Love, Lies, and Deception

This book would be a great movie!LP Dover did it again. All her books are intriguing and take you on a ride, especially Love Lies and Deception.We begin with Marissa breaking up with her boyfriend, which her three closet friends couldn't be happier about and the four to them packing up the car to head to the airport for a Spring Break trip to Fiji. While Marissa is bringing her bags down from her apartment she slips on a step and literally lands in the arms of her mysterious neighbor Alec. Marissa finds hers body reacting to him and she keeps getting lost in his beautiful blue eyes and constantly catches herself staring at his luscious lips as they are introducing themselves.After she comes back from her trip she runs into Alec again and he invites her over for dinner (yes ladies Alec cooks). From then on the story tells of them getting to know each other and their relationship becoming intense and passionate, something Marissa never experienced with her sex. Along the way, Alec reveals his dark past to Marissa hoping she will stay because that is not who he is any longer. Meanwhile, Marissa is trying to keep ahold of her friendship with her best friend Kristian, and not believing what Alec sees, that Kristian maybe in love with her. During the story things take a turn for the worse and Marissa's life is in danger and all Alec wants to do is protect her, but is he enough against the evil that is following them. Marissa soon realizes that the people you think you know you don't know at all. How easy it is for someone to weasel their way into your life without you realizing their ulterior motive.Love, Lies, and Deception kept me intrigued the whole entire book from the steamy sex scenes to the t testosterone stand offs between Alec and Kristian, the love and friendship between Kristian, Emily, Marissa, and Justin, to the ultimate danger the two main characters began to face. Not a dull moment in this book whatsoever.Marissa was the girl that had goals and dreams and set a very strict course for herself in order to achieve her goals in life. She was the college student that excelled exceptionally well in school and was always on top of her books. She had fun, but it was just a bit of fun, never overboard where it interfered with her classes. She once had a wild side, but that all but went away when she was dating her douche bag of a boyfriend Jason.Alec was the mysterious neighbor that Marissa was always aware of, but never talked to until the day she was leaving for Spring Break. She would make it a point to spy on him through her apartment window whenever he was coming back from his morning run. Always wondering what was his story. Alec had a troubled past that he didn't want to reveal to Marissa right away because he didn't want her to run for the hills. His past consist of some poor decisions and consequences that resulted from his bad decision-making. However, moving away from that life was his way of starting over and keeping out of trouble. At first I really didn't trust Alec because every time Marissa would try to get to know something about his past he would tell her he would tell her in due time. Plus he got pretty jealous quickly after they had only shared one night together and that in my mind put some red flags up.Kristian is the best guy friend any female would want their life. He is pretty much perfect. Protective, thoughtful, a great listener, gave great advice, strong, brave, good looking, easy going, selfless, and always there for you no matter what. I envied Marissa for having that type of relationship with Kristian. Those types of relationships are few and far between.The sex scenes let me just say read them slow and savior them because they are extremely hot!I would really love to see this book as a movie one day! I think it would be great if the right actors and actresses were cast in the roles and it was done right without skipping parts in the book. Nothing in this book should be skipped over.I would really like to see a sequel to this wonderful book. I may have to read it a couple times and wish each time that a sequel will follow. ☺

