The Duplicate Bride

Blue Hill Brides #1

by Ginny Baird

Saying “I do” has never been this much fun in this charming new romance from New York Times bestselling author Ginny Baird.

Hope Webb can’t believe her twin sister, Jackie, is begging her to swap places and play fiancée at Jackie’s pre-wedding festivities. Sure, it’s only a business-deal sort of marriage, but Hope is a carb-loving teacher who enjoys curling up with a good book. Jackie is a workaholic whose idea of a good time is a brisk five-mile run at the crack of dawn. The two sisters couldn’t be more opposite.

Now Hope is stuck in the middle of a warm, tight-knit family she can’t help but adore and a groom who turns out to be entirely wonderful...for her .

Hotel magnate Brent Albright knows something is off about his fiancée, but he doesn’t care. Gone is the driven woman with similar career goals, and in her place is someone warm and funny who not only charms his family but him as well. She’s doing everything she can to avoid him, but that’s probably just nerves. Two people about to wed couldn’t know each other less.

Now Brent is determined to woo his fiancée, for real this time, because the more he gets to know her, the more his sweet fiancée turns out to be entirely wonderful...for him.

And that’s when things start to get really complicated...

Each book in the Blue Hill Brides series is
* The Duplicate Bride
* The Matchmaker Bride

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Adult

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 29, 2020

About the author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird writes heartwarming contemporary stories filled with love, laughter, and happily ever afters. Visit her website to learn more about Ginny and her books. www.ginnybairdromance.com

Reviews

[Giorgia Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This is the book version of a bad Hallmark movie, complete with the bad acting and ridiculously sappy declarations of intentions.

I would have overlooked that if there was even a little bit of chemistry between the leads. There was not. If those two are in love then I'm the ghost of Shakespeare.

[Wendy'sThoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Discovering Unexpected Love Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free-Not Seeing Double, Only 99 CENTS!!!
We have seen movies of how twins switch and those who know them never figure it out. Now I don't know if that is true but we who are not twins, have had a curiosity about them. I mean, there is this unique bond that is very special.

Ginny Baird took that idea as well as the marriage of convenience trope for The Duplicate Bride. Just imagine sisters who are so very different. One is career-driven, successful with it, physically active, and has an aversion to carbs. The Other is happier in her own skin, loves teaching math, is excellent at it, and never met a carb she didn't love.

These women are complete people and have their own lives. So when Hope's sister Jackie, the expert wedding planner for the rich and famous, begs her to pretend to be her for just one day at the week's gatherings at her fiancée family estate, she says absolutely not. Jackie is having a huge problem with an important wedding and cannot leave on time. Jackie starts to beg.

Yes, Hope admits they did it when they were little, and yes, Jackie saved Hope's skin back in high school but still it is a hard no. Jackie finally pulls the fiancée's grandmother is mean card, of how she was to her making her feel like she hated her and made her feel less than.

Hope felt bad but still said nope, no can do. So Jackie finally agreed and said she would let Brent know she was not going to be there on time for the week.

Brent is nervous and kind of excited to see this wedding to take place. He crossed paths with Jackie and the two of them seemed to be on the same page at the right time of their lives. He needed to "settle down" and Jackie was as career-driven as him. In the long run, Brent felt all would fall into place.

Well as with these types of situations, nothing ever goes as planned...Hope with every intention to make it know she was Hope, not her Sister, is immediately greeted so warmly by Brent's mother. Then the "mean Grandmother" made a very unattractive remark about Jackie actually being there.

Oh No, She Didn't...Hope was not going to allow her to diss her sister and get away with it. Then Brent comes to the car, "sees Jackie", and pulls her into a hug. All of the family was welcoming and the dye is cast.

Hope is stuck being Jackie for at least this day. She will be the best "Jackie" she can be to help her sister blend better and put that grandmother in the plus column and swing her to her side.

This was an engaging book with all of the inner thoughts Hope was having about Brent and Brent about Hope. We knew something was going to happen but we read fast to keep seeing what it was. Along the way, real feelings start to happen to the confusion for Hope but the thrill for Brent.

