Thursday, March 10, 2016

review || WEB OF DECEIT { release blitz } by Lauren Reign



Wild Rose Press | March 9, 2016 | Romantic Suspense
The Deceptive Lovers, book 1
★★★★★

SOURCE: ENTICING JOURNEY

FBI Special Agent Colton Brady is an important person in Kalliope Winters’s life. He’s been her savior, pulling her out of the darkest of days and rescuing her from herself on more than one occasion. She trusts him implicitly, but he’s hiding something, and it may cost them their lives. A cracked serial killer obsessed with Kalli is stalking her. She’s completely unaware of this until she wakes up painfully zip-tied to a chair, severely beaten, and close to death. 

Now she has to rely on Jaxxon, Colton’s twin brother, a man she’s craved since adolescence, to keep her safe. Jaxxon is moody, arrogant, and bossy as all hell. His demeanor is as lethal as his sinfully good looks and he will stop at nothing to keep his current assignment, Kalli, alive. But Jaxxon is also lying to her.




{ about lauren reign } .



Lauren Reign is a graduate of The University of Tampa. She currently resides in Tampa, Florida, with her fiancĂ© and their two rambunctious dogs. She is an avid reader, suffering from an obsession with all things romance. When she’s not engrossed in getting the characters in her head down on paper, she’s busy saving the world, one spray tan at a time.


{ excerpt } .

“Do you have a girlfriend?” I blurt out, tapping my fingers against the hard counter.

He cocks his head to the side. “I’m sorry?”

“Or a wife or something?” I add just in case. I haven’t seen a ring on his finger, but Jaxxon doesn’t strike me as someone who would wear jewelry even if he were taken.

He places both palms on the island, leaning toward me slightly, scowling. “Kalli, I get that you don’t know me very well, so let me inform you on the kind of man I am. I am not the kind of man who if I had a good woman waiting on me, I would be sharing a roof with another woman. I am not the kind of man that would spend my time protecting you if my woman were alone,unprotected, someplace else. And I am definitely not the kind of man who would call someone who wasn’t his woman ‘gorgeous.’ You get me?”

His comment would be seriously erotic, if he didn’t look so chilling while saying it. It’s annoying that he can’t just smile and have a normal conversation. “I’m surprised, I mean with your lovely, sunny disposition and all…” I mumble, while jumping off the chair. A knock on the door has both our heads turning.

{ review } .

I have found more and more impressive debuts this last year than I could have imagined -- and I will say that this story, book one in a series and therefore with so much more promise, this story was an A+ book. Immediately, Lauren Reign drags us into a super suspenseful scene and then throws us back a couple of days, leading up to that day. Thankfully, though, the pre- prologue chunk of story versus the present day chunk of story was only four chapters -- because after that prologue? I needed to know more.

I loved the tension between Jaxxon and Kalli. Even when he was brooding and Kalli thought he was indifferent, as a reader you could sense there was more lurking beneath those dark, dark eyes. When Kalli went to live with Jaxxon and Colton as a teen, Jaxxon hardly spoke to her -- it was Kalli and Colton against the world. And even now, as adults, it's still Kalli and Colton against the world -- even though people swear they can't possibly be platonic.

The sweet relationship Kalli has with Colton, though, is not the relationship she'll have with Jaxxon. That man protects and loves her fiercely -- and I loved every moment of watching him warm up to her, allow her in, and simply love her. I loved his raised voice in fear or yeah, sometimes anger because of decisions Kalli makes, but equally, I loved his hand to her chin so he could see her eyes, his knuckle kisses, and his constant reminding that the bruises and marks didn't take anything from her beauty to him. I thoroughly loved Jaxxon Brady.

The only, and I do mean only, point that ever had me squinty eyed is Kalli's full name -- it's Kalliope, and for whatever reason, whenever I read it, I read it as a pet name -- even though I know it is a true name (says the woman named Mignon). And let me tell you, your doctor shouldn't be calling you an petnames!

There are so many possibilities for the remaining stories! So many friends to find their own happily ever afters! And of course, through those people, watching for more Jaxxon and Kalli, because yeah, that's how I roll. I'm kind of on pins and needs about how the whole Harper line will play out, to be honest... I'm certainly torn! I can't wait to read the rest of this series!!

{ giveaway } .



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