The Heir and the Spare - Maya Rodale

****1/2 - I loved this. It was funny and touching; there was champagne, dancing, and utterly unsuitable men. But there was also character growth, characters who seemed like real people with real hangups. *sighs happily* The only reason I didn't give this the full five stars was that the leads didn't seem to spend quite enough time together before up and getting hitched.

Beautiful American heiress Emilia Highhart would have no trouble taking the London ton by storm were it not for her infernal clumsiness. But because of her tendency to trip over anything (including her own feet), Emilia finds herself dreading her first ball in London rather than relishing it. Emilia's lack of grace soon proves a boon, however, when she is saved from falling by the extraordinarily handsome but entirely unsuitable Lord Phillip to whom she feels an instant and powerful attraction. There's just one problem, he's not Lord Phillip - rather he's Phillip's twin brother Devon. And the entire ton thinks he's dead. So how can he keep Emilia from falling for his brother?

From the title and the synopsis on the back of the book, I was hoping for something full of hijinks and screwball comedy. What I definitely wasn't expecting was an emotional story about sibling rivalry, jealousy, and slowly learning to trust. But that certainly didn't keep me from loving every page of this story. Truly this is one of the better debut novels I've read in quite some time. The characters' emotions run deep and ring true; the love scenes practically sizzle. And although Phillip came across as a bit of a caricature at times, near the end seeds of his probable redemption had been sown.

I adored just about everyone else in the novel, the untiring butler, shrewd and warm-hearted Lady Palmerston, Emilia, and, of course, Devon. Unlike most romance novels where the focus tends to be on the heroine and her response to the hero, the real center of this story is Devon - his pain at his father's rejection, his struggle for love and appreciation, and his ambivalent animosity towards his brother. He's a wonderful caring man, but he makes mistakes. Devon is far more than just a perfect fiction of a man - he lives and breathes. And he makes Emilia (and the reader) fall in love with him, flaws and all.

Wonderful, I'm already excited for the sequel.