I was glued to the pages until the end wanting everything to work for the best for this unique couple. This was a little different than the usual romance and was worth my time.

The Duplicate Bride (Blue Hill Brides Book 1)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Matchmaker Bride (Blue Hill Brides Book 2)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

~~~~~ Before Reading ~~~~~
There Were Two Sisters...
Twins Who Had Switched In The Past...
For Fun And Games...

Now Jackie Wants Her Sister, Hope...
To Do It Again...
Only Problem Is...
Hope Is Nothing Like Her Sister...

To Cover For Jackie...
Hope Must Pretend To Be Engaged...
Granted, It Is A Business Marriage...

But, Houston, We Have A Problem Here...

Hope Enjoys Teaching, Children, Carbs, and Books...
Jackie, Her Sister...
Loves Running, Working, And Career...

Hotel Magnate Brent Albright Has A Feeling...
Something Is Not Quite Right...
The Woman He Is Supposed To Wed...
Is Not The One He Has Been Dating...

Because Of The Charming, Funloving Vision, Hope...
Has Taken Hold Of His Heart...

When Everything Is Said And Done...
Brent Albright Wants...

The Duplicate Bride- September 29, 2020

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

For more Reviews, Free E-books and Giveaways

[Dianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can suspend my disbelief until the cows come home -but this plot went beyond even MY abilities. If I can not suspend my disbelief then I cannot enjoy the book...period! It's too bad too because I was really looking forward to this novel. Thank goodness I am not out a lot of cash ($3.99 on Kindle at Amazon).

This was a very clean book, I will give it that much. However, beyond that fact, I hated this story - I hated the plot, I hated the main female character's, I hated the angst (it was unbelievable) and most of all I hated the lying.

I have read books where the women swap names, or sister's (twins) swap for various reasons' and enjoyed them very much. However, the fact that in this book they were deceiving a perfectly nice family by doing this AND screwing up their own lives just ... well there are no words.

I will NOT be recommending this book to anyone.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can a compassionate twin take her sister's place during wedding week and build a bridge between the two families? Hope sets out to do just that in this new twin-swapping romance. Her sister Jackie is a wedding planner who is too busy planning the big Martin wedding to attend her own pre-wedding festivities. Reminds me of that saying about the cobbler's children not having shoes. . . Anyway, Jackie's arrival in Blue Hill keeps getting pushed back and Hope is walking the tightrope of duty to her sister yet teetering on the brink of falling for Brent, her future brother-in-law. Filled with hilarious romcom moments and full of heart, I found this to be a very entertaining read. And how can you not love that cover?! Read alike: "The Accidental Beauty Queen" by Teri Wilson.

Thank you to Entangled:Amara and Edelwiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was kind of morbidly fascinated in this, wondering how it would all end up and it was that alone that persuaded me to push through to the end. Aside from that, I'm afraid I struggled with how unlikely it all seemed - how wouldn't he notice ffs? Even if they hadn't spent much time together, she was a clothes size different, into different things, wore different clothes and they had no shared history to draw on. I mean, is he dense? It's fortunate it was an audio book for my persistent eye rolling while reading this would've made reading the words pretty difficult.

There was nothing approaching chemistry and absolutely no heat between the couple; actually he was pretty wet and so not a very attractive hero. There was no smut whatsoever. Yawn.

The only part of this story that did work for me was the setting in Maine, it sounded lovely and I had a vivid image of the house and the lakeside setting.

Complete story but there's clearly a follow up coming with his bro. I can see others have enjoyed this and good for them but I need more authentic romance in my romance and definitely some heat. Please.

Free to listen to on audible.

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was interesting in the beginning but the plot was exaggerated. Two twin sisters swap their places because the one that has to marry, has a lot of work to do so she cannot with her new in-laws, a week before her wedding. The sister pretends to be her even at the wedding, but she falls in love with her sister's husband so yeah.. that's a problem.
After some childish dialogue and stupid situations, they all live happily ever after.

[The Word Nerd Reviews Blog · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Duplicate Bride is a romance based on the identical twin switcheroo trope. Sweet and easy to read this book is suited to those that enjoy a clean and light read. Although the book had a lot of promise, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. First, it was clean, almost squeaky clean. I really didn’t feel the chemistry between Hope and Brent, I like a bit of heat and sexual tension with my romance and I just didn’t feel it at all.
