Deception

International Romance #1

by Mona Ingram

Librarian's note: This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B005NWIBF6.

Former model Justine Phillips agrees to be auctioned off at a charity event. Dramatically changing her appearance, she attends as "Jasmine". Alex Melrose, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company wins the bidding to take her to dinner. The attraction between them is instant, mutual and powerful.

It isn't until Justine returns home after their date that she learns that Alex's company manufactured the drug responsible for the death of her mother. Alex searches for "Jasmine" but cannot find her.

In spite of her conflicted feelings about Alex, Justine cannot forget him, but when they meet again, he doesn't recognize her. The attraction is still there, and they embark on a difficult and sometimes surprising emotional rollercoaster ride on their way to discovering the truth about each other.

Rating: Sensual.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Erotica, New Adult, Amazon, Fiction

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2011

About the author

Mona Ingram is the author of over 60 romance novels, including twelve novellas. Many of her stories take place in British Columbia, where she has lived since the age of twelve. In recent years she has lived in the Okanagan Valley and on Vancouver Island. In addition to reading and writing, traveling and bird watching are among Mona's favourite pastimes.

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A total 50 Shades wannabe. I read a good amount of this book but near the end it dawned on me that this was such a waste of time and I didn't know why I kept reading. Somehow I found it tolerable in the beginning but by the end I was so annoyed and fed up with the cheesy and bad direction it was going in.

Be weary of free kindle books. They always tend to suck.

[Lindsey]

Amazon (ebook) freebie 2/21/13

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read and fairly enjoyable. It was good enough that I continued on to read its sequel about Justine's friend Olivia.

I guess the only thing I find unbelievable is that colored contacts and a different hairstyle could cause a man to find a woman completely unrecognizable. Seemed a bit far fetched. Perhaps I would have believed it more if the mask had never come off during their dinner.

[Stephanie Riegle · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a free book on amazon, I really enjoyed it! It was a a bit cheesy at times, and the writing felt a little forced, but I would recommend this book for sure!

[Janey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok...typical romance, easy read

[Merle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done. The chemistry is instantaneous between Jasmine and Alex when they meet at the charity auction. Their connection is so strong that one of the players drops away immediately. There are a few complications to their relationship, balanced by the good work they do as volunteers. A long road appears before them to reach their HEA, but the reach it eventually.

Ingram doesn't do badly with a sensual romance, considering that she is so well known for her clean romances. I don't call her books sweet because it's likely that her female protagonists have had a really bad time and they don't wait around to see destiny call - they find it while making their own way. It's not ever really clean, nor is it easy. This one is a different stroke for her, and it's a good story.

[Kathy Dober · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing the meat

It gives you the bread and mayo without meat. So where is the beef? Hard to enjoy dry bread could of ad DC ed some cheese.

[cheryl doerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

I loved this book from the very beginning. I recommend it to everyone who loves to read. It is an awesome book.

[Winfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

One hell of a roller coaster...worth the ride.

[Blia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was somewhat conflicted with this book. I was hoping for confrontation between characters but it just didn't happen. At least not in the way I was hoping it would. I thought this book could use a bit more editing. Justine started out like she was a strong heroine but turned out to be clingy and weak. Even teary eyed at times which was so unnecessary. Alex, he was intrigued by Jasmine but slept with Justine. Granted they were the same person but he never made any more attempts at find Jasmine. I was really hoping that the book was filled with intensity but it was really lacking. The story did no justice to the title and book cover.

