3.75 stars—ALL THE LIES is the first instalment in Charlotte Byrd’s contemporary, adult storyline focusing on journalist Emma, and recluse Liam Parish.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Emma and Liam) ALL THE LIES follows in the aftermath of Emma’s discovery that Alex, her fiance of two years had been in a relationship with someone else. At that evening’s engagement party for Emma and Alex, a farce Emma had refused to attend, Emma would meet recluse Liam Parish, Alex’s friend, a man who stirred something deep within our story line heroine but all was not well in Emma’s professional life when her boss gave an ultimatum to to get an exclusive interview with the mysterious DB Carter, an author whose real identity nobody knows. With both her professional and personal life spiralling out of control, Emma goes on the hunt and search for DB Carter.
ALL THE LIES focuses on the world of indie publishing, and at times reads like a how-to, step by step journal to self publishing . Charlotte Byrd goes into detail and walks the reader through the life of an author, the steps to publication, and the innate differences and struggles between traditional and self-publishing.
ALL THE LIES is first and foremost a story of secrets and lies-so many secrets and so many lies. From Emma’s relationship with her family, her fiancé, her work and her life, the number of secrets and lies amass exponentially the more Emma begins to uncover the truth. Emma will embark on the hunt for Indie author DB Carter in an effort to save her job but finds herself facing a familiar face who is not the person he presented to be. Liam Parish is an enigma; a man whose past is threatening his present, and in this our hero has many secrets that if revealed could destroy everything he has and more. The premise is engaging and captivating; the characters are colorful yet broken; the romance has barely touched the surface of what’s to come.