the kids from Mary Poppins, The Parent Trap and The Sound of Music. Fern and Ivy would fit right in with their pranks on Dax and their nannies, not to mention their tendency to wander off from where they were supposed to be … right into the very places they shouldn’t be. Not something you want to encourage in children in the suburbs or cities – much less the Serengeti. From lions to elephants to Maasai warriors to evil poachers and careless frackers, the dangers are real and deadly. But the beauty is just as real and it’s full of hope and life. I love how Pippa connected with the girls and helped them connect with the world around them and the people there too.

Bottom Line: The Kenya series from Rula Sinara transports this completely-non-adventurous person to a land of breathtaking natural beauty and adventure – right from the safety of my favorite reading spot. The characters – in each generation – take up residence in your heart and feel like long lost friends, and the environmental lessons tucked gently into their stories will linger with you for quite some time. Pippa has her moment to shine in The Twin Test, and she shines brightly. This was a perfect ending, I thought, for this touching series and I resigned myself to it being the end. But wait! What’s this I see? A sixth book coming out in January? Cue the excited fanfare! Here’s to the future generations of this series and many more stories.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

first seen at Reading Is My SuperPower

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to travel, but I’m also a realist and know that there is no way finances and time will allow me to see everything I want to. So, the next best thing is escaping to new and exciting places within the pages of a book.

The Twin Test is several books into Rula Sinara’s From Kenya, With Love series, but it’s the first one I’ve been able to pick up. And what an adventure ride it was!

From the wildlife (including an elephant rescue) to the dangers to the environment due to the practices of an oil company, there is a lot to absorb in this story. And I haven’t even mentioned the eleven-year-old twins who are intently focused on driving away outsiders.

It’s going to take a special person to get through to these two girls who have already lost too much and their father. But Pippa is willing to take the challenge head-on. She’s straight-shooting and doesn’t mind stepping on toes while a free spirit whose heart for the children of the Masai villages is admirable.

In Dax’s determination to keep a deathbed promise to his wife, he’s lost sight of what his daughters need most from him. When Pippa agrees to watch the girls, his world is shaken in more ways than he could have imagined. But will Pippa leave them all behind when she finds out why he’s in Africa?

A fantastic read that brought me to another world. One where nature rules lives and love conquers loss and fear. I hope to return to Sinara’s Africa soon.


Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Janice Sisemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twin test

Eleven year old twin girls, so cute. This book was so much fun to read. When I started it I wanted to keep reading until the end. Loved Pippa and loved the reference to the movie pippi longstocking became it brought back memories when my daughter was young. Dax and his twin girls are in Africa for his job and he needs a nanny, he convinces Pippa to take care of them. I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. I received an complementary copy of the book from Prism book tours. I was not required to leave an positive review. This is my own opinion.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dax Calder is in over his head. He’s taken a job in Kenya, far from the U.S., where he lives with his eleven-year-old identical twin girls, Ivy and Fern. While in Kenya, Dax is desperate to find someone to look after his girls while he works on a new project for the oil company that’s employed him. Upon observing a young, attractive woman, Pippa Harper, patiently giving a tour to six children, he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. He’ll pay her an inflated wage if she’ll watch his girls until he can find a nanny to replace the one who just quit. Did I mention she is nanny number seven (or eight)? Pippa is no fool. The money will help her to expand and accelerate the education program she provides to village children who wouldn’t otherwise be given an opportunity to learn how to read. But these twin girls are no ray of sunshine in the behavior category. They’re starving for attention, as Pippa will soon learn.

Having grown up in Kenya with her mom on the Busara Elephant Research and Rescue Camp, Pippa’s all about preservation and environmental conservation and all that. Meanwhile, Dax is selling his soul by abandoning his true love of researching seismic activity in exchange for the large paycheck he’ll receive developing subterranean maps so that the oil company can drill or frack in Kenya’s wilderness, which could stir up earthquakes. Dax is cautiously withholding that information from Pippa, but his heart is another matter. What will she think of him if she finds out who he’s working for and what he’s doing? Can feelings supersede principles?

