Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 9780399170867
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N
Shelby Foxworth lost her husband. Then she lost her illusions…
The man who took her from Tennessee to an exclusive Philadelphia suburb left her in crippling debt. He was an adulterer and a liar, and when Shelby tracks down his safe-deposit box, she finds multiple IDs. The man she loved wasn’t just dead. He never really existed.
Shelby takes her three-year-old daughter and heads south to seek comfort in her hometown, where she meets someone new: Griff Lott, a successful contractor. But her husband had secrets she has yet to discover. Even in this small town, surrounded by loved ones, danger is closer than she knows—and threatens Griff, as well. And an attempted murder is only the beginning…
The Liar is appealingly eclectic. It’s not just a romance, but a story of family, home, and building dreams. Of mystery, danger, and deception. Only Nora Roberts could so seamlessly entwine all these things and then top it off with the welcoming charm of the small Southern town of Rendezvous Ridge. It’s impossible not to be drawn into this story, and into the lives of its protagonists.
Perhaps my favorite thing about The Liar (yes, even above the romance) was Shelby’s character growth. At the beginning of the book we see her as a widow almost completely overwhelmed by the mass of deceit her husband’s death reveals. I say “almost,” for though Shelby’s been in an abusive relationship for years and is just discovering that the life she thought she had was little more than an illusion, there’s a core of steel in her that can’t be broken. I admired her strength from the start, how she pulls herself up and does what needs to be done to make a better life for her daughter. In many ways The Liar is Shelby’s story; her coming into her own over the course of the book and learning to believe in herself and her future is just as important as her love story with Griffin. Griffin is a hardworking, disarmingly charming contractor who is knocked off his feet by both Shelby and her adorable daughter, Callie. It’s clear the three of them are meant to be a family, but given all that Shelby’s been through and the speed at which she falls for Griff it’s no wonder that she’s a bit gun-shy. Griff is almost too good to be true, but Ms. Roberts keeps him from being unbelievably perfect. The Griff/Shelby romance will make you smile and sigh and – like all of Ms. Roberts’s love stories – every up and down in their relationship is worth it for the wonderfully satisfying happily ever after.
The suspense storyline in The Liar revolves around Shelby’s husband’s secrets and the danger they bring. The suspense is slow to build, as Ms. Roberts sets the stage piece by piece and much of the book is focused on Shelby building a new life for herself and Callie in Rendezvous Ridge. Though I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on and who is behind it, that doesn’t hurt the story any. The fun of it is watching Shelby uncover the pieces of the puzzle and put them together with the help of Griff and their loved ones.
Faint notes of the Hepburn and Grant classic, Charade, appear in the story. It’s only fitting, for like the film, The Liar is effortlessly engaging, drawing in its audience as the story unfolds. I adored The Liar and look forward to reading it again and again!
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
1 comments:
I thought Griff was a hoot!
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