Fifth in a series called From Kenya, With Love comes a strong romance. I previously read THROUGH THE STORM about a wife fleeing her husband, but this tale brings a couple together. Dax Calder has twin daughters and no current nanny, and he worries about the girls getting eaten by wild beasts, as you do in Africa. Tabara Lodge is an upmarket safari destination, but you never know, especially since these kids have minds of their own.

THE TWIN TEST comes about when Dax encounters Pippa Harper at the lodge. Pippa gives nature walks to visiting kids, but the rest of the time she's a teacher in the Masai Mara villages. Pippa lives with family at an elephant rescue centre, having returned from traveling Europe, and she seems like a good person to ask to mind the girls while Dax, a widowed geologist with an energy company, gets down to work. Can she cope with Ivy and Fern, little horrors who see off nannies? Can they be more chaotic than vervet monkeys? Everyone knows about double trouble.

Dax worries that by working for the highest bidder he is going against the principles he used to have; where the environment and local people mattered, and seismology was to be used to predict earthquakes, not to aid resource extraction. His work now makes him diametrically opposed to Pippa's way of life here, so he says very little and hopes the girls will stay quiet. Of course, this tells a story itself. If Dax was proud of his work he would not try to hide it.

Pippa is confident in the bush, but not stupid, driving herself without taking undue risks. As the book cover shows she loves taking photos of nature with a professional camera. She may not be used to kids who play pranks, but when you can show them something as awesome as an elephant family -- you win. Pippa comes across as a well-developed character, who has appeared in other books of this series. Turns out she has a geology degree, not that Dax would know because he's just seeing her as the nanny. I enjoyed her so much. Through Pippa's contact with the local people we get to see some of the issues affecting the Masai daughters... and orphaned elephants.

I highly recommend THE TWIN TEST by Rula Sinara for fans of romance in a setting that is bigger than the characters. This is suitable for anyone from teens to adults who loves the outdoors.

Book Summary

But she knows just how to tame them—and their father

Earthquake expert Dax Calder brings his eleven-year-old twins to the Serengeti to fulfill a promise to his late wife—never leave the girls. Meeting free-spirited teacher Pippa Harper feels like serendipity. She’s the perfect nanny for his mischievous twosome, even if her definition of rules is slightly different than his. But there’s one rule Dax never expected to break…falling in love again.