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Double Deceit
As a young widow, all Elaina Bryant wants is a fresh start. Determined to put ten painful years behind her, she returns to
her hometown and moves in with her sister, Natalie. Elaina soon accepts a job working at a small bookstore owned by the handsome Ryan Hill and his mother. Despite her reluctance to become romantically involved with anyone, she is drawn to Ryan and finds herself falling in love.
But someone isn't happy with Elaina's new life and is watching her every move. Her tormenter seems determined to destroy her sanity and her future, but Elaina can't convince anyone the threat is real. Natalie is preoccupied with her own blossoming romance, and Ryan and Elaina's friend Peter seem to believe the threat has been manufactured in her own mind;a result of her guilt and grief.
Now Elaina's plans for a new start are crashing down around her. She knows she will have to find the answers on her own before she can ever overcome the past and enjoy love and happiness again. But how can she protect those she loves when she doesn't know whom to trust?
her hometown and moves in with her sister, Natalie. Elaina soon accepts a job working at a small bookstore owned by the handsome Ryan Hill and his mother. Despite her reluctance to become romantically involved with anyone, she is drawn to Ryan and finds herself falling in love.
But someone isn't happy with Elaina's new life and is watching her every move. Her tormenter seems determined to destroy her sanity and her future, but Elaina can't convince anyone the threat is real. Natalie is preoccupied with her own blossoming romance, and Ryan and Elaina's friend Peter seem to believe the threat has been manufactured in her own mind;a result of her guilt and grief.
Now Elaina's plans for a new start are crashing down around her. She knows she will have to find the answers on her own before she can ever overcome the past and enjoy love and happiness again. But how can she protect those she loves when she doesn't know whom to trust?
292 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2011
217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 12, 2018
Living again with her sister, Natalie, Elaina Bryant is ready to take a leap of faith and get past the death of her husband and daughter. However, someone's idea of a joke will harass and hinder her efforts, especially beginning a relationship with Ryan Hill. Even her sister's budding romance is disturbing. As hard as it is to accept, the truth will strengthen her will.
August 16, 2011
4.5 stars- Blog tour and full post at http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com
This one's a page turner! I picked up Double Deceit on vacation and couldn't put it down until I found out how it all ended. You hear stories all the time about creepy stalker situations, but to become immersed in one as a reader was so fascinating.
Elaina has lost everything she loves in life except one younger sister. As a 19 year old she eloped and left home never to return. Then in a tragic turn of events, she loses her husband and infant daughter in a car accident. Alone and jobless, Elaina decides to return to her hometown to look for a fresh start. Her childhood home should be a welcoming place to heal and become a new person, but soon after her arrival things turn scary. She receives weird letters as well as phone calls warning her she needs to be alone. Elaina has isolated herself in the past and trusted no one. So opening up to her best friend Peter and a new man in town Ryan, to tell them what is unfolding proves difficult. Meanwhile things are heating up fast between her younger sister and her new boyfriend Chad giving Elaina bad flashbacks of her own mistakes.
Can Elaina, her sister and the two men get to the bottom of the mystery behind her strange follower before time runs out and they are all in danger?
I loved that the two main characters of Double Deceit meet and work at a book store.
Main love interest Ryan! He is the perfect gentleman and so supportive despite the fact that Elaina's world is falling apart around her. With mysterious prank calls, hearing voices and disappearing evidence he could have easily chalked her up as crazy.
That Elaina comes into who she is as a person and uses therapy and a journal as well as a support system to help her grieve and change. So often in life and literature counseling is not discussed as an open and valuable tool.
I had a hard time with the last three chapters...talk about intense!
With suspension of disbelief about who her stalker was. I can't give anything away but you'll be kept guessing.
Content: domestic violence, kidnapping, no swearing or sexual content. Recommended for readers 17 and up.
In a sentence: Double Deceit was a well crafted suspenseful romance that will keep you on the edge of your seat and checking your locks.
You might also like: Rebound by Heather Justesen, Meg's Melody by Kaylee Baldwin or Chocolate Roses by Joan Sowards.
This one's a page turner! I picked up Double Deceit on vacation and couldn't put it down until I found out how it all ended. You hear stories all the time about creepy stalker situations, but to become immersed in one as a reader was so fascinating.
