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Chandler Twins #1-2
Twin of Fire/Twin of Ice
Houston Chandler is a natural beauty whose demure nature masks deep-running passions. Her twin sister, Blair, is independent, hot-tempered, and madly in love -- with Houston's fiancé. Their entwined adventures across the American frontier are captured in two novels as powerfully compelling as ice and fire?. Happily betrothed to Dr. Lee Westfield, Houston is every bit the good girl she was raised to be. So when faced with Kane Taggert's brash marriage proposal, Houston is outwardly shocked. But beneath her gracious demeanor lies a woman of hidden longings -- and her defenses begin to melt the second this rugged stranger touches his hungry lips to hers. While dreaming of practicing medicine, Blair falls in love with her placid sister's fiancé, himself a passionate doctor. Blair's impetuous spirit has won her a medical degree in a man's world -- and captivated Lee's heart. But even as the couple's ardor grows, there are nights when Lee disappears only to return exhausted, haunted. His silence imperils their love. But the truth would imperil her life.
592 pages, Paperback
First published October 21, 1997
7 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Jude Deveraux
194 books7,113 followersJude Gilliam was born September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky. She has a large extended family and is the elder sister of four brothers. She attended Murray State University and received a degree in Art. In 1967, Jude married and took her husband's surname of White, but four years later they divorced. For years, she worked as 5th-grade teacher.
She began writing in 1976, and published her first book, The Enchanted Land (1977) under the name Jude Deveraux. Following the publication of her first novel, she resigned her teaching position. Now, she is the author of 31 New York Times bestsellers.
Jude won readers' hearts with the epic Velvet series, which revolves around the lives of the Montgomery family's irresistible men. Jude's early books are set largely in 15th- and 16th-century England; in them her fierce, impassioned protagonists find themselves in the midst of blood feuds and wars. Her heroines are equally scrappy -- medieval Scarlett O'Haras who often have a low regard for the men who eventually win them over. They're fighters, certainly, but they're also beauties who are preoccupied with survival and family preservation.
Jude has also stepped outside her milieu, with mixed results. Her James River trilogy (River Lady, Lost Lady, and Counterfeit Lady) is set mostly in post-Revolution America; the popular, softer-edged Twin of Fire/Twin of Ice moves to 19th-century Colorado and introduces another hunky-man clan, the Taggerts.
Deveraux manages to evoke a strong and convincing atmosphere for each of her books, but her dialogue and characters are as familiar as a modern-day soap opera's. "Historicals seem to be all I'm capable of," Jude once said in an interview, referring to a now out-of-print attempt at contemporary fiction, 1982's Casa Grande. "I don't want to write family sagas or occult books, and I have no intention of again trying to ruin the contemporary market." Still, Jude did later attempt modern-day romances, such as the lighthearted High Tide (her first murder caper), the contemporary female friendship story The Summerhouse, and the time-traveling Knight in Shining Armor. In fact, with 2002's The Mulberry Tree, Deveraux seems to be getting more comfortable setting stories in the present, which is a good thing, since the fans she won with her historical books are eager to follow her into the future.
Jude married Claude White, who she later divorced in 1993. Around the same time she met Mohammed Montassir with whom she had a son, Sam Alexander Montassir, in 1997. On Oct. 6th, 2005, Sam died at the age of eight in a motorcycle accident.
Jude has lived in several countries and all over the United States. She currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and has an additional home in the medieval city of Badolato, Italy.
She began writing in 1976, and published her first book, The Enchanted Land (1977) under the name Jude Deveraux. Following the publication of her first novel, she resigned her teaching position. Now, she is the author of 31 New York Times bestsellers.
Jude won readers' hearts with the epic Velvet series, which revolves around the lives of the Montgomery family's irresistible men. Jude's early books are set largely in 15th- and 16th-century England; in them her fierce, impassioned protagonists find themselves in the midst of blood feuds and wars. Her heroines are equally scrappy -- medieval Scarlett O'Haras who often have a low regard for the men who eventually win them over. They're fighters, certainly, but they're also beauties who are preoccupied with survival and family preservation.
Jude has also stepped outside her milieu, with mixed results. Her James River trilogy (River Lady, Lost Lady, and Counterfeit Lady) is set mostly in post-Revolution America; the popular, softer-edged Twin of Fire/Twin of Ice moves to 19th-century Colorado and introduces another hunky-man clan, the Taggerts.
Deveraux manages to evoke a strong and convincing atmosphere for each of her books, but her dialogue and characters are as familiar as a modern-day soap opera's. "Historicals seem to be all I'm capable of," Jude once said in an interview, referring to a now out-of-print attempt at contemporary fiction, 1982's Casa Grande. "I don't want to write family sagas or occult books, and I have no intention of again trying to ruin the contemporary market." Still, Jude did later attempt modern-day romances, such as the lighthearted High Tide (her first murder caper), the contemporary female friendship story The Summerhouse, and the time-traveling Knight in Shining Armor. In fact, with 2002's The Mulberry Tree, Deveraux seems to be getting more comfortable setting stories in the present, which is a good thing, since the fans she won with her historical books are eager to follow her into the future.
Jude married Claude White, who she later divorced in 1993. Around the same time she met Mohammed Montassir with whom she had a son, Sam Alexander Montassir, in 1997. On Oct. 6th, 2005, Sam died at the age of eight in a motorcycle accident.
Jude has lived in several countries and all over the United States. She currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and has an additional home in the medieval city of Badolato, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 4, 2023
This is "old school" romance at it's best. I imagine some readers might be turned off by Kane's abrasiveness, but I find him endearing. My only "absolutely not" is when a hero calls a heroine a "bitch." I will forgive Deveraux since this was written in 1985.
September 2, 2007
Two classic novels? Really? CLASSIC? I think that's stretching it. Just a bit.
On vacation I read all the books I brought with me, then I bought more and finished those, too. I then resorted to my step-mom’s books.
These two books told pretty much the exact same story, but from two different points of view. I liked that idea, but it could have easily been done in the same book.
The story itself was just silly and really trashy.
On vacation I read all the books I brought with me, then I bought more and finished those, too. I then resorted to my step-mom’s books.
These two books told pretty much the exact same story, but from two different points of view. I liked that idea, but it could have easily been done in the same book.
The story itself was just silly and really trashy.
February 8, 2018
On of the best duets I’ve ever read.
May 18, 2017
This story is about two twins who are opposites in personality. Houston is polite, loving, caring and more lady like, while Blaire is more of a firecracker. She speaks what's on her mind, argues with people and seems to be selfish at times. Houston is engaged to be married to her childhood friend who she doesn't love. They have been friends all their lives so it was just assumed that they would get married. But he doesn't set Houstons feelings on fire, she just loves him like a friend. One night she is suppose to go to dinner with him but she was invited to attend the richest man in the county house opening party, so she begs her sister to change places with her. Blaire doesn't want to at first because she can't stand her sisters fiancé, but in the end she does it. She ends up having more than just dinner with her sisters fiancé and that sets a lot of things in motion.
Houston decides to help the rich guy Kane out ,by furnishing his home and hiring servants and cooks. During this time she feels what love really feels like. Kane starts to fall in love with Houston as well but he has walls up around his heart. He has been hurt so many times and he doesn't trust that Houston loves him, he thinks she loves his money.
Through out the story Kane tests Houstons feelings because he desperately wants her to love him and not his money even when she tells him over and over she don't care about his money. At times his insecurities almost destroy them.
Really enjoyed this story.
Houston decides to help the rich guy Kane out ,by furnishing his home and hiring servants and cooks. During this time she feels what love really feels like. Kane starts to fall in love with Houston as well but he has walls up around his heart. He has been hurt so many times and he doesn't trust that Houston loves him, he thinks she loves his money.
Through out the story Kane tests Houstons feelings because he desperately wants her to love him and not his money even when she tells him over and over she don't care about his money. At times his insecurities almost destroy them.
Really enjoyed this story.
February 19, 2026
Highlights:
“No, I mean about being so in love with him you’d not be able to see his faults. I’ve always thought—or hoped—that if someone loved me they’d know all my bad points and still love me. I wouldn’t want a man who thought I was a goddess, because when he found out that I have an awful temper, I’d be afraid he wouldn’t love me anymore.”
With a puzzled look, Houston gaped at Jean. “But loving someone means . . . ”
“Yes? What is being in love with someone?”
Houston stood, looked out the window absently. “Wanting to be with a person. Wanting to stay with him through sickness and health, wanting to have his children, loving him even when he does something you don’t like. Thinking he’s the grandest, most noble prince in the world, laughing when he’s said something that hurts you for the fifth time in one hour. Worrying whether he’ll like what you’re wearing, if he’ll be proud of you, and feeling your insides melt when he does approve of you.”
She stopped and was silent for several long moments.
