Book Review: The Liar by Nora Roberts

 

The Liar

by
Nora Roberts

romantic suspense/thriller

Kindle/512pages

Quote: 

"You paid off a million dollars since January? That must have been one hell of a yard sale." ~Viola

The Liar by Nora Roberts

From the cover:

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's 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...

My Review:

This book had three parts, The False, the Roots, and The Real. I honestly do not know if it was originally written or intended to be this way. 

I am glad that it was broken down, it was 512 pages total! But, I almost feel like I would have read it faster, and enjoyed it more, if it had just been made into three separate books, a trilogy.

Personally, I had moments where I thought, " Why is she starting another character's story, now? Am I ever going to finish this book?"

While, I did enjoy each of the characters, and they were definitely well-developed; I felt at times, it was just too much. The story started to stray away from the main storyline.

Shelby had way too much going on in such a short timeline to figure out where she was headed. Not to the point that it was unbelievable, but it was heading that way.

There were a few times I felt the words didn't mesh with the character she seemed to be. I understand that mental abuse and trauma can definitely change a person and how they feel about themselves, I just got the vibe that she flip-flopped from naive, blindsided, mouse, into this country raised, tough as nails gal a little too quickly. Again, just my opinion of how she was written.

I enjoyed how all her family came together to support her and help her find her way. It's very clear they have a close bond, that I can attest to being a country raised value. 

As for the mystery/suspense elements, I wasn't shocked at all. The bad guy/s were pretty obvious and the twist was not surprising at all. 

Mystery, romance, contemporary; I get that.

Suspense/thriller, nope. Not at all (for me)

I'm still going to give this one 5 stars. Overall, it was a great story and the characters made me keep reading.

Notes:

To be honest, I've known that Nora Roberts had written tons, and tons of books. I've only read 4 of her books. I feel like, she's one of those authors that I've heard the name and sort of know her genre of choice, I just never seem to grab one of her books to read. I actually went back through my Goodreads shelves and realized I do have a couple on my TBR list. Two that I already own.

She also has written over 63 crime books in the In Death(Eve Dallas) series under the pseudonym J.D. Robb

Totally guestimating, she has over 200 books to choose from! There's bound to be something of hers you'd enjoy!

Have you read any of her books? Which was your favorite?

Which one should I add to my list?