Body & Soul by Jennifer Archer is part of the Wink & a Kiss series and is the unusual story of two women who find themselves swapping bodies thanks to the careless wish of one of them - harassed mother Lisa O'Conner.

Lisa believes that her husband Michael does not like her and the their marriage is on a shakey footing.  She knows that he loves her but wonders if that is enough.

Her way of finding out for sure comes from a fortune cookie

Lisa did not give the scrap of paper a second thought and it was the last thing on her mind as she drove her two children home.  Parked next to the beautiful Tory Beecham, Lisa could not help but envy her her life as she wondered what had happened to her own dreams and hopes for the future.

"Oh, how I wish I had your life" - careless words spoken by Lisa in a single moment became a reality when she gazed into the mirror to see a stranger staring back at her, but not a complete stranger - the young women in the next car was the face that she saw.

Paniced she turned back to her own vehicle but she was too late to stop Tory from driving away with her van, her children, and her life.

Two timeless phrases come to mind as you read this novel - be careful what you wish for and you never know what you have until it is lost.

Lisa's careless wish lost her everything in an instant and she is determined to find a way to get back her life and her husband.

By coincidence Lisa finds that Tory is the new member of staff at her husband's law firm and she sees this as the perfect chance to keep an eye on things and find out how to change things back.

What she does not realise at first is that she has the unique opportunity to see Michael in a setting away from their home and to test his commitment to her.  Slowly as she works alongside him she finds herself falling in love with him all over again.

Michael meanwhile knows there is something different about his wife.  She is not the same as she was the day before, her priorities have changed, her moods are changeable and worst of all she has completely lost her memory.

But he is determined to stick by her and help her through their crisis, no matter how attracted he is to Tory, a woman who reminds him more of his wife than the woman sharing his home.

Lisa confides what has happened in her close friend and neighbour, who although sceptical at first cannot deny that "Tory" knows things that only Lisa knew.  Together they are determined to get Lisa her family back one way or another.

A wonderful novel that captures perfectly the essence of those proverbs about wishes.

I would have liked Tory to have kept her memory when she travelled into Lisa's body and seen how she handled her new life but I guess we can't have it all.

Amusing and touching this is none the less a highly original story that should not be missed by any married woman who wishes she were young again.
 

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Read an Interview with Jennifer Archer.

Also by Jennifer Archer: Blame it on the Baby (New Year Babies Anthology), Shocking Behaviour and Once Upon a Dream.

Visit Jennifer Archer's Website.