Laura Bennet saw things that other people didn't see. Every time she looked in the mirror, she saw the reflection of a rather short plain Jane with frizzy red hair bordering on the skinny side, instead of the diminutive Madonna with a cascading mass of red curls lending to her indescribable beauty. Laura also "saw" her dead mother. Well, that's not entirely true. She was learning to. The psychic link was so strong that she was able to regularly converse with her mother, as though she were actually there in the flesh. Laura also saw her lonely boring life, taking steps to do something about it by applying to a dating agency-lying in her application to a dating agency. Her mother was determined to teach Laura a lesson about the consequences of those lies.

Marco Massiello was the Italian counterpart of Pepper Pott Advertising Limited, come to study the way the London office operated before heading back to the Italian branch after six months. A gorgeous man at six feet, he had an undesirable (or was it desirable?) effect on his inherited personal assistant. His interest piqued, he wanted to find out everything about her, anything that might tell him that they had something in common. It didn't occur to him that he may have had help from an unexpected quarter, and that help would feed him the wrong information.

Attraction was immediately felt from the first meeting between Marco and Laura, their ongoing dates revealing just how incompatible they really were. Despite putting up a front of enjoyment for politeness' sake, they found their attraction to each other growing. It was really incomprehensible considering they had nothing in common, or did they? Finally overcoming the abyss of misunderstanding, a spanner was thrown in the works that required faith and trust to overcome it. Was it strong enough?

TWO JOURNEYS, ONE PATH is a succession of comedic errors. It looks at the possible consequences of what little white lies can do. It also lightly touches on how one small mistake can possibly affect the order of the universe-if you believe in reincarnation. Margaret West has the reader drawn in straight from page one with her whimsical humor, and has you cheering when the hero of the piece resembles "real life" men instead of Mr. Perfect. TWO JOURNEYS, ONE PATH is a delightful read, bringing back memories of old when good romance novels didn't need to rely on sex to sell. This is a truly unique book.

Reviewed by Emilie Spargo.
© July 2004