Double Book Review: Liar's Guide to True Love and Unscripted

When I first started using Netgalley, I went a bit crazy.  At the time, I picked up two books that were unlimited on the time frame (thank goodness) and were supposed to be quick reads.  I grabbed them, but have since learned to be a bit more discerning on what I select and what I review.  Let's be honest here--I can't get to as many books as I think I can!  I'm embarrassed by the length of time it took me to read these two picks, but at least I've finally gotten to them.

Anyway, here are two books I picked up through Netgalley and wanted to do a quick highlight on.

Liar's Guide to True Love by Wendy Chen

Cassandra Hanley is a wedding planner, who seems to always be the "bridesmaid" and never the bride.  Things look up when she starts dating Nick, until she learns that he hates weddings.  What's a girl to do, but to lie and not let him in on her profession?  That's not all though.  Into this tangled web walks Kevin, her college sweetheart who got away once and knows her, but has a few minor flaws.

This is a relatively short novel that clips along through Cassandra's lying and manic wedding profession details.  As with other novels of this sort, you can't help but ask WHY does she keep insisting on lying.  You can see the writing on the way and feel that she just needs to tell the truth so she can pursue a better relationship with the new guy who seems to appreciate her more.  Yes, it all eventually comes out and she has to deal with either the new guy who she lied to, or the old guy, who knew her all along.  A cute story, although something you feel you might have read before.

Unscripted by Natalie Aaron 

Abby Edwards is a producer on a reality dating show.  Sadly, reality show jobs don't last long, so when she sees a film her ex made about their relationship, she has to deal with the emotional baggage of knowing he has moved on and is successful (at her expense) while she still struggles to keep a steady "gig".  If that's not enough, one of her bosses on the new reality show she's working on is a guy, Will Harper, whom she humiliated herself in front of in a previous job.

Admittedly, I'm not a reality dating show viewer anymore, but having watched them a lot back in college, I thought this was a fun premise.  The story actually didn't have as many scenes on set as I would have liked, and seemed to focus more on Abby's home life with her roommate/friend than on her job.  Of course, the tension with Will makes him a key feature in our minds, but I had a difficult time sensing the real build up in the chemistry between the two.  I think that with a bit more on set and with Will a bit sooner, I would have really caught the relationship.  As is, it's a cute story that I would love to see fleshed out a bit more.

FTC Disclosure:  These reviews were based on ebook copies of the novel provided by Netgalley.