Rating: 
Summary: What a Tangled Web We Weave...
Review: What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. Mr. Brooks traveled from Miami to Orlando for 10 years and had an outside child for 6 of them with a woman his wife didn't know existed. The mother of this child also knew nothing about Mr. Brook's wife and two daughters that existed long before she did. What a roller coaster ride we have here. No stone goes unturned when all the chips fall and it is too good to put down when it reaches the climax. I was shocked by what the ramifications were in the end, but could definitely see such a result in a situation like this. No one can win. I recommend this book because it is a pageturner and the storyline is not overdone or trite as so many fiction books I've come across in recent months.Geena Brighton, columnist for Sherrington
Rating:
Summary: When we practice to deceive.
Review: In this captivating tale of deceit and betrayal, we are introduced to Reginald Brooks who has seemingly mastered the art of living a double life. On one hand, he is a devoted family man with a wife of 18 years and two children. On the other hand, he lives with his much younger girlfriend and their six-year-old daughter.
After six years, the stress of trying to keep both lives separate is eating away at Reginald, so he decides it's time to choose which life he wants to live. After making his decision, he comes to realize that exposing his secret does not bring the peaceful resolution he was expecting. Instead, it opens up a chasm of lies and deceit so deep that it's anybody's guess who, if anyone, will escape unscathed.
Like an F5 tornado, THE GREAT PRETENDER sweeps you deep into its vortex, drawing you into this enthralling tale of secrets, secrets and even more secrets. With a surprise ending that is so intense, you will be left slack-jawed and wondering why you didn't see it coming.
Look out literary world! Millenia Black, a very prolific mystery writer, has hit the scene as a force to be reckoned with. THE GREAT PRETENDER is a wonderful debut novel and I highly recommend this to readers everywhere.
Reviewed by Renee Williams
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating: 
Summary: I truly can't believe we're reviewing the same book
Review: I'm sorry, but I can't believe the accolades this book has received. And I'm quite disappointed that I spent $18.00 on this paperback. Sure, the book had a fun premise about a man living a dual life, but the ending was the most depressing, suicidal conclusion I've unfortunately had the experience to read. Please, if you want to read it, save yourself the money and get it from the library. Although this is one book that I won't donate to neither a library nor a women's shelter, as I normally do with non-keepers.
Rating: 
Summary: real page turner
Review: This book kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. The characters were fascinating and often infuriating. The plot was a fascinating idea that the author developed expertly. Some great suprises along the way this book is anything but predictable. A great debut novel and I can't wait for Ms Black's second book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: The Great Pretender was a book that really made me feel. The characters were so real that it really made me think about my own life.
Millenia Black is a great author that took an interesting idea, and made it into an intriguing story.
And one thing about this book--I've never been so mad in my life (while reading) than when I read a certain part of this book. You'll just have to read it to see why!
Rating:
Summary: When A Man Plays Away
Review: The Great Prentender was a very clever story. It started out as the story of Reginald who was The Great Pretender of the title. But the whole cast of characters had a lot to hide.
The characters all have vital roles to play in the story and they all link up so well. I liked the way Millenia paragraphed her story using bold heading for each one. She kept the pace going well and worked the characters well without flagging at all. It is very much a page turner and as a reader I was so eager to finish it. The ending didn't disappoint at all and it was a bit awesome. Of all the characters Frank was the least likeable but he was so well thought out. A man who carried resentment through his life and wanted revenge in a nasty way. He lost a good friendship and the respect of Tracy too, I think.
Tracy was my favourite character. I know she did wrong but she was an easy target for Frank and she did not know his motives.
