True Love (and Other Lies)

by Whitney Gaskell

Book Overview

Travel writer Claire Spencer doesn't believe in fate, much less any part of that fairy tale, happy ending, love at first sight stuff. Especially not for Amazon-sized women like her. So when Jack, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 055338225X
• ISBN13: 9780553382259
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

You will actually LOL!

I didn't think Gaskell could get better as after I read her first book (Pushing 30), she went to the top of my favorite authors list next to Evanovich. But she did! Maybe it's that I can relate to Claire better or that Claire has too many LOL moments that kept me reading until 2am. Either way, Gaskell did not dissapoint... great read that you won't be able to put down. Chic lit at its best. :)

Tempting fate and long-standing friendship

NY-based travel writer Claire is bored with her life. Her last significant romance ended with him leaving the country to get away from her. When she is seated next to a sexy stranger on a flight to London, they hit it off and arrange to hook up after he ends his current unsatisfying relationship. Not expecting to ever see him again, she is surprised when he calls and arranges to show her around London. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that her new man, Jack is Jack Harrison, the man that just dumped her best friend Maddy (though Maddy refers to him only as "Harrison"). It wouldn't be so bad - after all, she did not know who he was, except that Maddy is obsessed with getting back with Jack, while Claire might just be falling in love. They continue to have a trans-Atlantic romance, and Claire never gets around to telling Maddy about it, even though she knows that Maddy is threatening to hire a private detective. Claire suffers from self-esteem issues and can never really understand why Jack wants her. She is suspicious of his intentions, and it does not help when those closest to her feed into her ego problems. Will she tempt fate and allow herself to fall for the man who seemed to be born to love her? Is Jack a good guy or a bad guy? Gaskell follows up her excellent debut with a charming story about two unlikely but perfectly suited people fated to find each other despite the odds.

Great sense of humor!

I'll save you the synopsis since many others already described the book. (One person even included the "mystery" Claire discovers which is the best part to embark upon) The author is quite comical in her descriptions of both people and situations. She makes funny little side comments in ( ) that I especially found to be cute and uncommon when reading similar books. I really enjoyed the style and whit portrayed. If you've had bad luck finding and holding onto love, you MUST pick up this book! It's a great pleasure to read. Enjoy!

A guaranteed page-turner

When you're thirty-two, still single, and working for a company that consistently underutilizes your talents, you begin to wonder what you're doing wrong. At least that's what Claire Spencer is thinking about. While she had always dreamed of living the writing life, Claire's position at Sassy Seniors, a travel magazine for retirees, falls short of her delusions of grandeur. Also just out of her grasp is love and a lasting relationship. While she thought she had found it with boyfriend Sawyer Clarke, his announcement that he was relocating to Tokyo with no plans to continue their relationship dashed Claire's dreams of happily ever after. Even her family life leaves a lot to be desired. While it's bad enough feeling as if she's not living up to her full potential and that love has passed her by, it's even worse to have a best friend, Maddy, who is gorgeous, successful and to whom everything comes easily: men, jobs, glamour, money --- you name it and Maddy has it. However, even Claire, with her insecurities and cynical attitude toward love, is vulnerable to Cupid's arrow as she finds out on a flight from New York to London where she's headed on a trip that might actually be of interest. When she meets Jack Harrison on the transatlantic flight, he seems too good to be true; however, Claire can't resist the urge to get to know him better in spite of herself. Jack, a fellow American, who works as an attorney for a British corporation and lives in London, seems to be everything Claire has been looking for --- but does she dare hope that Jack is as good as he seems? Alas, Jack is not perfect. For instance, he still has a girlfriend with whom he is planning to break up as soon as he returns to London. Can Claire trust her feelings and the charming Jack? Only time will tell. As is usual in fiction and in life, the course of true love never runs smoothly. When Claire and Jack hit a few snags, you'll find yourself rooting for their eventual unification and even at times berating Claire for letting her insecurities get the better of her. But I can guarantee that the one thing you won't do is put the book down until you see how it ends. Whitney Gaskell made her debut with PUSHING 30, and now wows us again with TRUE LOVE (AND OTHER LIES). --- Reviewed by Amie Taylor

We all have a little bit of Claire in us

It was the words in parenthesis on the cover of this book that first caught my eye. I felt the same way. From the first page, it had me hooked. Claire is me and almost every one of my friends although there are a few Maddys hanging around the fringes. The character resonated with me on several different levels, from comparing the size of my arm to the size of a model's thigh to working in a geriatric atmosphere to sticking to the 'rules' of dating to being forced to participate in cake-and-punch parties to commemorate a co-worker's successful gall bladder operation. This book had me laughing out loud while still appreciating the realism of the story. I'm on the final chapter and while I'm looking forward to the happily ever after conclusion, I just don't want the book to end. I'm saving the final chapter to read in bed tonight so I can drift off to sleep with a smile on my lips and hope in my heart. This a great book for anyone who has faced the perils of dating in the new millenium head on and has come out of the experience just a tad dishevelled and a little bit bruised. Kudos to Whitney Gaskell for a wonderful book that I'll read again and again. Caroline