Customer Reviews

Genuine Lies

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Genuine Lies" is a fabulously entertaining and thrilling novel, and is sure to please readers.
Julia Summers has been a single mom since she was 18-years-old and now her life is devoted to providing a safe and happy environment for her 10-year-old son, Brandon. Julia has established herself as a sought after Hollywood biographer, and her life is simple, just the way she wants it.
When movie goddess Eve Benedict enlists Julia to write her tell ALL biography of her 50-year career including numerous awards, husbands, and lovers, Julia is thrilled. But as Eve reveals her many deep, dark secrets, Julia realizes that there are a great many people who are desperate to keep Eve quiet and keep her book from ever being published.
Paul Winthrop, handsome novelist and Eve's beloved stepson, is protective of Eve and unsure of Julia. He believes this book can bring nothing but trouble. However, Paul finds himself very attracted to Julia, and Julia's resolve to stay single begins to weaken. Paul and Julia are both well-developed and likable characters, and their romance is sweet and beautifully rendered.
Eve believes that she has everything under control, but it soon becomes clear that there is a highly dangerous individual nearby who will take any measure necessary to stop this book - which means that Eve and Julia had better watch their backs!
This is a wonderful story full of suspense, intrigue and romance. It creates an excellent and exciting picture of Hollywood, and tells a story that will keep you glued to the pages. The ending is fabulous and totally unexpected. I guarantee you will enjoy this book - so buy it today!

This novel is like a soap opera, but only more fun, more interesting, and more suspenseful. I was dubious in the beginning about this novel because I usually don't like plots with flashbacks, especially when it isn't between the couple falling in love, Julia and Paul, in this case. But this book is a definite exception, most importantly because I love the characters. There were a lot of characters but you get so enraptured in the novel that you actually do end up knowing all the twenty characters or so. Heck, Eve's husbands and lovers probably made up most of it. Despite the many characters, each character was fully developed and had a personality which was great. Also, ever have a person try to describe a soap opera to you with all the love triangles, murder, and revenge? This novel is kinda like that.

This book twists your emotions all around. A reader becomes sad, angry, understanding, and amused, sometimes all at the same time. I was laughing continuously throughout the book, especially when Eve meets Paul for the first time. I was tearing up with a couple of Eve's stories, especially of Charlie Gray's unrequited love of her and his action because of that. Yes, I am being deliberately vague to avoid giving away that story, although there are so many great stories I doubt you'd care. There were also some parts that were supposed to be sad but because of Nora Roberts's witty descriptions, I ended up laughing out loud despite everything. The novel has many plots all intertwining and then tying up into an unpredictable ending. Guessing the killer was a real mystery to me since everytime I thought I had it figured it out, I changed the killer to a different person.

Now about the characters that I loved so much: Some people might think Eve coldhearted but she did care. She was a strong woman that knew everyone's secrets. Eve had a hard life and it was amazing to me how she could keep moving through all the trials that were heaped unto her. Paul and Julia made a great couple, distrustful of each other at first and then coming to love each other. Julia I really liked because she is a heroine, she protects her son in many ways even to the point of knocking a teacher out. :)

There were some dark characters and some dark stories. If you hate books with rape, suicide, infidelity, people sleeping around, murder, and all that--this book might not be for you. Because like I said, it is kind of like a soap opera. But it is a great enough book to see if you would like it or not. Believe me, just buy it.

Julia Summers has been hand picked to write the memoirs of Eve Benedict by Eve herself. She packs up her ten year old son and heads off to California to research and write the book. Once in California Julia begins receiving pieces of paper with sayings on them that are intended to be threatening. A lot of people want to put a stop to the writing of Eve's memoirs but one person in particular wants the book to never be published. Herein lies the mystery of the book. Just who is that one person.
There are a lot of characters in this book. All of which are close to Eve in some manner. I found it hard at times to keep all the characters straight. And then there were the flashbacks when Eve was telling of certain events or times. This book seemed to go on and on with little or no purpose. Once I got within the last hundred pages of the book it became very interesting and worth the time reading. I only wish the first three hundred pages could have kept my attention. It was hard to keep reading when I found it not that interesting. There was a climax to the storyline but I think it was too far into the book. To tell Eve's story took awhile but it wasn't really all that interesting.
To sum it up--Genuine Lies is a good book if you like the tales of the rich and famous (even if they are fictional). This book could have stood to be shorter. It might have even been better. If it wasn't for the last one hundred pages I would have rated this book two stars.

I have read a lot of Nora Roberts books and always enjoyed them but this one I really liked. I read it twice back to back to try piecing all the parts together that I had raced through when the plot started to thicken. As the bioagrapher developes the book on the aging actress another story is forming around the young writer and her child. As the story progresses I came to really like the famous star. I certainly don't admire her lifestyle but she paid a bitter price for all she had and she had it all. Money, fame, property, lovers, husbands, and power. ...

I started reading Nora Roberts in 1995. I must say, after reading my first NR book, Public Secrets, I knew I'd miss more than half of my life if I didn't get my hands on all the NR books. In a span of 2 months, I have read more than 5 books by Nora Roberts and Genuine Lies is, by far, the best one I've read so far. Unlike other authors, I was not able to anticipate who, what, where, when, why, and how things will happen at the end of this novel. This is a sure hit. Must-read, can't-be-put-down, page-turner--call Genuine Lies whatever you want, but it will still boil down to what it is said to be--a BESTseller

I Love Nora Roberts and this book did not dissapoint.

The Hollywood glamour came across in this book. The characters are fun and true to life. I liked Julia and her son. I also liked Paul.

I rated this a four instead of my normal 5 stars for Nora Roberts books for two reasons: I found the romance true to life, although a bit forced at times since Julia didn't quite trust Paul. I also found that there were many more characters than normal and I had a hard time following all of them.

as a romance novel reader, you know that you're not reading classic novels. nora roberts' books are well written and entertaining, which is exactly what a romance novel reader should expect. i read this book about a year ago, and have been dying to read it again because i enjoyed the story line and the chemistry between julia and paul. of course it's predictable at times, but aren't all romance novels? don't buy it and expect anything deep or profound, buy it because of the fun and enticing story line with the benefit of two people falling in love.

This book is too long and too melodramatic. I also take issue with the theories put forth. For example, the notion that a woman who has an affair with a married man is justified..even glorified...because it's 'love'. Tawdry behavior and lousy morals espoused in silly dialog do not make for a good book. If you're going to digest low morals, irresponsibility and so forth, at least do yourself the favor of reading it in a witty , intelligent, and sophisticated context.

This is the first Nora Roberts book for me and I enjoyed the story line very much. She spent alot of time on character depth and it was truly a "whodunnit" but I have to say the heavy romantic scenes where actually distracting and almost gratuitous. After reading some of the book, I wondered why Fabio wasn't on the cover. Ms. Roberts needs to decide if she wants to be a Romance Writer or a Mystery Writer. I hope she decides on Mystery full time, she is a great writer.

This is a very easy read. It welcomes you to the life of a famous actress who decides to have a popular author to write her biography. Through the book you will learn the hardships and the joys of her life. About her lovers, her career and about the child she could never have. Add in her stepson and the author who set the pages on fire with their love and passion and you have a awesome book. Beware, their are several twists to the plot that take you unawares. Guaranteed to make you lose sleep simply by your desire to read just one more chapter before you turned out the lights. Kudos to Nora!!!