Review: Alice Rue Evades the Truth by Emily Zipps

Alice Rue Evades the Truth by Emily Zipps

Blurb from Goodreads:

In this sapphic homage to While You Were Sleeping, a down-on-her-luck receptionist is mistaken as the girlfriend of a comatose man and doesn’t have the heart to come clean to his devastated family—even when she starts falling for his sister.

Alice Rue has never spoken to her longtime crush Nolan Altman, but after she saves his life, the EMTs tell his family that Alice is Nolan’s girlfriend. She wants to set the record straight, but Nolan’s in a coma, and if the family feels comforted by the idea of Nolan having his “girlfriend” by his side for what might be his last moments, isn’t it kinder to go along with it? At least for now?

The Altmans are impossibly nice and supportive, and there’s something about Nolan’s sister Van that makes Alice feel more seen and understood than she has in years. She knows it’s wrong to lie, but it’s easy to convince herself that she’s doing the right thing by evading the truth.

But what she can’t avoid is her growing chemistry with Van. Alice must decide if she can unravel this tangle of lies to salvage her chances with the woman who just may be the love of her life—especially if Nolan wakes up. Warm, witty, and full of heart, this debut rom-com is a love story for pessimists who secretly hope for their own happily ever after.

 

This was sweet and lovely.  A bit too long/meandering because I was impatient.  But, if you like While You Were Sleeping (I love it), then you will definitely enjoy this.  I was rooting for Alice and Van so hard and was not disappointed! Give this one a try!

Alice Rue Evades the Truth comes out next week on October 28, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.  

Alice has often wished that her job would be more exciting, but performing chest compressions on the love of her life, all alone in the cavernous lobby that serves as her office, isn't exactly what she'd had in mind. She fumbles with her phone, trying to pull it out of her pocket while still thumping on his chest. She remembers something about doing CPR to the rhythm of the song "Stayin' Alive," so she chants it to herself as she pumps with one hand, frantically dialing with the other.

She's supposed to breathe into his mouth at some point, but she can't remember when. Is it every ten pumps? Every fifty? How many breaths does she do? One? Three? Fuck, why is this so complicated? Why can she remember the jingle from that 1999 carpet cleaning commercial and not how to do CPR?