I loved this book!! Rula Sinara is an amazing storyteller who knows how to develop a convincing love story. The evolution of Dax and Pippa’s relationship was so beautifully orchestrated. Ms. Sinara is also very good at educating us about foreign affairs and unfamiliar cultures. I am always enlightened and fulfilled by her stories.

There is only one book left in this series beyond The Twin Test, and I will be so sad to see it end. The first book in the series, The Promise of Rain, was the first Harlequin Heartwarming Book I ever read and I haven’t looked back since.

I highly recommend this book, and the entire series. I look forward to the sixth and final book, The Marine’s Return.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed on my blog, Becky on Books, on 8/13/18.

Not my favorite of the series, but still a good read!

The Twin Test is Pippa's story--a much-needed HEA for the character who was left behind by her almost-(or at least expected-)fiance in Every Serengeti Sunrise . Dax is a great hero for her story, and Pippa is clearly the only woman in Kenya--heck, probably on the planet!--who can help him tame his twins. Ivy and Fern are the cause of many an LOL moment in the book as they admirably perform the job of children everywhere--making adults rethink every difficult moment they gave their parents as children. Poor Pippa! ;) (And poor Dax! Though at least they eventually have each other to help them get through the soon-to-be-upon them teen years, so that's something, at least.)

Two minor complaints: the side plot involving Dax's job (and reason for being in Africa) still felt somewhat unresolved at the end, and that sixty-years-later epilogue was more of a downer (for me, at least) than a sweet resolution. I mean, yes, it was sweet, BUT...

I'm not going to say any more about it--you'll have to read it yourself. But if you know me at all, you can probably make a guess about what's going on in sixty years that I didn't need to know about. (Or, if you're my brother, you've already heard me complain about it live and in person. Sorry, bro-man!)

The Twin Test, though fifth in the series, would work fairly well as a standalone. It will have more of an impact if you've read book four and watched Pippa's earlier drama unfold in that book already, but if you haven't, no worries since she lets you know what you need to here. And of course if you've read The Promise of Rain and/or After the Silence , you saw a good chunk of Pippa's childhood and will appreciate even more what the twins put her through here.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / C+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

[MJSH · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read by the author and in the Heartwarming line of Harlequin books. It was quite enjoyable. Although this is book 5 in the series From Kenya, with Love, it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. It looks like all the previous characters from the series make appearances in the book, but you don’t need to know their background history to enjoy this particular story about Pippa and Dax. If you like sweet romance set in a faraway place with irresistible twin girls, you will love this book.

Dax is a scientist specializing in earthquakes who moves his family to Kenya to work for an oil company. He’s made mistakes in the past which he is trying to correct but has a difficult time with his ten year old twin girls as a single father. Pippa is a teacher, raised in Kenya, who is carefree and free-spirited. Despite her spontaneous and light-hearted ways, she harbors deep-seated hurt from her past. Two opposite personalities collide and attract as Pippa agrees to homeschool the twins while Dax and the girls are in Kenya. The girls, Ivy and Fern, are hysterical and fun. Pippa and Dax’s friendship and romance bloom slowly and sweetly.

The author incorporates the beautiful landscape of Kenya and thoughtful descriptions of Maasai life and culture into a nicely paced and crafted plot with multi-dimensional characters who are lovable and also throws in a serious issue concerning environmental protection to deliver a well-written contemporary romance that is memorable and enjoyable. And the epilogue! Oh, what a tear jerker.

I received a copy of the book from the author/publisher through Prism Book Tours and was under no obligation to post a review. Opinions expressed are solely my own and subjective.

[Lynn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enchanting scenery, precocious children and a sweet love story! If you've been reading along with Rula Sinara's From Kenya, With Love series, you will recognize the heroine of this story. Pippa Harper is the all grown up version of the child we met in Book 1, The Promise of Rain, a few years back. It's always fun to see someone we've met previously come into their own and find their very own happily ever after. The story was intriguing with lots of emotional depth, as well as some humor mixed in with those trickster girls! Very enjoyable read!

