Desires & Deceptions

by Jasmine Cresswell

A missing woman has less than one year to reappear and claim her family fortune, and when Dianna Mason impersonates the heiress in an attempt to exact revenge, her plan is thwarted by the truth-seeking Ben Maxwell. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Romance

408 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Born in England, Jasmine Cresswell now divides her time between her winter home in Sarasota, Florida and her summer home in Evergreen, Colorado. Jasmine has been writing since 1975 and has published over 50 novels, with 9 million copies of her books in print.
Jasmine served for two years as the editor of the Romance Writer's Report. She also served as president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is a founder and former president of Novelists, Inc. She received the Colorado Authors' League Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year and the Romance Writers of America Golden Rose Award. Her books also have received numerous Romantic Times certificates of excellence.

Experienced as a public speaker, Jasmine has conducted college seminars and addressed many writers' conferences. Interviews and profiles have appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and Jasmine considers herself a veteran of talk shows and news broadcasts.

Married to Malcolm Candlish, whom she met while she was working for the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Jasmine and her husband have lived all over the world. She has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in history and philosophy from Melbourne University, a second degree in history from Macquarie University, as well as a Masters Degree in history and archival administration from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

Reviews

[Sonja Star-de vries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een prachtig boek zeg.
Het begint als een meeslepende roman
waarin je jezelf in het arme Kentucky van
1938 waant met liefde, haat, vriendschap
en discriminatie.
Het boek eindigt spannender en realistischer
dan alle thrillers die ik ooit las.
Gewoon een aanrader dus dit debuut van Carolyn D. Wall.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Desires and Deceptions' was a solid four-star novel for me throughout the first three-quarters of the book. However, the final quarter seemed at odds with the rest of the novel in regard to the detail within the plot; the writing style and character traits. These issues bugged me as I will explain later, but I didn’t feel that the majority of the novel deserved a three-star rating. So while my four-star review is my desire, it is also a bit of a deception. *Pauses for laughter*

Though many elements in the novel were your ‘stock-standard’ romantic suspense, ‘Desires and Deceptions’ was surprisingly unique. As the reader, I was kept in the dark about Dianna as much as the other characters. Was she to be trusted? This ‘secret’ could have been written very poorly and become frustrating. Often with these novels major plot points are hidden to create false twists, and then pulled from seemingly nowhere for drama. But Cresswell was incredibly clever with her writing. I was let into the depths of Dianna’s mind and I was told about Claire’s past. As the reader, I was the judge and jury on whether Dianna was guilty or innocent. It kept me well and truly on my toes.
I liked Dianna as a leading character. Right from the offset she was intelligent and outsmarted Ben. Their banter added a nice depth to their relationship and made it seem more legitimate than a love at first sight. I really wanted to champion Dianna. She was a real character with real fears and flaws and a depth. One of my key gripes was that in the final quarter on the novel Dianna seemed to lose that tenacity. Her determination to enact revenge overshadowed the logic and pragmatism that seemed elemental to her earlier character.
Where the first three-quarters of the novel had progression and development, the last quarter had repeated events, arguments and conversations. The plot just dwindled into nothing, as though filling time before the ‘big’ ending.
I also felt that Roger being the killer was incredibly obvious and though I didn't mind this, there didn't seem to be any real development here. Was Roger really only concerned about money? A standard reason for murder, sure, but I wanted to know why. Why did he have so much hatred for Claire? Just because someone left her money? I wanted to see supporting evidence. Did she used to rub it in his face? Did Andrew used to ride him to work hard and earn his place in the family and business, while Claire sat on her laurels because of her money? Why at 15 years old at the time of the murder could Roger not only drive Andrew's car, but take it to a mountain cabin and start a fire to kill Claire before driving the car and successfully framing someone else? Where was that explained? Where was this intelligence throughout the novel? He seemed fairly shallow otherwise and certainly didn't have this devious intelligence to suggest this history.
It was these issues that almost dropped this to a three-star.

A good read certainly, but perhaps a 3.5 rating.

[miyu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je me suis laissé porter jusqu’au bout du livre.
Prenant, un peu stressant, captivant.
La toute fin me semble un peu enfantine si je puis dire
Mais je me suis quand même bien fait avoir tout le long et c’est sympa de temps en temps !

[readwithbp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very book I go for, I loved it. Personally, some parts weren’t needed (dragged the story) and the ending/resolution was rushed.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The only reason why it took me a while to read was due to lack of time to sit and read!
I thought the plot was a little unusual, there was some attempted murder/murder and a bit of romance too....but not too slushy. It didn't take long for me to work out who the 'baddie' was but I still think it's a good little novel.

[Linzi Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not something i would usually read but im really glad i did.