What a waste. As its title indicates, Pyramid of Lies takes place in Cairo, Egypt. Not that you'd know it from the book. This story could have taken place anywhere.

World-renowned cryptologist Gretchen Wagner came to Egypt to decipher a set of ancient tablets that might be the key to an unknown language. But, being a Silhouette heroine, all she really wants is a baby. Who cares about all of her accomplishments and the impressive project she's currently working on? Only a child will make her life complete. So she has even more reason to be excited when she meets handsome American Kurt Miller at her hotel. He's handsome, charming, and most importantly, appears to be very virile.

She doesn't know that Kurt has a secret agenda of his own. The private investigator was hired by a wealthy man to find his long-lost daughter, who Kurt believes is Gretchen. He hopes to get close to her to probe her past without her realizing it. He doesn't count on his growing feelings for her. They can only get him in trouble, since he's lying to her about who he is and he's starting to suspect his boss lied about what he really wants from Gretchen.

This is the second in the Family Secrets series and it's a big letdown. Romances set in Egypt aren't exactly common, so it's a real shame that the exotic setting isn't used at all in this story. Most of the action takes place in various hotels and restaurants that could be anywhere. There's no atmosphere and no sense of place other than the occasional line about camels on the road or how different the buildings are. Gretchen is also a linguist and cryptologist in title only. She doesn't seem to do much work on this important project of hers. Most of her time seems to be occupied flirting with Kurt.

There's not much else going on. The man who hired Kurt is in league with some other bad types who want to get their hands on Gretchen for reasons connected to the overall storyline of this series. They screech at each other about how they have to get Gretchen, then Kurt's boss screeches at him. Flirt, flirt, flirt. Screech, screech, screech. That's about it until the lovemaking commences.

I left this book unfinished for several months until I read some later, better entries in the series and decided to go back and give it a second chance. It did not improve with time. After they fall into bed, Kurt and Gretchen soon give in to a number of stupid misunderstandings and silly arguments. Their characters are thin and unconvincing, and I didn't care at all whether or not they quit bickering and got together or whether Gretchen got her precious, coveted bun in the oven. Eventually Kurt and Gretchen are clued in to the reasons she is a target and everything else related to the series, all of which is covered in other stories.

Eileen Wilks wrote a great Egyptian-set book in Silhouette's Year of Loving Dangerously series with Night of No Return. That one is recommended. This one is not. The good news is, this is one book in the series that can easily be skipped. You won't miss a thing.