Review: Untrue Colors by Veronica Forand

She’s on the run…

Brilliant art appraiser Alex Northrop’s ex used stolen art to fund his nefarious activities. Now he wants her dead. But it isn’t just herself she’s worried about – if he discovers who she really is, he’ll kill her family.

Professor Henry Chilton is shocked to find a beautiful stranger passed out in his bed, and even more so when she reveals a priceless painting is a forgery – the painting he’d planned to use to fund a woman’s shelter. She’s mysterious and frightened, and he is determined to discover why.

Alex's knowledge of art is undeniable—just as Henry’s attraction to her is irresistible. But in order to help him recover the real painting, Alex isn't just risking exposure...she's risking her life.

In Untrue Colors, you  have a woman named Alex (and around 10 aliases) who is on the run from her art-stealing boyfriend who wants to put a bullet in her. She goes from country to country trying to outrun this sadistic, virginity-stealing con-artist. Alex is an expert in art and can spot a forgery at 40 paces. She keeps her nose out of the art world ... at least until she meets the Earl and he needs some help with a ... task. 

So ... I'm still a bit unsure how I feel about this one. It was just ... okay. I think one of my major problems was with Alex. She has been brutally abused. Sexually abused. And recently. This isn't something that happened years ago that she has been dealing with for a long time ... it's still fresh. But she throws herself at this dude after just having said that she can't do a physical relationship. It was very contradictory, just a total back and forth between being a damaged/chaste girl to someone who seems to be willing to whore herself out. Now sure, this could be part of her character ... her being so abused by the previous relationship that she mistakes sexual advances/action as affection. But that isn't how the book read ... it didn't insinuate that this was how Alex was dealing. It came off as strange.

Untrue Colors was interesting at first. And then it started to drag. Especially the ending. Good Lord. It was almost painful with how hard it was to keep reading. The excitement that I had for the beginning of the book just didn't last into the ending. Things started to get long-winded and I just didn't enjoy it. And the fight scenes. Oh, the fight scenes. Those also didn't seem realistic. I'm a big lover of military/spy books. Those are just filled to the brim with fights and violence. At one point in this one, someone caught a dude's punch with their hand. Who the hell did he think he was? Mr. Miyagi? I think not. It came across as feeling disingenuous. Maybe it was the fact that the prior parts of the novel didn't state or insinuate that this dude was such an epic fighter that he could catch a fist with the palm of his hand. Maybe he's part of the Matrix ... there is no spoon ... 

And the ending ... dragged ... on ... for ... forever. AND it wasn't satisfying for me. I just didn't like it at all. I'm not a fan, I guess. But it has received super high ratings, so I'm probably going to stay in the minority on this one.

Available: March 10th, 2015

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