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Noble Lies
It is not much of a fairy tale at all. By the time they meet, Jez is burdened by dark truths and fears for her family. Michael’s heart is already entangled in a forbidden love. The Church is watching - closely, and guarding more secrets than just arranged marriage details. For Jez and Michael, simply marrying their match becomes complicated...and deadly. Not everyone will live happily ever after.
800 pages, ebook
First published September 19, 2012
30 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Andrassy
7 books55 followersStephanie Andrassy is the coffeeholic author of Noble Lies, a fantasy romance, as well as the paranormal romance Home Series which begins with the free short story, The White Peacock. This four-book supernatural series includes: Just Live, Juliette! (Home Series #1), Rocks Don’t Cry (Home Series #2), Rhapsody in Red (Home Series #3), and Always and Evermore (Home Series #4) .
She holds a B.A. from the University of Guelph and presently resides in southern Ontario, Canada with her family. An avid reader of romance, fantasy, drama, women's literature, suspense, and nonfiction; she’s been writing for her own personal pleasure since she was a child—a lifelong love affair with the written word.
CONTACTING STEPHANIE
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She holds a B.A. from the University of Guelph and presently resides in southern Ontario, Canada with her family. An avid reader of romance, fantasy, drama, women's literature, suspense, and nonfiction; she’s been writing for her own personal pleasure since she was a child—a lifelong love affair with the written word.
CONTACTING STEPHANIE
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 20, 2013
In this novel Andrassy takes on organized religion with a vengeance. She illustrates the turmoil that can come from fighting against a single, overarching church. She also illustrates the possibility of corruption in the higher ranks of a system that basically rules over society. She also brilliantly shows that together a society can fight against corrupt individuals in this system. For a while, I was starting to believe that the author was going to allow individuals in the novel to be abused without anyone ever fighting back, however, she did come back from this at the end of the novel with the upper class petitioning against the Church’s disregard for propriety and safety and demanding retribution.
In this novel Andrassy puts coming of age in a very different light with a very unique layout for arranged marriages. Individuals of the nobility are conditioned from birth to accept their mates based on the stars. I also found it astounding that for once it is the upper class of society that appears to be suffering from the injustice brought about by societal divisions.
The imagery in the scenery within this novel is absolutely breathtaking. There is not a single setting that the characters visit that you do not feel like you walked into yourself. That said, there is never a moment that is dull with drawn out descriptions. Andrassy sneaks these brilliant descriptions upon you without the reader noticing.
The characters in this novel were all very well developed. There was not a single major character that did not have a complete background. They all also had individual personalities and characteristics. However, Andrassy did not end her character development there. These characters were also physical beings that you could picture walking out of the pages of the book. They also had real relationships with each other. I don’t know how she managed it, but the author managed to work a love triangle into the novel without it being noticed by the reader until close to the end.
This was not what would stereotypically be considered a suspenseful book. That said, there were so many moments where I found myself thinking “ I did not see that coming” or “how in the world is this going to end” that There was a great deal of suspense to be found in the novel. I must say that I never thought that I would ever consider something like that a happy ending, but considering the story, that was as close to a happy ending that I could imagine.
This book was a definitely whirlwind. At the end of the novel I just found myself thinking “hunh, that’s it then.” I must say that I have never had that happen before. I found that I had to walk away from the novel to determine how I felt about it. I was extremely caught up in the story while I was reading it. It was an amazingly well written story; I definitely had no complaints on that front. The story itself was just such a heavy story that it is a lot to absorb. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is not a light read by any means.
In this novel Andrassy puts coming of age in a very different light with a very unique layout for arranged marriages. Individuals of the nobility are conditioned from birth to accept their mates based on the stars. I also found it astounding that for once it is the upper class of society that appears to be suffering from the injustice brought about by societal divisions.
The imagery in the scenery within this novel is absolutely breathtaking. There is not a single setting that the characters visit that you do not feel like you walked into yourself. That said, there is never a moment that is dull with drawn out descriptions. Andrassy sneaks these brilliant descriptions upon you without the reader noticing.
The characters in this novel were all very well developed. There was not a single major character that did not have a complete background. They all also had individual personalities and characteristics. However, Andrassy did not end her character development there. These characters were also physical beings that you could picture walking out of the pages of the book. They also had real relationships with each other. I don’t know how she managed it, but the author managed to work a love triangle into the novel without it being noticed by the reader until close to the end.
This was not what would stereotypically be considered a suspenseful book. That said, there were so many moments where I found myself thinking “ I did not see that coming” or “how in the world is this going to end” that There was a great deal of suspense to be found in the novel. I must say that I never thought that I would ever consider something like that a happy ending, but considering the story, that was as close to a happy ending that I could imagine.
