Review – Deceiving Lies by Molly McAdams

Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: March 4th
How I got this book: Edelweiss

Rachel is supposed to be planning her wedding to Kash, the love of her life. After the crazy year they’ve had, she’s ready to settle down and live a completely normal life. Well, as normal as it can be. But there’s something else waiting—something threatening to tear them apart.

Kash is ready for it all with Rach. Especially if all includes having a football team of babies with his future wife. With his line of work, he knows how short life can be, and doesn’t want to waste another minute of theirs. But now his past as an undercover narcotics agent has come back to haunt him … and it’s the girl he loves who’s caught in the middle.

Trent Cruz’s orders are clear: take the girl. But there’s something about this girl that has him changing the rules and playing a dangerous game to keep her safe. When his time as Rachel’s protector runs out, he will turn his back on the only life he’s known, and risk everything, if it means getting her out alive.
*Blurb from Goodreads*

When I read the first book, Forgiving Lies, I wanted to throttle McAdams and her publisher for the way it ended. There was absolutely NO warning about that book ending on a cliffhanger, and it about knocked me on my behind! I was desperate to find out what happened!

Rachel is living in Florida with Kash, and planning a wedding. Life is going exactly the way she wanted, until the night that Kash’s past undercover work catches up with her. She is taken prisoner by a dangerous cartel, with only Trent standing between her and the love she desperately wants to return to.

While Kash is turning Miami upside down looking for Rachel, Trent is keeping a careful watch over her, making sure that the gang doesn’t use Rachel for their final agenda. He is the only thing standing between her and certain torture, but not without a cost.

As the time ticks down on the gang’s demands, Kash is getting more and more desperate to find Rachel, and she is getting more and more worried about her current situation. It’s not until she is finally home and safe within Kash’s arms that their world finally starts to right itself, in ways neither expected.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that so much of the beginning of this book goes back in time from the first book. I was expecting to pick up right where Forgiving Lies left off, with Kash realizing that Rachel was kidnapped. Instead, McAdams takes us back a few months and we get to see Rachel and Kash living their everyday lives. While it definitely adds to the emotion when Rachel is finally taken, I wasn’t a fan of having to wait so long to get to the part the first book left off.

While I really liked the book, there were times it was uncomfortable to read. I did feel as if Rachel had a little bit of Stockholm syndrome going on with Trent, and as a romance reader, it was pretty disappointing to see. Not that I didn’t understand it, but I hated what I knew would come of Rachel and Kash’s reunion when they were finally brought back together.

I do have to say though, I thought that the way McAdams handled their reunion was very realistic. Kash having major problems about Rachel’s insistence that Trent was a good guy, and Rachel getting used to being free to live again was rough, and they struggled dealing with it. It was bittersweet and heart wrenching and so uplifting at the same time. I loved the way that Rachel would let Kash know in little ways that she was ready to move forward with their lives. It was sweet and adorable.

I have some pretty mixed feelings about Trent’s character in this book. Again, he is the driving force between Rachel and Kash being split up both physically, and then emotionally after their reunion. He’s painfully in love with Rachel, and while I didn’t think he tried to take advantage of their situation, he did get on my nerves many different times.

For those who read the first book in the series, I think you will really like the way Rachel and Kash’s story ends. It definitely wraps up nicely with their happily ever after, and although this book wasn’t the type of romance I would typically fawn over, I did find myself really enjoying their journey. I can’t wait to see what happens with Mason in future books, he was by far one of my favorite secondary characters, and I hope he will get his HEA very soon!

All in all, this was a very good but difficult read. It dealt with some very serious subject matters that intrigued me and irritated me at the same time. However, I loved the way Kash and Rachel’s story ended and I adored their journey together. I will absolutely be picking up more of McAdams new adult books in the future.
I give Deceiving Lies a B

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