Arabella Anthony sees lies.
They dance across everyone’s skin in a never-ending torment, visible only to her. It’s a power some would do anything to possess.
Anything.
A hot commodity, she uses her powers to her advantage, gaining wealth, prestige, and a place at the side of the most powerful man in Florida.
Arabella finally has everything she’s ever wanted.
Or does she?
After a shattering loss, her perfect world suddenly doesn’t seem so perfect.
And she realizes that sometimes the easiest person to lie to is yourself.
Emotionally devastating in the best possible way
Deceived by J. Nichole Parkins completely gutted me emotionally. I’ve had a book hangover for 3 days because of it. There are very few books I can honestly say ripped me a part the way Deceived did.
Well written, emotional, and unique, Deceived gives the reader the story from Arabella’s point of view. The first book, Burned was from Kyra’s perspective. Normally, I’m not a fan of books that seem to be the same story told by a different character. This is NOT that kind of book. While they did interact in Burned, Kyra and Arabella have very different stories. Deceived also continues past the big cliffhanger we encountered at the end of Burned. Parkins was “nice” enough to give us another, even bigger and badder cliffhanger at the end of Deceived.
In this world, we have vampires, shifters, fey, and just people with different abilities. It’s pretty cool. Arabella’s ability is that she can see when people are lying. I can see how that can be beneficial, but I can also see where that could really suck. The people she cares about are using her and it just breaks your heart knowing how stuck in her situation she really is.
One thing I really liked about this book is how the sex scenes are written. I’m not into romance. Yes, I read it, but mainly because I love vampire books and it seems like the majority of them insist on having lovey sexy times. The scenes where characters are about to get it on are passionate, and give just enough detail to let us know what is about to happen or just happened without going into detail. I very much appreciate that.
I highly recommend this book and this series to anyone looking for something that’s not your typical paranormal book. Deceived can be read as a stand alone, but reading Burned first will really help you get a better feel for the story. If you read Deceived first, it will ruin the cliffhanger in Burned.
