What do you think?
Rate this book
True Trilogy #1
True Vision
The author of Cold Midnight delivers a new paranormal suspense trilogy...
Newspaper reporter Charlie Trudeau is living an ordinary life, until witnessing a fatal hit-and-run accident gives her an intense psychic power she has no clue how to handle—and brings a Chicago police detective to her doorstep...
Noah Lassiter wants nothing more than to find the driver who killed his good friend. But his only lead is the beautiful Charlie Trudeau, who gets prickly when he starts nosing around town. Charlie’s clearly hiding something, but Noah needs her help unraveling the mystery of his friend’s death—even if the electricity between them complicates things.
But the more Noah and Charlie uncover, the more they realize they’re looking for a desperate killer—and the more danger they’re in. And if Charlie can’t gain control over her psychic powers, they may not survive long enough to explore the full sizzling potential of their desire…
Newspaper reporter Charlie Trudeau is living an ordinary life, until witnessing a fatal hit-and-run accident gives her an intense psychic power she has no clue how to handle—and brings a Chicago police detective to her doorstep...
Noah Lassiter wants nothing more than to find the driver who killed his good friend. But his only lead is the beautiful Charlie Trudeau, who gets prickly when he starts nosing around town. Charlie’s clearly hiding something, but Noah needs her help unraveling the mystery of his friend’s death—even if the electricity between them complicates things.
But the more Noah and Charlie uncover, the more they realize they’re looking for a desperate killer—and the more danger they’re in. And if Charlie can’t gain control over her psychic powers, they may not survive long enough to explore the full sizzling potential of their desire…
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
7 people are currently reading
452 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 25, 2019
True Vision is a mind rush.
A stranger calls Charlotte from across the street and hurries toward her. Charlie Trudeau, a small town news reporter, is first puzzled by the use of her given name, and then horrified when she witnesses this woman hit by a car as she crosses the street, murdered in a hit-and-run. While Charlie tries to help, the woman dies in her arms. Upon the woman’s death, Charlie receives a jolt to her “other” senses that awakens a latent psychic ability.
And this all happens within the first chapter.
True Vision is non-stop action from beginning to end. Charlie begins to receive flashes of memory from anyone she touches. And while she’s trying to handle her new psychic awareness, someone keeps trying to murder her. She soon learns she has a family connection to the stranger murdered by the hit-and-run; Laurette was her cousin. Their mothers are estranged sisters. Noah, a police detective from Laurette’s hometown, and her friend, arrives on the scene to help solve her murder, and stays to help Charlie when it becomes apparent she was the intended victim—not Laurette. From one near-miss murder, to following attempts, Charlie and Noah are drawn together to help catch Laurette’s murderer, and to keep Charlie from becoming the next victim.
And that’s the entire teaser I’m going to give you because I want you to read the story!
Personally, I think what drew me in the most were the two main characters, Charlie and Noah. Lamb created two very likable protagonists. I was immediately invested in their journey. I also liked her writing style. She has a snappy voice and perfect pacing. The mystery unfolded slowly, the romance was believable, and the premise was interesting. The story was packed with intrigue, family secrets, romance, and a solid mystery that kept me turning the pages. I also liked the fact that she didn’t spend too much time in the antagonist’s point of view, which is my particular pet peeve. If an author makes me spend too much time in the bad guy’s head, sorry, but I will skip the pages. Lamb didn’t do this. Her pacing was perfect, a page here and there, just enough to strengthen the story without boring the reader (mainly me) into skipping forward.
Be forewarned, this book is high on the sensuality level and has graphic language. I’m giving it a Chili Pepper On Fire rating. The love scenes between Charlie and Noah have enough heat to peel paint off walls, and… oh, my, goodness... there’s more than just one of these scenes.
~Jan
A stranger calls Charlotte from across the street and hurries toward her. Charlie Trudeau, a small town news reporter, is first puzzled by the use of her given name, and then horrified when she witnesses this woman hit by a car as she crosses the street, murdered in a hit-and-run. While Charlie tries to help, the woman dies in her arms. Upon the woman’s death, Charlie receives a jolt to her “other” senses that awakens a latent psychic ability.
And this all happens within the first chapter.
True Vision is non-stop action from beginning to end. Charlie begins to receive flashes of memory from anyone she touches. And while she’s trying to handle her new psychic awareness, someone keeps trying to murder her. She soon learns she has a family connection to the stranger murdered by the hit-and-run; Laurette was her cousin. Their mothers are estranged sisters. Noah, a police detective from Laurette’s hometown, and her friend, arrives on the scene to help solve her murder, and stays to help Charlie when it becomes apparent she was the intended victim—not Laurette. From one near-miss murder, to following attempts, Charlie and Noah are drawn together to help catch Laurette’s murderer, and to keep Charlie from becoming the next victim.
And that’s the entire teaser I’m going to give you because I want you to read the story!
