Book Review: I Know Lucy by Melissa Pearl

I Know Lucy

By Melissa Pearl

Publisher: Evatopia Press

Published: Apr. 17, 2014

ASIN: B00JRPGE9U

Amazon Synopsis:

Lucy Tate is on the run. After witnessing the brutal murder of her parents, she's spent five years in hiding -- taking on different personas and faking her way through life. The authorities can't be trusted, so she remains in the shadows, always one beat ahead of the man who is forever hunting her. That is, until she meets Zach Schultz, a senior at Monte Vista High and the one guy she can’t bear to leave. Suddenly her natural instincts to lie, cheat, and run are overshadowed by something else...the desire to stay and perhaps, love. It’s her one shot at a normal life. 

Curious by nature, Zach is immediately drawn to the new girl at school. How can a person look both confident and vulnerable all in the same moment? Determined to figure

 Lucy out, he sets out to unravel the mystery that is her and soon finds himself caught up in a cat and mouse game. For the first time in his life he is faced with the reality that the truth can no longer set him free...if anything, it's going to get him killed. 

Book Links

Amazon  *  Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Lucy Tate's dad is an analyst for the FBI. He had the evidence to expose a dirty law enforcement officer. But before he has the chance to, he and his wife are murdered in cold blood, right in front of Lucy. Now she's on the run.

I Know Lucy is written from two viewpoints - Lucy's and Zach's. Lucy's part of the story is written in third person point of view and begins in the past beginning in 2009. Zach's portion of the story is written from the first person point of view and begins in 2014. By the end of the book both portions of their story have converged to the same time.

Lucy has taken on an number of different personas and learned to commit a variety of illegal activities, all in the name of survival over the past 5 years. Now she finds herself in Danville and calls herself Dani. Zach finds Dani very intriguing and can sense there is more to her than meets the eye. In trying to get her to trust him and figure her out, he starts to fall in love with her.

I Know Lucy is another example of Melissa Pearl's marvellous talent for weaving a tale that will keep you captivated from page one until the end of the book. Although knowing that the activities that Lucy was involved were illegal, I felt sorry for her that this was the only way that she could think of in order to get money to survive. I do think that Ms. Pearl did an excellent job of showing Lucy's fortitude throughout the story in how she handled the terrible circumstances that she was confronted with and still maintained decent moral standards.

This novel was a clean romance in that there was no sexual activity described beyond kissing. There is some milder profanity in this novel. I think this novel is appropriate for teens and older.

Ms. Pearl indicated at the beginning of the novel that having her characters speak from different points of view was something new for her. I think she used it to great effect in this novel. It was a unique way to blend the past and the present together to form a complete whole.

I Know Lucy is another example of Melissa Pearl's excellent skill as an author. I think I will have to keep a shelf in my library just for her books. This one is a definite keeper to read again. I give this one 5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publisher via Mark My Words Publicity for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan... not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. "Best. Year. Ever!!" She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion.

Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has continued to produce a steady stream of books.

 Recently she signed with Evatopia Press and her first Evatopia book is coming out in February 2014 - True Colors, The Masks Series #1. She is very excited to be trying out new things this year while continuing to publish under her own name as well. She has six books planned for 2014 and is excited about writing each and every one of them.

"I am passionate about writing. It stirs a fire in my soul that I never knew I had. I want to be the best writer I can possibly be and transport my readers into another world where they can laugh, cry and fall in love."

Author Links

Website   *   Goodreads   *   Facebook  *  Twitter

Pinterest  *  Melissa Pearl Blog  and YAlicious Blog