Cover Image: Strictly Business

Strictly Business

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Member Reviews

Jesse & Crystal do not get off to the easiest of starts, I mean a case of mistaken identity never ends well… or does it?
Jesse is your typical rich, handsome and assertive male. Crystal, your soft natured, smart (albeit a little bit lost) female, who shows Jesse that there really is more to life.
This book follows their journey through some less than perfect situations, while encountering some truly beautiful people and animals. Please tell me Scott and his lady will be book two?!

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Have you ever pretended you're someone else? It's not always easy, when you're twins it's supposed to be easier. You look the same, sound the same, and people have a hard time telling you apart. For Jesse, it's a little harder to pretend to be his twin Scott, they only just learned about one another. They were adopted to different families when they were babies and grew up practically opposite.

Scott's farm is in trouble when Jesse learns that an energy baron is sniffing around and trying to pressure a deal he thinks it's won't be hard to pretend to be his twin for a few hours to deal with it. Things turn complicated when Crystal shows up to bring the offer, she's doing a favour for her uncle and doesn't know what she's getting into. Crystal is not at all what Jesse was expecting and that throws him even more off his game. The awkwardness between them only grows the more they spend time together, especially once they start to give in to the attraction between them.

This was a great kickoff to a whole new series by Ruth Cardello. Even though it's a new series readers get a cameo through a crossover, it's nice to run into someone familiar, even with a new setting. The characters have room to breathe and we get to see both our main characters gain some depth as the story progresses. I can't wait to see the other side and find out how Scott did while pretending to be Jesse.

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Twins separated at birth, finding each other as adults, seem too good to be true, right? Well maybe not. Most of us have heard, read of this happening so not too far fetched and leave it to Ruth to write a story about this and make it realistic. Jesse and Scott trade places and what happens is a funny, heartwarming love story between Jesse, a confirmed bachelor, and flavorist Crystal (yes there is such a career!) But lying about his identity causes all sorts of problems.
With a barnyard of crazy animals, you can’t help but laugh out loud as you are rooting for Jesse and Crystal.

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This is the start of a new standalone series from Ruth and I am very excited for the fresh plot and wonderful characters!

This story revolves around Jesse and Crystal! Jesse switches places with his twin brother to help him out but in the end he gets more than he ever considered!

This book is full of mystery and has you on edge because from the start you’re not sure on who to trust! As the plot unfolds some truths are revealed and the twists have you in shock, or at least for me it did!

Jesse and Crystal and wonderful characters and I love the characters growth that we see through the book! Can’t wait to see what the other books will be about!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I wanted to like this book but I really couldn’t. I wanted more witty banter and more secrets while hiding identities but this was more about 2 people attracted to each other and deciding they’re in love after 1 week. It was a struggle for me to not just turn the page to make the book end faster. I’m sure the right reader is out there, but sadly it wasn’t me.

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So excited for this new series from Ruth! Jesse has just found out as an adult that he has a twin that he was separated from at birth. While he grew up a ruthless businessman, his twin brother Scott grew up kind and forever looking at the good in people. But when a company is determined to get Scott to sell his family’s land and home, he asks Jesse to step in and ensure that there is no chance for that to happen. Through that company, they send out Crystal, who is just delivering the papers for him to review, and as she spends time with him, she starts to fall for him. The problem is that Crystal thinks she’s falling for Scott where she’s actually falling for Jesse, and things start to get messy as Jesse tries to separate the two. This was a somewhat sweet read, where we see that Crystal is somewhat of a pawn for her uncle, although he was quite strategic about things, and Jesse can actually help her to make her dreams come true herself. I can’t wait to get Scott’s story, because based on the end of the book it seems that the same thing happened to him while pretending to be Jesse!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

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Mistaken identity? Twins switching? Yes please. This was a great read. Small town romance with mistaken identity if twins and thinking deceit. This was a cute read with lovely characters from the people to even the animals!

I received this ARC through #netgalley and I am voluntarily reviewing this book.

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The Switch is like an adult version of The Parent Trap, written in the classic romance novel style (a la Nora Roberts, perhaps?). Less contemporary romance vibes, this book gives the romance genre what it's looking for: deception, romance, and the potential for a series. For an uncorrected proof, it was well written and easy to follow without any edits.

Jesse the businessman finds out he has an identical twin who leads a completely different life than he - as a farmer. To help Scott (the twin) save his family farm from vultures (an oil company), Jesse steps in to use his business savvy to help Scott and his family. What he wasn't expecting was that the oil company would send Crystal, an awkward negotiator to convince "Scott" to sell.

Throughout the negotiations, Jesse realizes maybe there is more to life than business and maybe the farm life is something he can enjoy. Hopefully the real Scott is next!