Personally, I think what drew me in the most were the two main characters, Charlie and Noah. Lamb created two very likable protagonists. I was immediately invested in their journey. I also liked her writing style. She has a snappy voice and perfect pacing. The mystery unfolded slowly, the romance was believable, and the premise was interesting. The story was packed with intrigue, family secrets, romance, and a solid mystery that kept me turning the pages. I also liked the fact that she didn’t spend too much time in the antagonist’s point of view, which is my particular pet peeve. If an author makes me spend too much time in the bad guy’s head, sorry, but I will skip the pages. Lamb didn’t do this. Her pacing was perfect, a page here and there, just enough to strengthen the story without boring the reader (mainly me) into skipping forward.
Be forewarned, this book is high on the sensuality level and has graphic language. I’m giving it a Chili Pepper On Fire rating. The love scenes between Charlie and Noah have enough heat to peel paint off walls, and… oh, my, goodness... there’s more than just one of these scenes.
~Jan
July 21, 2010
The story kept my interest, but I had trouble with sources of conflict.
STORY BRIEF:
Charlie (female) is a newspaper reporter. Laurette comes to town and is killed in a hit and run. Charlie witnesses the accident and touches Laurette just before she dies. This touch gives psychic powers to Charlie. Noah is a Chicago police detective. He comes to town to investigate the death of his friend Laurette. Charlie won’t tell him anything, so he follows her. Someone tries to kill Charlie, and Noah is there to save her. The major plot is who killed Laurette, who is trying to kill Charlie, and why. Other plot lines include Charlie’s investigative reporting causing problems for the newspaper, and the mother’s secrecy about her past.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I wanted more interesting sources of conflict.
1. On several occasions, Charlie has psychic visions giving her evidence that would help Noah and the police, but she doesn’t tell them. Her reason is that she thinks they won’t believe her. This was not interesting for me. Some cops use psychics in real life. And as soon as Noah realized she was psychic, he was very accepting of it and believed it. I saw her refusal to tell anyone as an easy means of conflict. I’d prefer other types of conflict.
2. When Charlie has too many psychic visions, she gets headaches. When she is in a dangerous situation, she gets lucky and has an opportunity to run away, but she doesn’t. She is in too much pain to move, so she doesn’t get away. This frustrated me. It felt like “oh, one more thing to cause a problem.” This will probably not bother other readers, but for some reason I didn’t like it.
3. The author used my pet peeve of the couple separating due to “the big misunderstanding.” Charlie said and did some things which were not logical and did not fit her motivations. Noah saw this and erroneously assumed she didn’t want him in her life, so he left her. She then believed he didn’t love her, so she made no move to contact him. This really let me down. Not only was this conflict due to vague communication and erroneous assumptions, but also her own actions did not fit her motivations.
I wish the author would have enlightened us about Charlie’s parents. What was the mother hiding? What was the father thinking about the mother physically beating Charlie? What did the father know or think about the mother’s past? A person from the mother’s past wants to contact her. What will the mother or Charlie do about this?
A minor point (publisher’s fault not the author’s) the cover picture did not match the characters. Noah has a lined, rugged face with messy blond hair. Cover guy has skin as smooth as a boy and dark hair. Charlie has reddish brown hair. Cover girl appears to be blond.
On the positive side: The story moved along well and kept my interest. The author has a nice writing style. I’d like to see her work on her sources of conflict. Having more conflict due to personality styles might be something to consider. Passion level was ok, not super.
CAUTION MINOR SPOILER:
One incident didn’t make sense to me and caused delays in solving the murder. Noah was following Charlie as she drove on a secluded rural road. A bad guy was between Charlie and Noah and rammed Charlie’s car off the road. She got out of the car, and the bad guy began attacking her. Noah ran to help and erroneously thought the guy was helping her not attacking her. The guy runs off. Noah did not get his license plate number. Noah was a cop. The fact that the guy ran back to his vehicle without conversing with Noah should have tipped him off, plus the guy was wearing a ninja mask, plus Noah should have seen the accident since he was following her. That didn’t fit.
DATA:
Story length: 321 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 6. Total number of sex scene pages: 18. Setting: current day Lake Avalon, Florida. Copyright: 2010. Genre: paranormal romantic suspense.
STORY BRIEF:
Charlie (female) is a newspaper reporter. Laurette comes to town and is killed in a hit and run. Charlie witnesses the accident and touches Laurette just before she dies. This touch gives psychic powers to Charlie. Noah is a Chicago police detective. He comes to town to investigate the death of his friend Laurette. Charlie won’t tell him anything, so he follows her. Someone tries to kill Charlie, and Noah is there to save her. The major plot is who killed Laurette, who is trying to kill Charlie, and why. Other plot lines include Charlie’s investigative reporting causing problems for the newspaper, and the mother’s secrecy about her past.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I wanted more interesting sources of conflict.
1. On several occasions, Charlie has psychic visions giving her evidence that would help Noah and the police, but she doesn’t tell them. Her reason is that she thinks they won’t believe her. This was not interesting for me. Some cops use psychics in real life. And as soon as Noah realized she was psychic, he was very accepting of it and believed it. I saw her refusal to tell anyone as an easy means of conflict. I’d prefer other types of conflict.
2. When Charlie has too many psychic visions, she gets headaches. When she is in a dangerous situation, she gets lucky and has an opportunity to run away, but she doesn’t. She is in too much pain to move, so she doesn’t get away. This frustrated me. It felt like “oh, one more thing to cause a problem.” This will probably not bother other readers, but for some reason I didn’t like it.
3. The author used my pet peeve of the couple separating due to “the big misunderstanding.” Charlie said and did some things which were not logical and did not fit her motivations. Noah saw this and erroneously assumed she didn’t want him in her life, so he left her. She then believed he didn’t love her, so she made no move to contact him. This really let me down. Not only was this conflict due to vague communication and erroneous assumptions, but also her own actions did not fit her motivations.
I wish the author would have enlightened us about Charlie’s parents. What was the mother hiding? What was the father thinking about the mother physically beating Charlie? What did the father know or think about the mother’s past? A person from the mother’s past wants to contact her. What will the mother or Charlie do about this?
A minor point (publisher’s fault not the author’s) the cover picture did not match the characters. Noah has a lined, rugged face with messy blond hair. Cover guy has skin as smooth as a boy and dark hair. Charlie has reddish brown hair. Cover girl appears to be blond.
On the positive side: The story moved along well and kept my interest. The author has a nice writing style. I’d like to see her work on her sources of conflict. Having more conflict due to personality styles might be something to consider. Passion level was ok, not super.
CAUTION MINOR SPOILER:
One incident didn’t make sense to me and caused delays in solving the murder. Noah was following Charlie as she drove on a secluded rural road. A bad guy was between Charlie and Noah and rammed Charlie’s car off the road. She got out of the car, and the bad guy began attacking her. Noah ran to help and erroneously thought the guy was helping her not attacking her. The guy runs off. Noah did not get his license plate number. Noah was a cop. The fact that the guy ran back to his vehicle without conversing with Noah should have tipped him off, plus the guy was wearing a ninja mask, plus Noah should have seen the accident since he was following her. That didn’t fit.
DATA:
Story length: 321 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 6. Total number of sex scene pages: 18. Setting: current day Lake Avalon, Florida. Copyright: 2010. Genre: paranormal romantic suspense.
June 11, 2010
Favorite Quote: "Hey darlin', what's your sign?"
"Do not enter."
Charlie Trudeau is having a normal day when she suddenly witnesses a fatal hit and run. Now she is having psychic experiences and someone is trying to kill her. Enter Noah Lassiter. A police detective from Chicago, he knew the hit and run victim and he wants justice. His only witness is Charlie who is not pleased with him nosing through her business. He knows she is hiding something but Noah needs her help-even if the attraction between them complicates things. As Charlie and Noah start to uncover more of the truth, they realize that they are looking for a desperate killer. A killer who has nothing to lose.
In the first of Joyce Lamb's True series we meet Charlie Trudeau and Noah Lassiter. Charlie is a strong willed feisty newspaper reporter who has a habit of making enemies. When she witnesses a fatal hit and run accident she is surprised when the victim says her name before dying. Then the psychic episodes start. Charlie has always been more empathic then the average person but now she is experiencing what others experience with a mere touch. Now as Charlie's experiences intense, she is blacking out and having seizures.
Read more of my review at Smexybooks
"Do not enter."
Charlie Trudeau is having a normal day when she suddenly witnesses a fatal hit and run. Now she is having psychic experiences and someone is trying to kill her. Enter Noah Lassiter. A police detective from Chicago, he knew the hit and run victim and he wants justice. His only witness is Charlie who is not pleased with him nosing through her business. He knows she is hiding something but Noah needs her help-even if the attraction between them complicates things. As Charlie and Noah start to uncover more of the truth, they realize that they are looking for a desperate killer. A killer who has nothing to lose.
In the first of Joyce Lamb's True series we meet Charlie Trudeau and Noah Lassiter. Charlie is a strong willed feisty newspaper reporter who has a habit of making enemies. When she witnesses a fatal hit and run accident she is surprised when the victim says her name before dying. Then the psychic episodes start. Charlie has always been more empathic then the average person but now she is experiencing what others experience with a mere touch. Now as Charlie's experiences intense, she is blacking out and having seizures.
Read more of my review at Smexybooks
July 31, 2011
Amazing book. Couldn't put it down. Very hot! Loved the story and the characters. Highly recommended.
June 10, 2010
This book totally rocks!!! I LOVED IT. I already put the next book on my wish list!
March 31, 2023
Great concept - Charlie, a reporter, witnesses someone getting killed by a hit and run, and suddenly, she gets flashes of recent traumatic events when she touches people - experiencing them as if she were living the moments.
On top of that, someone's trying to kill her, and her reporting career turns rocky. Luckily, Noah comes into her life, a Chicago cop who's a friend of the hit-and-run victim, shows up to investigate the death, and their connection is hot and immediate.
I loved the supernatural aspects of the novel, and there's a lot of action and tension. The chemistry between Charlie and Noah is nice.
On top of that, someone's trying to kill her, and her reporting career turns rocky. Luckily, Noah comes into her life, a Chicago cop who's a friend of the hit-and-run victim, shows up to investigate the death, and their connection is hot and immediate.
I loved the supernatural aspects of the novel, and there's a lot of action and tension. The chemistry between Charlie and Noah is nice.
December 26, 2020
A good twist on psychics
Two great characters with a lot of baggage. I do wish the baggage had been explored more and the pages devoted to their angst was the reason it was not a five star read.
