Customer Reviews

Deceptions

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4 star:		(4)
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The husband and wife writing team of Judith Michael have produced certain popular novels which are NOT the typical, superficial, and forgettable reads that flood the market. Although in Deceptions, they do lure readers with a soap opera plot (twins switching places), and the reliability of glamorous and exotic locations such as London and China, the authors have included sharp and witty insights and observations in several of the novel's scenarios. We learn about the strong bond between identical twins, Sabrina and Stephanie, and how they developed into two different women leading two different lives. Thankfully, this is not a good twin/evil twin plot. We become immersed in Sabrina's exclusive world of London high society, antique dealerships, and exquisitely designed townhouses. Her more brazen personality allows her to survive quite nicely and make astute dealings among London's elite. Stephanie lives more obscurely in a small university town in the States with her professor husband, Garth. Their domestic, suburban life with their two children and supportive neighbors is surprisingly realistic and at times endearing. The major premise is that the sisters tire of the complications in their lives and decide to switch places. The novel is well structured as the reader flows from Stephanie's adjustment to Sabrina's jet-set life while Sabrina brings her strength and determination to life as a suburban professor's wife. Deceptions is definitely escape literature, but an intelligent read. If you enjoy reading good descriptions of the finer things in life and excellent character development, this book comes highly recommended

Need a great beach read this summer? Look no further. From the husband-and-wife writing team of Judith Michael comes this potboiler which plays on one of the oldest fantasies in the book: What if you not only had a twin, but decided one day to trade places... just for a little while. What begins as a lark for sisters Stephanie and Sabrina quickly turns into so much more in this surprisingly satisfying read in which, perhaps not surprisingly, we are taught to be grateful for what we have for the grass is not always greener on the other side. For most of us, the perhaps unconscious thrill lies in the story of Stephanie, the twin whose life in suburbia has become almost stifling, especially when compared to that of her exotic, exciting twin sister, Lady Sabrina Longworth. Quicker than you can say, "Hey, what if we traded places?" Stephanie is living the high life, while Sabrina is trading cocktail parties for backyard bar-b-ques. This is classic Judith Michael, who for several years stirred the imagination by taking classic cases of "what if" and spun them into fanciful, frothy books. "What if... you won the lottery?" (Pot Of Gold) "What if... you found out that your newly deceased husband had a rich, secret family he never told you about?" (A Ruling Passion) But with Deceptions, the novel that started it all, the authors crafted perhaps their best "what if" scenario by playing on a theme nearly every one of us has pondered at one time or another. Those looking for a good time could do a whole lot worse than to spend their summer with Stephanie and Sabrina!

When I read Deceptions, I thought it was going to be a sappy-love story. Generally, all love stories have a sappiness; Deceptions was no different. Although, I loved it. It was very enthralling, and it told the story well by developing the characters so you could almost smell and feel the same things they did. I enjoyed Sabrina Longworth's passionate personality, and her sister's loving qualities; but the real story laid with Garth Anderson. He was Stephenie's husband, and he had two children with her. The fact was that Sabrina and Garth met once and strongly disliked each other, but when Sabrina and Stephenie play on Garth with the deception--- they fall in love. A bit predictable, only you expect the story to lie with Stephenie and not Sabrina. Without Stephenie's smaller, and not as developed life-style in Sabrina's world, you wouldn't be able to laugh at all the odd mishappenings that go on within the book. When Sabrina and Garth begin to fall in love, (Garth re-falling in love with his wife who seemed dead for so many years, and Sabrina falling in love with Stephenie's husband) it's comical. It was fun to read about this odd circle the Authors developed. The two sisters, living in swapped worlds, and two men who don't know or care that they are not sleeping with the woman they think--- or for that matter, married to the woman they think. Stephenie kept messing everything up, and Sabrina kept trying to fix it. Then there was Garth who really was just going with it, blind to the obvious deception in front of him. My only objection to how these two people write, the husband and wife team of Judith Michael, is that it is free with swearing and intimacies. All in all, it was a rare, sappy love story, with an intricate plot that had it all: humor, love, and a well developed story back ground. It's well worth the time to read, and it won't take you long because it is so enthralling. Deceptions is the type of book that is just hard to put down at two-thirty in the morning, knowing you have five hours before you get up to work the next day; it's the type of book you keep saying: another chapter, and I swear I'll go to bed.

I have read the book 3 years ago and I still can tell the deepest details in the story, It's really breathtaking, every new page holds passion, love, and care within its lines......I'm planning to read it again and wish it never ends...I highly recommend it.

I am more into the science fiction and never found the romantic stuff that intresting.....i happened to borrow "Deceptions" from my friend just to kill time....now its one of my all time favorites...i bought the book and its sequel too,which is not inleast disappointing(as sequels generally are). "Deceptions" is just not a light hearted romantic 'story' its the best in its kind that touches every aspect of our dialy routine in the most amazing way.we come accross a lot of little details we experience in our everyday life and yet fail to recognise and enjoy them.We are taught to make the best of what we have and be grateful for all the good things in our life.It describes the subtle emotions between two indivisuals with an amazing scrutiny.Its a master piece a "not to be missed" novel.Highly recommnded.

I think this is a wonderful book. I know a lot of wives would sometime give thier right arm to pull a switch like this. I wish when it came out I would have bought it. I do have Tangled Web which I have also throughly enjoyed reading. If it is possible to get some information on either of these books, like is the movie Deception available on video, or are either of these available on audio, as I love to listen in the car or at work while on the computer I put them in to listen. It makes the day go faster if your listening to a good story.

This was one of the best books that I have read in a long time. It's a story about twin sisters who switch lives and that's all I am going to tell you. You'll have to read the book to see how it ends, for now. A Tangled Web is the sequel to this book and is also well worth a read

A wonderful, marvelously written book by these authors. I read it 18 years ago and felt the need to re-read it again and I am enjoying every single page of this ingenious plot.

this book arrived in perfect condition,the story was sooo exciting ,could not wait for the end of story.It was so entertaining.we recoment to any one.

I'm now reading this wonderful book for the third time (this time in English because the German translation is lacking 70 pages from the US original text due to some incompetent translator or publisher) and can highly recommend it.
The sequel is called "A Tangled Web", takes place mostly in Southern France's Provence and is equally thrilling.

The TV movie "Deceptions" with Stefanie Powers, Barry Bostwick and Gina Lollobrigida is one of my all-time favorite TV productions and very worth watching.
The twins Sabrina and Stephanie (Judith Michael obviously must have written this book with having Stefanie Powers on her mind for a possible TV movie) go to Venice (instead of going to Shanghai like they do in the book) and the scenes filmed in Venice, Rome and London are just breath-takingly beautiful.

Read the two books, then watch the movie. You won't regret it!