The Liar by Nora Roberts

Everyone has a guilty pleasure.  Some people drink.  Other people smoke.  I read trashy romance novels and then deny it when asked.

Yes, it’s true.  Try as I might to refute anyone accusing me of being a Nora Roberts fan, I actually sorta am.  Some of her stuff I’ve rolled my eyes at, figuratively and literally (the O’Dwyer trilogy? BARF!).  I find most romance novels to be extremely formulaic if not downright predictable.  But as a certain instructional leader once said, “sometimes you just want to sit by the pool and read garbage like a Harlequin novel”.  I won’t go THAT far (*shudders at the thought*), but I do like some of Roberts’ novels and like to get on the waiting list at WHPL when a new one is published.  I really did love Whiskey Beach and The Witness, and so requested this one and joined to queue to wait for it to come in.  This particular copy is WHPL’s; remember West Haven residents get first dibs if you’re on the list for something on order.

Shelby has everything a bumpkin who wants to escape country life could ever want: rich husband, McMansion in a desirable big city suburb, beautiful baby girl, jewelry, designer clothes, furs, art, cars….until it all comes crashing down when her husband dies in a boating accident.  The young widow begins to realize her life was a lie.  The jumbo mortgage is in her name and in default.  All her nice things are purchased on credit cards in her name.  The cars are leased in her name.  There is no life insurance; he lied about that too.  There are no savings nor investment accounts.  Even the diamond ring on her finger turns out to be fake.  Shelby finds herself owing millions of dollars in an instant.

Rather than panic, Shelby meticulously starts to plan to pay off her debts, selling off what the creditors haven’t repossessed.  She takes her young daughter back to Tennessee, where her roots and family are.  She sells the house and continues to list things on eBay and puts other things out on consignment. 

While some of the family welcomes Shelby home, along with her daughter Callie, others are cool towards them.  Old friends want nothing to do with the woman who couldn’t be bothered to come home for funerals and weddings.  Complicating things is a handsome contractor named Griffin, a friend of her Shelby’s brother.  Callie instantly takes to Griffin, helping Shelby to trust him.  It doesn’t hurt when Griffin buys a puppy either.

But then things get weird.  A woman shows up claiming to be Richard’s wife.  A private investigator and the FBI both come with questions for Shelby.  Someone hacks into her computer, along with her father’s and Griffin’s.  A hired crook runs Griffin off the road, and tells everyone Shelby was the intended target.  And who is watching Shelby and Griffin through binoculars all the time?

This was a great book.  I especially liked Shelby’s mother and grandmother.  Down South Mommas who 

protect what’s theirs!

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