Loving Lies

by Renee Field

Blake Samson is a man driven to succeed. Having grown up with a disinherited, alcoholic father, he knows the value of money and isn’t afraid to work for it. Now, with a degree in business, he’s out to prove himself to his wealthy grandfather. Securing his first major deal by acquiring Stone Cliff Resort at a rock bottom price will confirm that he’s a wheeler-dealer type who won’t take no for an answer, just like the old man. To accomplish his goals, Blake has put his personal life on hold, determined to remain focused on the prize, until the sexy little Gothed-up bartender dumps a drink in his lap.

Having a wealthy, Greek tycoon for a father wasn’t easy for Alyssa Papadopoulos, especially one who still believed in the archaic tradition of arranged marriages to secure a business deal. Now, three years after skipping out on the groom, she’d been on her own, coping in the real world with a new name, a new look and fake history that guaranteed no one would associate her with her father. Accepting a job at Stone Cliff Resort in Alberta provides her with a secure income and the opportunity to work on her one true love—photography. Getting involved with a rich bad boy didn’t factor into the plan. Too bad she hasn’t dated in months, and Mr. McDreamy of the lake has dimples to die for and a body that makes her hormones stand up and scream, Oh, hell yes!

Alyssa tries to avoid Blake, but he’s determined they enjoy some summer loving, offering her a deal filled with stolen kisses and hot steamy nights she finds impossible to resist. When Blake’s father dies and the world he's struggled to build begins to crumble, will Alyssa reveal the truth she so desperately holds on to, or will two people lying about their past give themselves permission to love.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2014

About the author

Renee Field grew up next to the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia, Canada. She is a multi-genre author who enjoys writing romance, young adult, women’s fiction and speculative fiction. Her first romance novel, Rapture, received an EPPIE Award for Best Paranormal/Fantasy Romance for an e-book. The EPPIE is the longest-standing, most-inclusive e-book awards and are run by the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition. She has published books with Ellora's Cave and HQN Spice Briefs.

Under her pen name, Renee Pace, she writes realistic nitty gritty novels where teenagers come of age and edgy dark teen paranormal novels with strong female characters. Her first young adult novel, Off Leash, was a semi-finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest and has been in the Top 100 Amazon Paid ranking for Best Coming of Age story numerous times. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) was a contest sponsored by Amazon.com, Penguin Group, Hewlett Packard, CreateSpace and BookSurge to publish and promote a manuscript by an unknown or unpublished author.

When not writing, she's an active community volunteer. Renee is a member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

Check out Renee’s books at www.reneefield.com

Follow her:
TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@reneefieldwriter
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https://www.instagram.com/field.renee/

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The gist: Alyssa's dad is super wealthy and he thought to use her as a pawn to further his business connections by marrying her off to the son of a business associate. Instead, Alyssa ran away from home. Now she's working at a secluded resort in the Canadian wilderness. Blake works for his grandfather and is sent to the resort to try and buy it so his grandfather can tear it down and build a mine. Alyssa and Blake meet, sparks fly, their double lives/lies are revealed, they struggle to deal with the truth.

Okay, so the story started out fantastic. I was really feeling Alyssa. She was spunky and just COOL. The story is written in first person. I LOVED Alyssa's 'voice.' BUT... Then the story switched to first person from Blake's POV. Now, I don't have an aversion to this style of writing. It can give great insight into both main characters. HOWEVER... The characters' 'voices' have to be different. While Alyssa's voice was GREAT for Alyssa, it wasn't so great as Blake... He TOTALLY sounded and acted like a chick and that's a turnoff for me... Well, he sounded like a chick except for the couple of times they're having sex and he gives her 'orders' but those occasions didn't even fit with his character...

I REALLY enjoyed the first few chapters, but then even the story started to go downhill QUICK for me... I guess the best way to describe it would be that the story started to just get sloppy and ridiculous. There was too much STUFF going on for such a short story and a lot of stuff just didn't make sense to me.

All in all, I didn't HATE the story, but I definitely didn't LOVE it either.

[Heather andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Alyssa, and I loved the most where that girl wasn't timid, and didn't shy away from Blake especially when she didn't know who he was, I would have totally done the same thing in her position, "he's got the perfect amount of chest hair. It's dark brown and dusts his pecs while a darker line of hair travels straight down to his c***. A good girl wouldn't look at that. Since I gave up good by the age of sixteen, I'm gawking." I loved how flirty Blake was, "you can tell me. I don't bite. Well, okay, I do bite, but if I recall you liked it last night." He's just so dreamy, "I lean down and nip her neck. "Honey, I'm not going to eff you. I'm going to make love to you tonight until you're so sore you won't want to ever leave my bed again." Honestly I enjoyed reading this book especially those hot sex scenes.

[Rhiannon Overby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short story that was artfully written to make you feel as though you just read a much longer story. Alyssa and Blake have a very flirtatious and playful relationship packed full of chemistry that I really enjoyed watching reveal itself. While both Blake and Alyssa are carrying secrets, and if they only opened up to one another they'd discover just have parallel their lives were to one another.

While the story was quite sweet and I quickly fell in love with Blake and Alyssa, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of 'drama' in the book. I enjoy books that take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions and this one was more flat. I was also a little bummed that the 'boxer thief' wasn't discover, that could have made for a wonderfully playful scene between Black and Alyssa.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions*

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but there wasn't much happening for me. Blake is at the resort to buy it for his grandfather, Alyssa is running from her past. She spies him while skinny dipping and steals his undies, which honestly made me giggle. They have incredible chemistry and the sex scenes are wowza hot! After a little drama yet nothing overly frantic
page turn inspiring.
This was a complimentary e-copy from the author/publisher in exchange for a honest review from Netgalley.

[Yvette89 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Netgalley
HEA- no cliffhanger - part of a series
Just ok for me. Not much excitement.
Alyssa is a heiress who leaves it all behind and makes away for herself.she changes her name and appearance to avoid her past. She grows up and becomes someone she can be proud of. Blake is trying to make a business deal that will impress his grandfather. The book started off ok but kind of fizzled out to me.

[loves 2 read romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

This book was a good short read. I was kinda upset that it does not reveal the "underwear thief". I loved the way Alyssa completely turns her life around and becomes her own person. Blake is a strong character but I was left with the feeling there was much more to him.

[Sheryl C. Nash]

*NETGALLEY*