So the story starts with Justine being persuaded to take her friend, Livvy's place in a charity auction. Wanting to hide her identity, she tells Alex that her name is Jasmine. Instead of having dinner together at the charity event. They agreed to have dinner on a different night. Dinner happens and she finds out at the end of the evening that he is the CEO of the pharmaceutical company responsible for the death of her mom. Instead of cutting him off, she meets him again but this time as herself and he propositions her to join him on a business venture. As luck would have it, he soon quickly forgets about Jasmine and the two of them fall in love. Mind you, Alex has a wife is who is in a coma after a tragic ski accident. As the story unfolds, they travel to Africa only for Alex to head back to London to care for his dying wife, who had deceive him but due to the accident he stuck by her. Justine finds out from his friend Jean-Guy that Alex felt responsible for the 6 deaths from the drug XR-44. Jean-Guy had explained that Alex reached out to all of the families but one which was Justine. She quickly forgave him for the death of her mom. Justine returns back to New York and hears that Alex's wife dies. He doesn't reach out to her nor does she to him. When she decided that enough was enough and had plans to move to California, Livvy's mom invites her to a charity event. She meets Alex again. The night ends with him finding out that she was in fact Jasmine. He felt that she deceived him and told her he never wanted to see her again. Torn, she leaves to Africa. Liv has a talk with Alex, he finds out that Justine's was the last family he couldn't find due to her changing her last name. He figures out where she's gone to and goes after her. And they live happily ever after.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling book! (I actually read the other one about Olivia first and they are both stand alone books!)

Justine is a tall, blonde, blue eyed model who is coerced into taking her friend, Olivia's, place in a charity auction. The auction is for dinner with a beautiful woman. Justine is uncomfortable about being bid on, so she changes her hair, eye color and make up in order to not be recognized.

Alex is a handsome, dark haired, CEO of a pharmaceutical company and billionaire who happens to be...married. He really doesn't want to go to the auction, but decides to make a brief appearance and write a donation check. While performing the obligatory smoozing, he spies the Texas Oil tycoon practically drooling over an exquisite goddess of a woman. She walks up on the stage and bidding begins. He battles the oil tycoon in the bidding war because the poor woman needs saving from that lecher of a man. He ends up with the winning bid and they set a time for their dinner. He is mesmerized and quite taken with her. She says her name is Jasmine. And he wants her.

They are both drawn to each other and desires burn under the surface. They tell each other about themselves, yet the pull to take this further is still there. Interruptions abound and deter them from acting on their impulses, but they cannot stop thinking about each other. Jasmine departs the city without giving any opportunity for further contact.

There is so much that happens in the book that I regret I cannot elude to anything more than this. Read this book to find out what happens next, you will NOT be disappointed!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deception by Mona Ingram
Alexander Melrose happens to be the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company. His friend Olivia invited him to attend a charity auction. The winner of the bid would have a dinner date with the lady his bid won. Alex really didn't want to be there until he noticed the beauty walking around, who unlike the others, didn't seem to be flaunting herself. For a man who had felt he was the walking dead for some time now….this beauty was about to breathe life back into him.

Justine Phillips life was at a fork in the road. She had a great modeling career but no longer wanted that life and she was still mourning the sudden death of her mother. Her friend asked her to replace her in the charity auction and Justine chose to go as someone different. Changing her hair color, make-up and her name along with adding a mask….Jasmine was created. Who knew that Jasmine’s two nights of life would change Justine’s so drastically.

There was only one thing that I didn’t care for in this book, one of the characters is married while pursing someone else, albeit the spouse was wanting a divorce before an accident put them in a coma but all the same they were married at the time. I won’t let my personal feelings on this take away from the entire book or how I rate it as it is well written and is a good story. The book Fool Me Once continues with Olivia’s story.
**Sexual situations

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars- Okay, but I had some issues

