Under the Boardwalk
by Carly Phillips

List Price: $18.95
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0446532371
Publisher: Warner Books

Ariana Costas may have moved to Vermont, but the college professor's still a Jersey girl at heart-at least according to her wacky Greek family, a lovable clan of eccentrics that includes one spirited, foot-stomping monkey. The Costas's latest moneymaking caper-impersonating members of that other peculiar family, the Addamses-has made them infamous in their small town of Ocean Isle, NJ. No wonder Ari couldn't wait to escape! Then her twin sister, Zoe, disappears, and Ari comes running home to find out what happened. The very last thing she expects is to be shot at…and rescued by a handsome hunk in a black leather jacket.

Wrong twin, right woman? Detective Quinn Donovan's first glimpse of the wind-blown beauty with the raven hair and unmistakable profile is like déjà vu all over again. If this lady isn't Zoe, it's someone who looks exactly like her. Now Ari is in trouble deeper than the Atlantic at high tide, and Quinn just may be the right man to protect her…even if it means giving up his well-guarded secrets. But how is he supposed to resist this sensual, fiercely independent woman while carrying out a dangerous mission that could get them both killed?

As an all-out search to find the missing Zoe brings these two confirmed loners closer together, all Quinn and Ari have to do is live long enough to enjoy it....

top of the page

1. Do you have any on or under the boardwalk (!) memories to share? If so, let’s hear them, and don’t spare the fun details!

2. In Under the Boardwalk, which Costas Sister do you relate to more – the buttoned up Ariana or the flashier Zoe?

3. Ariana asked how she could have come from her zany family. Did you ever feel this way about your family? How would you have felt if your family was like the Costas clan – quick with the con, always just this side of the law, yet fun, never boring?

4. Ariana's mom told her, "The right woman can always train a man." Do you believe this and why? How have you trained your guy? On what issues has he dug in his heels and refused to be trained?

5. What, besides the obvious physical attributes, makes Quinn such an endearing guy?

6. Who was your favorite secondary character in Under the Boardwalk? What function did the character serve? Comic relief? To convey a major character's background? Which character would you like to change places with?

7. What did Ariana learn about herself from her experiences in this story? How did she change? How did her attitude toward her family change?

8. Why do you think Quinn was less uptight about Ariana’s unconventional family than she was? How did he help her view them in a different light?

9. If you could "be" Ariana in any scene in the book, which scene would that be and why?

10. What do you think the overall theme of Under the Boardwalk is? How does this theme affect you and where you are in your life today?

top of the page