What do you think?
Rate this book
Lies That Bind
Erin Delancy, a young, callow physician, moves back to her small town in New Hampshire to take over for her mentor. She assumes that everything will be much like it was when she left for school almost 10 years ago. But subtle changes have occurred that barely reach her consciousness, given her proclivity for accepting things as they are.
A feisty attorney passes through town one winter morning and her brief visit sends off a series of changes that eventually affects not only the young doctor, but the entire town.
Katie Quinn looks, at first glance, to be the antithesis of the placid doctor. Katie is excitable, chatty and adventurous, with a touch of the profane thrown in for spice. Erin steadfastly refuses to even utter a mild oath, she's rarely left New England, and she's the paragon of respectful behavior. But the pair fall slowly and inexorably into love.
Falling in love is often the end of the story, but there are a myriad of complications in this small town that work against their living happily ever after.
Erin is challenged to do several things she think of her own needs before those of others and disappoint people who rely on her. Katie has her work cut out for her, also, but her challenges are almost the inverse of Erin's.
This tale is multi-layered and presents issues that aren't solved with a roll in the hay-- although rolling in the hay makes a lot of the trouble seem well worth it!
A feisty attorney passes through town one winter morning and her brief visit sends off a series of changes that eventually affects not only the young doctor, but the entire town.
Katie Quinn looks, at first glance, to be the antithesis of the placid doctor. Katie is excitable, chatty and adventurous, with a touch of the profane thrown in for spice. Erin steadfastly refuses to even utter a mild oath, she's rarely left New England, and she's the paragon of respectful behavior. But the pair fall slowly and inexorably into love.
Falling in love is often the end of the story, but there are a myriad of complications in this small town that work against their living happily ever after.
Erin is challenged to do several things she think of her own needs before those of others and disappoint people who rely on her. Katie has her work cut out for her, also, but her challenges are almost the inverse of Erin's.
This tale is multi-layered and presents issues that aren't solved with a roll in the hay-- although rolling in the hay makes a lot of the trouble seem well worth it!
328 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Susan X. Meagher
59 books370 followersSusan X Meagher was born in southern Illinois and grew up in East St Louis. She attended college in Chicago and started her working career there. She and her partner moved to the Los Angeles area in the late 80's. It was there that she started to write. Her first few books were simply posted on the web and became the I Found My Heart in San Francisco series. In 2002 she moved to New York and divides her time between Manhattan and the Jersey Shore. She has published thirteen books in the series and has gone on to write many individual books as well. She has partnered with other authors on two short story books and has written many stories that have been published in other mainstream anthologies. Susan is active in the lesbian author community and loves to attend Women's week at Provincetown and the GCLS annual conventions. Her stories revolve around the relationships that two women can build when given a chance and how those relationships can strengthen the individual and the partnership. Her genre is lesbian romance/fiction and she believes strongly in the happy ending that we all so deserve. Susan X Meagher was awarded a 2011 Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite Lesbian Fiction Writer. She is the recipient of the 2014 Alice B. Medal for her body of work.
From the author's website: I live in New York with my spouse, Carrie. We've lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for significant periods, but New York fits us very well. I love to discuss my work and fiction in general. My goal in writing is to explore feelings. I want to entertain, but I also want to make people think. I've heard that life is all about finding out who we are. To me, life if about finding out who other people are. I'm interested in the small details of life, that's how a story about two young women in college is slowly becoming a 26 book series. The joke in Seinfield was that it was about nothing. I feel the same about most of my books. They are about the many things that happen when nothing is happening. The small joys and sorrows of everyday life can be fascinating, especially if you care about the people involved. I try to create characters that will make a reader care deeply. I'm always interested in hearing how close I am to that goal. So please drop me a line whenever you have a comment or a question about a story. Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit and it's great to know that I'm not alone.