My biggest problem though, was just how far Hope was willing to go for her twin. To me, stepping into her shoes for the wedding prep was one thing, and had the potential for many funny encounters and events (that didn’t really happen), but Hope went further, and to me that was too far. If I was Brent I don’t think I would have forgiven her that quickly.
The Duplicate Bride had a lot of potential, but it didn’t quite live up that potential. It was a sweet read, but it was a shallow experience with not much character development (IMHO).

[Romantic Vixen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Duplicate Bride is a story about Hope Webb who due to strange circumstances ends up taking her twin sister, Jackie’s place on her wedding weekend.

It was only supposed to be for one day, but Hope tells her sister that she will not pretend to be her even for one day as they are no longer little kids, and a wedding weekend is no place to be pulling this kind of shenanigan.

Even so, things are out of control when Hope finally arrives are her sister’s in-laws’ place and somehow ends up pretending to be her sister. When she notices that even her sister’s fiance, Brent doesn’t realize that she is not the same women who he proposed to, it finally dawns on her that Jackie has stupidly agreed to a marriage of convenience.

But of course now that she has taken her sister’s place, she can’t just tell the truth, even to Brent, and what was only supposed to be a day, turns into another, and another, eventually becoming a whole week. The lies keep piling up and in the end, she knows she’s going to end up with a broken heart because Hope has fallen in love with her sister’s husband.

I know what I was getting myself into when I requested this book for review on NetGalley, and while I usually love a marriage of convenience or a twin swap trope – which is why I choose to request this book in the first place, Hope’s actions to me were just cruel.

I can forgive the initial deception of Brent and his family since she really thought she was doing the right thing, and so helping her sister, but the longer the deception carried on, the harder it became to forgive Hope and Jackie’s actions as anything but purposefully cruel.

Here Brent is falling in love with his fiance, thinking they can turn their marriage from a marriage of convenience into a real marriage with all the works, but it never occurs to Hope to clue Brent in to the truth.

Jackie was a character I just did not like from the start, she had in my opinion no business getting married. Seriously who asks someone else to take their place at their own wedding week, I mean just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.

The whole story just felt wrong to me, until the last two chapters when everything suddenly gets resolved and they live happily ever after. Maybe if the truth had come out a little earlier in the book, and the resolution didn’t feel so rushed, I might have enjoyed this book.

I want to thank Entangled Publishing and Net Galley, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of my honest review.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC/Entangled: Amara for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I'm not a huge romance reader, as usually the plots seem a tad far-fetched, but I do enjoy a good twin switcheroo plot so decided to give this a try. Plus, that cover really caught my eye. It's beautiful!

The writing was strong and the MC h, while not overly self-aware, was a very sweet person. The H was swoon-worthy and his family was too cute. I really liked his grandmother and mother. Very strong and sweet in their own ways.

I do hope there is a story following Jackie, the other twin. She seems very sad and I would like to see her in the middle of her job. She is dedicated to it and works very hard, we are told, but I would love to see her talk down a Bridezilla and the end result of her hard work.

I would also like to see her get her own HEA and maybe also become a tad more self-aware as well.

This is one I will be recommending at the store. 3.5 stars, rounded down as I couldn't QUITE buy into the reason why Hope didn't put the brakes on the mistake ASAP. But other than that, this book was a nice palette cleanse and just what I needed.

[Elizabeth]

The whole deceiving your sister's fiancé to help make her relationship better is weird and makes no sense. Also totally mentally and emotionally very unhealthy.

[Avid Booker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sat there the entire time like hmm I wonder how she's gonna sleep with him with these circumstances. To get to 95% and find out its a clean romance. GJoiwhgiejtoHJSoryh. And I have three more books by this lady. To be fair I don't need many sex scenes. But I do think its realistic for one (tbh most books only need one). So when they don't have them it's just flat. But THATS surprisingly not what made this book just meh.

