Pyramid of Lies

Family Secrets #2

by Anne Marie Winston

SUBJECT: Gretchen Wagner, captivating cryptologist
FAMILY HISTORY: Adopted, one of the Extraordinary Five?
DEEPEST SECRET: Wants to conceive a child, married or not

Gretchen Wagner could decipher ancient hieroglyphics, but men remained a mystery. And while the brainy beauty had given up on romance, she was determined to have a child the old-fashioned way. So when handsome private investigator Kurt Miller tracked her down in Egypt and offered to take her across the globe to meet her "long-lost father," she set her plan in motion.

Not only would Kurt give her back the family she couldn't remember, but he would help her start a new one, as well. Inexplicably drawn to her, Kurt helped Gretchen piece together her past. As his feelings for her grew, so did his doubts about her alleged father. But neither imagined the danger that awaited them, or the secret that threatened their future together.

Five extraordinary siblings,
One dangerous past.
Unlimited potential.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal, Contemporary

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Anne Marie Winston is a Pennsylvania native and former teacher. She began reading romances a long, long time ago and considers getting paid to write them the ultimate in occupations. Always a book lover, Anne Marie didn't begin writing her own romance until 1989, when she was at home with two babies, too many diapers and too much time to consider insane, risky career moves. She sold her first book in 1991 and to date has published more than thirty novels of romance fiction.

Reviews

[LaFleurBleue · Rating 3 out of 5]

For such a short book, there were quite a pile of things that weren't consistent
And some others that reeked of every clichés found in romances heavily dated from the 1980s
Some of the clichés were:
The almost virgin heroine, her falling totally dependent from a big strong man as soon as she met him, the commitment-phobic hero who turned over a new leaf in just a matter of days, probably because she needed as much protection as a half drown kitten, etc
Inconsistencies had to do with the heroine being a super highly intelligent woman but lacking any kind of common sense and never in any of her actions or talk showing that she could have more than 2 functioning neurons on her said overdeveloped brain
And both her brother and the boyfriend ex-cop turned PI sorely lacked common sense regards her activities and protectiôwheb they knew she might be a target for abduction
Luckily for them the villains didn't have much more brain and failed their attempt
This book might have worked, had it been developed into a better plot and deeper characterization with 3-400 pages. As it is a short novel barely longer than a novella at 150 pages, the shortcomings were too blatant for me to disregard and enjoy it

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gretchen Wagner, a super genius language expert is in Egypt working on a project and has the sudden realization that her biological clock is ticking away. All of a sudden she meets handsome private investigator and fellow American, Kurt Miller and they hit it off, having dinners and conversations together. Gretchen has no idea that Kurt is on a case to find her for the Gretchen's biological father. Kurt doesn't intend to, but he ends up falling for Gretchen fast. When Gretchen finds out that she was Kurt's job, she is hurt and angry at being lied to. But Kurt is determined to see things through with Gretchen. The more time he spends with her and the more he learns, the harder he falls...and the more suspicious he gets about the man claiming to be her father.

So the blurb makes a big deal of Gretchen wanting a baby and all that, but that is pretty much a microscopic slice of this whole story. I know because I paid attention. My biological clock is non-functional, so I don't really understand or connect to characters with rapidly ticking biological timeware, so I tend not to really enjoy those stories. I had no trouble enjoying this one. Gretchen has a pang for children and realizes she can have one with or without a guy. When she meets Kurt, all that falls to the wayside as she believes herself to be entering into a relationship that will lead to children. And when things go south and Kurt claims their night of lurve was just sex - she throws a wrench in his works by claiming all she wanted from him was a baby, to show him how it feels to be used. Ha! This backfires in an unexpected way of course as he shows way more commitment to aforementioned hypothetical unborn baby than she ever expected. I kinda like how Gretchen turned the tables on him though.

I also like that Kurt wasn't really out to just have a one-night stand. He was honestly confused and discombobulated by his feelings for Gretchen and terrified out of his mind so he did the asshole thing and tried to take it back to a purely physical level. He did love Gretchen when he made love to her, but this scared him, so he denied it. And Gretchen really does hold his feet to the fire. This girl had some backbone. This was a pretty enjoyable story overall and while not quite suspenseful, the tension of the characters as they figure out who this Oliver Gamble is and what he really wants with Gretchen was enough to hold my interest.

[elstaffe · Rating 1 out of 5]

No.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

the writing wasn't horrible, but the plot didn't do it for me. for a bit there i thought she was gonna go all misery on his ass. and. just. ugh. he's supposed to be some experienced man of the world or some shit and he's going to risk his sexual health (risk of pregnancy aside) for some chick he just met? i mean, i can understand her not considering it, that's an established character trait, but seriously dude? condoms, people, we use them for a reason. and thus ends my safe sex rant for the night.