Book Review: The Comfort Of Lies

Author: Randy Susan Meyers
Title: The Comfort Of Lies
Publisher: Atria Books
Publish Date: Feb 12, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb: 

“Happiness at someone else’s expense came at a price. Tia had imagined judgment from the first kiss that she and Nathan shared. All year, she’d waited to be punished for being in love, and in truth, she believed that whatever consequences came her way would be deserved.” Five years ago, Tia fell into obsessive love with a man she could never have. Married, and the father of two boys, Nathan was unavailable in every way. When she became pregnant, he disappeared, and she gave up her baby for adoption.

Five years ago, Caroline, a dedicated pathologist, reluctantly adopted a baby to please her husband. She prayed her misgivings would disappear; instead, she’s questioning whether she’s cut out for the role of wife and mother.

Five years ago, Juliette considered her life ideal: she had a solid marriage, two beautiful young sons, and a thriving business. Then she discovered Nathan’s affair. He promised he’d never stray again, and she trusted him.

But when Juliette intercepts a letter to her husband from Tia that contains pictures of a child with a deep resemblance to her husband, her world crumbles once more. How could Nathan deny his daughter? And if he’s kept this a secret from her, what else is he hiding? Desperate for the truth, Juliette goes in search of the little girl. And before long, the three women and Nathan are on a collision course with consequences that none of them could have predicted.

Riveting and arresting, The Comfort of Lies explores the collateral damage of infidelity and the dark, private struggles many of us experience but rarely reveal.



Review: Randy Susan Meyers has created a book that involves a subject that sends terror into the hearts of most wives, infidelity.

In The Comfort Of Lies, she weaves a story of three women and how one choice affects all of their lives.

None of these women are perfect and each have to deal with the choices they made. I found it hard to like any of these women, but I did feel sorry for each one of them in different ways.

Tia was the other woman who ended up pregnant from her affair. She's a mess. Even up to the last pages, she isn't totally together. She's also the youngest of the bunch. She may not have been a young girl that got knocked up, but she was a twenty something girl with a lot on her plate who foolishly fell in love with someone she couldn't have.

Juliette is the wife of the man Tia had an affair with. That affair messes with their life and their marriage and in fact the whole ordeal turns her into as big of a mess as Tia. (And really that girl needs to get her life in order)

Caroline is the women who along with her husband Peter, adopts Tia's baby.

One action by Tia 5 years after the birth of her child sends so many actions into place and suddenly they are all in each other's lives, whether they want to be or not.

I had an easier time coming to grips with Tia, because I could understand her love for Nathan and her home situation, with a mother in hospice. At times, she goes almost Fatal Attraction nuts. Yeah, girlfriend is off her rocker.

Juliette and Caroline are both career women, in different ways. Caroline is the harder character to relate to for me. She's a brilliant woman, working in pathology to discover cures for childhood cancers. It is hard to believe she loves her work more than her family. (Not that she doesn't love her daughter)

Juliette is more the typical mom who goes off the deep end when she realizes that the affair her husband had produced a child. My main problem with her character was how she obsessed over the affair 5 years later, when it was obvious Nathan hadn't had any contact with Tia. But I felt sorry for her, because her mother would be enough to make her a nut job!

I couldn't stand Nathan at all. I couldn't figure out why either woman would want him and the parts of the story that were told from his point of view seemed to try to paint him as the injured party. Seriously? The guy didn't deserve his wife or Tia.

This isn't a happy read or a fun read, but the characters draw you in. It is a book that makes you think of how one little thing can change the lives of so many.

Rating: 5 flowers