Two great characters with a lot of baggage. I do wish the baggage had been explored more and the pages devoted to their angst was the reason it was not a five star read.
May 17, 2012
2.5/5 (C-)
A few years ago, I was browsing the bookstore, looking for new authors when I stumbled upon Ms Lamb. They had a few things going for them: the covers were pretty and caught my eye, the genre was romantic suspense and you can never have too much RS and the publisher was Berkley, one that I usually enjoy. I decided to go ahead and buy Cold Midnight and True Vision. Hey, at least I read one right away! LOL. And now, True Vision qualifies as my TBR entry :) So win-win, right?
I knew when I picked up True Vision that Charlie was a reporter - one of my pet peeves, but I was hoping it'd be offset by the fact that she was also psychic. Unfortunately, it wasn't. I kind of liked the psychic aspect of True Vision - the way she got flashes - but I was expecting a bit more... and the situation in which Charlie found herself in was a bit weird. Charlie's always been an empath, but her power wasn't that strong until she witnessed her cousin's death. On one hand, she's not new to the power, but on the other one,, she has no clue how to deal with it once it became supercharged... So Charlie finds herself stuck in the middle and never really moved from it. She never learned more about her power and never embraced it :( And what really rubbed me the wrong way was the fact she scoffed at the psychic her grandmother recommended Charlie to go see before her death. Seriously? I hate it when a character's a psychic and doesn't believe in other's powers. As for Charlie being a reporter, sigh, I rest my case. What I can say is that Charlie wasn't as annoying as I expected. It was nice to see someone with conviction and learning that sometimes, what you believe and reality clash and it results in a bad outcome. While Charlie wasn't as annoying, it didn't stop her from having TSTL moments though. There was one particular scene where they suspect someone is after her, but she sneaks out nonetheless to go meet someone at a cafe. They sit outside in the open... The thought of it being a bad idea does cross her mind, but instead of moving inside, she thinks "But if I'm killed, there'll at least be witnesses." Again, seriously?!? So yeah, I find that Charlie was a hard character to like... and to understand.
As for Noah, I liked him better than Charlie, but I didn't get him either. At the beginning of the book, it was mentioned a couple of time how "dark" he was, how he had demons... and that side of him was never really explained - or, I completely missed it. However, I did like he was a good friend and took the trouble to come to Florida to investigate Laurette's death. Also, he had much more sense than Charlie. As for the romance, it was too quick to my taste. I didn't see any connection between the H/H - not enough for them to be in love at the end of the book. I saw attraction and lust, but beyond the physical, I didn't even get why they liked each other ^_^;
Something else that didn't work in True Vision's favor is I felt I was missing a chunk of background story. Charlie's past with Mac, her ex-best friend... and Logan, one of Charlie's cop friends, and Charlie's younger sister Alex. It's kind of funny because Lori read True Colors which is the next book and said in her review: "while I could tell that important things happened in the first book (for example, the h/h - Alex and Logan - already have a well established friendship/almost relationship), I didn't have any difficulty jumping right into this one." Here I am, reading the first book and still feeling puzzled ^_^; I felt the readers never really got a good explanation. Also, there was the relationship between Charlie and her mother that was never really developed nor resolved :(
At the end, what saves this book from being a dud is the suspense and the writing. True Vision wasn't actually thrilling and I was able to guess who was the villain fairly early on, but I kept reading to find out his motives. As for the writing, I enjoy Ms Lamb's voice and style. That'll be the main reason for me to pick up Ms Lamb again :)
Basically, True Vision was a passable book for me and I believe my mood, when I read the book, didn't help matters either. While I believe Ms Lamb has a lot of work ahead of her, especially when it comes to characterizations and relationships, I'm most probably going to give her another try because I also believe she has a lot of potential :)
A few years ago, I was browsing the bookstore, looking for new authors when I stumbled upon Ms Lamb. They had a few things going for them: the covers were pretty and caught my eye, the genre was romantic suspense and you can never have too much RS and the publisher was Berkley, one that I usually enjoy. I decided to go ahead and buy Cold Midnight and True Vision. Hey, at least I read one right away! LOL. And now, True Vision qualifies as my TBR entry :) So win-win, right?
I knew when I picked up True Vision that Charlie was a reporter - one of my pet peeves, but I was hoping it'd be offset by the fact that she was also psychic. Unfortunately, it wasn't. I kind of liked the psychic aspect of True Vision - the way she got flashes - but I was expecting a bit more... and the situation in which Charlie found herself in was a bit weird. Charlie's always been an empath, but her power wasn't that strong until she witnessed her cousin's death. On one hand, she's not new to the power, but on the other one,, she has no clue how to deal with it once it became supercharged... So Charlie finds herself stuck in the middle and never really moved from it. She never learned more about her power and never embraced it :( And what really rubbed me the wrong way was the fact she scoffed at the psychic her grandmother recommended Charlie to go see before her death. Seriously? I hate it when a character's a psychic and doesn't believe in other's powers. As for Charlie being a reporter, sigh, I rest my case. What I can say is that Charlie wasn't as annoying as I expected. It was nice to see someone with conviction and learning that sometimes, what you believe and reality clash and it results in a bad outcome. While Charlie wasn't as annoying, it didn't stop her from having TSTL moments though. There was one particular scene where they suspect someone is after her, but she sneaks out nonetheless to go meet someone at a cafe. They sit outside in the open... The thought of it being a bad idea does cross her mind, but instead of moving inside, she thinks "But if I'm killed, there'll at least be witnesses." Again, seriously?!? So yeah, I find that Charlie was a hard character to like... and to understand.