The book started off interesting, one twin posing as the other, very messy shit to be done. And it WAS messy. Af. Until the last act. Then it just rushed by.

The hero had every right to be angry and distant. But the turn arounds didn't quite make sense. His job change when he never said the previous was what he didn't want, the way he told his family. The way he came to get the heroine.... Honestly the latter 1/4th of the book didn't even FEEL like the same book. Realistic I guess? But it rushed through and was just thrown in there. Almost like the author didn't really believe that this could have a happy ending. I was just left unsatisfied.

The positives: This book felt like a summer read. I'm a mood reader and don't really stick to "seasonal" options, but this book gave rich Hamptons summer or like romcom from the early 2000's in the best way for much of it. When the couple was together it was so fun and really could have been spun a little better by end. But the lead up was good.

[Stephanie]

DNF @ 5%. I don't really have anything bad to say about this. I just wasn't grabbed by it, put it down to try another book, and never felt inspired to pick it back up again.

[Dali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tropes:
✔️ fake relationship (arranged marriage)
✔️ rom-com
✔️ twin switch

The premise for this story just seemed too hard to believe, and because of it the romance and sexiness suffered. I had a really hard time believing that Hope and Brent could fall in love under those circumstances and very much despised Hope's sister for putting her in that situation. Even if it did lead to love in the end.

★ Hero: 👤👤👤👤
★ Heroine: 👤👤👤👤
★ Plot: 📚📚📚
★ Romance: 💕💕💕
★ Sexiness: 🔥
★ Performance: 👤👤 (the book was read, not performed and felt a bit robotic)
★ Overall Rating: 2.8

[Julie - One Book More · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Duplicate Bride is a charming contemporary romance by New York Times bestselling author Ginny Baird. One of the highlights of the story is the characters. Hope is a wonderful protagonist. Kind, sympathetic, and supportive, Hope is the opposite of her selfish, high-maintenance twin who is too busy at work to show up to her pre-wedding events.

A selfless sister, Hope swaps places the week before Jackie’s wedding to protect Jackie from in-law disapproval. This puts Hope in so many complicated situations, and though she struggles throughout the story with her deceit, her guilt, and her feelings for Brent and his family, she continually acts in the best interest of her sister.

Brent struggles with personal conflicts, as well. He deals with familial expectations and his own desires, which is why he hasn’t settled down. Brent doesn’t seem to know what he wants, especially concerning his career, and many of his choices reflect what he thinks his family wants. As he gets to know Hope (who he thinks is Jackie), he seems to become more attuned to his own needs and desires.

Brent’s family and Hope’s mother are wonderful side characters, each with defined and dynamic personalities. I love the levity that Hope’s carefree mom brings to the story and the warm, loving nature of most of Brent’s family members. Hope fits in with Brent’s family so well, unlike Jackie, and it is clear from early in the story that Hope is better suited to Brent than her sister. Plus, the chemistry between Hope and Brent is fantastic!

Hope and Brent have an instant connection, and it’s not because Hope’s pretending to be Brent’s betrothed. Brent admits he never had such strong feelings about his fiancee before. Of course, that’s not surprising considering Brent has never met Hope before, and his relationship with Jackie is more of a business transaction than a real relationship. He can tell that something is different but can pinpoint what it is. How could he guess that Jackie’s identical twin sister spent the week before the wedding pretending to be Jackie? As they spend time together, their walls come down, and their connection deepens. They are a couple that I rooted for, and I hoped that, as truths were revealed, they would find their happily ever after.

The Duplicate Bride is a quick and sweet contemporary romance that I enjoyed reading, and I look forward to reading more books by Ginny Baird in the future. Thanks so much to Entangled Publishing for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Carola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Entagled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

To be honest I didn’t like or enjoyed reading this book. Jackie was a character I didn’t like through this story because I thought she was selfish and didn’t have her priorities set in a good way. Not only sending her sister to pretend to be her so she can plan someone else's wedding, but also making her sister to wed her fiancee because she can't make it because of the wedding she's planning for someone else.
