A Cutting Deceit

by Cathy Dunnell

Valeria married Sirvan, a crime boss, to escape a life of poverty and find security. Now she lives life by his rules. Forced to suppress her true self and play her part well, Valeria finds solace running her hair salon, the only place she can escape and truly be herself.

Everything changes when Athena, an undercover cop, takes a job at the salon to gather evidence to prove Sirvan’s guilt. What starts as a tentative friendship quickly turns into a dangerous affair. Valeria begins to question the choices and compromises she’s made as her feelings for Athena grow. But when Athena reveals her true motives, the shocking deceit cuts Valeria to the quick.

Danger creeps closer as Valeria and Athena, wounded by betrayal, play a perilous game of truth, lies, and love.

Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2022

About the author

Cathy Dunnell is a queer romance author. Her latest novel 'Turning Point' is out on 1st February 2024 from Bold Stroke Books.

Her debut novel ‘Beulah Lodge’ was released in 2021 followed by 'A Cutting Deceit' in 2022.

Cathy lives in the UK with her wife, daughter and cat. When not writing, she likes playing football and reading her way through the mounds of books she keeps buying from second-hand book shops.

Reviews

[Della B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valeria’s life of security and safety begins to unravel when undercover policewoman Athena starts working at her hair salon. Athena is there to gather information on Valeria’s crime boss husband. Their lives are placed in danger when Valeria and Athena act on their mutual attraction.

A Cutting Deceit is Dunnell’s second published novel and you can see the positive growth in her writing. The story is compelling in the set up to the action that occurs in the last quarter of the novel. The build up of tension is wonderfully orchestrated and drives you to keep the pages turning. Valeria’s personal growth as she removes her blinders to her husband and his businesses is fascinating to read.

A Cutting Deceit is a solid 4 out of 5 star read which definitely walks a different path to romance.

I received a free advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jo reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by Cathy Dunnell, and she's definitely piqued my interest for any future releases.
I did enjoy A Cutting Deceit, I enjoyed the storyline, but do feel like there was too much revealed in the blurb. I got about 2 chapters in and saw where the story was heading. The storyline itself is decent, with a bit of crime, and a bit of romance., there's chemistry there too with the main characters... I Would absolutely love to see a sequel for this book, it has such a premise for a series.

Anyway, I've given A Cutting Deceit a 3.7 out of 5

[Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Athena gets a new job at a salon, working for Valeria. Valeria's husband is a dangerous man and everyone in the neighborhood fears him, including Valeria. As Athena and Valeria spend more time together they find sparks flying in more ways than one but Athena has a secret.
This was a good thriller with a show burn romance. There was a lot of focus on Valeria's husband Sirvan and his various business dealings too really make you dislike him and his employees. I liked the evolution of Valeria's feelings as the book progressed but it was also mentioned that she had been married for 15 years which feels like an awful long time to have been ignoring Sirvan's business. The build up at the end was great though and definitely kept me speeding through to the end. This was the first book I've read by this author and I'd definitely pick up anything she writes in the future.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let’s start by saying that the current blurb gives away too much. You could have a little more suspense when just one sentence is changed so I hope that will happen.

Because of the blurb I thought the story would develop differently, it’s either a missed opportunity on the storytelling to go that way or it’s just me and the blurb that messed it up. Valeria is married to a crime boss, what he does exactly isn’t 100% clear, but what we do know isn’t pretty. Valeria knows what her husband does and for years she looked the other way in favour for her own (financial) security and safety. That is until recently. This coincides with the start of a new employee in Valeria’s salon. And here is where the current blurb spoils the story with just a couple words, I’ll refrain from saying anything in hopes of a changed blurb.
This new employee and Valeria have a connection and they start an affair. I don’t like cheating, even if it’s a crime boss who gets cheated on. There is actually very little I do like about this story.

I miss the suspense that I could see happening with just some slight changes here and there. For instance getting Athena’s perspective or even some of Valeria’s clients. We only get Valeria’s third person POV. Instead we are only told about fear, we don’t experience any of it. Even the ending is a bit lacklustre and feels like the author is only telling us things instead of taking you on the journey.

I don’t know, this book seemed to have work for some others so please read more reviews.


*ARC received from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cutting Deceit by Cathy Dunnell

Thank you Netgallery and Bold Stroke Books for an arc for an unbiased review.

This is a book where Valeria owns a hair salon. Or rather, her mob boss husband Sirvan owns the hair salon, and in one corner away from the womens section, it obviously has an area where the men who gather for barber services discuss 'business.'

Athena arrives, and immediately slots into the role, but as an undercover cop, is quietly gathering intel towards bringing Sirvan and his empire down.