Elaina has lost everything she loves in life except one younger sister. As a 19 year old she eloped and left home never to return. Then in a tragic turn of events, she loses her husband and infant daughter in a car accident. Alone and jobless, Elaina decides to return to her hometown to look for a fresh start. Her childhood home should be a welcoming place to heal and become a new person, but soon after her arrival things turn scary. She receives weird letters as well as phone calls warning her she needs to be alone. Elaina has isolated herself in the past and trusted no one. So opening up to her best friend Peter and a new man in town Ryan, to tell them what is unfolding proves difficult. Meanwhile things are heating up fast between her younger sister and her new boyfriend Chad giving Elaina bad flashbacks of her own mistakes.
Can Elaina, her sister and the two men get to the bottom of the mystery behind her strange follower before time runs out and they are all in danger?
I loved that the two main characters of Double Deceit meet and work at a book store.
Main love interest Ryan! He is the perfect gentleman and so supportive despite the fact that Elaina's world is falling apart around her. With mysterious prank calls, hearing voices and disappearing evidence he could have easily chalked her up as crazy.
That Elaina comes into who she is as a person and uses therapy and a journal as well as a support system to help her grieve and change. So often in life and literature counseling is not discussed as an open and valuable tool.
I had a hard time with the last three chapters...talk about intense!
With suspension of disbelief about who her stalker was. I can't give anything away but you'll be kept guessing.
Content: domestic violence, kidnapping, no swearing or sexual content. Recommended for readers 17 and up.
In a sentence: Double Deceit was a well crafted suspenseful romance that will keep you on the edge of your seat and checking your locks.
You might also like: Rebound by Heather Justesen, Meg's Melody by Kaylee Baldwin or Chocolate Roses by Joan Sowards.
August 28, 2011
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Double Deceit by Stephanie Humphries
This is the first book by Stephanie that I've read and this is her second. She has done a great job of writing a very suspenseful novel.
The story starts out with Elaina Bryant, a young 26 year old widow, who has come back, after a ten year absence from her childhood home with her mom and younger sister, to start over after a devastating accident that took the lives of her husband and baby daughter.
When she is offered a job at the local bookstore, she feels good. When she begins to fall in love with her boss, Ryan Hill and his mother Sandra is telling her eerie things concerning her dead daughter, she becomes distrustful of everyone, even her best friend Peter, who has loved her sister Natalie for years, but hasn't spoken of his feelings. When Natalie meets a guy agt aSingle's Conference, she falls hard for him.
When Elaina begins receiving strange letters from her deceased husband, even datged afterf his death, she thinks she's losing her sanity, but then she receives crank phone calls, even at the bookstore that no one believes. When she also receives a CD with her daughter's crying, she truly believes she's lost it. When Peter is out on a call the night she brings in a photograph as evidence she's not crazy, she decides to go find the answers herself, which puts herself in grave danger.
If you enjoy suspense with a twist, this book is for you.
I received this ARC from Walnut Springs Press.
Publisher: Walnut Springs Press
Date Published: July 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935217-94-7
295pp
Double Deceit by Stephanie Humphries
This is the first book by Stephanie that I've read and this is her second. She has done a great job of writing a very suspenseful novel.
The story starts out with Elaina Bryant, a young 26 year old widow, who has come back, after a ten year absence from her childhood home with her mom and younger sister, to start over after a devastating accident that took the lives of her husband and baby daughter.
When she is offered a job at the local bookstore, she feels good. When she begins to fall in love with her boss, Ryan Hill and his mother Sandra is telling her eerie things concerning her dead daughter, she becomes distrustful of everyone, even her best friend Peter, who has loved her sister Natalie for years, but hasn't spoken of his feelings. When Natalie meets a guy agt aSingle's Conference, she falls hard for him.
When Elaina begins receiving strange letters from her deceased husband, even datged afterf his death, she thinks she's losing her sanity, but then she receives crank phone calls, even at the bookstore that no one believes. When she also receives a CD with her daughter's crying, she truly believes she's lost it. When Peter is out on a call the night she brings in a photograph as evidence she's not crazy, she decides to go find the answers herself, which puts herself in grave danger.
If you enjoy suspense with a twist, this book is for you.
I received this ARC from Walnut Springs Press.
Publisher: Walnut Springs Press
Date Published: July 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935217-94-7
295pp
August 21, 2011
Looking at the book, I first thought it had a great title and intriguing cover and back blurb. I was wary of the too perfect main character with excessive makeup but quickly warmed to her as I started reading.