This book was a definitely whirlwind. At the end of the novel I just found myself thinking “hunh, that’s it then.” I must say that I have never had that happen before. I found that I had to walk away from the novel to determine how I felt about it. I was extremely caught up in the story while I was reading it. It was an amazingly well written story; I definitely had no complaints on that front. The story itself was just such a heavy story that it is a lot to absorb. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is not a light read by any means.
April 11, 2013
Noble Lies is an amazing piece for a debut novel. It takes place in an un-named country, during a time of horse drawn carriages and no electricity. No specific year is mentioned however the book does go by month/day just not chronologically.
This book is soooo long! Oh my! Not a bad thing. I mean geez I read all the Harry Potter books and we know how long they were at the end. I got about 5 hours of sleep last night after staying up all night and day reading, I finally finished around 2am. Yep I pretty much read the entire book in one sitting. I had to...it's that good and I was totally sucked in. I had to know what was going to happen next. I had to know how it was going to play out. How it was going to end.
Noble Lies is a story about nobility and the influence of the church on the Nobles. Influence as in arranged marriages. I found it curious that this religion based their "matches" on the stars at the time of the bride's birth. The focus of this novel is not on religion. They don't explain their beliefs outside of arranged marriages. They don't attend church on Sundays (at least it's not discussed). In fact you don't step into a church at all in the novel. There isn't even a mention of a bible per se. The nobles are taught specific "traditions" applied only to them based on their status by men of the church called Guardians. Guardians are above ministers and below the bishop.
This is also about love. Is love predestined in the stars? Can you fall in love with someone you've never met? Does the God and Universe you've been taught to trust really know what's best for you? All of these are questions that are asked and addressed. Can you fall in love with more than one person? Because Michael does and there in-lies the other part of this story, a love triangle. Although, not in the traditional sense.
One last thing, way too many exclamation points!!!! Sorry pet-peeve.
Ok done with all that. :-)
I loved Jez. She was so kind and loving. I wanted to protect her and make her happy. She was probably one of the sweetest characters I've ever read in a book. I also loved Michael (he may have cried a little too much though). I wanted him to be a little more alpha although I did understand why he wasn't. I understood his difficulties with tradition versus what was in his heart. I also loved all the supporting characters. The author does a wonderful job of helping us get to know them. I loved Emma. I found Rose to be wonderful. I thought Vincent was fantastic. In fact I think Vincent should get his own story. That way I can sort of get the epilogue I wanted.
Yes I know there was a small epilogue. I wanted more though I'm greedy like that. I didn't like how the story ended for Jez and Michael. I mean I did but I didn't. I had too many unanswered questions. I felt like the story just ended and I sat there going "huh" "um...okay".
So would I recommend this book? YES a big fat YES! It was refreshing and different and I liked it a lot.
Wow I'm pretty sure this is the longest review I've ever left LOL.
This book is soooo long! Oh my! Not a bad thing. I mean geez I read all the Harry Potter books and we know how long they were at the end. I got about 5 hours of sleep last night after staying up all night and day reading, I finally finished around 2am. Yep I pretty much read the entire book in one sitting. I had to...it's that good and I was totally sucked in. I had to know what was going to happen next. I had to know how it was going to play out. How it was going to end.
Noble Lies is a story about nobility and the influence of the church on the Nobles. Influence as in arranged marriages. I found it curious that this religion based their "matches" on the stars at the time of the bride's birth. The focus of this novel is not on religion. They don't explain their beliefs outside of arranged marriages. They don't attend church on Sundays (at least it's not discussed). In fact you don't step into a church at all in the novel. There isn't even a mention of a bible per se. The nobles are taught specific "traditions" applied only to them based on their status by men of the church called Guardians. Guardians are above ministers and below the bishop.
This is also about love. Is love predestined in the stars? Can you fall in love with someone you've never met? Does the God and Universe you've been taught to trust really know what's best for you? All of these are questions that are asked and addressed. Can you fall in love with more than one person? Because Michael does and there in-lies the other part of this story, a love triangle. Although, not in the traditional sense.
One last thing, way too many exclamation points!!!! Sorry pet-peeve.
Ok done with all that. :-)
I loved Jez. She was so kind and loving. I wanted to protect her and make her happy. She was probably one of the sweetest characters I've ever read in a book. I also loved Michael (he may have cried a little too much though). I wanted him to be a little more alpha although I did understand why he wasn't. I understood his difficulties with tradition versus what was in his heart. I also loved all the supporting characters. The author does a wonderful job of helping us get to know them. I loved Emma. I found Rose to be wonderful. I thought Vincent was fantastic. In fact I think Vincent should get his own story. That way I can sort of get the epilogue I wanted.