From the author's website: I live in New York with my spouse, Carrie. We've lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for significant periods, but New York fits us very well. I love to discuss my work and fiction in general. My goal in writing is to explore feelings. I want to entertain, but I also want to make people think. I've heard that life is all about finding out who we are. To me, life if about finding out who other people are. I'm interested in the small details of life, that's how a story about two young women in college is slowly becoming a 26 book series. The joke in Seinfield was that it was about nothing. I feel the same about most of my books. They are about the many things that happen when nothing is happening. The small joys and sorrows of everyday life can be fascinating, especially if you care about the people involved. I try to create characters that will make a reader care deeply. I'm always interested in hearing how close I am to that goal. So please drop me a line whenever you have a comment or a question about a story. Writing is a pretty solitary pursuit and it's great to know that I'm not alone.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 15, 2010
I read this back in 2010 and remembered enjoying it but decided to read it again. My full review is located on my site, C-Spot Reviews
June 6, 2012
A stupid book made worse by terrible narration.
April 9, 2021
Horribly, sophomoric, poorly written story. All of the characters were selfish and self centered. The three main women were all weak, boring and mean. There was no real passion between anyone. Awful, awful, awful!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2025
The girls are all amazing, charming, perfect! sex scenes are very hot.
The father in the story is just disgusting, he totally exploits his wife and is very extreme to his daughter.
And then there are people in the comments scolding women, you guys are crazy!
The father in the story is just disgusting, he totally exploits his wife and is very extreme to his daughter.
And then there are people in the comments scolding women, you guys are crazy!
September 3, 2017
Title and description don't do it justice… Very little to do with lies, much more about figuring your life out. Can small-town Doc. Erin and big-city lawyer Katie make it work? Lord I hope so.
Read
July 10, 2019Don't remember.
March 24, 2017
Blah
I typically love this authors books but fir some reason the characters got on my nerves- the one heroine was to wishy washy. I found myself having to force through book.
I typically love this authors books but fir some reason the characters got on my nerves- the one heroine was to wishy washy. I found myself having to force through book.
November 13, 2008
Newest novel By Susan X Meagher. 'Nuff said, no?
She just may be my favorite writer in this guilty pleasure of lesfic. Her approach to romance is slightly different in that she doesn't stop when the main characters get together but chronicles their lives a bit further (a lot further in her I Found my Heart in San Francisco series). I like that she's detailed, that she really gets into her characters, and that she writes well. It almost goes without saying that her main characters are always complex and interesting, because otherwise she wouldn't get so much 'story' out of them.
This one isn't different. Erin and Katie are believable characters that are fun to 'hang with'. They have believable problems (even though one of them sort of comes out of left field for me, it's hinted at but could have been fleshed out more to make more convincing) in their lives individually, and in finding their way into being a couple. The familial circumstances make for interesting reading as you get information about the person not just from the narrative but from conversations about them as well.
What intrigued me while reading it was the broad issue of coming out, the possible (negative) consequences of coming out all the way and how families deal with that. And while I'm kinda sick of coming out novels, and this really isn't one, the circumstances surrounding this are very interesting. It once more drives home the point that coming out isn't only about declaring your sexual identity, it's about finding your voice as a person, finding your own way in life.
She just may be my favorite writer in this guilty pleasure of lesfic. Her approach to romance is slightly different in that she doesn't stop when the main characters get together but chronicles their lives a bit further (a lot further in her I Found my Heart in San Francisco series). I like that she's detailed, that she really gets into her characters, and that she writes well. It almost goes without saying that her main characters are always complex and interesting, because otherwise she wouldn't get so much 'story' out of them.
This one isn't different. Erin and Katie are believable characters that are fun to 'hang with'. They have believable problems (even though one of them sort of comes out of left field for me, it's hinted at but could have been fleshed out more to make more convincing) in their lives individually, and in finding their way into being a couple. The familial circumstances make for interesting reading as you get information about the person not just from the narrative but from conversations about them as well.
