Leslie Morgan

I am pretty mixed. First of all, this book was definitely enjoyable and wasn't a bad read by any means. The scenes themselves tended to be pretty good, and the more romantic scenes had lots of chemistry that made me enjoy the main couples interactions. But when judged by how everything comes together, or rather, when judging the plot and the character relationships, it doesn't hold up.

The story just seems to be all over the place. It has the core concept of Chloe trying to help people out as part of the impact alliance, the main romance with Marcela, Chloes work in the village, and the theft subplot in the village. There is even more going on, like finding out what Sebastians deal is and Jesse's relationship with him. It also seems like there is some intention of focusing on chloe's personal journey, finding her place in the world but I won't count that.

It is not as if these couldn't have been done well, they all just lack focus and feel half assed by the end. Chloe's work hardly has a focus beyond the first half of the book. Chloe in general wasn't a great character, leaving me wondering too often how she was interpreting what was happening around her. Take for example, her feelings for Marcela. We know that she is attracted to her physically and enjoys some qualities she has, but nothing about how she thinks of her. It was a real problem because at the end I wasn't sure where their relationship stood. The whole thing with Chloe's brother felt thrown in at the last minute to give the illusion that there was some kind of choice that needed to be made. It felt like she was going to have to choose between staying and leaving but that never happened.

The village is an interesting setting, but they don't do enough with it. We learn about the theft subplot and it was a nice hook when Chloe arrives at the village. The end of that was good, which I appreciated. I just wish more went on in the village. The story is split between the city and the village and between the two, the village is easily way more interesting. I like the early parts in the city, but once Chloe went in the village, that's where the story should have stayed. I wanted to see Chloe learning more about simpler ways of life.

The pacing itself is also all over the place. The training was done well because it makes sense to skim over it, but after that it really needed to slow down a bit. The fact that during the week Marcela is injured, we don't get more than one good interaction is a shame. The amount of potential you had for good interactions were so high that there really needed to be more. There is also the part where Marcela says she wants to learn how to swim, and then the next time it is even possible to see the character swim, she can suddenly swim. I guess its not a big issue, I just think about how it didn't really add anything to her character, so what was the point of not just making it so she could already swim? Was it all really an elaborate set up for her showing Chloe what was beyond the cave, then resulting in witnessing a suicide which then resulted in Marcela hurting her foot? If that's the case, then there are much better ways of accomplishing that.

Speaking of that suicide, its never really brought up again. Neither is the fortune telling part, which seems to foreshadow something that never happens. As far as the bad fortune, I'm assuming the bar burning is what the fortune meant. But what about the choice? Chloe never is really confronted with one. Or at the very least if she is, we don't get to see her thought process in making the choice, making the whole thing lack impact.

It might seem like I hate the story, but I don't. Its just that when I see unused potential I complain. There is alot to like. While the village might not be as fleshed out as I would like, the scenes there are generally pretty good. I like Sebastian and hectors characters and even though I wish more was done, I like the main couple. Its all very fun, just not very deep or fleshed out. While I like the story, and moment to moment really enjoy the story, I just can't recommend it. There are so many better stories out there worth your time. Not bad, just not good enough to recommend.… (más)

Author Les(…lie Morgan) in a prefatory piece says she has changed the names of some characters and some details so as not to cause anyone unnecessary embarrassment, so “Naked Truth” (NT) then is not exactly a autobio, nor a memoir; I guess that only leaves fiction as a closest descriptor. Character Leslie, hereafter C Les, is approaching 50, recently divorced, missing out on a lot of sex, and determined to make up for that. So she sets a goal of five lovers, preferably younger, much younger males. Five becomes the target for no particular reason, at least one that makes sense to me. And that is the plot summary pretty much highlighted in some book reviews of NT. It appealed to me - I was looking for a sexy read after a steady diet of crime fiction, history and politics for several weeks.

NT isn’t sexy despite a catchy title, an interesting plot of 25 words or less, and a striking book cover with a 20 second sketch of a reclining naked woman on the cover. It has several graphic scenes, but not anything especially memorable. C Les describes some intimate moments but tends to re-use some favorite words like “soaked” and “inside” a bit too much. While we all know there is no “i” in team, I can report there is a lot of “I” in NT; character Les seems to be all about “I”. And while she also uses the “love” word a good bit, I think C Les doesn’t have a clue as to it’s meaning. This story, for me, wasn’t at all enlightening – it was just sad. The message seems to be that women are looking for love, and we Neandrathals just want sex. Hmmm, interesting.

I believe C Les accomplishes her “5” goal, but I’m not sure. She gets a lot of great psychological advice from friends (I wonder how their marriages are, but I don’t think author Les shared that). I couldn’t keep track of who among the five, or six, was a repeat and who was a one-night stand. I was most interested in one guy who seemed to be on death’s doorstep but I don’t think we were ever told of his fate. And of course, there was the pilot….and the high school love…..and (yawn), it couldn’t end too soon. I see author Les has written other personal? fictional? accounts and she seems to have a faithful following, so I’m sure this book will do Ok.… (más)