Yes I know there was a small epilogue. I wanted more though I'm greedy like that. I didn't like how the story ended for Jez and Michael. I mean I did but I didn't. I had too many unanswered questions. I felt like the story just ended and I sat there going "huh" "um...okay".
So would I recommend this book? YES a big fat YES! It was refreshing and different and I liked it a lot.
Wow I'm pretty sure this is the longest review I've ever left LOL.
February 24, 2013
Stephanie Andrassy accomplished a major feat by creating a world where people are married by determination of the stars and the Church thrusts the reader ever so gently into the intrigue and chaos of that world through the lives of the main characters. Don't mistake this for a religious book but rather one of challenge and struggle suffered upon people due to the power of "Men of the Church". The characters are upper-class noble families and they are so well-written that you cannot help but see them as real people. The journey of the main characters is painstakingly undertaken and you find yourself swept up in the drama of their lives, cheering them on and praying for their happiness. The main antagonist is painted as the evil B****** that he is and the intrigue surrounding him is drawn beautifully and you find yourself cheering on the protagonists as they struggle to overcome the difficulties he has caused in their lives and relationships. I was alternately shocked, saddened, and thrilled for these characters. This book reads somewhat like a period piece because of the nature of the world that Stephanie Andrassy has created but it is so much more than a period romance. I finally ended up reading 3/4 of the book in one read because I wanted too much to know what was going to happen. She has captured the characters and made them real to me, that in my opinion shows the mark of an extremely gifted writer. The book left me cheering for Jez and Michael and saddened that my time with them had come to an end.
April 9, 2013
This isn't the normal genre I read, but I found myself quickly trapped in this story of corruption and lies and heartache and love triangles and deception of the highest degree. It's what I would consider a romantic historical suspense, I suppose. It had everything. The writing was fantastic, very detailed, providing plenty of background and history, as well as opening up the reader's mind for the deception that was about to occur- or rather had already been in play for several years.
There are so many tragedies in this story, so much deep emotion to wade through- personal struggles, grief and lies. Most of the characters were very strong, though some not so much. Most were good and honest and trustworthy, and maybe a bit too trusting, while others were naive and others that were so very vile.
There really isn't much I can say about the story without giving away spoilers, but I will try. Set in what I would assume the distant past, kings and nobles, where the church holds power over the nobles and other citizens, marriage matches made between nobles shortly after birth, a false sense of security and what is right. I also got a deeper, almost spiritual, feel from the book. Faith and what so many go through to keep that faith. Being tested by a higher power, and holding on to your beliefs, or finding new ones to keep you from falling apart, as many of the characters in this book did, some not surviving, others barely making it through.
Review by Kendra of www.FaeBooks.co.uk
There are so many tragedies in this story, so much deep emotion to wade through- personal struggles, grief and lies. Most of the characters were very strong, though some not so much. Most were good and honest and trustworthy, and maybe a bit too trusting, while others were naive and others that were so very vile.
There really isn't much I can say about the story without giving away spoilers, but I will try. Set in what I would assume the distant past, kings and nobles, where the church holds power over the nobles and other citizens, marriage matches made between nobles shortly after birth, a false sense of security and what is right. I also got a deeper, almost spiritual, feel from the book. Faith and what so many go through to keep that faith. Being tested by a higher power, and holding on to your beliefs, or finding new ones to keep you from falling apart, as many of the characters in this book did, some not surviving, others barely making it through.
Review by Kendra of www.FaeBooks.co.uk
February 21, 2014
This was a very lovely book, the writing in it was great. The authors illustrates where out of this world. The characters were realistic and the plot was interesting. The beginning of this book was very good for me, then I got lost and bored but it picked back up and it was a repeat. To much information for me which isn’t a bad thing if you like this kind of thing. The author put a lot in to this book, it was well written and the flow was nice.
You'll fall in love with Emma, laugh with Jez, and want to slap Michael for the stupid choices he makes. There are so many tragedies and personal struggles, grief and lies. Churches can be to controlling and you will find in this book they are. We all have to have something to believe in to make life worth wild. Arranged marriages are never easy but when a church arranges them according to the alignment of the stars at the time of the bride's birth it is a little weird. It is hard to believe a church can have so much power and control. I find it believable this happens still in our country today. Maybe not to this level but it does. I give this book a 4 star due to the writing style and illustrates. I could have done with less information, for me it just makes the mind wonder for a little while. I do believe this author will go far in her writing but for me this book just didn’t do it. I got lost to many times. Sorry.
