Book Review – Dirty Red (Love Me With Lies #2) by Tarryn Fisher

• Buy Book #1 – THE OPPORTUNIST (Kindle)
• Buy Book #2 – DIRTY RED (Kindle)
• Buy Book #3 – THIEF (Kindle)

HOLY HELL. What an absolutely brilliant book. 5+ stars!

If you are new to this series, be sure to check out my review of Book #1 first 🙂

“I have done a number of things to keep this man. I have lied and cheated. I have been sexy and meek, fierce and vulnerable. I have been everything but myself. He is mine right now, but I am never enough for him. I can feel it – see it in the way he looks at me. His eyes are always probing, searching for something. I don’t know what he’s looking for. I wish I did…

I am who I am.

My name is Leah, and I will do anything to keep my husband.”

This is a book about a villain. I was morbidly curious about it and yet very apprehensive. I couldn’t imagine enjoying a book that was told entirely from the perspective of a selfish, manipulative liar. I was sure I would hate it and, in truth I don’t think I have ever hated a character as much as I did Leah but I absolutely loved the book and that is a true testament to the strength and pure genius of Tarryn Fisher’s writing.

That being said, Leah was just a vile, venomous snake. She was the master of power play and manipulation and this book delves right into the twisted mind of a selfish, self-absorbed, cold-hearted, conniving, jealousy-plagued woman willing to go to any lengths to keep her prize. Any. Lengths.

“I want what Olivia has. I want to be enough for him… I’ll never leave him. If I leave him, she wins.”

The first line of this book gutted me. Totally gutted me. H.o.l.y.   H.e.l.l.

I was in shock – absolute shock – and after reading the first two pages, I’d decided without a shadow of a doubt that I would hate Leah forever for that. It was as though she’d been born without a moral compass.

“I picture myself hogtying Olivia and dumping her in the Everglades for the gators to deal with. Of course I would never do that – I would hire someone to do it for me.”

I’m not going to say anything about the plot because honestly, anything I say will be a spoiler for book #1 and I don’t to ruin the experience for anyone because reading this series truly is an journey worth taking.

Suffice it to say that this is Leah’s story and is told entirely from her POV. It is a direct continuation timeline-wise from where book #1 left off but has many flashbacks scattered throughout that help fill in blanks from the past and further tie the pieces of this brilliantly tangled mess of a story together.

Because of the way the story gets you right into her mind though, I could see that at her core she was really just a very damaged, insecure woman. But then again, everyone has damage of some kind and there is a point where being damaged can no longer suffice as an excuse. Her insecurities took her into the land of psycho. I could understand where she was coming from because her backstory gave us insight into why she was insecure and I mean her husband was in love with another woman and she knew it from the first time they’d met so her feelings were understandable to a certain extent but her actions were not. It went too far. Especially the way she handled the new development in this story line (spoiler which I can’t talk about) – honest to goodness, that just made me sick to my stomach.

The writing is just pure brilliance! The descriptions, the details, the emotions, the dialogue, the subtext, the layers upon layers upon layers were woven together in such a way that despite how much I hated Leah, I enjoyed every word of this book.

This was the first time I’d read a book about a character like her and admittedly, it was fascinating to see her thoughts, learn what spurned all of her hateful actions, watch her twist reality over and over again to continually paint herself as the victim.

“No! I think. I am not the poisonous snake. Olivia is. Everything that I’ve had to do is her fault. I am innocent.”

I read the entire book with this angsty, almost queesy feeling in my heart. I was lightheaded. At times I felt like I wanted to throw up. It was worse than anything I’d felt in book one. It was like watching your favorite puppy walk right into a nest of vipers.

There were moments in the book where I wanted to be able to feel bad for her. But then she’d do something just so horrid that it would wash away my pity and replace it with seething hatred. I waffled back and forth between hatred and pity but mostly ended up sitting on the hatred side of the fence.

Maybe if she hadn’t so thoroughly fucked up the lives of the characters I cared about, I might have been able to  but… I just HATED her. She disgusted me. She was a pathetic wretch of a person who was just too selfish and manipulative for me to ever be able to truly pity.

We don’t see much of Olivia in this book but her brief appearances are just epic and every hint of an appearance or reference to her gave me heart palpitations.  There is one scene though in particular where I have almost two solid pages of text highlighted because of how absolutely phenomenal it was. Again, just pure epic !!!!

I have to say that I am really looking forward to reading Caleb’s POV next because I want to see what on earth he was thinking with Leah. How could he not see how soulless she was? There are so questions to which I desperately need answers.

A relationship like the once Caleb and Leah had simply wasn’t built to last. When the entire framework is build on a foundation of broken hearts and lies, it’s inevitable that it will all come crumbling down… it was just a matter of when.

Caleb and Olivia were and always had been meant for each other. They knew it. I knew it. Leah even knew it…. it was just a question of the right people figuring that out and hoping that once they did, it wouldn’t be too late to salvage this once in a lifetime love.

“They spark… when they’re together, it’s like putting a hurricane and a tornado in the same room – you can feel the tension. I didn’t believe in the cliche of soul mates until I saw them together.”

It is so rare for me to love a book  with a love triangle in it. But the reason I loved this one as much as I did was the same reason I loved Thoughtless: I never, for one single moment, doubted Caleb and Olivia’s love for each other. There was no ‘question’ as to who should end up with who.

“I didn’t choose her,” his voice breaks. “Love is illogical. You fall into it like a manhole. Then you’re just stuck. You die in love more than you live in love.”

There were some seriously EPIC lines in this book. Epic. Epic. Epic.!!!!! The ending just built and built and the layer of the story wove themselves into place. More lies were uncovered and finally many truths came out into the light and we were left with a revelation that left me dumbfounded with my jaw on the floor. Utterly in shock!!

Tarryn Fisher is masterfully gifted with words. Without a doubt, this is one of the best written series I’ve read. From the first word to the last, I felt fully connected to every single word of this story.

I’m going straight on to the final book. This series has taken over my life and my heart. I can’t function until I see how it all ends.

If you haven’t yet taken the plunge and started these, do it now!!!!!! They are an absolutely unforgettable roller coaster. I can’t recommend them highly enough!!!

5+ stars!!

Casting – I actually really like the pics used on the covers…

• Caleb
• Olivia
• Leah

 

“LOVE ME WITH LIES” SERIES READING ORDER

Book #1 – The Opportunist – Kindle | Paperback | My Review

Book #2 – Dirty Red –  Kindle | Paperback | My Review

Book #3 – Thief –  Kindle | Paperback | My Review