GRR Reviews A Family Affair: Truth in Lies (Book 1) by Mary Campisi

A Family Affair, as the name implied is about family secrets. While there is a romance, I honestly didn't feel that much chemistry between the FMC and the MMC.

Christine Blacksworth's father was supposed to make it back to the family dinner after his monthly trip to his getaway cabin. He didn't. Instead, a call came in informing the family that the father was found dead in a car crash 100 miles away from the cabin, near a town called Magdalena. Upon reading of the will, 1/3 of the estate went to Christine's mother... 1/3 went to Christine... and 1/3 went to someone else named Lily. Christine was determined to find out who Lily is... and was shocked to find a broken family just as devastated as her own yet somehow better than her home... a woman who understood her better than her own mother, a (sorta) step-brother fiercely protective of his family, and a half-sister that simply adored her like a princess. The more she spent time in Magdalena... the more she wondered which family did her "real" father belong to... and which one would she choose... if she had a choice, and an unexpected romance from (sorta) step-brother Nate may influence her decision...

The family drama was very nice, and this, being the first volume in a series, had to do a bit of world building. However, some characters were just not very deep or even respectable, such as Christine's primpy mom and the creepy uncle Harry but that's part of background and family drama. As I said before, I don't feel much chemistry between Christine, and Nate the sorta-step-brother other than Nate was nothing like the men her primpy mom had tried to fob off on her before. Overall, I find the novel to be merely okay, as the family drama can't compensate for the lack of romance in this book.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Girl found that her father had been living a double life... Except which is the "real" life that her father would have wanted?

Tropes: family secrets, sudden family, enemies to lovers,

Overall Rating:  3/5