Air Force pilot Caleb Kelly has come back home with one mission in mind—to propose to the woman whose letters and lucky charm helped him survive his deployment in Afghanistan. But when he finds their apartment empty with a note saying she’s left him, he arrives at her mother’s house in rural Alabama less than a week before Kourtney is about to marry another man. Now he’s out to win her heart again and gets some unexpected assistance from her younger sister, Alex.

Alex Leadbetter has always thought Caleb was too good for her manipulative, social-climbing sister. She had assumed Kourtney’s identity to write letters to him and keep his spirits up until he returned home to the hard truth, never expecting to fall in love with him along the way. After he shows up in town, she convinces him that the best way to get Kourtney back is to make her think he’s fallen for someone new — her. But when a fake romance becomes all too real, her deception may leave them both grounded.

I’ve not read any of the other Kelly Brothers books – I’ve seen them, thought about it, but didn’t get around to picking one up.  I think I might have been missing out.  I really like McHugh’s style – it’s smooth, easy-to-read, and engaging.  The characters were very normal, like someone you would know in real life, and their issues were quite understandable.

Alex is a little different than the rest of her family but she’s found her niche in the world.  She may have more grease on her hands than makeup on her face, but it makes her happy.  Her relationship with Caleb makes her happy too … except that he doesn’t know it is her.

It may seem a little icky to go after your sister’s ex (I’m an only child so I don’t know) but the way their relationship develops, plus the lack of a close bond between the sisters, makes it pretty believable.  It also might be a little strange that Caleb moves on from Kourtney so quickly but he’s been gone a long time and their relationship wasn’t very deep before he left.  It’s the emails that made the difference and those came from Alex … he just doesn’t know it.

I’m not usually a fan of deception romances but this one worked for me.  I liked the characters and how they got to know each other a little better.  It is a little fast but there is a foundation already in place but … say it with me, he just doesn’t know it.