Together for the Twins by Laurel Blount is an entertaining story. Ruby is slowly finding matches for the foster children that she raised who became part of her boisterous family. Ryder has done very well for himself in the business world. He has recently started his own business which demands his full attention. When he becomes guardian of his sister’s twin boys, Ryder finds himself at a loss. The four-year-old twins are terrors. Ruby and the rest of his foster siblings are at their wits end. Nanny Elise Cooper is an answer to his prayers. She manages to get the twins in line right away. Elise can take the job for the summer as long as she is provided separate accommodations. She has no intention of getting involved with her boss. As time passes, the foursome begins to feel like a family. Elise is delighted to be welcomed into Ryder’s large and noisy family. What happens, though, when Ryder fails to tell Elise about an important phone call?
I thought it was well-written with realistic characters. The author created great characters. Ruby Sawyer is a delight. The twins were quite a pair. I laughed often while reading Together for the Twins. The ending was touching and nicely wrapped up Together for the Twins. I appreciated the Christian element in the story. It was not heavy handed or preachy. I like how the adults were teaching the twins by example. Together for the Twins is the third book in the Cedar Ridge series. It can be read as a standalone, but you will be missing out on two diverting tales. My favorite part of the story is when Ruby showed Elise the memory quilt she was making for Ryder. It is a touching scene. Together for the Twins is a charming story with troublesome twins, an inexperienced uncle, a knowledgeable nanny, a merry matchmaker, a lobbed library book, a beneficial fort, and a lively family.
| Excerpt |
Ryder sat on the edge of Tuck’s twin bed, listening to Elise reading a bedtime story about a frog and a toad. He’d taken over the bedtime routine for the most part, but tonight the twins had talked Elise into participating. She’d agreed, and here they were. He could have gone downstairs and cracked open his laptop, but he hadn’t. The truth was, he hadn’t wanted to leave. Right now, Ryder couldn’t think of any place in the world he’d rather be. Outside, a summer storm had blown in, and rain was pattering steadily down. Lightning was flashing in the distance, and thunder rumbled. It was the sort of night that—before he’d come to live with Ruby—had made him hunker down uneasily on his bare mattress—or the back seat of his dad’s Dodge, if they happened to be homeless at the time.  But here, inside in the circle of lamplight, everything was cozy and pleasant. The boys, freshly scrubbed and in their favorite pajamas, sat up in their beds, stuffed dinosaurs tucked carefully under the sheets, absorbed in the story. Elise read expressively, the light behind her gilding her hair, the pages whispering as she turned them, one by one. He was thankful she was reading tonight. He wasn’t sure he could have managed it. Right now he felt like that storybook frog was caught right in the middle of his throat.  When he was a kid, not much older than Tuck and Benji, he remembered being too hungry to sleep and slipping out of the singlewide he and his dad were renting. He’d roamed the trailer park on summer evenings while his father was absorbed in whatever ball game he’d bet on that night. Sometimes Ryder had caught glimpses through windows of scenes like this one, families grouped together around tables with plates of food, or kids snug in beds that looked clean and had sheets.  He hadn’t known much about God back then, but he’d known enough to pray that one day he’d have a home like that. One complete with a grown-up who cared, and enough money to stay clean and well-fed. When the foster system had bounced him to Ruby’s house, that prayer had been answered. Now God had answered again. With Elise’s help, he’d managed to give his nephews just the kind of home he’d dreamed about as a kid. The relief and gratitude filled his heart so full that it barely fit in his chest. His eyes were drawn back to Elise’s profile, to the way her expression changed depending on what she was reading. He could feel his own expression changing as he watched her.  They hadn’t had a chance to talk yet. But they would. That was coming, and he prayed he could find the right way to tell her what he was feeling. And he’d better pray, because the odds of him getting this right on his own were low. He wasn’t even sure what these feelings meant, much less how he could communicate that to Elise. Guilt. Fear. Joy. Gratitude. All those emotions were mixed up together inside of him, rising up like the bubbles in the twins’ bath a little while ago.  But the bubble that popped up the most often—and the biggest one—was hope. That was the one that had his stomach churning, and it had been ever since he’d kissed her. That kiss marked either the end of something or a brand-new beginning. He couldn’t be sure which until he and Elise talked things over, but he knew what he was hoping for. “And they lived happily ever after,” Elise finished in a soothing voice. Yes, please, God, Ryder prayed silently. That. |
Kris
The
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