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The first in a new series, this is a fun book. Jesse is pretending to be his newly discovered twin brother Scott, who is being hounded by an oil baron to sell his land. Crystal is the oil baron’s niece and is trying to close the deal, even though technically she doesn’t work for him and in fact, she is a brilliant flavoring. All of these seemingly disparate pieces eventually tie together in a well thought out and fun story. The romance aspect was sweet and I liked Crystal and Jesse together. I can’t wait to find out about Scott and his mysterious love!

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Good ole small town romance with a hint of big city, oh and quite a bit of deceit. Ok. Lots of deceit, and, just like Jesse, I didn’t know who, or what to believe. In fact it would appear that no one in this story trusted anyone else. Lots of lies, lots of lies by omission, and lots of self doubt. One thing I was sure about, Crystal was pretty much the only innocent in all of this. Unfortunately Jesse is under the impression that Crystal is a ‘mole’ sent by her uncle to spy on his twin brother’s farm. Was she being naive by trusting her uncle? Are LJ’s intentions sincere? The answer is, I don’t know! So much happening in this twins switching identities suspense romance. Great characters, rich alpha businessman Jesse pulls off small town farmer with some fun shenanigans, especially with regard to those pesky animals. A sweet, fun, feel good romance.

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So many lies by so many people. I almost needed a chart to keep up with them all. This also leads to trust issues and a lot of deep talks. Strictly Business, is a fast moving story that I enjoyed very much.

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Lucky for him, I’m a firm believer that when it comes to family, no one goes to battle alone. I’m in. I’ve switched lives with him and will use every business trick I know to save his farm.When I started reading I couldn't put it down. Ruth Cardello is magnifysent and amazing writer.I cannot wait to read more of there books.Keep up the great work.You should definitely read this book.Can't wait for the next .

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Crystal & Jesse don’t have the easiest of starts. She thinks he is his twin brother and he thinks she is conniving executive sent to try to talk his brother in to selling his farm. Even although they are both wary, they are both instantly attracted to each other. He is confident, handsome, intelligent and a bit closed off. She is sweet, beautiful, incredibly smart and a little bit lost. They can’t seem to keep apart even although the real reason everyone wants Jesse’s brother land is a lot more complicated than originally thought. They do their best to sort out all the misunderstandings around them while still giving each other a chance. While they are trying to have a trusting relationship Scott has also started his own relationship under less than ideal circumstances. I assume this will become the next book in the series. This book gives you exactly what you expect from Ruth Cardello, handsome billionaires and the women who make them realize there is much more to life. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

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Great kick off to a new series! Twins learning later in life about one another and then being identical on top of that was great idea. (I'm interested in birth parents story because I feel the is a twist there??)

Jesse heads to Scott's farm to assume his identity to "handle" the oil rep threatening the farm. Crystal has no idea what her uncle has sent her in to, just there to drop off papers. The child reception she gets from "Scott" is surprising, but then some chemistry seems to be brewing between them before "Scott" pushes the stop button.

Jesse fighting out how to tell Crystal who he really is, then expressing his interest in her is sweet. But these two are sexy together.

The situation at the ranch is very interesting and hard to go into detail without ruining anything. Scott's family is adorable and this entire gang rallying together is refreshing.

I can't wait for Scott's story! Who in the world has he convinced he's Jesse and what in the world problems is that going to cause??

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Saw the Author, Ruth Cardello and had to read. Hilarious. You hear about identical twins switching places and this is a cute and nice story to read. Business isn’t always what it seems to be. I liked the book.

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Was worried after reading synopsis that this would be a repeat of other books with identical twins, switching places etc. but the author added a fresh twist. Always enjoy this author’s writing and feel confident suggesting her books, as I will this one, to customers. Well written and complete storyline that isn’t overly complex.

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Ruth Cardello takes her wealthy hero archetype and places him in the country! If you appreciate a slow-burn romance with a country setting, this book is for you. I thought it was a slower start than her typical books, but this might be because we were introduced to all new characters.

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it’s a book about two people meeting and falling for lust at first sight. I struggled with this book a lot as I failed to understand what the main characters saw in one another and why they acted a certain way.
I couldn’t even get myself to finish the book 😖

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Oh, this was wonderful! I loved Jesse and Crystal (great name choice)! The mistaken identity on purpose thing, plus twists and turns was just so good! I cannot wait for more in the next book!

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I am a big fan of Ruth Cardello's early works, and I just can't find a book of hers that matches the quality and intrigue of the early stories. That being said, this one comes close. The story has a bit of mystery and a likeable cast of characters, as well as a good lead-in to the next book. Overall, this is a good read.

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