Book Review – A Beautiful Lie (Playing With Fire #1) by T.E. Sivec

3.5 stars

This is a really hard review for me because I didn’t really want to feel the way I did about this book, but I’m going to just be 100% honest here. I adored the Chocolate Lovers series. And I wanted to love this book. I really, truly did. With all my heart. But… this book was not really for me in the end. I ended up sort of liking it, but really not connecting to it in any emotional way – which, to me, is a huge part of what I seek when I read a book.

I should start off by saying that one of the reasons I loved the Chocolate Lovers series was not just because they were funny, but because they also had a bit of heart and I really cared for the characters.

I didn’t find that with this book though. I felt that the writing style ‘told’ me the story rather than allowing me to ‘experience’ it and as such I felt a bit of a disconnect from the characters.

This is a story about Navy Seals, secret missions, and the requiting of an unrequited love.
When there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of their best friend Milo, its up to Garrett and Annabelle to go back to his last known location and figure out the truth behind it.
But when they go undercover as a couple, how long can they hold up the pretense before their real feelings start to take over?

“The way they argued, the way they joked, the way they loved, the way they took care of one another – it all boiled down to the fact that they were just meant to be together like this.”

I’m going to admit that I feel pretty bad giving this book a 3.5 but, in the interest of full honesty, I don’t feel I can give it more. However, I will say that it is a happy, full 3.5. This is not a bad book at all, there were just  a lot of elements to it that didn’t make me ‘feel’ for and be emotionally connected to the story which kept me from rating it higher: the narrative that told rather than showed, the lack of communication and self-imposed UST between the main characters (seriously, I just wanted to lock them in a room and not let them out till their had told each other the truth) drove me a little crazy, and there were a few things that make me look at the page with squinty skeptical eyes. But also, again in the interest of honesty here, I think maybe it might the genre? After reading this book and a few others like it, I don’t honestly think that romantic suspense is my thing. I guess at the end of the day, I prefer more character driven stories where its focused more on the emotional connection with and to the characters than it is about the details of the plot.

Now, this being said, the plot of this book was exciting and engaging in many places and I was interested in it. There were a few steamy scenes – especially the whole ‘pool’ thing!! Hot! And I also enjoyed how the deeper they dug into the situation, the more the mystery deepened.

But, I don’t know. I guess I just really wasn’t feeling that ‘spark’ with this book.

This being said, I’m still a huge fan of Tara’s writing and am looking forward to her next book. She tells a good story and since this is her first foray into a new genre, I have no doubt that the books will just keep getting better and better.