Deception (Infidelity, #3)

by Aleatha Romig

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

4.5 stars

Man, where to start with this review. This is a unique series. It falls in the genre of romance, but I’ve had a really hard time deciding what sub-genre to put it in. One, this series follows the same couple throughout the series, which is not something you normally see in romance. Two, you could call it contemporary romance with some BDSM aspects. There are a lot of suspense in this series, but not what I think of when I think of romantic suspense. It isn’t action with a lot of guns and stuff. More like family deception (hence the name of this book, not couple deception). There is learning more and more about the side characters, which have a lot to hide.

This book picks up right where Cunning leaves off. Charli/Alex starts school, but it doesn’t take long before things go all wrong. Nox is walking her to school through Central Park and they are shot at (I know I said there isn’t a ton of guns, but there is some). Nox takes her out of the city and to his estate in Connecticut. He gets very protective of her (and he has some good reasons for it).
There are questions about who was the target of the shooting. Was it Alex? Was it Nox? Is it possible that the woman who was shot was the actual target and they were in the wrong place at the wrong time? There is a lot going on.

While most of the book is told from Nox and Alex’s POV, we do get some from his father and her mother. Some of Adelaide’s (Alex’s mother) and Oren’s (Nox’s father) are told in the past, which is very insightful. This gives us, as the reader, more information than the characters have. While I thought both of the parents were fairly horrible people, I’ve learned that they had their reasons for what they did (not that it makes their actions right).

I will warn you that this book ends with quite the cliffhanger. The good news is that the entire series is already out in both print/ebook and audiobook, so no waiting, no matter you chosen method to tackle this series.

So I have two more books in this series. I’m very excited to see where the series goes from here. I’m very invested in Alex/Charli and Nox. I feel a lot of investment into the other characters in this series too. I want to see what will happen with Alex’s friend. I’m also very interested in seeing what else pops up with this family.

If you’re a fan of Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners series, this would be a great series for you to tackle. If you like romances with a dark side, this is right up your alley.

I know that I pointed this out in the review for the first book, but it bears repeating. I know with a series name like “Infidelity”, and a book title called “Deception”, you might think there is cheating in this book. There is nothing like that between Nox and Alex. There are forms of deception (hence the name), but it is not between these two. I know that is a hard stop for many people.

Narration
I’ve continued to enjoy the narration of Samantha Prescott and Brian Pallino. I think they’ve both done a great job with the different POVs. I like the male and female voices. Samantha Prescott really does a great job with Adelaide’s very Southern debutante voice. They have great pace and tone. They’ve both done the more intense sex scenes and done them well.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.