Deadly Illusion
by Kathy Lockheart
FAIRY TALES AREN'T SUPPOSED TO END IN MURDER
A sexy fighter saw her bruises. Now he’ll die to protect her. Maybe even kill…
Jenna was determined to leave her dark past behind her and build the life she’d always wanted, but just when she thought all her dreams were finally coming true, a shocking incident shattered her fairy-tale life, and now she’s hiding a terrible secret—a secret that could cost her everything. Damian is as gorgeous as he is mysterious, keeping his own dark secrets from everyone he meets. He never thought he’d care about anything again…until he meets Jenna. He knows letting her get close to him will put her in danger, but when he suspects Jenna’s in trouble, there’s only one thing that matters: protecting her at all costs. Thrust into a terrifying nightmare where a threat looms in every shadow, Jenna and Damian find themselves in a race for survival. Soon, everyone Jenna loves is in peril, and only the ultimate sacrifice can save them…
Spice Level: 2/6 | Story Score: 7/10 | Rating: 3/5 |
This book is all over my TikTok (or at least it was) and so I was trying to continue my “good recs from TikTok” streak. I love a protective hero.
// I don’t know why it is so impossible for me to remember character names like 15 seconds after I finish a book. But I’m writing this 3 books late and now I definitely don’t remember names.
FMC grew up in a sad household due to her sibling dying at the age of 5 but she’s very close to her brother. She goes to college and then moves to Chicago where he lives to work. She meets Guy#1 and they start dating and she lives in bliss for like 7 months before one day hurting her. She tries to dump him but he begs and pleads and she still loves him and blah (BARF) so she stays. But the trust and comfort is already broken and she finds herself walking a fine line that eventually she tires of. So she dumps him…and he tries to kill her. Insert Damian (Guy#2). She met Damian the day after Incident#1 at a company team-building event at his gym. She was clumsy and her herself and he made sure she was okay and got her an ice-pack and such. Her brother is attacked one day and Damian is there to take her to the hospital and he waits with her. After she ends up in the hospital after Incident#2 where Guy#1 tried to kill her, Damian shows up at her hospital room. He and her brother decide that she will stay with Damian to be safe for a while because Guy#1 isn’t going to stop. They become quite good friends and he teaches her some self-defense moves. Damian has his own demons though so they don’t date. Eventually, they get together but it’s obvious that Guy#1 still isn’t going to stop so they decide to run. Before they can do that, all hell breaks loose which is in spoilers.
FMC is a confusing character for me. She’s smart, but still chooses to do the stupid stuff, so she’s infuriating. Damian is a great guy but honestly, I feel like he’s two steps behind Guy#1. Guy#1 is awful.
This was not a romance book. I will not recommend it to anyone that wants romance or happily-ever-afters. Does it have a HEA? Kind of. FMC and Damian do end up together.
-SPOILERS-
After the 1 sex scene (yes, you only get 1 and it is less than MILDLY done), you find out that her brother didn’t make it home from visiting her. Guy#1 took him and he calls her to lure her to the Willis Tower. She gets there and he’s on the broken glass just having to wait until it breaks to die. She fights with Guy#1 a lot, yada yada. But the issue here is that 1st: her brother can’t move his legs. Guy#1 has severed his spinal cord. Ok, so obviously I’m already upset. THEN, eventually the glass breaks and her brother plummets to his death.
Y’all, I wasn’t prepared. Her brother was an awesome guy. He was the shit and then they KILLED HIM. Three books later and I’m still upset about it.
Add in the other drama of it turning out that the dad that left Guy#1’s mom and him became MMC’s step-dad and beat the shit out of him for fun growing up…to which Damian later killed him for his hitting his mom…and you have that fucked up shared past.
Also, she ends up pregnant from their one night of getting it on and then somehow managed to not lose that while having the crap knocked out of her and then being pulled across jagged glass that cuts her body to smithereens.
I didn’t like this one. You let me down TikTok.
Book #1 in the Secrets and the City series | 341 Pages | Trope Challenge: -Not on Challenge- |
“I want to know every inch of you,” he whispered, climbing on top of me. He cupped my chest, and I sucked in a breath. He kissed my neck, my shoulder. “Every curve.” Lips on my collarbone. “Every pleasure point.” Teeth grazing my chest. This time I could feel the wetness of his tongue.
- Damian, Deadly Illusion by Kathy Lockheart
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