It is ironic, for most of the book, I really liked the flow and how things were going...what I struggled with is that I liked Marissa, but I didn't like her. Or rather, her actions. CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! So do not continue reading if you don't want to know what goes on later in the book.Marissa is in her senior year of college and lives with her best friend Emily. It is spring break, and they are about to embark on a much needed vacation, when she bumps into her sexy neighbor. A guy she has been secretly wanting to meet. The timing could not be better given she just broke up with her long distance boyfriend. After returning home, she and Alec meet again. Instant attraction soon leads to them dating, but things start to get complicated when Alec's past catches up with him. As their relationship progresses, he eventually confides in her the things he kept hidden about himself and the fact that he wasn't always a stand up guy.I really liked Alec. Yes, he made quite a mess of his life, but he spent 3 years getting back on track. I could understand her hesitancy to be with someone with his kind of past, and what that could potentially mean for her especially since she had goals and didn't figure they would see each other after she graduated. She just got out of a long distance relationship and did not plan on getting into another one. However, when she decided she was going to take a chance on him, she should have been THERE. And here is where I struggled with her. One of her closest friends was another guy, Kristian. I'm a firm believer in men and women can be friends, but NOT if you're remotely attracted to each other. That is just a recipe for disaster, especially if you are in a relationship already, or are embarking on committing to one.SPOILERS coming up....And NO, being friends does not mean you can grind on each other when dancing! Marissa just pissed me off. You don't sleep with a guy, plan on continuing sleeping with a guy then go out dancing with your "friend" and grind on him. Especially since he has a girlfriend that I am sure would not be ok with you doing that. Have a little respect for each of your partners. And then to get pissed about Alec's past or women flirting with him when you bloody have no respect for his feelings when he sees you with Kristian and tells you that Kristian is into you.Emily was cool. You don't get a lot of history about Justin at the start other than he was Marissa's friend and that is how Emily and he met. I actually liked Kristian at first, especially knowing how he and Marissa met and the fact that he didn't take advantage of their friendship with his girlfriend being in another state. That starts to change when he begins acting like a possessive douche once Marissa and Alec get together. How she was so blind to his actions given Alec called them out often enough was beyond me. And the ending just about killed me. I wasn't surprised to find out who was stalking her....I was just disappointed in her and her treatment of Alec.And having sex with Kristian because she was pissed at Alec was the lowest thing she could have done. For such a smart girl, she was a total idiot in believing Alec cheated on her...like really? He says he loves you, but would completely risk your relationship by having sex with a MAID!? In your room knowing you would be back any minute, and on top of that, leave evidence behind? Can you be any dumber? Rant over. So yes, I liked Marissa at one point, but completely hated her later. And lord knows I wished Alec would have walked away from her at the end...which is SO against my nature...I love romance books...with intrigue and suspense, what could be better...it's just she didn't give him a chance to explain anything...she was just WAITING for him to slip up and that was just so unfair.Hence my rating. When I dislike a character so much, it is hard for me to love a book. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think others will enjoy it and probably not be as hard on Marissa as I am!

So many graphic sex scenes tended to take away from a plot that was ok until it got to witness protection. Anyone in law enforcement will throw up their hands, or roll on the floor laughing, at the naive depiction of this procedure. (I apologize if this is a spoiler for anyone.) One would think that students serious enough to graduate with college degrees would have better grammar. I guess it's an ok beach read but won't be following this author.

It's nice to get a freebie thats half decent. Marissa & Alec wonderful chemistry. Who do you trust? You will have to wait & see & it's not what you expect. Although I did get an inkling.I'm starting to get selective with the YA reads but this one was OK.

I quiet enjoyed this story. You think it's all about two young people finding each other after living in the same building for two years. But it turns out to be so much more. And the people you think are your friend might not be after all. Very well done. I truly enjoyed it.

Well this was a twist and turns book and I enjoyed it. I didn't see the end coming but it was good. Marissa is nearing the end of her college year, moving on to study marine biology but before she graduates she meets Alec, a guy she's watched and longed for but never pursued at the time due to her boyfriend, now recently single she comes face to face with Alec and they have an instant connection. Their relationship moves forward and begins to be more but something sinister is waiting for both Alec and Marissa, neither will see it coming but it will strain their relationship. I did enjoy this story but found Marissa to be a bit naive at times and too quick to judge. Alec is sweet and sexy, with his own issues but I loved the fact he was so willing to tell Marissa about his past. Great story, plot, and characters. The sex is great, and the emotion is there. Would recommend, but it's not the usual love conquers all ending which is different.

I did enjoy this book & have read all of L.P. Dovers other books which I love! This story was very good & had some great characters, but also left me with a few loose ends in my mind. That's the only reason I've given it 4 stars, not 5. I just found certain bits just didn't make sense to me as to why it would happen that way or what happened to certain people within the story line. It wasn't complete in my mind like all the other books she's written. It's the joy of writing though I guess, as can do whatever you please!