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How far would you go to hide who you really are inside? And what do you do when you find the one person from whom hiding your true self isn’t an option?Glamorous movie star Dara Thomas has it all—an Oscar nomination, dozens of magazine covers proclaiming her the sexiest woman alive, and people of both sexes clamoring for her attention. She also has a carefully guarded secret life. As Constance Darrow, Dara writes Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction, an outlet that allows her to be so much more than just a pretty face.Rebecca Minton is a professor of American Literature in love with the work of the mysterious, reclusive author Constance Darrow, with whom she strikes up a correspondence. A chance phrase in a letter leads her to a startling conclusion about the author.What happens next will change the course of both of their lives forever.
At this time of writing, The Audiobook All That Lies Within has garnered 10 customer reviews with rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Not a bad score at all as if you round it off, it’s actually a perfect TEN already. From the looks of that rating, we can say the Audiobook is Good TO READ!
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SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! You have been warned!I am SO glad that I listened to the buzz around "All That Lies Within" by Lynn Ames. Many of my friends, a few who are authors themselves, have read and commented about how wonderful this book is and I couldn't help but go find out for myself. And I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I was blown away! Seriously, I'm so excited about this I can barely get my thoughts together! But I will give it a try. So, let's get into it, shall we?Dara Thomas is a sexy, talented, beautiful, and successful Belle of the Hollywood Ball. With an Oscar nomination already under her belt and the public fawning over her, she seems to have it all. But for all her success as an actress, Dara's secret life is where her true passion and her true self resides. Her secret, an identity that only she and her business manager/best friend know, is that she is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist under the nom de plume, Constance Darrow. It's exciting already isn't it? Anyway, when Constance (Dara) receives a fan letter from professor who is teaching a class on her book, the first crack in her carefully controlled life appears.Rebecca Minton, a professor of American Literature at a prestigious Vermont college, is a huge fan of Constance Darrow. When preparing to teach a course on the author's book, she takes a chance and sends a fan letter to the reclusive author. Miraculously, she receives a reply. A reply that will change the course of her life. Constance and Rebecca continue their correspondence and through their letters, start to learn more about each other. They even begin to form a tentative friendship. Rebecca appreciates Constance for her wit, intelligence, and openness; Constance is drawn to Rebecca because of the professor's view of her work and of Constance herself. Though both women yearn for something more in their lives, their correspondence is enough to sustain them given the complicated nature of their lives and emotions, but things get very complicated, very quickly. During a, seemingly, routine television appearance Dara unknowingly quotes, verbatim, a paragraph from one the letters Constance sent to Rebecca. Rebecca instantly understood that Dara Thomas and Constance Darrow are one in the same. Oh! It's so delicious. In less than an hour, Rebecca and Constance (Dara's) "relationship" is irrevocably changed. And in the same span of time, two hearts were broken. But, dear readers, all hope is not lost! You really need to go read the book!Ok, so now that I've teased you a little bit, let's get into why, beyond the plot itself, that I am in love with this book. Yes, I said, I'm in love with this. I've now read it twice and I just got it two weeks ago. This book is a romance. And when I say "romance" I mean R-O-M-A-N-C-E! These characters are courting each other, almost from the first few pages. And they are real people. Well, as real as fictional characters can be, I suppose. Lynn Ames created characters and a story that provides the perfect blend of escapism and real life. It's delicious and sweet and a little angsty (actually a lot angsty in parts). It's also fun, heart breaking, and heart warming. It really is the best of all worlds.What really caught my attention from the get go in this book was the language. The prose. I fully admit that I am not articulate enough to really explain it and do it justice. Having said that, I will try. This book was written by an author, who wrote about another author and an American Literature professor. That right there kind of explains it all. There was no lofty, rambling, symbolic sentences or paragraphs, but the book and characters were true to form and it's beautiful. But what was also interesting, at least to me, was how things changed as Dara and Constance began to merge. Dara ardently protected her secret life as Constance. While she yearned and longed to be recognized as more than a pretty face or body, she refused to allow Constance any real presence in her day to day life. It showed in how she spoke to people as Dara and how she was in her correspondence with Rebecca as Constance. But as the story progressed and the lines blurred, so did the language. In other words, everyone became more real. Dara, the movie star, merged with Constance, the author and became a more complete person. None of this, however, would have happened if it weren't for Rebecca. Ah, Rebecca. Her role in Dara/Constance's evolution was really very simple, but so important. Even before she became aware of Constance's real identity, she knew her. "Saw" the real woman. Afterward, she became even more protective of Dara/Constance than almost anyone else. Simply because she saw and understood.The next thing that really intrigued me about this book, and honestly it didn't occur to me until after I read it the first time, was that these characters are really not all that different from one another. In a lot of romances, opposites attract. And, at first, given that Dara was an ultra popular movie star, it seems that she was the exact opposite of the shy, cerebral American Literature professor, Rebecca. But in truth, they are not all that different. I love the fact that Ms. Ames kind of stepped away from, what I call, the "model". Rebecca and Dara have similar backgrounds, similar interests, similar experiences, and similar beliefs. On the surface it kind of makes you think "Ok, so where's the story?". But, to quote JK Rowling, "It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices,". Though Dara and Rebecca have many similarities, the way they have chosen to deal or not deal with their lives was what made them unique. And, as it turns out, uniquely suited to one another.The last thing that I'll say about "All That Lies Within" is that the title really sums up the overall theme of this book. I guess that's what a title is supposed to do and I don't even know if Ms. Ames meant to do it. But to me, the double meaning of "lies" is fundamentally important to this story. To me, it not only references the many layers of the story and the characters, but also the untruths or secrets that are waiting to be revealed. It also is kind of a reference to making peace with the past, the present, the future, and themselves."All That Lies Within" is a wonderful story. It is easy to read because it flows so beautifully. And the language, as I mentioned above, changes and evolves with the story and the characters. Just trust me on that. You'll know what I mean when you read it. I do want to point out just one little thing. Not a criticism, just an FYI. The last few chapters of the book go really quickly. There is a bit of fast forwarding. The first time I read the book it kind of took me a minute to grasp what was happening because I had been so engaged. It's not bad and it won't affect the story at all. Just thought I'd give that little heads up. And for those of you out there are curious, the spice factor is pretty good for this one. It's not a wild ride, but, rather, a beautiful journey. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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