Sweet Imposter by Rosemary Carter (HP 283)

Reviewed by ellysoar on September 17th, 2008, 12:52pm

by Rosemary Carter

Format: Print Books

Series: Harlequin Presents

Roumayne Mallory has just been acquitted of the murder of a pop star – she had been accused of giving the star a fatal overdose of morphine while his nurse in hospital. Unfortunately her fiance Alec Mason is more concerned with his career prospects than her innocence and dumps Roumayne the same day. Alone and reviled by the locals who do not believe her innocence, Roumayne is surprised by a visit from a woman who looks like her double. Vulnerable and unsure of her future, Roumayne accepts Marcella Du Toit's proposal that Roumayne pretend to be Marcella for a few months at her grandparents' home in rural South Africa while Marcella enjoys her last bit of freedom with a French fling.

Marcella offers to give Roumayne some money to restart her life if she can secure Marcella the ring of a neighbor with whom she has a marriage understanding as well. But upon her arrival at Rusvlei, Roumayne realizes it's not as easy as all that. First she meets the grandparents who are old and frail and make her question Marcella's character in staying away, and then she realizes that neighbor Eugene Hugo may not be interested in marrying Marcella after all; he's taken up with a beautiful local divorcee! Unfortunately, Roumayne starts falling in love with him herself while courting him for Marcella. It seems her heart will be broken whether she wins his or not!

This is one of those really old fashioned sorts of books. I excuse a lot on that basis, such as the emphasis on Roumayne's virginity as a lure for attracting a husband and the condemnation of Marcella for her loose ways, but that doesn't change the fact that the ending feels too abrupt. We don't see Eugene's feelings at all, one day he is telling Roumayne that he won't marry her and then next he is proposing ... and then all of a sudden it's 4 pages before the end of the book and wham we find out that he knew all along! I would've liked to see a bit more foreshadowing and bit more of who Eugene is and why he wants Roumayne at all. What I do like about this book though is the characterization of South Africa. Here we have words I don't recognize (Dutch? Afrikaans?) and descriptions of velds and braais. We need some new South African Presents authors!