Heart Of Lies by Jill Marie Landis~ Zondervan Blog Tour

Product Description from Amazon.com:

Raised in a tribe of street urchins, Maddie Grande was taught to be a thief and beggar on the streets of New Orleans. But Maddie doesn't know her real name or where she came from. Raised by Dexter Grande, Maddie and her twin 'brothers' have recently left New Orleans and moved to the bayou. The twins are rarely there, but Maddie has come to love the swamp. She has learned to fish and trap and sell pelts at the local mercantile. Maddie longs to change her life but knows that her brothers will never give up their lawless ways. When they kidnap the daughter of a wealthy carpetbagger, the twins force Maddie to hide the precocious eight-year-old while they return to New Orleans to wait for notice of a reward. Pinkerton agent Tom Abbott is assigned to the kidnapping case in which Maddie has become an accomplice. In a journey that takes them to Baton Rouge, a mutual attraction becomes evident, but Tom and Maddie cannot trust each other. Will Maddie ever discover who she is? Will her real family ever find her? Will Maddie and Tom listen to their hearts? Or will they choose honor over love?

 
My take on this book:

"Heart Of Lies" takes place in Louisiana in 1875. Maddie Grande keeps having a recurring nightmare, in this nightmare, she and a faceless blond girl are whisked thru the streets of New Orleans by man whom she knows will beat her if she falls behind. While this dream causes terror for Mattie worse still is the fact that she feels sorrow and loss because the blond haired girl promised to take care of Maddie, but Maddie has no idea who she is. Maddie didn't grow up in a family, instead she grew up in a "tribe" that lived in a shadows, earning their keep by stealing and begging. When the leader of the tribe dies, the members scatter and Maddie along with two of her tribe brothers known as the "twins" move to the bayou where Maddie hopes for a more peaceful life. When the "twins" kidnap an eight year old child  named Penelope Perkins,in the hopes of collecting a reward they expect Maddie to take care of her.
Pinkerton Detective Agent Tom Abbott is in New Orleans hired to look for a woman's missing sister, but is pulled into the case of kidnapped Penelope. The case leads him to the bayou and Maddie, whom he starts having feelings for. Will Maddie do the right thing, and help Penelope get home, and what about Maddie and Tom? Is there a relationship there, or will he have to turn her in as an accomplice to kidnapping?

While this book was somewhat predictable, sometimes its nice to read a nice smooth story that while it holds your attention its easy to follow and figure out the ending, and thats how this story was for me.Maddie's character was easy to like,her backstory really had me feeling sorry for her, and I really wanted things to work out for her, she deserved it!.My favorite parts of the story  revolved around Penelope. She was such a charmer, and her personality just jumped off the pages.
Fans of historical romance with a spiritual message woven in will certainly enjoy this story. This is the second book in the Irish Angel series but can easily be read as a stand alone. I for one will be watching for the next book in the series titled "Heart Of Glass" due out in 2012.

About the author:

JILL MARIE LANDIS'S twenty+ novels have earned distinguished awards and slots on such national bestseller lists as the USA TODAY Top 50 and the New York Times Best Sellers Plus. She is a seven-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award in both Single Title and Contemporary Romance as well as a Golden Heart and RITA Award winner.

Jill Marie resides in Hawaii with her husband. When she's not writing or sitting on the beach reading, she enjoys visiting with family and friends, raising orchids, working in her garden, plunking on the ukulele, dancing the hula and quilting, but not all at once.

She enjoys hearing from readers at http://www.jillmarielandis.com/

rating 4/5
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.