4.5 Stars!! 
 One of Alessandra Torre's best books. Couldn't put it down!! Crisp, concise, fast-paced and enthralling. All of the ingredients for a great read! 
 "If you lie enough times, no one believes your truth." 
 This book is Alessandra Torre at her best: no-nonsense, smart and engaging fiction. Helena is a very unlikely heroine, prickly, moody and basically angry at the world. She doesn't want to rely on anyone at all. She even keeps her long-time agent Kate at arm's length. 
 "On rare days, Kate regrets ever meeting the woman. But on most days, she just wonders about her. They say all geniuses are a little mad. Maybe Helena's madness just took longer to come out." 
 But Helena as a story to tell and she doesn't have much time to do it. She sets her sights on one writer, and one writer only, to become her ghostwriter. A competing romance author, Marka writes books that Helena actually despises. But she sees a talent there that would be perfect for her own story. 
 "What's happened to me? I have a story that I don't have time to tell. I have an empty house that reeks of death. I have no friends, no family, and no one to ask for help. I'm dying, and it's the best thing that has happened to me in a long time." 
 Alessandra Torre builds the suspense perfectly in this book, all while holding the reader's attention and slowly revealing the terrible secret about Helena's life. This book is also a fascinating glimpse into the lonely life of a writer and the almost obsessive need to get the words out at all costs. 
 "You can tell them who you are, or what your job in the book was. I don't mind if they know I've had help." 
 They. The gods in their world, the eyes on which the axis rotated. The readers. The critics. What would they think? 
 This is most definitely not a romance but the main characters are both renowned romance writers. Helena's own story begins as a romance but you just know it is NOT going to conclude with a happily ever after. 
 "Boys like him don't go for girls like me, they don't follow me with their eyes, or listen when I speak. They don't lean closer or want more." 
 I absolutely loved this book. Once I started I could not put it down. I applaud the author for creating a heroine who is far from loveable yet completely and utterly captivating. No question that astute readers will figure out the terrible secret before the surprising conclusion, but this book is a total winner nonetheless. It is completely original and inventive. I have never read anything like it. Alessandra Torre deserves all the accolades for this one! 
 "Soon ... my final story will come out, and everyone will know the truth. 
 (Reviewed from an ARC obtained from NetGalley.)