Customer Reviews

The Naked Truth (Berkley Sensation)

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The Naked Truth has four funny, steamy and offbeat stories.

The Winning Truth by Erin McCarthy has Tansey Reynolds and J T Kowalski competing for a car or cash by living in the vehicle with two other contestants. Neither was looking for romance but being confined in the back seat leads to a connection. Tansey and J T are hilarious and their chemistry will go well behind this radio stunt.

Alesia Holliday writes The Naked Truth About Guys. C.J. Murphy writes a humor column for the local paper and has agreed to a make over by her friend. She finally turns the head of her office crush Hugh Leonard. But can Hugh convince her that he liked her all along?

Truth or Dare by Donna Kauffman has soap writer Bailey Madison getting a plum job of writing a noted billionaires life story at his home. Imagine her shock when an old flame Noah Morrissey a documentary filmmaker is also doing a story and living at the same estate. Will these two old lovers be able to work together or will they rekindle the old spark?

Beverly Brandt's Nothing But The Truth has Madison Case working as the go to gal for Rules Of Engagement. She it trying to get the Marry Me Marathon to come off without a hitch. But problems keep coming up. To top it off her ex husbands divorce lawyer finally makes his play for her.

This anthology is fun, sexy and a treat to read. Each story is a gem.

"The Winning Truth" by Erin McCarthy. Tansey enters a contest to win a car or $25K; the rule is the last person to remain inside the vehicle wins. Her opponents are hunky J.T., Brenda and Jay. The attraction in the back seat between Tansey and J.T. is so thick Brenda and Jay consider boffing; still courting in a car in front of an audience seems wrong yet feels right.

"The Naked Truth about Guys" by Alesia Holliday. Seattle Times columnist C.J. wonders how to persuade investigative reporter Hugh that she wants him when he seems to see her as one of the guys. She lays her heart out in her columns, but like all men he misunderstands that changing the oil may prove love to a guy, but women need the Grand Gesture.

"Truth or Dare" by Donna Kauffman. Soap opera writer Bailey is hired as a biographical ghostwriter by billionaire Franklin. Also employed by Franklin is filmmaker Noah, the last man Bailey wants to see since they broke up several months ago. As they do their respective jobs, the attraction reignites.

"Nothing but the Truth" by Bevarly Brandt. In Naples Florida Madison hosts the Rules of Engagement Show; the current theme is a marrying marathon. She does not trust marriage having divorced Jeff who married her sister. When she assumes that Jeff is dumping her sibling and sees what she believes is atrocious behavior by the male contestants she becomes irate even while divorce lawyer Scott tries to tell her nothing but the truth.

These four contemporary novellas focus on Men Are from Mars; Women Are from Venus as misunderstanding between the genders lead to fun lighthearted romantic frolics.

Harriet Klausner

I don't know it was about the stories that didn't work for me, but it was a chore reading it. I think I gave up after a couple of stories, and then for the sake of having bought the book, I kept reading. I don't remember anything about the stories, and what made it so dry. Borrow it from the library. I really don't think it's worth buying.

**** The Winning Truth by Erin McCarthy.

Tansey's got a dead-end job and she's sworn off men. Dissatisfied with her life, she lets her best friend talk her into entering a radio station contest: the last person to leave an SUV wins either the car or $25,000. She figures she can use the cash to go back to college.

J.T. enters the contest, hoping the cash will save the family business, which is endangered after his dad's divorce.

It's a cute story with some interesting characters--at least one of the other contestants is more than she seems at first glance, and there's even sweet secondary romance. I particularly liked that Tansey could resist her physical attraction to J.T., but the more she got to know him, the harder he was to resist--in other words, it was more than just proximity and lust. The solution to the contest was clever as well.


***** The Naked Truth About Guys by Alesia Holliday.

C.J. writes a weekly column on relationships for her local paper--"The Naked Truth About Guys" from the title--but in the newsroom, she's definitely one of the guys. Unfortunately, that means that Hugh, the office Lothario she's had a crush on for months, doesn't notice her. When a famous--and young!--athlete drops by, saying he's fallen in love with her through her column, she takes her best friend up on the offer of a makeover. It works. C.J. goes from a dating desert to juggling two men.

There's a reason why this story won the Rita. The writing is crisp and snappy, the characters are complete, and their stories are compelling. C.J.'s ugly-duckling is well-explained, as are the romances. The laughs--and there are a lot of them--come from the story rather than being jokes added for comic effect. Best of all, it was clear why C.J. was having trouble deciding between her suitors--all too often, it's a choice between Good Guy and Bad Guy, but that wasn't at all the case here.

***½ Truth or Dare by Donna Kauffman.

Bailey's just gotten the break of a lifetime--the chance to ghostwrite an eccentric billionaire's autobiography. It'll pay well, give her publishing credentials, and allow her the time to work on her own novel.

Noah, Bailey's ex-boyfriend who left without a word 6 months earlier, is a filmmaker whose action/adventure movies pay the bills for his true love: documentaries. He's talked his way into making a documentary of billionaire Franklin's life, so both Noah and Bailey will be living in the mansion.

I liked Noah's character arc--learning that there are some things in life he's willing to risk for, but Bailey's is less clear. I wasn't happy with what seemed to be the message that the solution was for Noah to rescue her. Also, there was some conflict with Franklin, who was insisting that Bailey and Noah accompany him on hair-raising adventures to add authenticity to their work, and it looked as if he had an ulterior motive, but that went nowhere.

**** "Nothing but the Truth" by Beverly Brandt.

One of these days, I'll have to read all the Rules of Engagement stories in the correct order.

Madison is an assistant at Rules of Engagement, and is in charge of a publicity stunt/TV special about three fantasy engagements. Things start going wrong when she sees one of the prospective grooms with a partially-dressed woman, and her ex-husband, who's now married to her sister, all with her ex-husband's divorce lawyer, Scott.

Madison is frantically trying to save the day for everyone, with Scott's assistance. She averts crises, inadvertently causes others, and battles with her conscience over what truths and how much she should tell whom.

It's a little too complex for novella-length, and a little dependent on being at least familiar with the previous stories in the series, but it was a fun story, and ended realistically.
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As a whole, this anthology is definitely worth the read.

Two words: cute and romantic. It's cute because there are four stories in one, and romantic because they are all about guys.
Was it just me or did the stories get worse as they got along? The first one was great, second one was okay, third one was ishy and the fourth one was kind of cheesy.
Either way, it was entertaining for now and while I may not be running off to the nearest book store to buy new books by these authors, I am pleased that I read this. One down, millions to go!!!

I picked up this book since I am a fan of chick lit and this had 4 possible winners. Although most were entertaining, many felt too short or too cheesy. I really enjoyed Erin McCarthy's "The Winning Truth" and am glad I picked up this book as now I have a new author to read. However, I also found an author I can cross of my list: Beverly Brandt. Pick this up and maybe you'll find a new author yourself. I also recommend Whitney Gaskell or Janet Evanovich.