You'll fall in love with Emma, laugh with Jez, and want to slap Michael for the stupid choices he makes. There are so many tragedies and personal struggles, grief and lies. Churches can be to controlling and you will find in this book they are. We all have to have something to believe in to make life worth wild. Arranged marriages are never easy but when a church arranges them according to the alignment of the stars at the time of the bride's birth it is a little weird. It is hard to believe a church can have so much power and control. I find it believable this happens still in our country today. Maybe not to this level but it does. I give this book a 4 star due to the writing style and illustrates. I could have done with less information, for me it just makes the mind wonder for a little while. I do believe this author will go far in her writing but for me this book just didn’t do it. I got lost to many times. Sorry.
June 20, 2013
Every once in a while, if you are lucky enough, you get to read a book like Noble Lies
At 803 pages, it is certainly not a quick read, but it is so worth it. It is one of those books that stays with you long after you turn the last page. I read this book in March and I still find myself thinking about it all the time.
It is a period piece, with beautiful ball gowns worn by the women of the nobility, horse and carriage transportation and candles and lanterns and roaring fires, beautifully romantic .......... Yes, it could have been all that, but when your marriage is arranged at birth and you meet your intended partner for the first time a few days before the marriage takes place, the romance of the setting can soon turn to tears and heartache when one part of the 'couple' does not want to get married.
The author weaves a story of love and despair, corruption and evil, lies and deceit, but ultimately reveals a love story that is based on trust, commitment and understanding - it is a love that surpasses all other.
It is a beautifully written story, and is one that will stay with me for a very long time.
I bought Just Live, Juliette also by the same author yesterday.
At 803 pages, it is certainly not a quick read, but it is so worth it. It is one of those books that stays with you long after you turn the last page. I read this book in March and I still find myself thinking about it all the time.
It is a period piece, with beautiful ball gowns worn by the women of the nobility, horse and carriage transportation and candles and lanterns and roaring fires, beautifully romantic .......... Yes, it could have been all that, but when your marriage is arranged at birth and you meet your intended partner for the first time a few days before the marriage takes place, the romance of the setting can soon turn to tears and heartache when one part of the 'couple' does not want to get married.
The author weaves a story of love and despair, corruption and evil, lies and deceit, but ultimately reveals a love story that is based on trust, commitment and understanding - it is a love that surpasses all other.
It is a beautifully written story, and is one that will stay with me for a very long time.
I bought Just Live, Juliette also by the same author yesterday.
May 10, 2013
It was really long but totally worth the read! I'm pretty hooked to this story now and hope there will be a second book. I can't remember the last time I read a book that got me so involved in the story that I kept thinking so and so needs to die, or I hope so and so gets murdered because they deserve it. I won't tell you anything more than that because spoilers drive me nuts but seriously, go grab this book and then spend a weekend with it. You'll fall in love with Emma, laugh with Jez, and want to slap Michael for the stupid choices he makes.
June 25, 2013
I loved "Noble Lies" by Stephanie Andrassy. The characters were realistic. The plot was very interesting and kept me hooked from the start. This book is not just a romance novel but chalked full of mystery and suspense also. I was a little upset with the way it ended because I wanted more and was left with some unanswered questions. Otherwise it was a well written story. I would definitely recommend this book for everyone.
July 3, 2013
This was a wonderful story with twists and turns that have your heart in anguish. The characters are all developed and have distinct personalities and the descriptions of the settings make it easy to envision their world. It is a long book, but it never drags on or has boring parts which I've found common in some long reads. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes romance, suspense, or just a great story.
July 15, 2013
This is so much more than "Romance". This is a wonderful story about love growing between two people. The story has a dark side and plot elements that will keep you turning pages nonstop. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. The story grabbed me by the heart from the first chapter. Ms. Andrassy is a wonderful writer. Keep watching for her future books.
April 12, 2013
I was initially uninterested in reading a book as long as Noble Lies. I'm glad I decided on doing so,this book is fantastic with a perfect ending, and I kept reading to find out what happened next. It was well worth the five stars I gave it.
June 11, 2013
Okay, I'm giving this book 4 stars because it's not fair to give it less. It doesn't seem like a bad book to me, I just honestly couldn't get interested in it. I've read so many great reviews about this book and I have tried multiple times to sit down and read it (maybe my house is just too distracting to focus, I don't know). So, I am leaving this with a 4 star review. The writing is great, the story line seems to unfold quite nicely and I may pick it back up at a later date and finish it, but I literally can read two pages and get unfocused and can't finish reading. No offense intended towards the writer. <3 Reviewed by Ashley E. of www.faebooks.co.uk
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews