Review: Fatal Deception – Katie Reus

Mara Caldwell is a woman with a dark past. She made a clean break from her old life, never imagining her secrets could come back to haunt her. When an old enemy surfaces and threatens the world she’s created for herself Mara is prepared to give up everything, including the husband she loves if it will keep him safe.

Harrison knew his wife had secrets when he married her, but when he discovers the truth, it’s far worse than he imagined. He’s determined to protect her from a deadly enemy who wants to destroy her, but her lack of faith in him infuriates and wounds him. They must work together to keep her safe, but the man they’re up against seeks to destroy everything they’ve built together. Including their lives.

Series:  Red Stone Security #3
Release Date:  October 2, 2012
Publisher:  Katie Reus
Source:  Lit Connect
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

Mara has kept secrets from her husband, Harrison.  She thought she’d left behind the trauma and lies of her past when she moved to Miami and met Harrison.  But Mara’s discovered her past is looking for her and it’s looking for revenge.

Harrison knew Mara had her secrets, but he figured she’s open up to him in time.  But when her past catches up with them, he discovers that the secret is not even close to what he thought and he wonders if he knows his wife at all.  But he’d do anything to protect her, even if her secrets threaten to tear them apart.

We saw snippets of Mara and Harrison in the other two books, so I wasn’t sure what to expect of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like either of them (which is so hard to say because I loved Porter, Lizzy, Grant and Belle).  I could understand why Mara would keep her secret, but given who she’s married to and the information they have at their disposal, why wouldn’t she have used it to keep track of Neville? Honestly, as torn up as she was about what her deception was doing to her marriage (before Harrison found out) I would have spilled the beans and hid behind my strong, silent, ex-spy husband.

As for Harrison, he seemed too forgiving at times, cold and/or wishy washy at others.  He was pissed she lied to him.  Questioned if he even knew her at all, but then he’s having sex with her in his office and then giving her the silent treatment?  WHAT?  I wanted to shout at him to man up either forgive her and move on or dump her ass and forget what was happening.  It was frustrating.  He finally got there, but by that point I was done.

The suspenseful part of the story was good.  I liked how Neville managed to sneak in the US to go after his target.  Makes you wonder if that good looking guy at the grocery store is an ex-international sex ring leader who is out to get his revenge on the government agent who took him down.

Not my favorite of the series, but the suspense is enough to keep it going.