Hope was a character I liked in the beginning, she is naive but also wants to help someone she loves, her sister. Something she happened to do before. But this also makes her decides to go all the way in pretending to be her sister, even to marry her brother in law which I think was going way too far.
Brent was a character I had to grow in to, I didn’t particularly liked him but also didn’t like him. He was in my opinion okay but nothing more than that.

This whole story felt shallow and tedious until the last two chapters, then everything was rusted and suddenly they all lived happily ever after.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a tough one. It had an intriguing premise that draws you in like watching a bad car accident happen. I was surprised that this was written in 2020 cause it feels like something from around 2012.

The ebook has a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes which is a bit distracting. Initially the author tried to confuse the reader by flipping back an forth between Jackie and Hope’s name when referring to Hope only. That was infuriating to me. There were a lot of characters but for the most part a lot of them were generic and didn’t leave a lasting impression. All expect for Ava, the eccentric mother to Hope and Jackie.

Brent was a sweet love interest and Hope was a neurotic mess at the beginning but definitely got better as the story went along. Jackie was a complete asshole.

Overall the pacing was a little to slow. I think it would have done better with an overall short word count. The best scenes from the book are in the last 10-15%. This book was aggravating than enjoyable. Not a complete hate read but one that I wouldn’t pick up again to do a re read.

I’m glad it’s over.

Happy Reading

Jo

[Malissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Cute
It was a very cute and entertaining story. It will not land on my reread or favorites list, but I did enjoy the characters and the storyline. The twin sister was not my favorite character, she definitely spoiled and entitled in her behavior and reminds of some people I know IRL. This was a good way to pass my time while working.

[Janae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hallmark movie lovers rejoice and grab this one. I was stressed so often when reading this one because I am not a fan of deception in general. I had to keep going though because I had to know how these twins pulled off the wedding. The pace wasnt fast, but enjoyable. The writing was done well. The language and sexual content was very clean and closed door. This would be perfect for readers who enjoy clean content.

[B-Books Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book from Ginny and definitely won’t be my last. Hope and Jackie are twins and live a very different lives, she is a teacher and Jackie is a wedding planner for the riches and famous. But on Jackie’s own wedding week with Brent, she is too busy to attend the gatherings with his family in Blue Hill, Maine.

That’s when Jackie beg for Hope to pretend to be her for one day, like they used to do when younger. Although Hope firmly says no, when she gets to the state only to almost run over Brent’s mom and his a run in with his “evil” grandmother. But what was shocking for Hope was that Brent, her sister’s fiancé, thought she was the soon to be bride. Shocked she decides to pass as her sister so she can fix things for her.

What goes down from there is a lot of fun, romance and mind I say, a lot of angst. Because as Hope finds out that what her sister and Brent have is a marriage of convenience, she also finds out that she has a lot of attraction to him. So they get to know each other better and at some point I couldn’t help but cheer for them to really be together, they were so good with one another.

However, within every page Hope gets attached not only to Brent but his family as well, but although her feelings are very real, all of the time she spends with them are lies! I honestly couldn’t understand how the author would turn things around so Brent and Hope could be together, because damn, the farce was too big! And his family was sooo amazing that I was sad that all that happened.

At times I screamed a lot with the book, things like: don’t do this, tell him the truth, omg this is not going to end well!!!! I said this last one too many times to count.

But Ginny managed to work things through, with a lot of pain mind I say, but Brent and Hope had their happy ending. I hoped that we get more scenes with them finally together and their dynamics, specially with their future. This was an unusual romance, but it was worth the reading!

[Izzie d · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay.
Scenario is a bit ridiculous.
Clean romance.
HEA.



ARC.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the idea of twins swapping places! First, like many people I’ve always been fascinated with twins. I wanted twins with each pregnancy, but wasn’t meant to be for me. Second, who wouldn’t fantasize about switching places with someone? Sounds fun and a little risky.

In Duplicate Bride by Ginny Baird, that’s exactly what twin sisters Hope and Jackie wind up doing. The two sisters are very very different from each other except in their appearances. Jackie asks Hope to fill in for her for the week before her wedding with the her groom, Brent and his family. Hope says no, because it isn’t right but through a serious of events winds up doing exactly what she said she wouldn’t do. Pose as her twin sister with Brent and make a good impression on his family. She is trying to help Jackie out and gain favor with Brent’s grandmother who decided she didn’t like Jackie.

Only Hope isn’t supposed to develop feelings for the man her sister is marrying at the end of the week! It gets messy, heated and complicated really fast!!!

I love the writing- and Brent’s family is amazing. I want his family too! The twin’s mom is hilarious... and the bachelorette night is memorable! A fun romance to get lost in!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ginny Baird, and Entangled Publishing for this temporary advance review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my reviews are voluntary and my opinions are my own.

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Duplicate Bride by Ginny Baird (2020)
Blue Hill Brides #1
347-page Kindle Ebook story ends on 328

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Featuring: Durham, North Carolina; Fictional Small-Town Maine, Romance Author, Teacher, Marriage of Convenience, Fake Relationship, Workaholic, Wedding Planner, Sisters, Twins, Swap Trope, Vicenarians, Boston and Nantucket, Massachusetts; Multiple POVs, Affluent People, Family Business, Fake Relationship Trope, Secrets, Wedding Planning, Family Dynamics, Sexual Innuendos, Preview of The Matchmaker Bride, Author's Bibliography, Blurbs for: Always a Bridesmaid by Cindi Madsen, The Boyfriend Contract by Victoria James, Not According to Plan by A.M. Madden, Loud Mouth - Ice Knights #3 by Avery Flynn

Rating as a movie: PG-13/15 for suggestive content

Songs for the soundtrack: "Eres Tú" by Mocedades, "Don’t Worry Baby" by The Beach Boys, "Dancing Queen" by ABBA

Books and Authors mentioned: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp (The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers Oscar Hammerstein II), Dirty Dancing by Eleanor Bergstein, "I carry your heart with me" by E.E. Cummings, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz aka The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum (Lyman Frank Baum) - Oz #1

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️♊️👭👰‍♀️💒🤵‍♂

My thoughts: 🔖Page 47 of 347 Chapter Four - This is cheesy in a good way, I'm only stopping because it's late. This is like The Parent Trap 2 without kids.
🔖146 Chapter Eleven - I love the characters but this is going on too long and Hope's justification is getting silly.

The biggest issue I had with this book was applying for a marriage license doesn't make you married! The other issue was the liberties the sister took with the fiancé, I doubt the mom would be cool with all that happened. Then were multiple characters calling other characters by improper nouns. If it was just the grandmother referring to family members as husband and granddaughter, it is one thing but other characters, like the mother from the other family, did it too. It felt like a cheesy way to reiterate family relations. Also is Boston the closest major airport to Maine? So, besides ALL of that, I enjoyed the story. I already have Book 2 ready to go in the new year.

Recommend to others: Yes, this was kinda fun.

Blue Hill Brides
1. The Duplicate Bride (2020)
2. The Matchmaker Bride (2021)

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well gosh, I really hope the Martin’s had a nice wedding while I was over here fuming with second hand embarrassment for 9hrs. Thanks for the free stress inducer, Audible.

Fascinating story. I can’t deny that there are some cute and funny family interactions/dynamics in this book. Obviously I had to be somewhat invested or I never would have finished it, so I can’t give the book 0 stars. If you just removed Jackie from the plot completely (and therefore the whole twin pretending to be twin scenario) this book would’ve been your classic “rushed marriage/meeting the family days before the wedding” story, and it would’ve been GREAT. Instead, this book involves borderline cheating, a potential eating disorder/weight stigma? and several emotional/physical violations of the male mc that GAVE ME THE ICK.

I don’t care if Brent thought Hope was actually Jackie, his fiancé. The MINUTE he began to initiate any intimate interactions with Hope, she needed to fess up, because SHE knew the truth (And so did the mom…And best friend…And they did nothing…ugh). However, Hope eventually starts to initiate intimacy with Brent too (because she’s in love *vomits*). Purposefully or not, Hope took advantage of Brent’s ignorance with the justification that it would “improve his and Jackie’s relationship”: which is a little odd considering she makes out with Brent multiple times (and I highly doubt it was because Hope knew her sister was a bad kisser). Brent/Hope never have sex while she’s pretending to be Jackie, and that is the only saving grace for the whole twin swap scenario, but I personally can’t overlook the physical and emotional violations of Brent, and technically, his family too. And don’t you worry, by the end all is forgiven because “Brent never loved Jackie anyways”, which probably should be the tagline for this book.

I’ve technically read worse, which initially made me want to give this book 2 stars. And yet, I also haven’t detested a book in a long time, so in honor of that I’m giving this book… *drum roll*

1 star.

[Tanja ~ KT Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sisters, sisters... There were never such devoted sisters. Well... kinda.

Hope, a sweet and loving teacher, gets to spend time with the gorgeous charming, and just plain wonderful Brent. They spend this time really getting to know Brent's family before the wedding day. Too bad Brent isn't Hope's fiancee. He's her sisters.

One again, Hope is covering for her twin. Unfortunately, this go-round, its all too much and has become far too personal.

The Duplicate Bride by Ginny Baird is a sweet and romantic story with a side of reluctant deception. It's my first time reading Baird and I am happy to report it won't be my last.

~Tanja


*ARC Provided by PR rep


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[Foxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst reading the book had a few moments of irritation with Jackie who seemed or portrayed as a selfish twin, but came around at the end to think with properly. Loved Hope character, she was a pretty kind soul.
I totally enjoyed the book and would recommend it to someone who would like an adult version of the parent trap twin swap kind of scenario who could have almost got away with it until the the one with a conscious couldnt keep it up any more.

[Ancillar · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the book about: It’s about two twin sisters (Hope and Jackie) who pull a switchroo a weekend before Jackie walks down the aisle with Brent. The twins are so different though -Hope is not a morning person and she eats CARBS (so me) and she is teacher who enjoys romantic books (so me) while Jackie is a morning person that works out,eats healthy and is a wedding planner. So Jackie is getting married to Brent (a hotel magnate ) but can’t make it to the pre-wedding festivities and thus begs Hope to switchroo.

What I Liked About It: The plot was super cute ,there were so many yum yum moments like someone invite me to dinner *gasp* and it was such a good read.

Favorite Character(s) :Hope! I loved the carb eating,hates morning,romance reader because she was just so lovable and full of grace.

Least favorite Character: Jackie! She enraged me somehow in some moments

Huge thanks to the publisher for my advanced readers copy

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with reading a romance, at least written in America, is that it will all turn out well in the end, so there is no suspense about what will happen, only how it will happen.

This is not a criticism of the genre, just an observation from one who doesn't read a lot of romance.

So, I do have to say, the "how" in this was very interesting. I kept wondering at what point the game would all fall apart.

It had all the typical elements of good romance. A handsome sensitive lead. A protagonist who wasn't ready for love. Are any of them? And wealth. Not sure why that is important, but I suppose it is so the union can feel safe. Or perhaps it is more fun to explore the world of the well to do. Be that as it may, this was a fun romp, and I did read it all the way through to see how it would all work out.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5* rounded up to 3/5*

Identical looking twin sisters Hope and Jackie Webb have pulled some stunts in their time and not many people can reliably tell them apart on looks alone but their personalities are very different. Actually, so are their attitudes to diet and exercise so it is really amazing that they are so identical! Hope can't believe that her workaholic sister is asking her to pretend to be her to enable her to keep working rather than meeting and staying with Jackie's fiancè and his family for the week in the run up to their wedding. It is only for the one day, so there shouldn't be any problems, should there? Except Jackie's arrival keeps getting delayed . . .

