THE OPPOSITE OF ME

An unemployed New Yorker moves back to her parent’s house and finds her hopes for a fresh start complicated by a strained relationship with her gorgeous twin.

Workaholic Lindsey has long prided herself on being the “smart” sister. Fraternal twin Alex may be an ethereal-looking model, but Lindsey has a high-profile gig at a Manhattan advertising agency and her eye on a big promotion. So it’s doubly humiliating when, after a crafty colleague lands the position “because she was sexier,” Lindsey ends up in a compromising clinch with a subordinate and gets fired. Making up a story about heading a new firm in the capital, she heads back to the D.C. suburb where she grew up, just in time for the engagement dinner for Alex and her rich, hunky fiancé. The sisters’ rivalry reignites when Lindsey discovers that flirty Alex has developed a friendship with Bradley, a laid-back photographer who was close to Lindsey when they were teens. Thinking that Bradley might actually be the one, Lindsey plots her next move and takes an unlikely but surprisingly enjoyable job as a professional matchmaker. Trading in her sober suits for a foxy new image, she starts to take more risks but still struggles with feelings of inadequacy next to Alex, especially where Bradley is concerned. With a sudden family crisis adding to the upheaval, Lindsey discovers some information from her childhood that casts everything she thought she knew about herself in a new light. Along with this knowledge comes an opportunity for the sisters to heal their rift before it’s too late.

Pekkanen’s involving debut could do without the melodramatic plot twist, but it’s an honest examination of the limits we place on ourselves, with well-drawn female characters.