Suzanne Macpherson Switched, Bothered and Bewildered

Switched, Bothered and Bewildered

Suzanne Macpherson

Avon, Dec 2005, $5.99, 368 pp.

ISBN: 0060774940

After beating up the candy machine at work, stressed out Jillian Tomkins is given a week off to unwind at Serenity Spa where she pleads with her twin sister Jana Lee Tompkins Stivers to switch places like they used to until that final incident with Elliot the idiot in college led to an estrangement. The death of Jana Lee's husband led to a partial reconciliation, but the widow mother of a teen, sees a chance to escape her drudgery and further repair her relationship with her twin. Though she thinks they are doomed, she agrees.

In San Francisco at Pitman Toys, Jana Lee as Jillian immediately runs into trouble with every high heel step she takes as VP Jackson "Man-Zinger Hawks seems to desire her as he admits to himself she seems different, earthier than the corporate climber who jumped his bones last Christmas. At the same time Jillian as Jana Lee soon learns the craziness of life in the burbs from Carly the irritable and aloof teenage niece, the insane dog, and appliances that requires an engineering degree not an MBA. If she does not burn down her sister's home, Jillian's biggest zinger is repairman Dean Wakefield, who suddenly finds Jana Lee appealing.

This screwball romantic romp is an comical tale as the sisters struggle to survive what to each one is a foreign lifestyle. The twins make the tale appealing even while the audience along with Jackson wonders why Jillian could not ask for additional time off. This comedy of errors is fun as the two men suddenly in the twins' lives wonder how they missed the endearing qualities they suddenly have discovered. Fans will feel amused, absorbed and bewitched.

Harriet Klausner