Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies

The title of this book is the best part about it.

There. Now you know. I'm going to go ahead and write the hell out of this review, because I love the sound of my own voice (praise Christian [Grey] someone does). But if you're in a hurry and want a quickie, you can forget about this one.

I get the feeling Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies (which sounds like the title of a Tori Spelling movie) is part of a series, but I can't find its predecessors. It seems as if it must be, because as you read the book, you feel like you're coming in the middle of a conversation. So much happened before this book starts that, even though Cynthia Cooke provides some flashbacks, you sense that if you knew more about what occurred before Genie Marsters survives a kidnapping attempt, you might enjoy this book better.

So Genie. She lives in what one character describes as a "mushroom" house, but she says it's a tree house. It's in the desert, and one day, after a visit from the UPS man (whom she greets with a Glock revolver tucked in the waistband of her pants), she sees a fleet of black SUVs roll up. This can only be bad news, so she races to the roof of her house, where she is rescued by her former lover, Kyle. Naturally, Kyle is tall, dark, handsome, and built like a brick house. He's bitter, because she abandoned him (he thinks) after a warehouse explosion. But Genie had good reasons for doing so (of COURSE she did), which she eventually gets around to telling him. In fact, Genie likes to abandon Kyle. Like, a lot.

Kyle and Genie quickly discover that danger lurks within Genie's family, particularly where the other two of her triplet sisters are concerned. (Kyle didn't know she had siblings, and he has a problem with that. Shouldn't people who love each other tell them about family? Evidently not.) The dynamic (ha ha) duo sets out to rescue Genie's family, all the while growing closer. How close? Naked close. During their first assignation, Genie is so hot for Kyle that she utters the sweet nothings that every man longs to hear: "Give it to me!" She does add a "please."

Cynthia Cooke's sex scenes are okay. Not great, but okay. The problem is that they sound like every other sex scene you've read.

As he moved, tears of pleasure and intense need sprang to her eyes. He rocked harder, taking her closer to that place of urgent, urgent hunger. That place of ultimate joy that she only seemed to find with him. Damn him. A place of warm intimacy where she felt truly loved and safe. A feeling she only had while lying in his arms, a feeling she'd missed too much.

Kyle thrusts fast and violently, Genie screams - she has a triple orgasm, natch - and finally Kyle "finds his release."

And our happy couple is reunited.

It isn't that this is a bad book - I've certainly read better - it's just that the title makes you think there will be some Hot Romance. And there is, but not much of it. Instead, there is some kind of mystery / conspiracy / spy intrigue going on here. Fine, but if you're going to call a book Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies let's have a little more loving, okay?

I guess if you're in the mood to read something with a smattering of headboard rocking, then this is your thing. It just wasn't mine.

 Published by Entangled Publishing and available on Amazon.com.
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview.