Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Wild on Books!, November 25, 2008
This review is from: Lie to Me (Mass Market Paperback)
Ellie Coggins is determined to find the evidence she needs in order to prove that Banner Westfield murdered her best friend. While breaking into Banner's office during a house party is probably not the best plan she has have come up with, Ellie is getting desperate. And, she has just been caught by Jack Payton, the black sheep of the Westfield family who also happens to be Banner's half brother. In a split second the two become allies and engaged so as to cover for the real reasons they are in the office.
Jack Payton has just been paroled and is trying to get his life and daughter back. He wants to do all he can to convince social services and his estranged family that he has changed. Ellie posing as his affianced bride is a stuck of luck in itself and seems like the perfect start.
Ellie and Jack agree to help each other out. Due to her engagement to Jack, Ellie is able to get into the Westfield home much to the consternation of Banner. It is only a matter of time before Ellie gets the proof she needs to get Banner put away forever. Hopefully she will be able to let Jack go just as easily!
Jack Payton is the ultimate reformed bad boy. Criminal record aside, he is doing his very best to turn his life around so that the powers that be at children's social services will grant him custody of his beloved daughter. For this characteristic alone I fell in love with Jack. His loyalty and love towards his daughter and Ellie shines through during every scene.
If Jack is loyal, Ellie is loyal times ten. She is willing to put herself in danger in order to find the evidence she needs get Banner arrested. That aside, her love for Libby, Jack's daughter, grows into unconditional love much like the love of a mother and natural child. She and Jack's attraction to each other is so instantaneous I had no trouble seeing the dilemma each has with the other in trying to convince their families that they are truthfully engaged.
I found the plot and premise of LIE TO ME to be original and intriguing. Realistic in nature, I can only imagine how someone on parole feels when trying to regain the confidence needed to live day in and day out with the stigma of being a released prisoner. Jack's ability to focus on his mission to be a worthy father to Libby is notable and made me sigh with delight and smile. A daughter loved half as much as Jack loved his daughter Libby would make many young girls very lucky.
LIE TO ME is a great addition to my every expanding keeper shelf. I swooned at Jack's sensuality and gritted my teeth at Banner's audacity and then you have Libby's tenacity and Ellie's unwavering loyalty. All of these traits made for a truly wonderful read!
***Natalie S. for Wild on Books***
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty Good Book!, May 20, 2009
This review is from: Lie to Me (Mass Market Paperback)
Overall, cute and entertaining read. The heroine meets the hero when he catches her breaking into his evil brother's study to find evidence that Evil Brother had his wife killed. He pretends that she's his fiancee when they are interrupted a few minutes later and the charade just keeps getting bigger & bigger as they bamboozle his family & he tries to help her find the evidence she needs. In the meantime, he's trying to prove that Evil Brother is up to No Good so he can get his family's respect back and gain custody of his illegitimate daughter that he just found out about. The mystery was pretty good, chemistry between the two main characters was good, daughter wasn't annoyingly cute or moppet-ish. Problems: Evil Brother was just too over the top with his bad doings--he should have had a leer, a monocle, and a large black moustache and eaten puppies for breakfast every morning. A couple of plot twists were too convenient or unbelievable for even this breathless reader. Lastly, the idea that an untrained, uneducated young woman could start a business inspecting security systems and seem truly professional because she carries a briefcase and gets help from a former jewel thief is totally ludicrous. That part of the story was so unbelievable that I just laughed when it started to get more & more involved with the plot. This book isn't a desert island keeper, but it made for a pleasant and entertaining read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good first novel. Keep writing, June 29, 2010
This review is from: Lie to Me (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a good first novel. The plot is fun, if a little bit of a stretch, and Ellie and Jack are well-developed and have some witty repartee. The villain, Jack's brother Banner, is too black-hat for me and one-dimensional. The love story could use a little more development, but was pretty good.
Pros: You want to turn the page. I didn't have to force myself through several pages to get to a good part (ok had to force myself though the MJP break in but it wasn't long). The hero and heroine were likeable and funny. The beginning library and party scenes were great. There were some funny lines and scene set-ups and some witty dialog throughout. It wasn't too predictable, though obviously it's a light romance so you know they'll get together in the end and bad guy will get his. First sex scene build up was a unique and well-done approach with Banner describing on the ride home what he would do to Ellie.
Nit-picky cons: The sex scenes were a little vague and should have been rewritten "and then clothes were everywhere" isn't enough detail for me. Or the scenes were vague and then really specific "he felt a squeeze where they were intimately connected' Didn't know they were connected since ya didn't tell us. Or "he disposed of the condom" and here I thought it was an oops since she didn't mention that he used one this time.
In the last 70 pages the author adds two new POV scenes, which is bad, bad, bad. The one from Janet's POV should have been cut completely as it added nothing. The one from Libby's POV should have been from Jack or Ellie's via the IM conversation. This is really sloppy to throw these in when the whole book has been Ellie's or Jack's POV.
***ending spoiler***
Didn't buy the ending. One, that you'd want a kid along at an expensive dinner proposal. And, more importantly, that the longed for declaration of love, which happened during the proposal, was enough to make everything ok in the end. Come on, Jack told Banner to go ahead and shoot her. Ellie pointed out all the instances where she thought he showed he didn't love her. I think she'd need a little more convincing and maybe without a 12 year old at the table. I loved the "give back the ring" set-up and the "carpet tack" lines.
I'd give this 3.5 stars if there were half stars.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
