House of Lies

by Maggie Toussaint

It's too late to win her father's love. Instead, Hannah Montgomery must deal with the remote mountain cottage she inherited. The caretaker of the property, wounded ex-CIA agent Jake Sutherland, promised his dying partner that he'd help Hannah get settled. But Hannah is very unsettled by the hidden letters from her father, letters that put Jake and Hannah on a collision course. As secrets from her father's life are revealed, Hannah's deep-seated quest for the truth challenges Jake's loyalty and honor. To make matters worse, the double agent who betrayed Jake and killed her father tracks them down. Caught in a web of deceit, Hannah must make a choice. Will she risk her heart - and her life - to learn the truth about her secretive father?

Genres: Romantic Suspense

259 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2007

About the author

A scientist by training, a romanticist at heart, Maggie Toussaint loves to solve puzzles. Whether it’s the puzzle of a relationship or a who-dun-it, she tackles them all with equal aplomb and wonder. Maggie writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance , and science fiction for Muddle House Publishing, cozy mystery for Camel Press, Henery Press, and Muddle House.

She has five published romantic suspense novels: House of Lies (won the 2006 Readers Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense), No Second Chance (won 2 cover awards), Seeing Red (LASR book of the week), Muddy Waters ( Beacon finalist), Hot Water (EPIC finalist, cover art winner), and Rough Water.

Her mystery titles include In For A Penny, On the Nickel, Death, Island Style, Murder in the Buff, Dime If I Know, No Quarter, Gone and Done It, Bubba Done It, Doggone It, Dadgummit, Confound It, Dreamed It, All Done With It, Seas the Day, Spawning Suspicion, and Shrimply Dead. She also wrote a romantic mystery novella series, The Lindsey & Ike Mysteries.

Her next release, SNUFFED OUT, is tentatively scheduled for January 2023 under the pen name of Valona Jones.

Her works blend mystery and romance, often with a dash of humor.

She's a member of Southeast Mystery Writers of America, Sisters In Crime, and Guppies. She was awarded the WRW Magic Crystal Award in 2004. She also won Silver Falchion Awards, the National Readers Choice Award and the EPIC ebook Award. She's been a finalist for Georgia Author of the Year three times.

Visit her at www.maggietoussaint.com

Reviews

[Lynn]

After her father's death, Hannah Montgomery has gone to his cottage for the weekend in order to sort through his things and begin renting it out. What she doesn't know is that Jake Sutherland has been living in the cottage since her father's death. He says he is there to help her get settled as a promise to her father, and then he will leave her alone, but Hannah doesn't know that her father was a CIA agent, who was killed in action, and Jake is his former partner looking to avenge his death.

House of Lies is classified as romantic suspense but for most of the book there is almost no romance or suspense. This book has many issues with pacing and telling vs. showing. Most of the first half of the book is internal monologues while in the last quarter, the villain finally appears along with the romance and suspense. The mystery in the story is solved mostly off page and the characters are woefully underdeveloped. The bones of a good story are evident; unfortunately more work with pacing and detail is needed. Overall, House of Lies is a disappointment, but could have been a good book with better execution. 2 1/2 stars

[Suzanne Rogers]

I enjoyed this romance a great deal. Toussaint's writing is excellently crafted, and she drew me in with the premise. A grieving daughter, unaware of her father's secret life as a CIA agent, finds his former partner oh, so terribly attractive. Of course, the partner has issues of his own to provide the right amount of conflict. There's a bit of a thriller component involving a double agent, but from the outset you root for Hannah and Jake to get together. A very good read from a very talented writer. Well done.

[Ellen]

A super book from page one straight through to the end. Loved the plot, the characters were incredibly real and by the time I hit The End I wanted even more!