This is a serious, rather literary tale that takes a concept that seems destined for a raunchy comedy, and plays it straight (so to speak).

Drama is heaped upon drama here, with enough stories to fill several novels. First, we have the drama of a gay man rejected by his father. Second, we have the death-bed discovery of a long-lost twin brother. Third, we have the convoluted family last-will-and-testament that requires a traditional marriage in order to inherit. Fourth, we have a career-driven sister, desperate to save the family company by ensuring that impossible marriage happens. Fifth, complicating things at all levels, we have a love affair between Cobi and another closeted professional, this time a state senator. Finally, we have that long-lost twin brother, pretending to new-found happiness on the one hand, while betraying a fragile relationship on the other.

Given such a complicated story, it takes an extremely strong personality to hold it all together, and Cobi largely succeeds in that role. He’s a wonderfully developed character, entirely comfortable in his own sexuality, yet fully aware of his the complications it presents. That's not to say he's perfect - in fact, there were few personality traits that really irked me - but that's okay, because perfect characters are hard to identify with. As for the siblings, I never warmed up to Eric or Sissy, characters who seemed to be more about their issues and their role in the story than themselves, but I did appreciate the fact that they were allowed to develop and demonstrate some diversity.

At times predictable, and even a little bit forced, it’s still a story that works. There were a few passages that jumped out at me as being clearly the work of two different authors (where styles just didn’t seem to mesh); the use of different perspectives irked me a bit (the third-person narratives just didn’t grab me the way the first-person narration did); the short chapters definitely made it hard for me to really settle into the story (short chapters are a personal pet peeve); and some of the dialogue left me rolling my eyes. With that said, it's a quick moving read, full of enough twists and turns to keep the drama from getting stale. Also, I must say I appreciated the fact that Cobi was allowed to have his moments of intimacy, which is something we rarely see in a mainstream novel featuring a gay protagonist.

Not the best novel I've read this summer, but still a pleasant diversion.

I enjoyed reading this book although I thought it was unfair that the bed scenes between male and female were described in more details as compared to the bed scenes between the males. Hello? I thought this was supposed to be a book with gay plots?

Anyway, there is enough drama in the book to make Desperate Housewives series looked inferior. The unfortunate part is that there is little romance, if one could feel any, in this book.

Still, I think it is worth the time spent on reading it. ( )

Harlequin Romance with a gay twist and explicit sex. It sounded like a promising storyline but the clichéd characters and improbable plots made for a terrible story. And not one character in this book could keep a secret?! Everybody revealing everything to everyone! My biggest pet peeves: Several characters with the same names - use Google if you can't come up with your own ideas! But the biggest complaint - no ending!! The whole premise, saving the family company, went completely unaddressed. That's what happens when you have co-authors and no one could agree on an ending. ( )