Beneath The Lies

by Riann C Miller

[stacey_is_sassy]

There’s a lot going on...beneath the lies.

***3.5 Stars***

I started Beneath The Lies after a quick skim of the blurb as I enjoy them more knowing only the basics. In this case I was sucked into the storyline from the get go. The prologue introduces us to a dysfunctional family, and another family who seem almost perfect. From the start we can see that Leeta, the mother in the dysfunctional family, is a psycho chicken and has two boys who don’t even know what motherly love looks like. Their first experience of motherly love is seeing Mandy, the mother in the perfect family, with her daughter, the emerald eyed Kate. Gavin, who is eight, sees Kate who is four, and is completely drawn to her.

Years later and things have changed a lot for Kate and Gavin. After that first introduction, they don’t lay eyes on each other again for sixteen years. Kate’s mother Mandy, had died of cancer four years earlier and her father has just passed from a stroke. At the funeral, Kate is approached by Leeta who she doesn’t remember. Leeta is concerned that Kate is all by herself and offers for Kate to move to California to live with her. Feeling sad and alone, she accepts the offer. Most of the time Kate is content living with Leeta, but things start to feel a little weird. One night out with some of her new friends, she sees a man who won’t stop staring at her. She’s a little uncomfortable, but doesn’t think much of it until she sees him again and finds out that he is Leeta’s son, Gavin.

Gavin never forgot his green eyed girl, and when he sees Kate again, is determined to have her. Gavin is a little intense and I can’t say I was the hugest fan of his. He’s a little like The Hulk in that he is a big man who looses his temper and starts shouting. I understand he’s had a tough life with a psycho Mum, then a psycho girlfriend, but I’m never really comfortable with the whole…You are mine, on the first date (or there about). He’s also great at keeping secrets from Kate, but loses it when she doesn’t tell him everything.

I really enjoyed the first part and getting introduced to the main characters. Things got REALLY rocky at about the 30% mark when their age and immaturity pushed through. Kate was inexperienced and put up with a lot from Gavin and from someone who was supposed to be a friend. From there until the 50% mark my eyes were on a constant roll. After the halfway point things got back on track. Yes, they still did things that drove me bat spit crazy, but the storyline sucked me back in and I was invested in trying to work out the mystery and how Kate and Gavin would solve their problems.

By the end of Beneath The Lies I was contemplating giving it 4 stars. Then I started thinking about the hero, how he yelled at Kate and sometimes in front of others, and I had to drop it back to 3 and a ½ stars. I enjoyed this story and can definitely see myself reading this authors future work…if the hero’s was a wee bit more mature…and I didn’t want to smack him.

I received a complimentary copy of Beneath The Lies from the author for an honest review.

The release date is set for January 10, 2016.