Lust and Lies

The Jamie Reynolds Chronicles #1

by Casandra Charles

JR was young, single, making money, enjoying life and on top of her game as a successful event manager in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from Clark Atlanta University, she focused most of her life on her career, driven by the need to prove herself while working in a men’s field. Atlanta was all about keeping up with the Joneses, and JR knew just how to do it. After seven years in Atlanta, she abruptly moved back to New York to be with her family when her dad had a near-death experience. During her move, she met Toni, a single, blue-collar, strong-minded guy who quickly swept her off her feet with his lies. Love was never on her mind, but Toni was different (she thought), and just as JR was coming to terms with the idea of Toni being in her life, she remained torn between him and her past in Atlanta. A past that included David, her on-again, off-again lover who was everything JR wanted in a well-educated with a successful career, good looks, and the drive to want more of everything that Toni didn’t have. However, even after two years of dating, their relationship was like oil and they just didn’t mix. As Toni’s real personality was revealed, David looked more and more like the safe place for JR. When her current situation started to heat up, JR began wishing she had her old life back. The Jamie Reynolds Lust and Lies is just the beginning as JR tries to find the right balance in her life; however, that happy balance is not so easy to find, especially when it’s full of lust and lies.

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2015

About the author

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, with parents from Trinidad and Tobago, Casandra graduated college with a BA degree in Mass Media Arts at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA, where she resided for many years and now has her master’s degree in Adult Education.

Casandra is an avid reader and always wanted to write a book but hesitated for many years, as she suffers from adult dyslexia. She never allowed her disability to hold her back on anything, and she finally completed her first book, Jamie Reynolds Chronicles: Lust and Lies, in 2015, Secrets Revealed in 2016, Pillow Talk and Too Good To Be True in 2018, Tinder, Love and Care in 2020, Thank You, Next in 2021 and Joy Ride in 2022.
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Casandra loves to travel and explore and has a bucket list of places to visit a mile long as she slowly begins to check off a new destination every few months. She lives by many mottos, but her favorite one is “Live Laugh Love,” which is also tattooed on her left arm to remind her every day to Live today, Laugh often and Love always.

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was too good to be true and JR learned the hard way that loneliness can make the heart see what isn’t there and doing the right thing may not be the easiest thing to do. JR was a woman focused on success, building her career, making a name for herself and somehow, there just wasn’t time for love, until Toni, a Charming and unpretentious man who made her feel like a princess, made her feel the need to be taken care of. Never mind that his flowery words weren’t really her style. He was great in bed, always there to support her, and he loved her, the real her, not the businesswoman climbing her way to the top. Love led to marriage, but a little voice in JR’s head told her not to do it. Like any normally strong-minded woman, of course, JR ignored that voice and the man she loved was gone. Had he ever existed, was it all a pack of lies?

Lust and Lies by Casandra Charles is a tale of one woman who learned the hard way that lust and love are two different thing and no matter how much you think you love someone, when it comes down to the bottom line, you need to love yourself enough to know when to let go, especially if you were holding on to dreams that turned to ashes.

Ms. Charles tells the tale of love gone bad, growing from the experience and knowing that when you are holding a losing hand, its time to fold and cash in your chips. Told with a sense of purpose, each scene comes to life with raw emotion and will draw you in, while wrapping each word around you, sometimes bringing anger, sadness or disgust. Romance like this knows no bounds or labels, this is powerful writing.

I received this copy from Casandra Charles in exchange for my honest review.

Series: The Jamie Reynolds Chronicles - Book 1
Publication Date: August 16, 2015
Publisher: Casandra Charles
Genre: Romance
Print Length: 238 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Tonia Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a long and drawn out read.

Jamie was naive and Toni was a prick with his bum ass. I think JR did the right thing in the end.

[Toni Combs · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt drawn out

It was a good read but it felt so drawn out and couldn’t keep my attention it would pick up and then I’d lose interest so hopefully part 2 picks up