As for Noah, I liked him better than Charlie, but I didn't get him either. At the beginning of the book, it was mentioned a couple of time how "dark" he was, how he had demons... and that side of him was never really explained - or, I completely missed it. However, I did like he was a good friend and took the trouble to come to Florida to investigate Laurette's death. Also, he had much more sense than Charlie. As for the romance, it was too quick to my taste. I didn't see any connection between the H/H - not enough for them to be in love at the end of the book. I saw attraction and lust, but beyond the physical, I didn't even get why they liked each other ^_^;
Something else that didn't work in True Vision's favor is I felt I was missing a chunk of background story. Charlie's past with Mac, her ex-best friend... and Logan, one of Charlie's cop friends, and Charlie's younger sister Alex. It's kind of funny because Lori read True Colors which is the next book and said in her review: "while I could tell that important things happened in the first book (for example, the h/h - Alex and Logan - already have a well established friendship/almost relationship), I didn't have any difficulty jumping right into this one." Here I am, reading the first book and still feeling puzzled ^_^; I felt the readers never really got a good explanation. Also, there was the relationship between Charlie and her mother that was never really developed nor resolved :(
At the end, what saves this book from being a dud is the suspense and the writing. True Vision wasn't actually thrilling and I was able to guess who was the villain fairly early on, but I kept reading to find out his motives. As for the writing, I enjoy Ms Lamb's voice and style. That'll be the main reason for me to pick up Ms Lamb again :)
Basically, True Vision was a passable book for me and I believe my mood, when I read the book, didn't help matters either. While I believe Ms Lamb has a lot of work ahead of her, especially when it comes to characterizations and relationships, I'm most probably going to give her another try because I also believe she has a lot of potential :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2010
True Vision's got a little bit of sumin’ sumin’ for everyone. It’s a combo platter of romance, suspense and it's even got a paranormal element.
Lamb doesn’t waste any time getting right to the action. Small town reporter Charlie Trudeau is the lone witness to a nasty hit and run accident right outside the paper where she works. The resulting death of the young woman, who called out to Charlotte by name just before being struck down in the crosswalk has shaken Charlie to her core for more than one reason. While comforting the injured woman, we get a little glimpse into the “special abilities” that have previously been dormant in Charlie and have now been turned on big time with megawatt intensity when Charlie has a strange reaction while holding the woman’s hand. The death of Laurette Atkins has also brought Noah Lassiter, a police detective from Chicago to Charlie's doorstep as he investigates the death of his good friend.
Noah is attracted to Charlie right from the get go and he’s determined to find out the connection between Laurette and Charlie (cuz you knew there had to be one right?) and he does have some inside info that Charlie is not aware of. I might have been skeptical about Noah’s instant attraction and lust at what some might consider inappropriate times..like on the run from a Ninja (I’ll get to that in a minute), but the author does explain to my satisfaction his fascination with her.
As for Charlie's "special abilities"...pretty sure not something I would ever want to experience. There seemed to be a definite downside to her newly awakened empathic abilities and some pretty debilitating side affects. Experiencing someone else's intense pain or grief through skin to skin contact with no controlling the sensations I'm thinking is not such a good "ability" to have. That being said, during more intimate moments, it did seem that skin to skin contact was a double whammy for Charlie and her reactions were off the charts.....yowza!
Now to the Ninja. Let me just say that should I ever be the target of a Ninja-clad assassin, I hope he is inept as the one after Charlie. Ninja boy had more misses on Charlie's life than a batter at the plate - dude 3 strikes and you're out!
Charlie's mom was a real biotch! I had to wonder why the family put up with her abusive behaviour especially Dad Trudeau. Not sure that I received a satisfactory explanation as to her nasty disposition especially towards her own daughter. I wish Ninja boy would have gone after her because she needed a good beatdown.
I was never sure who was out to silence Charlie or why, what all the family secrecy stuff was all about but it keep me hooked til the end.
Next up for Joyce Lamb is True Colors which is sister Alex's story.
Lamb doesn’t waste any time getting right to the action. Small town reporter Charlie Trudeau is the lone witness to a nasty hit and run accident right outside the paper where she works. The resulting death of the young woman, who called out to Charlotte by name just before being struck down in the crosswalk has shaken Charlie to her core for more than one reason. While comforting the injured woman, we get a little glimpse into the “special abilities” that have previously been dormant in Charlie and have now been turned on big time with megawatt intensity when Charlie has a strange reaction while holding the woman’s hand. The death of Laurette Atkins has also brought Noah Lassiter, a police detective from Chicago to Charlie's doorstep as he investigates the death of his good friend.
