After reading The Grayson Trilogy by Georgia Rose I was delighted to be sent an ARC copy of her new book Parallel Lies
The Blurb:
‘My name is Madeleine, Madeleine Ross. It is a name chosen with thought and because it is classy, and that is what is needed here…’
Madeleine Ross has life exactly as she planned it.
Cosy cottage, friendly village, satisfying job.
Company… when she wants it.
It’s an enviable existence for an independent young woman, and one she’s keen to protect.
Enter Daniel – strong, dependable and a danger to everything she’s built. He’s not something she was looking for, but hearts can’t be controlled and maybe, just maybe he might be worth letting into hers.
But, all is not what it seems. Because Madeleine is hiding a lifetime of secrets. Deep secrets.
And they never stay buried for ever.
Her darkest secret returns, like the proverbial bad penny. He is her first love, shadowy, dangerous, the baddest of bad boys. No matter how far she runs, or how well she hides, she can never escape him.
Or her past.
Here he is, on her doorstep, with a proposition she is powerless to resist but which could devastate the future she hoped to have.
Can Madeleine satisfy the old love while keeping the new?
You can’t always get what you want but, desperate to preserve the life she has worked so hard for, Madeleine is willing to risk everything to prove that she can.
My Review
Opening a book by Georgia Rose, you know that it will encompass more than one genre, that it will reveal more of the heroine’s past life gradually, layer by layer. Madeleine Ross appears to be a young woman in control, living a carefully organised life in an idyllic, friendly English village. But all is not as it appears. Her occupation is extremely unusual and she hates any change in her routine.
However, Maddie’s boss, Cubby is about to retire and she is not happy to be working with his disapproving nephew, Daniel. Soon there are fireworks between them and yet she cannot deny a mutual attraction. Meanwhile, Madeleine helps teenager, Kourtney, to escape her unfortunate home circumstances and start out on a successful future. She is also tempted to improve the life of Letitia, a trophy wife with an arrogant husband.
Speaking in the first person, Madeleine shows the reader that her need to plan in detail arises from chaos in her past life. Her kindness and warmth provoke friendship from older friends in the village such as Chris, a writer and Diane, a healer, but her relationships with young men have no depth.
In contrast, we discover more about Daniel in the second person. As he sees more of Maddie, he seeks some commitment which she is unwilling to give but when she is threatened, “Hatred coils,” in his gut, “visceral and black like angry snakes.” He is prepared to do anything he can to save her.
Every character in the book is significant. We learn about their character and beliefs, making the story more intense and real. Towards the conclusion, tension mounts as Madeleine seems to be caught in a web from which there is no escape but we hope that her intelligence and ingenuity might bring hope for her future.
This is a book which surprises and intrigues the reader with an unusual but likeable heroine who will win your loyalty. A highly recommended read.
Parallel Lies is available for pre-order now and is published on September 12th and you can enter a free giveaway of all Georgia’s books and other items.
Georgia Rose is a writer and the author of the romantic and suspenseful Grayson Trilogy books: A Single Step, Before the Dawn and Thicker than Water. A short story, The Joker, based on a favourite character from the series followed and is free to download from Amazon.
Her fourth novel, Parallel Lies, a standalone, encompasses crime along with Georgia’s usual blending of genre.
Following a long stint working in the law Georgia set up her own business providing administration services for other companies which she does to this day managing to entwine that work along with her writing.
Georgia’s background in countryside living, riding, instructing and working with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines; the others are a product of her passion for people watching and her overactive imagination!
Her busy life is set in a tranquil part of rural Cambridgeshire in the UK where she lives with her much neglected husband and dog. Their son, currently at university, comes and goes and their daughter, having delighted them all for long enough, has eventually moved out, got married, and is discovering the joys of being all grown up and having a mortgage.
Lizanne lost in a good book 
Thanks so much for such a fabulous review, Liz. I’m delighted you got Madeleine so well, she is, as you say, unusual and some will no doubt find her difficult to like. I really appreciate you posting this in the run up 😀
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