Holly‘s review of True Colors
Alex Trudeau has everything she ever wanted. She takes pictures for the local paper, she’s rescued a family of mutts, and hot police detective John Logan has finally asked her out. But then a near-death experience unearths an intense psychic ability she never knew she had…
John Logan moved to Lake Avalon, Florida, to escape a lifetime of hardship. When his darkest secret comes to town with revenge in mind, Logan lands the woman of his dreams in a serial killer’s crosshairs…
With their lives on the line and Alex’s hallucinatory flashes dragging her deeper into the twisted mind of a maniac, Logan and Alex face the ultimate test. The tension is electric, but to survive they’ll have to look more than skin-deep—they just might not like everything they find…
This is the first Lamb novel I’ve read. It’s the second in a series. I don’t normally have a problem reading out of order, but I felt like I missed some of the backstory when it came to the two main character’s relationship. I wonder if Lamb purposely dropped us into their relationship as it was in progress, or if I missed out on key things because I didn’t read the first book?
A brush with death causes photojournalist Alex Trudeaux to develop a sudden psychic talent – empathy. She finds out her sister has the same gift (curse?), only in a less severe form. Alex’s manifests itself physically as well as mentally, so when she touches someone she’s hurt in the same way they are – both physically and mentally.
John Logan has come to Lake Avalon to escape something tragic that happened on the job in Detroit. He feels a tremendous amount of guilt over his past and is afraid to reveal his secrets, even to Alex. When her new psychic talent is revealed, John is terrified she’ll discover the truth about him.
But they have bigger problems. Someone from John’s past has returned, desperate for revenge. The best way to get it? Through Alex, of course. Can John keep Alex and his secrets safe? And will she have him once the truth is revealed?
I really like psychic novels. Of the paranormal elements, those are my favorite. You can keep your vampires and shifters, give me a good psychic any day. The problem I had with this one was that Alex’s powers were never fully explored. I wanted to learn more about her abilities and where they came from.
There was a lot about this novel I enjoyed. I really liked the chemistry between the main characters. They also had an emotional connection, at least in the beginning. Unfortunately that seemed to kind of fade as the story progressed. The plot was interesting with the psychic elements, but I felt it was somewhat lacking in the suspense department. I never really connected with the villain, and didn’t understand why he’d gotten away with so much. Even so, the parts where Alex was in his head were chilling to read.
John’s refusal to accept Alex’s abilities began to grate on my nerves after awhile. I understand being skeptical, but he was just stupid about it at times. Which was really contradictory, because he was really great about it at other times. He even acknowledged to himself that he was blowing hot and cold. I think he needed to be more concerned with Alex than with keeping his secrets safe. His saving grace was, once that was pointed out to him, he quickly moved past his issues to focus on Alex.
Alex was a strong character, which was great, but she often took too much on herself. When she started taking risks with her safety just because..well, I really struggled with that. For a smart woman she acted really dumb sometimes. It was good to see John trying to reign her in, and her acceptance of him was good. She didn’t try to push him away or fight him when he was being logical. That saved her for me.
I had quite a few problems with the suspense plot, but I tried to set aside my disbelief enough to enjoy the story. That worked to an extent. In the end I found myself invested in the characters, but as I continued on it was with rolled eyes and a sense of incredulity. I would say that the novel is readable, but flawed.
3.25 out of 5
The series:
This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here
Hmmm, sounds like the book was not balanced well.
I picked up True Vision, because of the psychics element, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I guess whether I get True Colors will depend on my enjoyment of True Vision.
And when it comes to psychics and where the abilities come from, I always have Kay Hooper in mind. Very high bar in comparison ^_^;
–
Hi Holly
Do read True Vision. Even if it’s just for the fun an empath can have during love scenes LOL. The first book does explain how they found out they were empaths and their mom’s lack of giving background info that would have helped the sisters. It also did introduce the fact that John & Alex were interested in each other.
Hope you read & enjoy it. Joyce is one of my faves authors – got all her backlist last year & I loved every book.