All in all this was an okay read with good characters and a decent plotline. The writing was solid, though it often felt rushed- much like the romance. There was a LOT of suspending your disbelief for such a short, non-paranormal book. Some of that was necessary to stick with the storyline, but I think if it had been drawn out to be more believable, I would have enjoyed the book more. This was insta-love on a grand scale, so imagining the couple overcoming obstacles with zero history seemed farfetched. I also struggled with the timeline. There was a lot of traveling in some very short spans of time, and the writing made it difficult to keep track of time passing. Days or weeks would pass between two paragraphs, with nothing noting the time jump besides possibly a page break asterisk. This had me going back and rereading, then bouncing forward trying to figure out how much time elapsed between meetings. I did enjoy reading about the sights, art details, landscape, and philanthropic efforts. I just wished the plot drew out enough to let me enjoy it fully rather than feel like I was reading with the fast forward button pressed.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This caught my attention because of the cover. Then the synopsis seemed intriguing, so I bought it. It was not exactly what I thought it would be, as I was expecting more sexual content. BUT, I was not disappointed. The heroine agrees to be auctioned in a friend's place, and does so anonymously. Of course she catches the eye of the man who "rescues" her from an obnoxious bidder. They hit it off immediately, but he doesn't know her true identity, and she doesn't know his right at first either. So the story goes, she finds out about him fast and can fall in love with the real him almost from the start. He however is distracted from her temporarily by the memory of the anonymous girl she met him as. I really did think this was a sweet story, with a good amount of sexual tension, and finally when the characters get together, it was appropriate timing and perfect for where they were in their relationship. And from that first time, it only got better. Not very graphic, but enough so you knew what was happening and appreciate their love for one another. The ending was expected, but very nice nonetheless. I will read this again down the road.

[Lauren Dawes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave 'Deception' 2 stars because it was just okay for me. I liked the main characters. They were well written and described for the most part. The city-hopping was also great. I loved reading about Alex's charity work and trying to use his excessive amounts of money for good.

There were a few moments in the that plot that were simply unbelievable for me, as a reader, to swallow i.e. he doesn't recognize her at all after seeing her without red hair, Justine sudden speaks fluent French, Alex invites her to Paris after he's literally just met her.

The theme is deception (as the title suggests) but I found the sole reason the two characters split in the first place is because of something so trivial. If the reason were she cheated then I could understand Alex's reaction when he found out the truth.

Another element that confused me on occasion was changing who was speaking in the book. It wasn't just in the chapter, but sometime they changed in the actual paragraph. It meant that I had to stop and re-read the sentence as the character POV changed from Justine to Alex then back again.

[Heidi Tieman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. 4.5 Stars. Justine and Alex...this book blew me away. I am usually a bit skeptical about authors I don't know but I am so glad I read this one. The plot is very unique and creative. The characters well developed and engaging. You feel everything Justine is thinking and struggling with as she is torn between finding justice for her mother and her feelings for Alex. The whole Deception is absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking when it comes out. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a more intense, grittier romance with a mix of deceit, friendship and love. Nothing really light and fluffy here.

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is aptly named because I was deceived into reading it. I can't for the life of me even figure out why the author considered the first part a deception. It wasn't a big enough one in my book to even break up over...maybe chuckle over. If I was him, I'd be glad I didn't get an erection for every girl he meets... Hehe same girl. I get it, she was a model..sick of the lime light, so she took on an alternate name so if she didn't want the guy to call her again...then no name to look up. I got that. Still didn't see the same deception that made this guy dump this girl. So no I would not recommend this read to anyone and nope not interested in reading more by this author.

[Patricia]

Great cover but can be deceiving. Alex's story is heart breaking yet one you can relate to. He chose the wrong woman to marry and now lives with the knowledge that she wanted a divorce before tragedy stuck. He meets a woman at a charity auction by the name Jasmine and becomes captivated with her. The problem is Jasmine is really Justine and used a false name to remain hidden. As the story progresses they become involved yet she doesn't know hows to tell him the truth without losing his trust. Honestly my description just not do this book justice. Great characters...wonderfully written story and a ending that will have you sighing. I cant wait to start Olivia's story next.