This book, while it has some great parts, also, for me at least, fails in some areas too. And it is a shame because it probably would've been a fairly easy fix.
So what did I like and what didn't I like?

The overall themes of the crimes plot were done well, and i certainly felt the anxiety that Valeria felt. Her overall demeanour was one you could certainly understand and was consistent with the criminal aspects going on around her. Seeing her begin to change her stance from willful denial to active fightback in a way she felt she could, was realistic.
The tension as Sirvan began to question who was leaking information, when Valeria genuinely had no idea herself, yet you could see his suspicion grow, was handled well.
My biggest complaint here was how Inna was able to neatly find an escape option with her help. It all seemed just too convenient and didn't gel for me.

What really let it down for me was I felt we had so little of Athena's development. I felt we knew more about Katya than we did her, so the romance felt clunky as a result. Her full motivations, while we got some part of it, also felt incomplete. As I was reading, I kept expecting to have a chapter shift perspective from Valeria to Athena, to show her leaving the salon and then give us a glimpse into her life, yet we never got that in-depth look, and that really was the biggest disappointment for me in the book.

This also was apparent in the ending, that all felt wrapped up neatly, but no depth to it, with Athena (although now Andrea) only giving some basic information about her life, but only in context of Valeria being there, and us not being shown her life.

So how to rate this? I'm struggling on this somewhat, because when the book got it right (as it primarily did with Valeria) it was great. Sadly, the lack of depth on Athena's character meant the crime/romance part just didn't have the impact I felt it should have done.

I'm hitting this at 4/5, although I'd classify it more a 3.5/5 stars 🌟
Having a strong storyline of Valeria with Sirvan especially is the one reason I'm giving it a tentative 4/5 stars. But I would say, don't go into this book expecting it to be a strong book for all main characters, as I feel it falls short. Strong in places, but missing in areas where it was needed.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

this would have been significantly better as a dual POV. we end up missing a significant portion of the story and character motivation purely because of how one sided this story is

[Alice M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valeria “owns” a hair salon, or rather her gangster husband does. An undercover cop gets a job in the salon in order to get information on the husband’s criminal activities. The story is interesting and reasonably exciting for the most part.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the digital galley of this book.

Valeria left Russia for a better life, but what she found wasn’t what she’d hoped. Crime boss Sirvan offered her a life of security, and a salon of her own (even though he controlled it). She lives by his rules and doesn’t love his business practices, but what can she do? When Athena, and undercover cop, takes a job at the salon, a tentative friendship grows to attraction and a dangerous affair. When Athena reveals her true intentions, to take Sirvan down, the betrayal leaves her reeling. She wants a life without Sirvan, but can she trust Athena after her deceit?

I’m a sucker for an opposite sides of the law romance. The added layers of danger and intrigue really appeal to my drama-loving brain. I read through this one in a day and enjoyed it. Valeria’s struggles with security and morals as well as her growing rebellion against her husband provided an interesting character development, and I like that even though it was 3rd person, it was still told kind of Valeria’s point of view, so that, even though we know Athena is a cop, we didn’t know much about her aside from Valeria’s interactions with her. It made for more drama as the reveal is made. Do recommend.

[Bee Sherrard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is how the story goes. Valeria is married to a crime boss. He must be a crime boss because he owns things, like his wife's hair salon. She loves the money his ‘job’ brings to keep her living a comfortable life.
Athena is an undercover cop. She’s on the hunt for info on Valeria’s husband, Sirvan and working at the wife's shop should give her enough to help the police put him away.
Problems begin when the two women can’t keep to themselves. Valeria cheats on her husband, they run into trouble and don’t know for sure if they’ll even live for another day. That’s it. Not my cup of tea but perhaps I’m just not giving the story it’s due.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book which is a little outside the lesfic formula and all the better for it. Because of the blurb, we know that Athena is an undercover cop who takes a job in a hair salon owned by a mob boss but run by his wife. Valeria, the wife, knows her husband is a criminal but tries to keep it separate from her safe little world. That isn’t possible when Athena rocks the boat.

The culture and setting are interesting and the book is well written, if a little slow to start. There is good tension and the love angle feels credible. I would read more from this author.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

[Lucia C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing read which drew me in from the start. The plot and tension are very nicely paced, accelerating gradually and kept me up reading late. Above all, as with Dunnell's last novel, I found the characters likeable and real, and always wanted to know what they would do next. Their feelings and motivations are beautifully described. I hope Dunnell will write more soon!

[SSA · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing felt stilted and awkward at times. And the part about life in Stockwell being terrible and tough was kinda funny seeing as I’m familiar with the area. The characterisations felt surface level, the romance underdeveloped and the suspense barely there. Overall, the story, relationship and stakes were underwhelming.