Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tempting fate and long-standing friendship, September 19, 2005
This review is from: True Love (and Other Lies) (Paperback)
NY-based travel writer Claire is bored with her life. Her last significant romance ended with him leaving the country to get away from her. When she is seated next to a sexy stranger on a flight to London, they hit it off and arrange to hook up after he ends his current unsatisfying relationship. Not expecting to ever see him again, she is surprised when he calls and arranges to show her around London.
Imagine her surprise when she discovers that her new man, Jack is Jack Harrison, the man that just dumped her best friend Maddy (though Maddy refers to him only as "Harrison"). It wouldn't be so bad - after all, she did not know who he was, except that Maddy is obsessed with getting back with Jack, while Claire might just be falling in love.
They continue to have a trans-Atlantic romance, and Claire never gets around to telling Maddy about it, even though she knows that Maddy is threatening to hire a private detective.
Claire suffers from self-esteem issues and can never really understand why Jack wants her. She is suspicious of his intentions, and it does not help when those closest to her feed into her ego problems. Will she tempt fate and allow herself to fall for the man who seemed to be born to love her? Is Jack a good guy or a bad guy?
Gaskell follows up her excellent debut with a charming story about two unlikely but perfectly suited people fated to find each other despite the odds.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I Laughed Out Loud More than Once, September 2, 2004
This review is from: True Love (and Other Lies) (Paperback)
Whitney Gaskell's latest novel True Love and Other Lies is a must-read. It's funny (downright hilarious at times), touching, absorbing and hard to put down.
Clare Spencer, main heroine of True Love and Other Lies, is a travel writer - but not the glamorous kind. She works for a magazine called "Sassy Seniors", and gets stuck traveling to places that are suitable mainly for senior citizens. Not only that, but the slightly sarcastic and witty twist she injects into the articles she writes are always being shot down by her editor. The story starts with Clare boarding a plane and getting stuck sitting next to an irate Indian woman who keeps complaining non-stop to her husband seated behind her, but the guy sitting next to the woman's husband offers to switch seats. This guy, named Jack, ends up being interesting, intelligent and nice. Needless to say, they hit it off very well and arrange to meet up during her stay in London. They spend a glorious few days together, and despite herself, Clare starts to fall for him.
However, there is a twist. (Isn't there always?) Clare discovers that Jack is her best friend Maddy's ex boyfriend, whom she is still obviously pining for. Clare, who is a very moralistic and solid person, is stuck in the middle and doesn't know what to do. She wants to confess to Maddy about her and Jack's relationship, but Maddy is so torn up about him (even seeming psychotic at times) that Clare is afraid to confess. Meanwhile Jack and Clare are becoming closer and closer.
What's a girl to do? Join Clare on her adventure through this mess of a romantic triangle. True Love and Other Lies isn't only about romance, however; Clare is trying to find a new job, as her current one is driving her crazy with boredom. She is also struggling with a lot of self-doubt and isn't sure she is ready to open herself to being hurt again.
True Love and Other Lies is a wonderful story, and I enjoyed it very much. Whitney Gaskell has created in Clare a strong, yet flawed character many will be able to identify with. She is a woman with actual morals, and has a way of looking at life that is sarcastically hilarious yet down to earth. This book made me laugh out loud more than once with the funny commentaries on airplane travel, job angst and general life happenings. (If you think you've ever been stuck sitting beside someone unpleasant on a flight or had a job interview from hell, you'll especially appreciate this book).
Definitely a unique novel, I highly recommend True Love and Other Lies. The book was a tiny bit predictable to me (especially the ending), and a couple of times I wanted to shake Clare because she was just too nice for her own good, but overall this was a great read that I had a hard time putting down. People that enjoyed Gaskell's first book "Pushing 30" will love this one, as well as others who haven't read this author before. Gaskell puts together a winning formula once again: insecure yet strong and witty woman trying to find herself, a better job and get her romantic life sorted out, with snappy dialogue and plot twists to add to the mix.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great beach read, August 31, 2004
This review is from: True Love (and Other Lies) (Paperback)
Heroine: full-figured, voluptuous
Claire Spencer isn't bitter about love, oh no. Seeing her parents divorce didn't leave a bad taste about marriage in her mouth. And having her lover flee her didn't affect her in the least. Not at all.
So when an attractive fellow American catches her eye on a trans-Atlantic flight, she's surprised and a bit suspicious that he'd hit on a bigger girl like herself, but decides that engaging in a little harmless flirtation to pass the time would be reasonable. But she didn't count on falling hard for him during that overnight flight. And Jack (think Owen Wilson meets Matthew McConaughey) was wonderful enough for her to reconsider the dating scene, right up until he dropped the other shoe. He was in a relationship, albeit one he was about to end.
And what's even more distressing, Claire knows the girlfriend in question very well indeed. She swears to herself that she will not get involved in the upcoming romantic mess, but she's so drawn to Jack that she just can't help it. And before long she's entangled in a web of lies, deceit, and guilt.
What good is it to have a great new guy in your life if you can't actually talk about him and feel guilty for even knowing him?
What worked for me:
I totally get Claire's interest in reading high-end home decor magazines and wanting not just the profiled homes but the lives of their owners. I, too, wish I could be in a gourmet kitchen serenely washing baby arugula leaves, but my lifestyle and personality dictate that instead I lift my feet as kids and cats race under them while I give the iceberg lettuce a quick pass by swishing the core into the trash can, so be it. It's probably not going anywhere, so I'll pick it up later.
The litany of movies in this story was a blast from the past for this child of the 80s.
I enjoyed the cute little email exchanges between Claire and Jack, but things got a bit confusing when other people were added to the correspondence. Of course, I imagine it was a bit confusing for Claire too.
Size-wise Claire sounded abundant, but only in the way she thought of herself. At the end of the story we find out that she is tall, a size 14, and built along the lines of a young Liz Taylor.
What didn't work for me:
It was fine for me, but some folks might not enjoy the first person point of view.
The story could have used a tad more polishing in spots. And Claire's low self-esteem and unwillingness to sort out her own life really annoyed me at times. (But mainly because it hit too close to home for comfort's sake.)
Overall:
"True Love and Other Lies" is a quick and funny read. Worth picking up for that last visit to the beach this summer.
Warning: there are some coarse words and sexual scenarios in this book.
If you liked "True Love and Other Lies" you might also enjoy "The Way It Is", "Inappropriate Men", "The High Price of a Good Man", "Bridget Jones's Diary", "Good in Bed", "Coffee and Kung Fu", "Separation Anxiety", "Jemima J.", "Waking Beauty", and "Fat Chance".
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