Noah is attracted to Charlie right from the get go and he’s determined to find out the connection between Laurette and Charlie (cuz you knew there had to be one right?) and he does have some inside info that Charlie is not aware of. I might have been skeptical about Noah’s instant attraction and lust at what some might consider inappropriate times..like on the run from a Ninja (I’ll get to that in a minute), but the author does explain to my satisfaction his fascination with her.
As for Charlie's "special abilities"...pretty sure not something I would ever want to experience. There seemed to be a definite downside to her newly awakened empathic abilities and some pretty debilitating side affects. Experiencing someone else's intense pain or grief through skin to skin contact with no controlling the sensations I'm thinking is not such a good "ability" to have. That being said, during more intimate moments, it did seem that skin to skin contact was a double whammy for Charlie and her reactions were off the charts.....yowza!
Now to the Ninja. Let me just say that should I ever be the target of a Ninja-clad assassin, I hope he is inept as the one after Charlie. Ninja boy had more misses on Charlie's life than a batter at the plate - dude 3 strikes and you're out!
Charlie's mom was a real biotch! I had to wonder why the family put up with her abusive behaviour especially Dad Trudeau. Not sure that I received a satisfactory explanation as to her nasty disposition especially towards her own daughter. I wish Ninja boy would have gone after her because she needed a good beatdown.
I was never sure who was out to silence Charlie or why, what all the family secrecy stuff was all about but it keep me hooked til the end.
Next up for Joyce Lamb is True Colors which is sister Alex's story.
September 13, 2011
I probably would have given this book three stars up until page 307, where I promptly declared the heroine a bitch. I totally sided with the hero, Noah, and if I'd been him, I wouldn't have come back. The heroine, Charlie, should've had to go to him. And then she's all righteous, "Well, of course, I did that." I wanted to slap her.
Also, what the hell was the deal with her mother? Charlie, at times, wants to protect her despite the fact the woman hit her as a child and STILL DOES. Charlie is also incredibly loyal to her father, who didn't lift a finger to keep his wife away from his daughter. This chick needs serious therapy. It's like watching Stockholm Syndrome in action. In any other book, Charlie would've moved outta town, leaving her past & abusers in the dust, only coming back when forced to.
In addition, there's a bit of a jarring moment on page 158 where a minor character launches into a diatribe about what's wrong with newspapers today. I had to check the copyright date because I seriously thought the book was published in the late nineties. On 9/11/01, you know how I got my news? A Roswell message board because the cable went out and I was forced to beg for news from fellow fans. You know how I get my news now? Twitter and my local paper's iPhone app. And you know what all those things have? Ads. You want to get your message out to people, you better learn how to adapt to technological changes. I would have thought a self-professed billionaire would grasp that little fact.
On the positive side, the action zips along quite quickly. The illusion is helped along by the shortness of the chapters. There are sixty-eight chapters, but just 321 pages. Also, I didn't figure out ahead of time who the big bad was. I wasn't entirely sure why the big bad snapped and went on a rampage, but I certainly didn't think it was that character.
This was one of those cases where I think the author has the ability to write something great, but this was a poorly plotted book. If I came across the sequel, True Colors, I'd read it, mainly because I liked the character who will be that hero. I'm on the fence about the heroine. She already feels a bit wishy-washy to me.
Also, what the hell was the deal with her mother? Charlie, at times, wants to protect her despite the fact the woman hit her as a child and STILL DOES. Charlie is also incredibly loyal to her father, who didn't lift a finger to keep his wife away from his daughter. This chick needs serious therapy. It's like watching Stockholm Syndrome in action. In any other book, Charlie would've moved outta town, leaving her past & abusers in the dust, only coming back when forced to.
In addition, there's a bit of a jarring moment on page 158 where a minor character launches into a diatribe about what's wrong with newspapers today. I had to check the copyright date because I seriously thought the book was published in the late nineties. On 9/11/01, you know how I got my news? A Roswell message board because the cable went out and I was forced to beg for news from fellow fans. You know how I get my news now? Twitter and my local paper's iPhone app. And you know what all those things have? Ads. You want to get your message out to people, you better learn how to adapt to technological changes. I would have thought a self-professed billionaire would grasp that little fact.
On the positive side, the action zips along quite quickly. The illusion is helped along by the shortness of the chapters. There are sixty-eight chapters, but just 321 pages. Also, I didn't figure out ahead of time who the big bad was. I wasn't entirely sure why the big bad snapped and went on a rampage, but I certainly didn't think it was that character.
This was one of those cases where I think the author has the ability to write something great, but this was a poorly plotted book. If I came across the sequel, True Colors, I'd read it, mainly because I liked the character who will be that hero. I'm on the fence about the heroine. She already feels a bit wishy-washy to me.
April 23, 2011
You know when you love a book so much, you just can't find the right words to do it justice? Well, that's exactly how I feel right now. It doesn't matter what I say about it, you just have to read it to enjoy it as much as I did.
The first book in the True trilogy starts out with some high powered action. Charlie was a character I fell in love with. She's smart, adventurous and not one to just stand aside when she sees something going wrong around her. Noah is that oh so sexy cop (although out of his jurisdiction) that is bound and determined to find the killer of his friend. All roads lead to Charlie when he finds out details of the hit and run but what neither is ready for is the instant chemistry. And my my my do these two spark when they are together.
True Vision is an extremely fast paced book that keeps you on the edge of your seat with an intense and gripping plot line. There is always something going on and when you throw in the paranormal element, this book just keeps getting hotter. The paranormal element Charlie acquires really makes you think about how she's going to get around it. I don't want to give away what it is because that was a really fun part to find out. As for secondary characters, some made me laugh and some made me want to hit the wall but all were essential to True Vision. The action scenes will blow your mind, and watch out for the more intimate scenes, there is an apparent upside to what's going on with Charlie you will enjoy. And I promise, you will LOVE it.
The second book in the series is True Colors and is Alex's story (this book is now published) and finally the third book in the series is True Shot which is Sam's story and is coming in December. You bet I'd be willing to stand in line a really long time for this final story.
Joyce Lamb is one of those authors who is just blessed with the talent of writing an intriguing romantic suspense book. I don't think she could write a book I didn't like if she tried. I was first introduced to her through Cold Midnight and fell in love with her writing style. In my opinion, Ms. Lamb has raised the bar when it comes to True Vision. An exceptional read that you don't want to miss, I highly recommend it. I am now addicted to anything Joyce Lamb!
The first book in the True trilogy starts out with some high powered action. Charlie was a character I fell in love with. She's smart, adventurous and not one to just stand aside when she sees something going wrong around her. Noah is that oh so sexy cop (although out of his jurisdiction) that is bound and determined to find the killer of his friend. All roads lead to Charlie when he finds out details of the hit and run but what neither is ready for is the instant chemistry. And my my my do these two spark when they are together.
True Vision is an extremely fast paced book that keeps you on the edge of your seat with an intense and gripping plot line. There is always something going on and when you throw in the paranormal element, this book just keeps getting hotter. The paranormal element Charlie acquires really makes you think about how she's going to get around it. I don't want to give away what it is because that was a really fun part to find out. As for secondary characters, some made me laugh and some made me want to hit the wall but all were essential to True Vision. The action scenes will blow your mind, and watch out for the more intimate scenes, there is an apparent upside to what's going on with Charlie you will enjoy. And I promise, you will LOVE it.
The second book in the series is True Colors and is Alex's story (this book is now published) and finally the third book in the series is True Shot which is Sam's story and is coming in December. You bet I'd be willing to stand in line a really long time for this final story.
Joyce Lamb is one of those authors who is just blessed with the talent of writing an intriguing romantic suspense book. I don't think she could write a book I didn't like if she tried. I was first introduced to her through Cold Midnight and fell in love with her writing style. In my opinion, Ms. Lamb has raised the bar when it comes to True Vision. An exceptional read that you don't want to miss, I highly recommend it. I am now addicted to anything Joyce Lamb!
February 9, 2012
Charlie is walking on the street near work when a stranger yells to her from across the street, calling her by her full name that most people dont know. The woman crosses the street towards her and is hit by a car. Charlie goes to help her, noticing they look slightly alike, and has a sudden flash of a memory not her own while she holds the hand of the dying woman. From there on out every skin to skin contact she has with someone leads to her having a flash of one of their memories. The police are still trying to put together the pieces of the woman, Laurette, death when Noah comes to town. Being a Chicago police officer he worked with Laurette at times because of her empathic abilities. He knew she was coming to the small Florida town to find Charlie because she is a cousin she didnt know she had. (This part is obviously a side plot that is going to be more important in the next 2 books I can tell). Anyway, they discovery with all the salacious stories she has written but not allowed to put in the paper, there are a lot of people who might want to kill her and Laurette's death was an accident that was supposed to be Charlie's. Noah is a bit intense, and Im a little confused on why he is so adamant about the search for his friend's killer, just seems like there is more to it that isnt explained. Funny how he and Charlie find the 'benefits' of her ability. Hated the mom and was kind of dissapointed that Charlie is this strong independent woman and yet lets some of this awful crap with her happen. I liked the book and will be reading the next one about the next sister, hopefully some of my questions will be answered.
July 23, 2012
2.5 stars. Charlie (a girl) who is also a reporter stirs up some shizz and discovers she's empathetic. Oops. Empathic. I might have meant the first one. I like that the author tried to go with a new type of paranormal kind of thing. Charlie touches someone and feels their most recent or significant event in her head. But hey someone comes to town at an inconvenient time (her cousin) and gets killed. Also a friend of her cousin, who's hot and hunky, follows thereafter, and gets all up into the mystery of whodun run over the cousin. Charlie gets strangled and rescued. She gets in a car wreck and strangled and rescued. She has some other strangling incidents. I got tired of the strangling. But there is hot empathic sex! A paranormal girl hasn't really lived until she has two orgasms for the price of one. I give the author a half star for trying out something different, but I wasn't blown away. I hate to say it but I'm not really interested in reading the second two in the series, which features Charlie's sisters. Sorry Charlie. (I couldn't help myself.)
March 19, 2016
True Vision was a well written book with an interesting plot and characters. I liked the psychic element - Charlie was empathic. This is the first book in a three book series about Charlie and her sisters, all of whom evidently have some sort of psychic ability that will be addressed more in future books. We don't really know much about the male protagonist, Noah, other than the fact that he is a cop from Chicago and has suffered loss in his job that has affected him deeply. The book had 68 chapters, which for me, disrupted the flow of the story making it difficult to maintain a connection with the story and characters. Also, the beginning of the book is riddled with instances of telling vs. showing which also made it tough to initially connect with the characters or story.
November 15, 2014
3.5 stars. I would have given up on this one to be honest except I have purchased the other two books in the trilogy. Having said that, I am glad i persevered as the second half of the book was better than the first.
The writing just didn't flow for me. The dialogue felt stilted and false. The psychic episodes really pulled me out of the story everytime as they just seemed so.... fake? unreal? I really don't know but they certainly didn't help me like the book and I LOVE the psychic premise in any book.
So, in the end a solid 3.5 stars and I will try the next in the series, but not anytime soon.
The writing just didn't flow for me. The dialogue felt stilted and false. The psychic episodes really pulled me out of the story everytime as they just seemed so.... fake? unreal? I really don't know but they certainly didn't help me like the book and I LOVE the psychic premise in any book.
So, in the end a solid 3.5 stars and I will try the next in the series, but not anytime soon.
May 27, 2015
Charlie Trudeau
Noah Lassiter
viewing a hit and run of a woman hauntingly similar to Charlie leaves her with heightened psychic psychometric skills.
Noah Lassiter was a close friend of the woman killed - Laurette. Staking out her house to find a way to talk to her, he steps into the first of several murder attempts on her.
The story follows Noah as a Chicago cop trying to solve Laurette's murder as Charlie fights off the murder attempts while coping with the demands of her new skills.
Was more interested in finding out why Charlie's mother hid the knowledge of her sister and extended family and the reasons behind her abuse of Charlie as a child.
Noah Lassiter
viewing a hit and run of a woman hauntingly similar to Charlie leaves her with heightened psychic psychometric skills.
Noah Lassiter was a close friend of the woman killed - Laurette. Staking out her house to find a way to talk to her, he steps into the first of several murder attempts on her.
The story follows Noah as a Chicago cop trying to solve Laurette's murder as Charlie fights off the murder attempts while coping with the demands of her new skills.
Was more interested in finding out why Charlie's mother hid the knowledge of her sister and extended family and the reasons behind her abuse of Charlie as a child.
November 10, 2010
2.5 stars
from my blog (October Reads post, 2010)
C. I won this book and it had an interesting premise - out of town cop is investigating the death of his friend, the witness is a woman who bears a striking resemblance to said dead friend (except he wants some smexxing with this one and didn't have those sort of feelings for the friend 0-o), who has suddenly developed some psychic powers - when she touches someone, she relives their most recent traumatic/passionate experience (makes for interesting smexxing!). But, overall, it was, meh. Okay but not great. I mostly skimmed it but, I did finish it.
from my blog (October Reads post, 2010)
C. I won this book and it had an interesting premise - out of town cop is investigating the death of his friend, the witness is a woman who bears a striking resemblance to said dead friend (except he wants some smexxing with this one and didn't have those sort of feelings for the friend 0-o), who has suddenly developed some psychic powers - when she touches someone, she relives their most recent traumatic/passionate experience (makes for interesting smexxing!). But, overall, it was, meh. Okay but not great. I mostly skimmed it but, I did finish it.
July 12, 2010
A little strange, but still a good read. Newspaper reporter, Charlotte "Charlie" Trudeau is living an ordinary life, until witnessing a fatal hit-and-run accident gives her an intense psychic power that she has no clue how to handle -- and brings a Chicago police detective to her doorstep ...
August 8, 2013
This book had been on my tbr list for a long time, so I decided to give it a try. It was a maybe book for me, as in maybe it would work or maybe not. What I did find was a very blah book, the characters, the mystery, everything. In the end this one just wasn't for me.
Read
January 23, 2012Not what I expected. It was a great book and kept me reading to the end, was just a little more graphic than I expected. I picked this book on the title alone and the first line of the back cover.
January 27, 2012
Kept me vaguely interested. At one point early on I considered putting it down but the mystery got to me in the end. I don't think it can be considered a 'paranormal' book. I'd class it more of a 'who-dun-it'.
April 8, 2020
I was a bit skeptical going into this book. I'm not much of a suspense reader. But I really liked this book it was never boring it had the perfect amount of both romance and mystery. I couldn't put it down. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
December 16, 2010
Haven't read a lot of romantic suspense, but this one made me want to read more. Really good.
May 27, 2013
Can't remember reading it, but I know I did.
May 12, 2012
My first Joyce Lamb book and I've already purchased four more. This was a great book. I can't wait to read the other sisters' stories.
Read
July 14, 2012Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Reluctant to put it down.
October 6, 2012
Not bad for a paranormal romance, but I felt the author could have shortened a few things up. I felt like it went on and on and didn't need to.
November 18, 2012
Yeah..well...no.
May 18, 2013
3.5 stars Paranormal books are not my thing , but this one was good. I actually enjoyed it and will be reading the other books in the trilogy
August 21, 2015
Fine. I preemptively checked it the next two so it didn't really matter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews