Nora books can be so hit or miss even in my limited experience, and this one was a hit. It's not my favorite Nora, but it was hard to put down with a fantastic cast and a less expected plot. I'm going to make a stupid comparison here, but it's very much like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Nora Roberts style (which is stupid because this book came out over twenty years before but I read that one first so whatever).

Genuine Lies takes place in the early nineties but focuses on Old Hollywood. Eve Benedict, star of the silver screen, has decided she wants an authorized biography, which has freaked everyone she knows the fuck out, because they don't want her dishing the dirt on them. Eve's unrepentant and fabulous from the start to the end. Seriously, I love the shit out of Eve, because she's so consistently herself, so self-aware, and so honest. She doesn't castigate herself for her past or try to pretend it didn't happen; instead, she really understands why she did things and forgives herself for them. God, she's great. More women should be this unapologetic.

Eve hires as her biographer Julia Summers, the central heroine of the book. I really like Julia, but Eve does admittedly steal the spotlight, because she's Eve. That said, I appreciated that Julia's a bit of a quieter heroine. She's smart and strong and independent, but she's not in your face the way Eve is. Many people look at her, think they can manipulate her, and end up learning their assessment was way wrong. Julia's closed off emotionally to everyone but her ten-year-old son, since the death of her adoptive parents left her orphaned.

There's a romance, obviously, because it's Nora. Julia's love interest is Paul, who is the son of one of Eve's ex-husbands, and who has basically been Eve's adopted son since that marriage. Paul's bright and funny and usually doesn't do too much macho bullshit, so I liked him despite that he smokes a lot. Julia has a strong tendency to withhold, and Paul does a good job most of the time calling her on it but also accepting why she did that, and it's his ability to communicate with her effectively that makes this couple seem like it could really work. They weren't a Ship for me, but I liked them and wanted them to end up together.

Genuine Lies delivers on the Hollywood drama and scandals. There were twists I saw telegraphed from the very start and twists I one hundred percent did not predict, which hasn't been the case in other Nora books for me. Plot-wise, I thought this one was really strong. High-drama books aren't always my thing, but this one hit that perfect level where it's just the perfect high calorie snack. It's also super satisfying knowing that the bio will come out and all the assholes will get what's coming to them. Honestly, it fits really well with the current climate, because Eve's working on outing a whole hell of a lot of inappropriate shit from the industry.

This wasn't the most Christina of Nora Roberts books, but it was just so damn entertaining. I had a blast with this one. If you like Nora Roberts and also liked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, you should definitely find a copy of Genuine Lies because you're gonna love it.

Genuine Lies was FANTASTIC! It had everything sex, lies, romance, murder. There are quite a few twists and turns that I did not see coming. I have read a lot of her books and sometimes it is kind of easy to see where the book is going to go but, there were a few things that threw me and that is one of the things that I like best about her work. You think that you have things figured out and then, BAM, she throws in something that makes your jaw drop. Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and I would recommend this to anyone that is a fan of hers and to anyone that wants to start reading some of her books.