[N. Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty sexy story. I enjoyed the plot and really liked the philanthropy that was sprung throughout the story. It was refreshing to see a billionaire actually doing good with their money instead of just spoiling the heroine of the story. It was a very emotional yet fun, sexy read. I really wanted to love this story. But, the writing was a little lacking. The fact that their date was sans the mask used at the auction, and he knows her face, do eye color and hair color really make someone that different that he couldn't figure it out? That annoyed me throughout the story. The fact that he was angry about it felt over the top for me. But, it's still an enjoyable read.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justine gave up her life as a model and was enjoying some down time and visited her friend, Olivia in New York. Olivia had a charity function & asked Justine to take her place. She would be wearing a mask & the women would be auctioned off for charity. All Justine would have to do have dinner with the one who bid on her. Oliver failed to tell her about Alex who said he wouldn't be there. His company produced the drug that killed her mother. Since Justine's face had been splashed all over the world she wore contacts, changed her hair color & used a different first name. Simple enough. But it didn't turn out that way and secrets were everywhere.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Romance

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Everything was wonderful from the beginning until almost the end. My only dislike of this story was the quick ending. The author should have made Alex suffer a little more in the end. I'm still mad at Alex for being so pigheaded. The characters were likeable, well immersed into the storyline, blending into each section properly to provide the perfect scenes, dialogues, and emotions. Justine was a strong heroine in my opinion. She was strong willed, loving, caring, and very thoughtful. If it wasn't for the ending I would have given this a solid five stars.

[Helen Stothard · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely read. The main characters are caring individuals who've both had it hard in the past, although Jasmine initially believes its all Alex's fault in her case.

This is a gentle romance that takes you around the world, and talks a lot about charity and charitable works without throwing it in your face. The side characters are endearing, and I can see spin off books happening with their stories at a later date.

There's no teasing cliffhanger ending here, just a good old fashioned romance, with a touch of suspense to mix it all up.

An enjoyable light read.

[☆ Eyes On The Stars ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, engaging book. I really liked that this wrapped up all in one book (yay!) but there was a sequel that followed other characters. Justine and Alex are one of those couples that you just root for from the get go because they are matched that perfectly, even if Alex doesn't recognize it right away.

My main problem I had though was that Alex *seriously!* didn't recognize Justine with a different hair color and contacts? Wow. That was the hardest part for me to get over, by far.

Overall, good read, HEA for everyone! :)

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

The book was a fun romantic read. It took you through the death of a young girls mother to her falling in love and the trials of that love. Her devotion to honesty and her ability to forgive years of hatred she felt she would never be able to let go of. It takes you through the young couples almost demise to their final ability to see they are neither perfect but yet the same perfect person each fell in love with and neither wishes to exist further with out the other. A very moving love story

[Penny Friday-Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

The relationship of the two ladies, friends Justine and Olivia are great. Their interaction and sincerity is good. Throw in a masked ball and a genuine good soul CEO in Alex and you have a great story.
The only negative is I did not appreciate them sleeping together while he was married....that section should be rewritten.
I have read several by this author and she is great.

[Meiwilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! I really enjoyed this one! Great story. Some editing issues but the story and characters were a pleasure to read. I loved that Alex and Justine...aka Jasmine, had true character and unselfishly gave their time in Africa. The author didn't glaze over the charitable works but described it in such detail, I could almost feel the heat of the African climate!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might have been the most unrealistic book I have ever read yet somehow I kind of enjoyed it. I very seldom read romance novels but I got this free for the kindle so I thought why not. It was a quick read and if you just take into account that anything is possible in fiction then you might enjoy it as well.

[ChalulaRae · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF AT 34%

[Cyndi Hackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! I was captivated from the beginning of the story. I enjoyed all the different twist and turns throughout the story. It made the story more interesting with all of the jumping around to the different exotic places and the different quirks with the characters added a special touch. I would recommend this story to a friend.

[Kim Eyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in no time flat, but I really enjoyed it. Justine and Alex ended up making a sweet couple. I had just read the 50 Shades series and was looking for something similar. The cover didn't seem to match the book, but I enjoyed it just the same. I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author as I liked the writing style.