I really looked forward to reading this book, the synopsis had me hooked and I really wanted to know how it would work out. However, although it is easy to forgive the initial deception, as the week progressed and Hope gets closer to Brent and his family it just felt so wrong and downright cruel of them. Jackie certainly never seemed invested in Brent, even if this was a marriage of convenience she appeared to have absolutely no intention of putting any effort into their relationship and comes across as selfish and self-absorbed - definitely not good enough for someone as caring as Brent proves to be. Hope may have started the deception with the best of motives but as the week progresses I just couldn't believe she maintains it. The last few chapters bring it all to a lovely conclusion but by then I was feeling uncomfortable with their actions and no longer invested in them achieving a HEA. However, others will be able to see past all this and thoroughly enjoy the book so don't let me put you off. I'd be interested in reading if you thoroughly enjoyed it or felt like me about it. It is well written and has some great family characters, I just wish the twins had been honest much earlier in the story.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I voluntarily read and have honestly reviewed.

[Sophie (slovenianbookworm) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @34%
.
I've never read Ginny's books before so I requested this book on NetGalley purely on curiousity. It gave me this The Parent Trap vibes so naturally I had to read it.
At first, it's about twins exchanging their identities for a day. I was like ''okay, sure, it's just a day'' even though I don't particularly love they (especially Hope) had to lie to people.
Then I just wasn't feeling it anymore.

What bothered me?
I thought this book would be fun but the more I read the weirder it got. First of all, Brent didn't suspect anything. I mean, if his supposed fiancée doesn't remember important conversations and keep asking about them, I think you should be a little suspicious? But no, there was zero, zilch suspision. He just thought she forgot because she's a wedding planner and therefore very busy.
Second, this is not a love arrangement. Which is fine, considering Hope and Brent are meant to be together but at the same time I kept asking myself why would Brent and Jackie even marry? It looked more and more like a business arrangement. They were the worst match ever.
Don't even let me start on Jackie. I think her actions were arrogant. This is too much. To ask her twin sister to drive to Brent's house, meet his family, interact with them and then they would just swap places?
No, that's just wrong. If I thought it cute at first, it went crazier after the first couple chapters.
I understood Hope for wanting to be there for her sister but



When I reached third of the book, I realised this book is really slow. There's no heat, no chemistry. I need to feel the connection. I'm used to at least some tension between characters so I checked the reviews. It looks like it's a clean romance and I'm not a fan of that. I also saw in reviews that the pacing of the story does not change. In fact, the story gets more ridiculous.
I'm not interested in that therefore I decided to read other books that captured my attention.
This one unfortunately didn't.

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Valeen Robertson (Live Thru Books Blog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazon / B&N / iBooks

When Hope's twin sister, Jackie, begs her to take her place at her pre-wedding week while Jackie finishes up managing one of her company's weddings, Hope is initially set on NO. But as each word Jackie spits out shows how her fiancé's grandma already dislikes her, Hope knows she needs to go rescue her twin's reputation with her soon to be in-laws. Unfortunately once Hope arrives, the whole family mistakes her for her twin. What's a carb loving teacher to do when faced with a gorgeous man intent on marrying her?

Well...she could have fessed up, should have fessed up, but then there wouldn't have been a story to tell. The rest of the story is a clean yarn about Hope and Brent making their way from a marriage of convenience to a real marriage, one of course marred by Hope's lie of omission.

I admit the premise of this story is fun and cute. And the story is fun and cute too, to a point. But mostly my takeaway from it is a kind of boring story where I had to suspend my disbelief to the highest extent, be annoyed that Hope didn't just admit she wasn't her twin, and, most importantly, wish for some heat between the two leads. Because this is a clean (read, no descriptive scenes), alas, the heat is not present, and it made an already veering into boring story, that much less entertaining for me. I can get behind a good clean romance, IF there's enough tension between the two leads that the lack of descriptive details doesn't matter, and if the story is highly entertaining too. Unfortunately, neither of those two things happened here, to the detriment of what could have been a great story.

ARC via Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for an honest review.

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