The promise that Dax Calder made to his late wife to always be there for his twin daughters has him uprooting them often to go along on his work expeditions. This job in Kenya lets him not only earn the money he needs, but also be close to a historical area that intrigues his seismologist by trade heart. Circumstances might have forced him out of that field right now, but studying earthquakes is his hearts passion.

Teacher Pippa Harper happens to be in the right place at the right time to help Dax out of a fix. Seems his nanny has abandoned him, and he needs someone to entertain his daughters. If this unexpected job can earn her more money for the school she's saving to build, she's willing to help out ... but she's not so sure about these wild child girls of his ... they seems to be out to run off everyone but their father!

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last of the the From Kenya, with Love series, we get reacquainted with Pippa Harper as she goes about her work teaching reading to many of the children in outlying villages. At the hotel where she occasionally offers special programs for children, she encounters a 11-year-old identical twin girls who are pranksters of the worst kind. Their father is a seimologist working for an oil company. Are they simply trying to get his attention? Or is there more to their pranks?

When Dax practically begs Pippa to watch over them while he's a work, she has her doubts and soon learns that her suspicions are correct. Those girls need to learn appropriate behavior, so she sets out to show them the error of their ways while teaching them something about the Rift Valley and its inhabitants, two-legged and four-legged. In the process, she finds herself attracted to Dax, but that will never work. He doesn't intend to stay in Africa and no way is she going to the States!

But after they acknowledge their mutual attraction for each other, a crisis occurs that causes each to reconsider what they want out of life: together or separate? With or without love? We find out what they chose when they author skips ahead 60 years to end the tale.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This romance excellently contrasts a geologist student living in an elephant sanctuary and giving nature talks to kids at the tourist lodge, with a seismologist here in Kenya to work for oil engineers.

The American here on business has brought his twin daughters - he could easily have left them in boarding school, since he is widowed. Despite this evidence of his love, the girls are naughty as they try to get rid of nannies, perhaps to gain their father's attention. This sorely tries the patience of the local lady, who accepts the nanny job so she will have more money to help educate the nearby Masai girls.

This is a multi-layered story with great role models and fun, soul searching, nature writ large and a few shocks in store. Romance fans will have a good time with this clean romance, suitable for any age of reader from young teens to adults.

I downloaded an e-ARC through Net Galley and Fresh Fiction. This is an unbiased review.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the series but can easily be read as a stand alone.

I enjoyed reading Pippa's story after first meeting her in the first book in the series. I liked the hero Dax and his trying to take care of his rambunctious twin daughters. I loved the African setting and the author's knowledge of the region and its people.

A very sweet story of two people who've been hurt before finding their to a new love.

There was an epilogue that brought us way into the future--60 years. Although after finishing books I love I always wish for a glimpse into their future, I think that thing is better left to the reader's imagination. A case of "be careful what you wish for".

[DarcyJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. I HATED the epilogue. I felt it was completely unnecessary. Or maybe not go so far forward? Also, my only other "issue" was that since it's #5 in the series I didn't get much back story and was kind of confused over Pippa's previous boyfriend problem. Quick read. Believable character's. I kind of wish the author made more of a deal over Dax's work, but I understand this is a romance not a thriller.

[Toth Jo-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read of this author and I really enjoyed the book. I loved seeing Pippa Harper getting her own story. Her meeting Dax Calder and his twins Ivy and Fern. I loved this story for 2 reasons 1 being that a female character gets her own story and 2 its about lose of a mate in 2 different ways. I love how Rula brings out both their loses. Pippa had thought she was going to marry her childhood friend Haki. Then Haki fell in love with someone else and it hurt. With Dax he lost his parents, a close friend then his wife. So he was raising his twin daughters so he new pain. I loved how Rula weaved this story for Pippa. She gave her a challenge and went with it. But my favourite is the twist at the end of the story. That is my favourite. It rocked. Thanks Rula. It made me sad to put the book down.

[Harlequin Books]

Received 4 stars @ RT Book Reviews

Miniseries: From Kenya, with Love