“When I’m with him, I’m alive,” she whispered. “I don’t think I was ever alive until I met Kane. I was just existing, moving, eating, obeying. Kane makes me feel powerful, as if I could do anything. Kane . . . ”
“No, I mean about being so in love with him you’d not be able to see his faults. I’ve always thought—or hoped—that if someone loved me they’d know all my bad points and still love me. I wouldn’t want a man who thought I was a goddess, because when he found out that I have an awful temper, I’d be afraid he wouldn’t love me anymore.”
With a puzzled look, Houston gaped at Jean. “But loving someone means . . . ”
“Yes? What is being in love with someone?”
Houston stood, looked out the window absently. “Wanting to be with a person. Wanting to stay with him through sickness and health, wanting to have his children, loving him even when he does something you don’t like. Thinking he’s the grandest, most noble prince in the world, laughing when he’s said something that hurts you for the fifth time in one hour. Worrying whether he’ll like what you’re wearing, if he’ll be proud of you, and feeling your insides melt when he does approve of you.”
She stopped and was silent for several long moments.
“When I’m with him, I’m alive,” she whispered. “I don’t think I was ever alive until I met Kane. I was just existing, moving, eating, obeying. Kane makes me feel powerful, as if I could do anything. Kane . . . ”
January 9, 2019
A great read full of passion and romance. Just what the Dr. ordered!
January 19, 2020
Enjoyed the love stories of Houston and her twin sister Blair
July 22, 2021
Romance book club. Referenced in Scoring with the Wrong Twin. Truly amazing skill creating very different emotional reactions to the same events by switching POV.
October 19, 2021
I absolutely loved this mini-series!
November 22, 2022
loved this 2nd part of the twins story. beings the Taggert family line.
August 20, 2012
-Twin of Ice-
Houston Chandler is the perfect example of an ‘ice maiden’, not that she’s heartless or ruthless, but she’s just too… square, but underneath the cool exterior is a repressed woman longing to burst forth, which I think explains her secret life. Houston is a manager, she likes to organize people like every aspect of her life because that’s just who she is.
Kane Taggert was funny hero to me, not comical, but the way he acts and says things never failed to make me smile. He’s straightforward, he knows what he wants and he goes after it, no matter what the cost. I like that Kane has a bad temper and a foul mouth, it’s refreshing to know a hero that’s not at all perfect. I loved that Kane is a brute and underneath that barbarian behavior is a very sensitive and insecure man.
Houston and Kane is like yin and yang, they complete each other. They’re polar opposites but they compliment each other.
-Twin of Fire -
Reading Blair’s story was an adventure. Blair is a ‘spitfire’. She’s full of passion and energy. With Blair there was no dull moment. She’s smart but utterly clueless. Blair thinks she can solve the problem if she just martyrs herself, sometimes she gets too much into it that it only causes more problems.
Leander Westfield is my kind of hero. Lee is a strategist. A man of intellect who knows how to use his brains especially if it involves winning himself a wife. It was fun to discover Lee and seeing him as more than the stiff-necked town doctor from Houston's story.
Blair and Lee’s story is the epitome of ‘miscommunication’. Both of them could have spared the other if they sat down and talked about it but then that wouldn’t be Blair and Lee. With them it’s about keeping up with the tempo. Snap! Snap! Snap! They’re more like the other than they think and it was fun watching them discover each other.
After reading both stories, which I enjoyed very much, I started to realize that there really are very different aspects to being a woman. That we can be whoever we want to be and the only limit is the boundary we set ourselves. Houston for example draw the line to what she thinks is proper but then she discovered there’s more to life than matching socks and embroidering cushions. She took on the challenge and emerged victorious. Blair on the other hand defied all odds and became who she wanted to be. During the timeline women were treated differently and Blair rose against it. Both Houston and Blair broke out of their shells and conquered their lives.
Houston Chandler is the perfect example of an ‘ice maiden’, not that she’s heartless or ruthless, but she’s just too… square, but underneath the cool exterior is a repressed woman longing to burst forth, which I think explains her secret life. Houston is a manager, she likes to organize people like every aspect of her life because that’s just who she is.
Kane Taggert was funny hero to me, not comical, but the way he acts and says things never failed to make me smile. He’s straightforward, he knows what he wants and he goes after it, no matter what the cost. I like that Kane has a bad temper and a foul mouth, it’s refreshing to know a hero that’s not at all perfect. I loved that Kane is a brute and underneath that barbarian behavior is a very sensitive and insecure man.
Houston and Kane is like yin and yang, they complete each other. They’re polar opposites but they compliment each other.
-Twin of Fire -
Reading Blair’s story was an adventure. Blair is a ‘spitfire’. She’s full of passion and energy. With Blair there was no dull moment. She’s smart but utterly clueless. Blair thinks she can solve the problem if she just martyrs herself, sometimes she gets too much into it that it only causes more problems.
Leander Westfield is my kind of hero. Lee is a strategist. A man of intellect who knows how to use his brains especially if it involves winning himself a wife. It was fun to discover Lee and seeing him as more than the stiff-necked town doctor from Houston's story.
Blair and Lee’s story is the epitome of ‘miscommunication’. Both of them could have spared the other if they sat down and talked about it but then that wouldn’t be Blair and Lee. With them it’s about keeping up with the tempo. Snap! Snap! Snap! They’re more like the other than they think and it was fun watching them discover each other.
After reading both stories, which I enjoyed very much, I started to realize that there really are very different aspects to being a woman. That we can be whoever we want to be and the only limit is the boundary we set ourselves. Houston for example draw the line to what she thinks is proper but then she discovered there’s more to life than matching socks and embroidering cushions. She took on the challenge and emerged victorious. Blair on the other hand defied all odds and became who she wanted to be. During the timeline women were treated differently and Blair rose against it. Both Houston and Blair broke out of their shells and conquered their lives.
August 30, 2010
Twin of Fire, Blair and Twin of Ice, Houston these two stories are told from the perspective of each twin. Blair the doctor who fights against society limitation on what it means in early 1900's America to be a part of the "weaker sex" and Houston shocking everyone by marrying the wealthy miner who is her total opposite. The story also interweaves the lives of miners and vividly describes this period of American history... best part was the wedding and discovering the truth about Blair's attraction to Houston fiance and that Houston was more than just a high society lady who was risking her life to help the miners!
July 9, 2009
I love these two books. They are from only a handful of books that I have read over and over. I really enjoy reading the same story, but from different perspectives. Houston and Chandler are enjoyable characters that you can connect too easily. Now I cannot decide if I like Kane or Leander better. It really depends which story I am reading at that time.
October 15, 2010
This book was too easy of a read. The author over explained every situation and left nothing for you to figure out. It was very frustrating to have everything simplified. The only good parts were the romantic scenes. They were steamy.
October 15, 2016
Awesome idea! I loved the same story from two different points of view. The romance aspect was interesting, sometimes I didn't enjoy the way she described certain aspects of the relationship, it could be awkward. Other than that it flowed very smoothly. Great!
November 9, 2009
Set in a Colorado mining town these stories about each of a set of twin girls and their quest for love. Certainly not any explicit sex in them.
May 23, 2010
I REALLY loved these books. I think they were well written. I could associate with each twin. I've read both several times back to back.
August 30, 2010
It's a bodice ripper which I don't normally read. Reading the same story from two different viewpoints is what made this one fun.
July 31, 2011
One of my favorites, love this author.
August 22, 2012
I love Jude Deveraux's book because they are fun, quick and easy to read romances.
September 3, 2012
I read both books. I would like to read them again.
September 12, 2013
I read this book in 2007.
A fluffy bit of fun that I really enjoyed.
A fluffy bit of fun that I really enjoyed.
November 17, 2014
I loved it.
May 4, 2007
loved everything Jude Deveraux through high school
September 1, 2017
A fun read of two stories for two sisters.
Twin of Ice pulls you in telling the story of Houston who falls in love with a man who is filled with surprises and melts her defenses despite already being engaged to another.
Twin of Fire follows Houston's twin sister, Blair. A doctor in a man's world who fell in love with her sister's original fiancé, a doctor just like her.
Both stories had very different heroines and heroes but were still fun reads. I would definitely read these stories again.
Twin of Ice pulls you in telling the story of Houston who falls in love with a man who is filled with surprises and melts her defenses despite already being engaged to another.
Twin of Fire follows Houston's twin sister, Blair. A doctor in a man's world who fell in love with her sister's original fiancé, a doctor just like her.
Both stories had very different heroines and heroes but were still fun reads. I would definitely read these stories again.
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March 23, 2019I was already going to give Twin of Fire a miss. I couldn't stand Blair and Leander after their introductions and behaviour in Twin of Ice. I have no idea whatsoever how Blair could think that sleeping with her sister's fiance was a good idea (what a cow!). I also ended up DNFing Twin of Ice. Something about the writing style kept me from connecting deeply with the story and characters so I was already skimming, but when a revenge plot was introduced, it was an automatic DNF for me.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews