Customer Reviews

Lip Service

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It still manages to be mildly entertaining, despite the tired plot, fairly flat characters, and hackneyed mystery. The dog-in-the-pocket was funny, as was the sensitive Mrs. Danvers (who was fired from a previous position for burning toast. They thought she was trying to set fire to the house). If you are looking for a romance novel with something different to offer, you proablably shouldn't start with Lip Service, but if you are lloking for a mildly entertaining diversion to last you a few hours, buy it used.

Trace Ballinger left the coalmines of Pennsylvania to become a full partner at a prestigious New York law firm. Though he has made it, he would have done almost anything to gain vengeance on the affluent Grant family, who made their wealth on the lungs of families including his own. That need changed when he met the Grant matriarch Cora who gave his career its boost by selecting him to represent her. Over the next eight years, a loving relationship formed between the two of them.

Almost a decade ago, while she was studying in France, Schuyler Grant's parents and sister died in a boating accident. She attended their funerals and immediately fled to Paris, not coming home since the tragedy.

Schuyler inherits Cora's fortune, which finally gets her to return home where she meets the estate's attorney Trace. They are immediately attracted to one another, but apart from their love for Cora have nothing in common. However, proximity breeds understanding, trust, and love, but will that supersede Trace's thirst for vengeance as it did once before?

LIP SERVICE is an entertaining romantic suspense novel that hooks readers due to its lead couple and a plethora of eccentric secondary players. The story line entertains the reader as it centers on the relationship between Schuyler and Trace. The inclusion of a subplot that places the lead couple in danger is exciting, but unnecessary to an already strong primary theme that focuses on class differences in America. Suzanne Simmons provides an intelligent tale that will please sub-genre fans who should also read LADY'S MAN and NO ORDINARY MAN.

Harriet Klausner

I couldn't even bring myself to concentrate on "Lip Service." The characters were not developed well and the circumstances surrounding their meeting were strange. I just didn't get into this book as much as I wished I could have.

A combination of romance, gothic, mystery and contemporary, this book succeeds on ALL levels.

Schuler Grant has come home to Grantwood for the reading of her aunt Cora's will. Trace Ballinger is Cora's lawyer. Schuler and Trace first meet on a rainy night on the way to Cora's "mysterious crumbling castle". He has had a flat tire. She almost hits him when someone tries to run her off the road. They exchange business cards and it isn't until the next morning that they realize they were both headed to the same destination.

Besides the castle,Cora has left Schuler a note to "lay the ghosts to rest". Neither Trace or Schuler has a clue as to what the note refers to. It isn't long before they realize that the accidents that have been happening are not accidents at all but who? And why?

There's a housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers who helps set the mood. Also 2 eccentric sister who are neighbors, a shifty cousin, an elderly groundskeeper,not to mention hidden passages and rooms.

It has all the elements of a great read - it's funny, has a mystery, great characters, romance and lots of surprises. Enjoy!

This is the first romance I've read by this author, but it won't be the last. Lip Service had a story that kept me reading, an interesting romantic couple and I was surprised to find it was funny, too. But not the kind of silly slapstick humor I've read in some romance novels. I highly recommend this book.

I was hard pressed to finish this book but perservered. I would have done better to toss it and find something more interesting to read.

There was absolutely NO emotion by any of the characters in this book. The only reason the reader would know there was any was because the author said so.

And the ending was so murky, it's a definite let down. Why had the villain plotted revenge for 30 years? For what? The tragic event took place more than 58 years before. How would that have affected the villain?

I felt that a lot of pages got left somewhere. Jammed in a fax machine? Eaten by the author's dog? Don't know and don't care. If this is an example of Ms. Simmons work, I don't care to read anything else. This one goes to the used book store ASAP. Hopefully, to be traded for something worth reading.

Save your money for a good book with a decent plot and real emotions.

I was disappointed in this book. From the blurbs and reviews I thought I'd like the characters and get a nice suspenseful read. It WAS suspenseful, the mystery was pretty good for a romance, and the pace and plotting of the story was fairly well done. BUT! this author needs some serious help with her dialogue. The heroine bears a strong resemblance to a parrot, repeating the last words of anything said to her in the form of a question, which very quickly became a major annoyance to me. I felt the author was trying to fool me into believing that plot exposition was real conversation, and I'm not buying it. The conversations between the hero and heroine nearly put me to sleep--just amazingly boring and unenlightening, so blah and trite that I didn't really believe in the attraction these two were supposed to be feeling for each other. I was so seriously annoyed with the dialogue that many of the good things about the book were spoiled for me. If the author can learn to create some realistic and meaningful dialogue, I may give her a try again. But not until then.

And can someone explain what the title had to do with the book? I can detect no relation between the title and the story whatsoever.

Trace Ballinger fought his way off the streets, into Harvard, and became a ruthless attorney. Elderly Cora Grant was one of his favorite clients. He called her "friend", even though she was a blue blood. She was considered to be eccentric. Her estate, Grantwood, was a maze and often doors were opened only to find a brick wall. Hidden rooms and secret staircases were everywhere. Trace was to execute the estate for her when she died. Cora left money to almost everyone in town! Grantwood and a huge inheritance was left to Schuyler, Cora's niece.

Schuyler flew in from her home in France. Cora left her a request to put "some old ghosts to rest". Cora believed the house to be haunted. Schuyler believed someone was playing games. Spooky sounds, lights in the night, and someone tried often to kill her. The two team up to catch the culprit, find and reveal old secrets, and explore the attraction between themselves.

**** A romance that reads much like a gothic! This one is a Keeper, Readers! It hooked me on page one and never let me go. It kept me reading well into the night. Highly recommended! ****

Trace Ballinger fought his way off the streets, into Harvard, and became a ruthless attorney. Elderly Cora Grant was one of his favorite clients. He called her "friend", even though she was a blue blood. She was considered to be eccentric. Her estate, Grantwood, was a maze and often doors were opened only to find a brick wall. Hidden rooms and secret staircases were everywhere. Trace was to execute the estate for her when she died. Cora left money to almost everyone in town! Grantwood and a huge inheritance was left to Schuyler, Cora's niece.

Schuyler flew in from her home in France. Cora left her a request to put "some old ghosts to rest". Cora believed the house to be haunted. Schuyler believed someone was playing games. Spooky sounds, lights in the night, and someone tried often to kill her. The two team up to catch the culprit, find and reveal old secrets, and explore the attraction between themselves.

**** A romance that reads much like a gothic! This one is a Keeper, Readers! It hooked me on page one and never let me go. It kept me reading well into the night. Highly recommended! ****