Elaina, the MC, comes with her own set of insecurities and flaws, including a failed marriage. There were interesting supporting characters with their own stories. I liked how Humphreys simultaneously showed Elania's character growth while trying to fight becoming crazy. Contrasting this was a likeable sister, Natalie, who became insensitive and self-absorbed due to a new boyfriend's attention. I knew not to like Chad though Elaina struggled to lend sisterly support. That was good tension. Friend Peter made me angry when he showed his spineless side, but there were reasons for it. Nearly-perfect love interest, Ryan, played it right most of the time. Ryan's mother possessed a quirkiness that was refreshing. These characters elicited reader emotions that pulled me into the story.
The plot developed nicely. There were places of tension and rest from it, all building to a suspenseful climax. Non-LDS readers should have no trouble understanding content or enjoying this book. Humphreys' managed to hold my interest and keep me guessing.
Elaina, the MC, comes with her own set of insecurities and flaws, including a failed marriage. There were interesting supporting characters with their own stories. I liked how Humphreys simultaneously showed Elania's character growth while trying to fight becoming crazy. Contrasting this was a likeable sister, Natalie, who became insensitive and self-absorbed due to a new boyfriend's attention. I knew not to like Chad though Elaina struggled to lend sisterly support. That was good tension. Friend Peter made me angry when he showed his spineless side, but there were reasons for it. Nearly-perfect love interest, Ryan, played it right most of the time. Ryan's mother possessed a quirkiness that was refreshing. These characters elicited reader emotions that pulled me into the story.
The plot developed nicely. There were places of tension and rest from it, all building to a suspenseful climax. Non-LDS readers should have no trouble understanding content or enjoying this book. Humphreys' managed to hold my interest and keep me guessing.
May 11, 2016
I liked this mystery by Stephanie Humphreys. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. I thought she did a good job with the twists and turns of the mystery. While I guessed who the tormentor was, I didn't get all the twists until the end.
My only criticism was that it jumped quite a bit in places. For instance, at the end of a chapter the author has the main character and her sister go on a double date. There are no details about this date and the next chapter is the next day with no reference to the night before. There were many circumstances where we are told the character went here and then given no details or no emotional reaction especially when these were instances where the main character was present with the villain or the hero. I get that you can't describe every single movement of the main character, but the switch in time seemed to be too abrupt in places. Overall though, the story kept me flipping the pages.
My only criticism was that it jumped quite a bit in places. For instance, at the end of a chapter the author has the main character and her sister go on a double date. There are no details about this date and the next chapter is the next day with no reference to the night before. There were many circumstances where we are told the character went here and then given no details or no emotional reaction especially when these were instances where the main character was present with the villain or the hero. I get that you can't describe every single movement of the main character, but the switch in time seemed to be too abrupt in places. Overall though, the story kept me flipping the pages.
August 7, 2011
Double Deceit is a very interesting, suspenseful romance. Elaina's abusive husband and young daughter died in a car accident and now she's going back to her childhood home to live with her younger sister. They haven't been in contact since Elaina eloped in high school. She gets a job and soon falls in love with the boss. But...things aren't all perfect. Elaina keeps receiving mysterious phone calls and letters that seem like pranks, but are almost threatening. Can she find out who is behind this? Or is she really going crazy?
I really liked the twists and turns in this story. I love it when I'm always guessing a mystery. I would have liked to see Sandra (the boyfriend's mother) developed a little more--she was fascinating.
I really liked the twists and turns in this story. I love it when I'm always guessing a mystery. I would have liked to see Sandra (the boyfriend's mother) developed a little more--she was fascinating.
October 28, 2011
One of the things I really liked about this book was the constant angst that was there. There is the feeling that something is off, but you and Elaina just can't figure it out. Stephanie wrote this part of the novel so well, that you find you are as uptight as the main character...You will love Double Deceit, if you enjoy reading an angst filled mystery, thrown in with a crazy stalker and topped off with a handsome boss,who is also a good kisser.
If you would like to read the entire review, please go to my blog...
http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot....
August 14, 2011
Stephanie has masterfully spun a tale of romance, suspense, and drama. From chapter one, she creates questions in the reader's mind and then slowly reveals the answers to keep one turning the pages and wanting more. The dialogue always rang true, both to each character's personality and to the situation. I found myself immersed in the world of Elaina Bryant. The scenes and the overall plot are unique but entirely believable. This is a wonderful read with lots of angst satisfyingly intermingled with love, loyatly, and warmth. You won't regret choosing to read this book!