A very good debut novel. I look forward to Millenia's next novel, with relish!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Editor Would Have Saved The Reader A Lot Of Time
Review: If you've never watched Melrose Place or read a soap-y novel, then you might find this book entertaining; otherwise, you've seen it done far better before. The first time you encounter such a story, you watch/read in morbid fascination. Afterward, you feel dirtied by the experience and recognize future examples of it as a predominantly undignified, ignorant mess. Millenia Black's treatment of the story is not at all unique. It's pedestrian, predictable, full of cliches, overdramatized, and complete with many gratuitous sex scenes (and those aren't even well written -- only the participants names are interchanged, along with a slight variation in the terms used for basic body parts). One of the saddest things about the book, though, is that there isn't a single character the reader can view as heroic or with empathy, with the possible exception of the six-year-old illegitimate daughter of the main character -- and she is consistently and awkwardly referred to as "the baby," which is not the vantage point of an intelligent adult reader. Everyone else in the book comes across as narcissistic, immoral, motivated by the basest of instincts, lacking in education and intelligence, and completely deserving of what happens to them during the course of the book. Unfortunately, the author fares only as well as her characters. Her book contains numerous and obvious grammatical errors ("I know a few realtor's" ... "Him making every effort to ... "), sudden one-time uses of words that don't fit with the informal tone of the rest of the book ("apperceive" -- which wasn't even used correctly!), descriptions that are repeated so often they become meaningless (everyone's hand is at some point described as "well-manicured"), and jarring inconsistencies (How does a dress that is so tight that it is described "like a second skin" also appear "as if a light breeze would leave [it's wearer] quite exposed"? Why is a character referred to by another character during the same conversation first as Mrs. Roman and then as Ms. Roman?)....
Rating:
Summary: Did we read the same book?
Review: I got this book after reading all the glowing reviews. This isn't even a good beach read. It's poorly written from top to bottom with one-dimentional characters and plot twists seen from a mile away. Ick.
Rating:
Summary: A true page-turner
Review: Talk about a page-turner, The Great Pretender is definitely a book to curl up and read without stopping. From the first page until the last, Reginald will have you wondering what he'll get himself into next and how will he extricate himself from the predicament he's made for himself. You see Reginald is a man who has managed to live two totally separate lives. With the help of his boss, who himself is a philanderer; Reginald has been able to sustain and satisfy himself with two families. Soon the pangs of guilt reach the cold walls of Reginald's heart and he decides that he must come clean to one family and ultimately sacrifice the other. The Great Pretender that he is finds this decision easy to make based on his perception of how the women involved will handle the news. He, well he's heartless although he does a great job of pretending otherwise. Suddenly... oh you just have to read the book to even begin to imagine how his decision plays out. I'm warning you though, set aside an afternoon to read this, you won't want to put it down. Reginald is the type of character that you love to hate, he's emotionally draining but wonderfully crafted. The author of The Great Pretender, Millenia Black, has done a wonderful job of weaving and developing several characters in this web of intrigue. Reginald's best friend, Franklin, plays an important role in the perpetration of this 10-year lie. The women, Tracy and Renee are so completely in denial, they call it love and the children, yes children are helpless victims. Ms. Black has developed each character so well, that you can sink into each character on a personal level and understand each of their points of view. I admire authors who can involve the reader at such a level that we want to shout to some characters and lend a soothing shoulder to others. For this to be her debut to novels, it seems like she's been perfecting her craft for quite some time. Not overly wordy, but descriptive enough to make your senses crave more. I can't wait to read her further works.
Rating: 
Summary: The *kayters* review
Review: Reginald Brooks is a big-shot with a marketing company who spends two weeks in Orlando and then two weeks in Miami - ostensibly for his job. The real reason is that he has two families. Neither one knows about the other. The first family with the wife he's married to, Tracy, lives in Miami. The second family, with his mistress Renee, lives in Orlando. As the story begins, Reggie has decided to come back to Miami full-time and give up his second family in Orlando. The book goes on to unfold multiple secrets that all come unraveled when Reggie decides to come clean. When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. There is lots of gratuitous sex and quite a bit of cursing - not what I usually gravitate towards. But I perservered and I am glad that I finished the book. The ending (part 3) was worth waiting for. I didn't know what was going to happen and the ending totally blew my mind. Now I'm waiting on a sequel!
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