Tuesday, March 10, 2015

review || LOVE, LIES, and DECEPTION












Love, Lies, and Deception by LP Dover

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent (8/3/2013)
Genre: New Adult
Source: InkSlinger PR
Purchase links || amazon | bn || add to goodreads


Rating: 






What do you do when the one person you thought you knew turns out to be the one you knew the least?

Twenty-three year old Marissa Chase, and soon to be college graduate, has everything going for her: wonderful friends, a lucrative degree, and a chance to explore the world. What made it even better – or so she thought – was when her path crossed with the alluring Alec Holden. Unable to stay away from him, Marissa experiences a love like no other, and falls into his world of passion and intrigue. However, things begin to shift when this path takes a deadly turn.

Her trust is put to the test when hidden dangers unfold before her, revealing secrets that have been buried for years. Secrets that were meant to stay hidden. Murder, lies, and betrayal … will Marissa figure it all out in time and escape with her life intact, or will she be too late and fall into the trap of deception?







about LP Dover || USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries. 

Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can’t forget the passion for singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols. 
Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over nine novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, and her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.


connect with LP || facebook | goodreads | website | twitter | pinterest | tsu | amazon author

{ excerpt } .

Bending low, he continued his torturous teasing by breathing across my neck. My eyes fluttered closed as his lips connected with the tender flesh at my collarbone. I shivered as the chill bumps fanned across my skin and made me weak. His voice in my ear immediately counteracted the chills. “If you want to call this dating, then I think that usually requires a little bit of touching, does it not?”

My breathing accelerated as Alec’s body grew flush with mine, leaning dangerously against me. He tilted my head back slightly so I had to look into his face. Slowly, I placed my hands on his hips, and instead of touching the waist of his jeans I was met with the bare skin of his body where his shirt had lifted up.

Holy shit, his skin felt hot! I could feel the ridges on his sides where they disappeared beneath his jeans, and I wanted nothing more than to trail my tongue down the contours of his muscles.

With hooded eyes, and a raspy, breathless voice, I replied, “I’m sure it’s customary to withstand some touching, but not too much since I don’t know you very well.” I said it, but my body didn’t really mean it, and he could tell I was lying to myself.

Slowly, he brought his hand to my face and trailed one of his long, lithe fingers over my cheek and down my neck. “Like this,” he insisted, swirling his finger around my neck. “Is this the kind of touching we’re allowed to do?” Chill bumps exploded across my skin, making me shiver.

“Yes,” I breathed, relishing in the feel of his touch. “Just like that.”

Closing my eyes, I sighed as he trailed his finger further down, stopping at my navel. The heat of his breath fanned across my face as I felt him dipping lower. I didn’t dare open my eyes and risk breaking the connection, but I wanted to see the heat in his gaze. Ever so slowly, his mouth connected with mine, soft and confident. He lingered for a moment, not moving, just his lips touched lightly to mine.

I wanted more … a lot more.


{ review } .
Oh, how I love stories where the eventual couple are so close yet don't even know the others' name until something happens...

In this book, we have Marissa and Alec as our leads -- they're upper and lower neighbors who've seen the other, but neither has exchanged so much as a hello...

...until Marissa falls down the stairs on her way to vacation in Fiji, slamming into his naked torso. 

Their relationship, at first, progresses slow and steady. Alec has baggage that he wants to keep to himself, at least until things begin to get serious. And when the heavy touching starts between these two, it goes from zero to sixty very quickly -- which is something Marissa told him she didn't want, but when it happens she knows she's powerless to stop it, she wants him too much.

This was the first non-MMA style book of LP Dover's that I read, and I rather enjoyed it. It read differently, I felt, than the Gloves Off series. It wasn't as choppy... not that that has ever deterred me from the Gloves Off books. Also noted while reading this book -- Ms. Dover does a really good job of writing appropriate thoughts and dialogue for the age of the characters. In the beginning when Marissa and Emily are getting ready for vacation and Emily is making fun of her beau, you can tell that they are college-aged. They're not written too young, not written too old... they're written just right. The suspense aspect of this book was written better, I feel, than some of the scenes in the Gloves Off series -- I believe in one review I stated that I felt the notes were on the corny side. While the suspense aspect was a little 'eh... the twist was unexpected, so kudos for that.

My biggest gripe, though, will have to go down as a personality flaw... My opinion of Marissa greatly changed after her and Alec's big, big fight at the end. I liked her up until that point... I felt that her growing relationship was cute, her apprehensions plausible, her disbelief when Alec's past comes to light was a little too curious-to-down-right-pissed but deal-able... but then she had to do what she does after their fight and that was it.

Lastly... The title fits extremely well! As someone who is currently in the process of trying to title 20+ books and having a damn hard time (it's totally acceptable to just use a character's first name for every book, yeah?), I love when titles work well -- this is certainly a book filled with love, lies, and deception.

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