July 6, 2012
I thought this book was not only suspenseful but a great depiction of what someone is feeling when they are brave enough to move on with life after living in an abusive relationship and dealing with lose. I really felt for her when she kept feeling like something was wrong and not wanting to trust those around her. The story was smooth and fluid and I felt like each event was relevant to shedding light on who the characters were. Definitely a book I could read again and still enjoy the second time around.
September 3, 2011
I picked this book up on the library "New Arrivals" shelf. It is a good book, not well written about LDS characters. It was pretty predictable although the twist could have some people going. The characters aren't well developed, but the story is good. It's about a woman whose estranged husband dies and she goes back home to live with her sister who she hasn't seen in ten years. She tries to start a new life but begins to be harassed by an unknown person. It's a fast and clean read.
September 20, 2011
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This was a fun book to read; fast-paced and keeps you guessing. I thought I had it all figured out for a while, but the extra twist at the end really surprised me. I would definitely read more from this author, it was very well written.
This was a fun book to read; fast-paced and keeps you guessing. I thought I had it all figured out for a while, but the extra twist at the end really surprised me. I would definitely read more from this author, it was very well written.
August 18, 2011
When her husband and baby are killed in a car crash, Elaina returns to the home she ran away from at the age of 17, to try to build a new life with her sister. But someone is watching her and she is wondering about her sanity. Can she support her sister when she seems to be making some of the same bad choices? Romance, suspense, etc.
August 2, 2012
This was kind of a creepy book. It's about a girl who runs away from home to get married to her boyfriend and ends up being in a controlling marriage full of verbal/emotional abuse. She finally l goes home to mend past relationships but she starts getting weird phone calls and letters. I was definitely on the edge of my seat wondering what was going on and what will happen next. Great book!
December 25, 2013
It was kind of scary. Some guy is stalking this woman. It's pretty messed up when he harassed her into hearing the cries of her baby Annie, who is dead. Her ex husband died, so it couldn't be him. Then there is this possessive new boyfriend that her sister has. There is something familiar about him.
July 18, 2011
Great, intriguing book that kept me reading from the very beginning to find out who was stalking Elaina Bryant.
Good, clean, suspenseful and romantic book!
Ratings: PG 13
S: kissing
V: Kidnapping
L: none
Good, clean, suspenseful and romantic book!
Ratings: PG 13
S: kissing
V: Kidnapping
L: none
August 1, 2011
This was an interesting book. There were interesting twists in it. You didn't know what was really going on and who was doing what. It was a little creepy sometimes. My daughter and I both like this book. Both of Stephanie Humphreys books are interesting.
June 27, 2012
I enjoyed this book. Even though it is LDS fiction, there is very little about religion in the book. I liked then characters and the story moved quickly enough to keep my attention. I recommend it!
August 6, 2022
I won this book in a drawing last year and finally got a chance to read it. It wasn't my favorite -- I figured out the mystery and the romance fell a bit flat for me (and I don't particularly like the cover) -- but it was an okay story. The last few chapters were the best part.
August 22, 2012
This story was okay. The main character in this book seemed a bit wishy-washy at times, and the end seemed abrupt--there were some story pieces that didn't get resolved to my satisfaction. (Grade: "B-".)
May 20, 2011
WOW!! This book catches you from the beginning and you can't put it down!! I got creeped out and chills, but I love a good suspense!!
June 22, 2011
I really enjoyed this book, it kept me curious all the way to the end. A great mystery and romance all tied in one.
August 24, 2011
Amazing book! I never knew what to expect. All along I thought it was going to be his brother but I was stunned when it was actually him. Loved this book!
August 30, 2011
Very predictable -- that too if you have read all the mary higgins clark books, you can pretty much predict how the story is going to go. Otherwise was ok.
December 14, 2011
I enjoyed this book - it was well-written, although the story itself wasn't very realistic.
October 11, 2012
this book was predicable but fun to read.
October 6, 2012
One of the best books I have ever read. This book comes highly recommended.
TS
TS
July 10, 2014
I really dislike this cover!
This was surprisingly interesting and intriguing, but the plot had some holes and really could have used some fine-tuning.
This was surprisingly interesting and intriguing, but the plot had some holes and really could have used some fine-tuning.
August 23, 2012
A fun read. I knew the answer to the mystery pretty early on, but it was still a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews