The Truth about Us

by Aly Martinez

[stacey_is_sassy]

***IT'S ALIVE!!!***

When the Truth hurts more...

I berate myself constantly when I sign up for a review copy of a duet. I know that I’ll finish the first instalment and be frustrated and impatient for the second one. When Aly Martinez brings out a duet, I try to talk myself out of signing up with very little success. I know that she’s going to push me to my limits, make me cry and feel extremely violent. Aly’s duets also manage to bring out my smile, make me sigh with contentment and squirm in delight. I know I'll feel love towards the characters and a deep need to protect them from evil. And this is why I’ll sign up for a duet that Aly Martinez has written.

It took me a wee while to settle into this second instalment, The Truth About Us. Again, I found myself scared to go on. There wasn’t as much physical violence in this one, but I constantly felt like the Reaper was in the background waiting to lower his scythe. Who was going to be left standing? Who told the biggest lies? Will the truth be the answer I want?

When you start a story, or, in this case, the second part of the story, you kind of think you know what you’re going to get. In The Truth About Us, I was convinced that we would be tightening up loose ends and watching Cora and her daughter River find a new path, hopefully to happiness. Well, in true Aly Martinez fashion, she had a few more twists and turns for us to survive. Honestly, there are a few surprises that I did not see coming. Evil had a new plan and he'll use his power to get what he wants.

I find myself a little bit disillusioned and disappointed when men in uniform, especially Police, are used to carry out nefarious deeds. Maybe I’m crazy but I have faith that there are good police officers out there who know right from wrong and don’t follow blindly. When I read a story that has this in it, I don’t read it in disbelief because I know there is a realistic element to it. I hate knowing that there are men in power who abuse their positions. I wish that I had "seen" this dealt with by the end of the story, but we're left to assume that it was handled.

When it came to the love story, it was always going to be a little tricky as Penn and Cora have both had love before that ended in heartbreak. I kind of think they got it right the second time around. Nic left Cora in hell and Lisa put Penn in hell. While both (Nic and Lisa) didn’t mean to, there was a touch of selfishness that still lead Cora and Penn there anyway.

I really enjoyed Cora and Penn’s journey to happiness. It was a heartbreaking story of a man with vengeance on his mind finding love in a very unlikely place. This new love will stretch their limits of trust and forgiveness. Even I struggled to get past the lies and if I was Cora, I’d want to pack River and their bags, find a boat, and row to a deserted island. Penn’s love and devotion to Cora, River and Savannah (a tagalong) showed that the risks were worth it.

A duet can be a wee bit painful if you’re the impatient sort, but Aly Martinez makes it worth the wait. The Truth Duet is an emotional journey taking you from some of the darkest places towards a life of happiness and love. Take a risk on this duet, it will be so worth it.

Thank you, Aly Martinez for my jump up and down happy buzz at the end. It's like you wrote that ending for me... 😘

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.