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Double Dare
Casey Clinton was in a bind. Custody courts didn't favor single fathers, and he seemed perilously close to losing his beloved nephew. What he needed was a wife. And since childhood buddy Joanna Vail had always stood by his side through thick and thin, why shouldn't she stand beside him at the altar, too?
Long-standing loyalty demanded Joanna wed Casey...something completely different drew her to his bed. But adult urges upset childhood chumminess, and emotions more daring than mere desire threatened their camaraderie. Had Joanna gone and fallen in love with her husband? And could either admit their commitment had more than a practical purpose?
Long-standing loyalty demanded Joanna wed Casey...something completely different drew her to his bed. But adult urges upset childhood chumminess, and emotions more daring than mere desire threatened their camaraderie. Had Joanna gone and fallen in love with her husband? And could either admit their commitment had more than a practical purpose?
- GenresRomance
252 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1990
28 people want to read
About the author
Christine Rimmer
713 books430 followersNew York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than one hundred contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated seven times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 19, 2014
I’ve been having a bad luck streak when it comes to reading contemporary romances recently, so I decided to quickly re-read this one. One of the things that amazed me is that though I’ve read this book more than a decade ago, and that it is one of those old Silhouette Super Romances, I can still remember a lot of scenes from this book, and find that after all these years, I can see why this stayed in my shelves and was never given away to other people or thrown into the charity bin.
At first glance, there is nothing spectacular about this book. The hero (Casey) doesn’t strike you as one of those alpha drop dead gorgeous heroes (like Christian Grey or those heroes from Jill Shalvis’s books). There are no steamy sex scenes in this novel either (well, there are, but they’re not written in the very “racy” style one would expect in a lot of romance books these days). Hey, the absence of these ingredients is probably enough for me not to like this book (ok, so I’m shallow! :-).
On top of all this is that the heart of the romance is a marriage of convenience between a hero and a heroine (Joanna) who grew up together and are best friends – yes, it’s another one of those friends-becoming-lovers story.
Despite all this, I really loved this book. Why?
[Sorry for the spoilers, but I have to include them to give an honest review.]
For starters, the set of circumstances that led to the friends marrying was believable for me -- Casey wanted to make sure that he remains the guardian of his orphan nephew, and the only way he could ensure this and to prevent his brother and his wife from gaining custody was to get married.
The gradual way the relationship between Casey and Joanna developed -- from being friends to something more -- was not forced, but was done subtly and beautifully. While there were moments of doubts whether their relationship would work, they didn’t feel contrived but were believable given the circumstances they were in.
I remember first reading this book when I was single and studying at university, but when I re-read this now as a mother of two children under 5, I empathised more with the challenges Casey and Joanna had raising a kid together. Basically, there they were -- two people who mostly had their careers for most of their lives suddenly thrust into a situation wherein they had to care for a kid! (The scene wherein they had to care for Mike (the nephew) when he had a high fever reminded me too much on how I nearly freaked out with my firstborn when he also got very sick.)
I also liked the way the author only used a small amount of meaningful flashbacks to get a better feel for the relationship between Casey and Joanna. I appreciate it given that the author didn’t have a lot of space to use flashbacks and when she did, it didn’t slow down the story at all.
The main blocker to the relationship (ie Casey’s brother and sister-in-law plotting to break them apart so they could win custody of Mike) was actually believable and didn’t feel convoluted. More importantly, I liked the way the author didn’t make these antagonists one-dimensional , that is, as irritating as the brother and sister-in-law were, you can actually sympathise with their motivation (ie they were desperate to have children of their own).
But perhaps, what I liked most about the book is Casey himself. After reading a horrible contemporary romance (Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey) where the hero had a hard time forgiving his ex-gf for leaving him to have a career of her own, it was quite refreshing to see a hero who was very supportive of the heroine’s career. At one point (in a flashback) he even had to take drastic measures to convince her that getting married straight after high school to a man she didn’t really love, and giving up her university studies to follow her dream of being an artist, was a really bad idea. Ok, granted, he may have other reasons why he took the drastic action, but once you read the rest of the novel, you will be convinced that Casey really believed and respected Joanna’s talent and career as an artist. I mean even if he needed a mother for his nephew, he never forced Joanna to be the perfect mother figure, but instead continued supporting her artistic career. Wow! To have a friend, lover and husband like that, well that’s what I would call a perfect romantic hero! (Extra bonus that Casey seemed great in bed too! :-))
Overall, a great short and sweet contemporary romance that’s good to go back to after a string of disappointments!
At first glance, there is nothing spectacular about this book. The hero (Casey) doesn’t strike you as one of those alpha drop dead gorgeous heroes (like Christian Grey or those heroes from Jill Shalvis’s books). There are no steamy sex scenes in this novel either (well, there are, but they’re not written in the very “racy” style one would expect in a lot of romance books these days). Hey, the absence of these ingredients is probably enough for me not to like this book (ok, so I’m shallow! :-).
On top of all this is that the heart of the romance is a marriage of convenience between a hero and a heroine (Joanna) who grew up together and are best friends – yes, it’s another one of those friends-becoming-lovers story.
Despite all this, I really loved this book. Why?
[Sorry for the spoilers, but I have to include them to give an honest review.]
For starters, the set of circumstances that led to the friends marrying was believable for me -- Casey wanted to make sure that he remains the guardian of his orphan nephew, and the only way he could ensure this and to prevent his brother and his wife from gaining custody was to get married.
The gradual way the relationship between Casey and Joanna developed -- from being friends to something more -- was not forced, but was done subtly and beautifully. While there were moments of doubts whether their relationship would work, they didn’t feel contrived but were believable given the circumstances they were in.
I remember first reading this book when I was single and studying at university, but when I re-read this now as a mother of two children under 5, I empathised more with the challenges Casey and Joanna had raising a kid together. Basically, there they were -- two people who mostly had their careers for most of their lives suddenly thrust into a situation wherein they had to care for a kid! (The scene wherein they had to care for Mike (the nephew) when he had a high fever reminded me too much on how I nearly freaked out with my firstborn when he also got very sick.)
I also liked the way the author only used a small amount of meaningful flashbacks to get a better feel for the relationship between Casey and Joanna. I appreciate it given that the author didn’t have a lot of space to use flashbacks and when she did, it didn’t slow down the story at all.
The main blocker to the relationship (ie Casey’s brother and sister-in-law plotting to break them apart so they could win custody of Mike) was actually believable and didn’t feel convoluted. More importantly, I liked the way the author didn’t make these antagonists one-dimensional , that is, as irritating as the brother and sister-in-law were, you can actually sympathise with their motivation (ie they were desperate to have children of their own).
But perhaps, what I liked most about the book is Casey himself. After reading a horrible contemporary romance (Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey) where the hero had a hard time forgiving his ex-gf for leaving him to have a career of her own, it was quite refreshing to see a hero who was very supportive of the heroine’s career. At one point (in a flashback) he even had to take drastic measures to convince her that getting married straight after high school to a man she didn’t really love, and giving up her university studies to follow her dream of being an artist, was a really bad idea. Ok, granted, he may have other reasons why he took the drastic action, but once you read the rest of the novel, you will be convinced that Casey really believed and respected Joanna’s talent and career as an artist. I mean even if he needed a mother for his nephew, he never forced Joanna to be the perfect mother figure, but instead continued supporting her artistic career. Wow! To have a friend, lover and husband like that, well that’s what I would call a perfect romantic hero! (Extra bonus that Casey seemed great in bed too! :-))
Overall, a great short and sweet contemporary romance that’s good to go back to after a string of disappointments!
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October 7, 2008Double Dare (Silhouette Special Edition, No. 646) by Christine Rimmer (1990)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews