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Tell Me Lies
by
Jennifer Crusie (Goodreads Author)
Maddie Faraday’s life would be perfect—if it weren’t for
her cheating husband
her suspicious daughter
her gossipy mother
her secretive best friend
her nosy neighbors,
and that guy she lost her virginity to twenty years ago who is suddenly back in town. . . .
Suddenly, life in southern Ohio just got a little more scandalous.
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
March 30th 2010
by St. Martin's Press
(first published January 1st 1998)
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Susan Kelley
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those in need of a steamy romance with a plot!
Recommended to Susan by:
Yahoo's Bookcrossing Reading Group
This was my first Crusie book, though I do have at least one other in my TBR mountain. I read this one for the Yahoo Bookcrossing Reading Group.
I most likely wouldn't have picked this one up on my own, as I have a million and a half books to read. In fact, I almost didn't finish the book. I wasn't entirely overwhelmed in my first day of reading the book. I even posted that opinion in the group. Well, pardon me. The book turned around and slapped me silly! Within hours of my post, I w...more
I most likely wouldn't have picked this one up on my own, as I have a million and a half books to read. In fact, I almost didn't finish the book. I wasn't entirely overwhelmed in my first day of reading the book. I even posted that opinion in the group. Well, pardon me. The book turned around and slapped me silly! Within hours of my post, I w...more
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Not my favorite novel by Crusie - but still an enjoyable read.
Waste of time, even though I love Jennifer Crusie.
I have given 4 and 5 stars to four other books of hers, but this book was no fun at all. I disliked Maddie because she planned her actions based on what other people in her small town would say. She also lied too much. Everyone knew her husband hit her, but she continued to say she ran into a wall. She wouldn't tell her daughter the truth about her husband even though the daughter knew she was lying. She was being framed and set...more
I have given 4 and 5 stars to four other books of hers, but this book was no fun at all. I disliked Maddie because she planned her actions based on what other people in her small town would say. She also lied too much. Everyone knew her husband hit her, but she continued to say she ran into a wall. She wouldn't tell her daughter the truth about her husband even though the daughter knew she was lying. She was being framed and set...more
This was my first Jennifer Crusie read, and I was pleased with it for the most part. Maddie is a pretty average mom and wife, living in a small town where not only does everyone know your business, but they’ll tell your mother too. Having grown up in a town of 1200 people (in a good year), I can relate. Maddie was a little flightly and irrational (throwing away the evidence of your husband’s infidelity? leaving suspiciously found cash where it can be found?), but likable enough. I also liked ...more
This was the first Crusie novel I've ever read, after hearing rave reviews about her. The premise here was good, and kept my interest.
::SPOILER ALERT::
My complaint was in two parts:
One) while I liked hero and heroine and their chemistry, I'm not comfortable with adultery. Even if her husband is already an adulterer, that doesn't make it okay for her to do it too. This was the first romance I've ever read where someone commit adultery and was applauded for it...more
::SPOILER ALERT::
My complaint was in two parts:
One) while I liked hero and heroine and their chemistry, I'm not comfortable with adultery. Even if her husband is already an adulterer, that doesn't make it okay for her to do it too. This was the first romance I've ever read where someone commit adultery and was applauded for it...more
This book wasn't quite what I look for when I Jennifer Crusie's novels. That, in and of itself, could account for the relatively low stars I've given it in comparison to her other works. The dialogue was fun, as it is in every Crusie book, but there wasn't much else to recommend the story.
I'd say this book belongs in a special subset of chick-lit that I like to call "adultery-lit." These are the books wherein a spouse seeks and finds fulfillment outside of marriage. M...more
I'd say this book belongs in a special subset of chick-lit that I like to call "adultery-lit." These are the books wherein a spouse seeks and finds fulfillment outside of marriage. M...more
I just finished this book and to me it was just okay as compared to her other books. This book was a bit more serious than her other books, which are usually very funny, and I suppose that makes sense as this was a bit of a more serious story. I found some of the scenes that followed the main character's daughter tedious. I just didn't care what a couple of kids (elementary aged kids at that) were planning and thinking. I loved all of the scenes with C.L., especially the ones with his uncle.
...more
I would have proudly proclaimed that I'd never read a romance novel before in my life - and never imagined I ever would! In search of a new author, Cussler was suggested to me. On the shelf right next to Cussler was Cruise...and I confess it was actually the candy "Conversation Hearts" on the cover that caught my eye! I read the jacket and thought it sounded interesting. "Cute"..."Fun"..."Light-hearted", I thought! It was all of the above! It's been a ...more
I love a lot of what Jennifer Crusie has written for funny, light reads -- my favorites are probably Bet Me and Welcome to Temptation, but a lot of the others are also very entertaining.
Tell Me Lies reads like a "proto-Crusie" -- a lot of her characteristic elements are there: fiesty heroine discovering her inner fabulousness, redeemable hero being redeemed, cute kid, even cuter dog, fabulous friends and/or family characters, mystery to be solved complicating heroine and h...more
Tell Me Lies reads like a "proto-Crusie" -- a lot of her characteristic elements are there: fiesty heroine discovering her inner fabulousness, redeemable hero being redeemed, cute kid, even cuter dog, fabulous friends and/or family characters, mystery to be solved complicating heroine and h...more
I missed the point of this book if there is one. Basic story line: small town where everyone knows everyone else's business and/or is related to each other. Twenty years have passed since high school graduation and former 'bad boy' comes back to town, now a successful accountant, to investigate a prominent citizen's company's financial soundness. The prominent citizen happened to be former 'big man on campus' who married 'most popular good girl' who actually was attracted to 'bad boy' who it ...more
Not a fav. This book was a real let down for me. C.L. was cute enough but didn't have the spark of some of Crusie's other men. Maddie just caused problems all round. That bit with the gun and the money was a step too far for me and at that point I basically kept reading out of my own commitment to finish every book I start. The adultery didn't bother me as much as the totally improbable string of coincidences that drove this story. The two stars is for the little bit of raunch in C.L.'s charac...more
A cheater of a husband who also embezzled..a tight knit small town where you can't sneeze without the whole town knowing... A murder a set up...long lost
Love...long lived lies.... So much going on! A super fast fun read that got mind off my troubles so a few hours well spent. I liked the feisty funny gran, in the home, I liked the handsome hunk boyfriend from high school...who popped back into town after twenty years gone... Who had changed into a hard working decent man...it was a nice lit...more
Love...long lived lies.... So much going on! A super fast fun read that got mind off my troubles so a few hours well spent. I liked the feisty funny gran, in the home, I liked the handsome hunk boyfriend from high school...who popped back into town after twenty years gone... Who had changed into a hard working decent man...it was a nice lit...more
This one wasn't one of my favorite books by Crusie. I got kinda upset with the way everyone in the town always knew everyone's business. Maybe because that kind of situation would drive me insane. I mean, no one could do anything without everyone knowing something, and if they didn't know the truth they made things up! I know this is the concept of the book but it got to be too much. I did like the charcater of Maddie, however, C.L. was a tiny bit hard to believe that he so easily loved Maddi...more
This one wasn't one of my favorites of JC's. I've read several of her books and really enjoyed them, but this one had a small town gossip undercurrent that started to bug me fairly soon into the book. It bothered me that the characters were so worried about what the town thought that it effected everything that they did. Some of that is okay, we all live with it a little, but this went over the top. I really liked the characters and their relationships to each other, but the story seemed to drag...more
I think I liked the setting of this one, the vaguely-claustrophobic atmosphere that accompanies small town life, better than I did the actual romance. That struck me as oddly paced and more than a little unconvincing, and a strange accompaniment to the slightly darker themes Crusie touched on—Maddie and C.L. were perfectly likeable, but I'm still at a loss as to how they progressed so quickly from haven't-seen-you-in-twenty-years to love-you-let's-marry. Em was a cute kid, but her dialogue and t...more
Not a literary classic, but a fun read at a time when I really needed a diversion. I likened it to reading "Desperate Housewives" with more likable characters. The main character Maddie has grown up being the perfect small town girl. She finds her husband has been cheating on her, and her old high school fling shows up on the front porch. Lots of complications, a gossipy mom, a wild grandma, a dear best friend, many secrets, and some sexy bits, plus multiple laughs made this great ...more
Read this a few years ago but it isn't one of my favorite Crusie novels. But since it's a Crusie I still liked it; sometimes I just want to shake the main character into having some sense but that's the sign of a good book to get that involved in the story. The small town gossip problems rang true; I still remember my mother pointing out to us when we were kids that we had to be aware of "what would the neighbors think" about what was going on or what we were doing. Nice relaxing re...more
If there is one thing Maddie Faraday knows about small town living, it's this: people talk. Having lived in Frog Point, Ohio her entire life, Maddie figured there was hardly a secret in town that she didn't know. Boy, was she wrong. It seems like there a still quite a few secrets out there and most of them concern her husband, Brent.
It's a shock, of course, when Maddie finds the black lace crotchless panties shoved under the front seat of Brent's Cadillac. A shock but sadly, not surpri...more
It's a shock, of course, when Maddie finds the black lace crotchless panties shoved under the front seat of Brent's Cadillac. A shock but sadly, not surpri...more
I started reading this book on a 90 minute bus journey, which explains why I read about a third of it before deciding I didn't really care about it. There were some really amusing one-liners and humourous moments in this book but I didn't care about the main character. Why was she stuck in such a horrible marriage in the first place, and why did she not get out of it sooner? I also found that I wasn't too happy with the main character committing adultery. I know that her husband cheated on her, ...more
Jessica
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
I would recommend not to read this book.
I actually bought this book for my cousin, Erica, to read on her vacation. I thought it would be perfect for a beach read: easy read, lots of suspense and passion. I knew she was into romance novels, so I figured she would like this one. I also figured I would read it when she was done and knew I would like it for the same reasons. Also, I liked the fact that I could relate to the small town culture and the title really caught my attention—Tell Me Lies. It reminded me of how in the past (huge em...more
The book is about a woman Maddie, who has lived in a small town all her life and has always been the good girl around town. Her life is turned upside down though one summer afternoon when she and her daughter are cleaning out her husband's car. Maddie find black crotch less panties and she now has more decisions to make in her life. Instead of being able to just leave her husband, he disappears, there are rumors around town about her husband and his business, she is finding stock piles of cash a...more
When Maddie Faraday decides to give up being the good girl everyone in town expects her to be, boy does she go for the gusto. Slipping into shock at the prospect of dealing with her cheating husband, suspicious daughter, gossipy mother, secretive best friend and nosy neighbors makes sense to me; and Maddie does, for about a day and a half. But good friends and the prospect of having a life outside of being Brent Faraday's widow help her overcome the strictures of town expectations
I was pulled into this book with the first sentence when Maddie finds a pair of black lace panties in the front seat of her husband's car. This book is an overall funny and enjoyable read with enough surprises and plot twists to keep it from feeling stale. The pacing is great - just when you think you know where the plot is going another clue pops up or someone turns up dead.
Jennifer Crusie did a fantastic job creating characters you care about, from Maddie and C.L., to Maddie's daug...more
Jennifer Crusie did a fantastic job creating characters you care about, from Maddie and C.L., to Maddie's daug...more
A rather different take on things. Adultery, murder, embezzlement, and lots of gossip make for a different sort of read. Our heroine commits adultery. Yes, she is in an unhappy marriage but I don't think that is a good excuse. And yes, Maddie is at times TSTL. The first half of the book she is nothing but a doormat and hated her. Then at the end she's a heck of a lot of fun. All in all a fun read. Two stars for the first half the book, four for the second.
This was a great book to read while camping, although I am not sure it is going to be my favorite Jennifer Crusie novel. The whole 'small town controlling your life' thing felt a bit forced, but there was still some humor ("I had that one [fantasy:] too. It used to be a lot of chocolate and Harrison Ford. And then one day I thought, Why is Harrison here? If he wasn't I wouldn't have to do these damn sit-ups.") and some really suspenseful moments too.
I really enjoyed this book. It has humor, romance, mayhem & mystery and I would have read it in one sitting if I'd had the time. This is the second book I've read by Jennifer Crusie and I'm on the search for more. Maddie & C.L have sizzling chemistry, the romance is hot, and there's just enough drama thrown in to keep it interesting but not over the top or angsty. I also loved the mystery of trying to figure out "who done it". A great, easy read.
One of her longer books but it is great. A story about Maddie a who just found a pair of crotchless panties in the front of her husband's car. Great, and the week before she was just saying her life is boring. Then her old mistake C.L. shows up on her door step. Her life shatters and Maddie is left struggling with being the person she always wanted to be and still keep her daughter safe.
Absolutely wonderful characters and dialogue is snappy and fun.
Absolutely wonderful characters and dialogue is snappy and fun.
My least favorite of Crusie's books, the adultery theme bugged me too much to really be able to say I liked the book.
Also on Audio:
I'd forgotten how I felt about this book when I read it years ago and just automatically downloaded it when I saw it available at Audible.com because of the Crusie name. The narrator did a good job with the book (always a noteworthy achievement) but it will never be a good story for me.
Also on Audio:
I'd forgotten how I felt about this book when I read it years ago and just automatically downloaded it when I saw it available at Audible.com because of the Crusie name. The narrator did a good job with the book (always a noteworthy achievement) but it will never be a good story for me.
This was a book that I would classify as "okay." The three-star rating is pushing it a little bit, though. Maybe more like 2-1/2 stars. This would not be one of Jennifer Crusie's books that I would recommend to others. It was just a standard story that just did not have that "it" factor. The mix of romance and a bit of mystery is usually a good combination, but it just wasn't up to par and didn't quite work for this book.
Well, really 2.5 stars because it did keep my interest. I was rather dismayed because the book didn't seem to know which genre it was: mystery, women's fiction, romance, sex kitten, etc. I liked the heroine and her love, but I got tired of reading about their amorous adventures. I always wonder if those who read these chapters with abandon have no life of their own.
The mystery was so-so, but parts of the book were charming. Just not completely my cup of tea.
The mystery was so-so, but parts of the book were charming. Just not completely my cup of tea.
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Jenny Crusie is the NYT bestselling author of twenty some novels and lots of other stuff. Her latest novel, Maybe This Time, hit shelves in August, 2010.
Jenny lives on the Ohio River where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
More about Jennifer Crusie...
Jenny lives on the Ohio River where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
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