What intrigued me while reading it was the broad issue of coming out, the possible (negative) consequences of coming out all the way and how families deal with that. And while I'm kinda sick of coming out novels, and this really isn't one, the circumstances surrounding this are very interesting. It once more drives home the point that coming out isn't only about declaring your sexual identity, it's about finding your voice as a person, finding your own way in life.
December 31, 2010
The story is good and entertaining, but I really had a hard time with the pacing of it. It started out really well, and once the leading characters, Katie and Erin meet, the seduction and sexual tension between them is really good. It gets you hooked on the story. However, when they finally get together, that’s when things start to get real slow. It drove me crazy at times, so I had to put the book away for a couple of days. I felt the story was really more about human and family relations and dynamics, more than romance, but it worked out fine for me.
I enjoyed the characters development throughout the story. Still, I had some problems with Katie at times, because she sells herself as a strong confident woman, but to me she was really neurotic and insecure regarding the relationship with Erin. She had tons of requirements for a partner, expected all of them to be fulfilled, pressured Erin into fitting into all of them, kept testing Erin to see if she could check mark one by one all of her needs/requirements. And thank God to fiction, Erin covered the whole grade slip. In real life that would drive me nuts, if someone ever tried to grade my partner abilities/possibilities. But if you don’t mind this kind of thing it’s a very entertaining book once you get past the issues I’ve mentioned earlier, pacing and a high maintenance woman all along.
I enjoyed the characters development throughout the story. Still, I had some problems with Katie at times, because she sells herself as a strong confident woman, but to me she was really neurotic and insecure regarding the relationship with Erin. She had tons of requirements for a partner, expected all of them to be fulfilled, pressured Erin into fitting into all of them, kept testing Erin to see if she could check mark one by one all of her needs/requirements. And thank God to fiction, Erin covered the whole grade slip. In real life that would drive me nuts, if someone ever tried to grade my partner abilities/possibilities. But if you don’t mind this kind of thing it’s a very entertaining book once you get past the issues I’ve mentioned earlier, pacing and a high maintenance woman all along.
October 8, 2012
Susan has created a fantastic and complex story of two women in love. Romance is her way of sweeten the message. It is not easy to stand for your convictions, your loves or simply you. I really like one of the characters: Erin. Her maturity and good sense opposite to the thirty eight years old party girl who is Katie. Erin’s relation whit her mother was treated with delicacy, and must recognize I was surprised of the final turn of it, since the love they feel for each other and the tragedies they shared in the past.
I appreciate the author writes about the solitude of a young lesbian in a small town, a touch of reality and also fresh air, countercurrent to the tendencies of modern lesbian romances, full of unrealistic lesbian or gay characters: successful PROS with athletic bodies or super Agents with model faces and killer skills.
Four stars for a romance book based on relations spiced with sex (well, it is a romance book… ;-) ).
I appreciate the author writes about the solitude of a young lesbian in a small town, a touch of reality and also fresh air, countercurrent to the tendencies of modern lesbian romances, full of unrealistic lesbian or gay characters: successful PROS with athletic bodies or super Agents with model faces and killer skills.
Four stars for a romance book based on relations spiced with sex (well, it is a romance book… ;-) ).
February 18, 2017
Very good book
This was a very good story. I liked the characters of Erin and Katie very much. The development of their relationship was very endearing. The interactions of Erin with the townspeople brought back how nice people were when my wife took me back to visit her family in New Hampshire. There is something very quaint about small towns. SPOILER ALERT
This was a very good story. I liked the characters of Erin and Katie very much. The development of their relationship was very endearing. The interactions of Erin with the townspeople brought back how nice people were when my wife took me back to visit her family in New Hampshire. There is something very quaint about small towns. SPOILER ALERT
June 8, 2012
I really wanted to like this book, and each time I put it down with exasperation I tried to make myself pick it up again. Sadly, I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. Though I read a good bit, nothing seemed to happen and I found the writing style distracting.
May 14, 2014
Not my fav! But we all gave bad days. On to the next susan x meagher, best author ever
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews