A BEAUTIFUL LIE by Stephanie Sterling is an enjoyable book that has all the elements for a great book - a hero, a damsel in distress, a villain, and a plot to get revenge, but it needs another run through the editing process to get it right. I give the book 2 stars because the editing issues detract significantly from the storyline.
A BEAUTIFUL LIE tells the story about Lachlan MacRae and Muira Cameron, whose clans have been enemies for time immemorial. Lachlan is the MacRae tanist (second in command) who is sent to the Castle Cameron to determine interest in a peace treaty. On the way, he discovers Muira, who is betrothed to Tavish MacEantach. Muira is running away from Tavish because he is a brute and doesn't want to marry him, but she doesn't trust Lachlan enough to tell him the truth. So, Lachlan gives Muira a lift back to the Castle Cameron. By the time they arrive, Tavish has already discovered Muira's flight and tries to drag her off to his room to punish her/rape her. Lachlan saves her from that fate only to have Tavish accuse him of harming Muira. Ultimately, Lachlan is given the choice to marry Muira or die. He chooses marriage, and they have to deal with the fallout from both clans while trying to negotiate their own relationship.
I liked this story. If you are a fan of Scottish Historical Fiction, the basic plotline may seem familiar, but the twists make it interesting regardless. The dialogue between Lachlan and Muira and the development of their relationship are believable, for the most part. Towards the end, things get a bit cheesy, but by then you can easily get past it. I would rate the heat level as a 3 out of 5, and due to the thematic elements in the story, would recommend this only for those 17 and older.
There were quite a few editing errors, and the changes in tense, missing pronouns, mixed up character names, and errors in adverb/adjective and homonym usage detracted from the story. There were no actual chapters, just section breaks, which made it difficult to determine where you were in the story, and at times, the narration did not clearly signal whether the text was a flashback or the next scene.
Overall, I would have enjoyed the book much more had the editing issues not detracted from the storyline.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=6856
