The Klone and I: A High-Tech Love Story » (Reprint)

Danielle Steel has become more of a legend than any one of her books, which never fail to make the bestseller lists. Something of Steel's refinement and gentility transfers to her prose as her heroines enjoy enviable triumphs over inevitable tragedies.

Stephanie had a rat for a husband. But after 13 years of marriage and two kids, she was devastated when he left her for a younger woman. Suddenly Stephanie was alone. And after months of trying to find a little romance on New York's wild singles circuit, she was ready to give up, reconciled to just raising her two great, but outspoken, kids. Then a spur-of-the-moment trip to Paris changed everything.

She met him on the Left Bank. Peter Baker was a marvelously handsome high-tech entrepreneur also visiting the city. Stephanie was certain it couldn't possibly work. Peter was just too perfect. But much to her amazement, he contacted her when they returned to New York. And at the Long Island rental cottage she shared with her kids, Stephanie embarked on a bizarre and hilarious adventure beyond her wildest dreams.

Shy, serious Peter, chairman of a bionic enterprise, was supposed to be away on business. Instead, he's standing at her door, wearing day-glo satin and rhinestones. Naturally, Stephanie thinks it's a joke—until the truth suddenly dawns: this isn't Peter playing a role. This is his double! Calling himself Paul Klone, this wild, uninhibited creature isn't even remotely like Peter except for his identically sexy good looks. This uproarious novel explores the outrageous love triangle that develops between Stephanie, Peter...and the Klone.

In a wickedly funny, right-on-target look at finding the perfect mate in an imperfect world, bestselling novelist Danielle Steel reveals insights into the human heart that have made her novels #1 bestsellers around the world.

Kirkus Reviews

Give Steel points for turning from her usual tearjerkers (The Long Road Home) and trying her hand at a playful romantic comedy with a twist. The twist involves a bionic man who wears Versace clothes and leopard G-strings and carries a matching set of purple alligator Hermes luggage. This suave creature, called Paul Klone, is the brainchild of Peter Blake, an eligible mensch. While Paul and Peter look alike, their personalities could not be more opposite. Stephanie, Steel's long-suffering heroine, has been thrown over by her husband Roger for a young bimbo, and flees to Paris with her two children to recuperate from the betrayal.

It's there that a newly slimmed down and dressed-up Stephanie meets Peter, who begins to woo her, even following her back home to Manhattan. Things are going well, there are trips to the theater and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, until Peter travels to California on business, and sends Paul (The Klone) to keep Stephanie company. And, naturally, Paul (who's more like a robot, with electrical wiring and a removable head), is all the outrageous things that sober Peter is not: charming, spontaneous, and an artist in bed: Besides the Day-Glo wardrobe, he performs triple somersaults during sex, and is working on his quadruple. It's no surprise, then, that Stephanie finds her affections pulled in two very different directions. Paul is fun, but could she marry a robot? Peter's sweet, but not nearly as stimulating as Paul. Can she have both? And what will the kids say, not to mention her ex-husband? A deft, bubbly, decidedly unusual romance, and a welcome departure for the ever-redoubtable Steel.