ARC Review: ‘Lies Like Love’ by Eva Simmons
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of the book from Wordsmith Publicity in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Lies Like Love
by Eva SimmonsSeries: Twisted Roses #1
Published by Self-Published on September 29, 2023
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance
Format: eArc
Source: Wordsmith Publicity
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I made a mistake.
Hearts are the most fragile part of the body, and I trusted mine with Jude Carlisle.
My villain. My weakness. My stepbrother.
Fairytales have a way of turning the most innocent things wicked.
Jude lied through his teeth, and I fell for every word. Then he burned both our families to the ground in a sick game of revenge and never looked back.
When I see him again years later—tattooed, pierced, as vicious and lethal as ever—I should know better. Except this time, I'm not the girl looking for a hero. And I'm tempted to let Jude eat me alive if it means I'll finally be his.
I thought I knew the truth.I thought I unmasked all the monsters.I thought I understood how our story would end.
But the trouble with wolves is they’re always lying. And what big lies mine told.
It’s a known fact by now that I’m a HUGE fan of Eva Simmons’s books. When she announced she was going to write a darker and steamier series, I immediately added it to my TBR, especially since I enjoyed her other two series, Seattle Singles, and Enemy Muse. I loved that she centered her new series where the main characters own and work at a tattoo parlor. I already knew from the first chapter that this book was going to be another book I was going to have a hard time putting down.
Felicity finds herself inside a tattoo parlor, hoping that the body piercer who pierced her friend will consider selling her body jewelry. The issue is that the body piercer is someone she hasn’t seen in eleven years, and she never thought she would see him again. She should hate him for what he did to their families, but instead, she finds herself constantly in his presence and him trying to push her away. She refuses to leave and will push his buttons at every turn, even though she knows he’ll never be her hero.
Jude Carlisle is not the same guy that Felicity met years ago before their parents unexpectedly married. He knows she sees him as the villain after he ruined both of their families, and he will continue to make her see him that way in order to protect her from what happened eleven years ago. He’s been harboring secrets from her, and he knows she’s at risk of finding out the truth if she continues to push at him, but when the past comes back to haunt them both, he knows he’s the only one who can protect her from the demons he’s been trying to hide her from.
Eva Simmons knows how to write sweet guys in her romance stories, but when it comes to Jude Carlisle, he’s anything but sweet. She wrote an MMC that is downright an a-hole to the FMC, but you ignore those red flags because it’s obvious he’s doing it to protect her from something or someone, and maybe it’s from him. I will always love characters like Jude because it was obvious he had a story behind him that needed to be told, and I loved when he finally gave into those feelings he had for Felicity. He’s not the sweet-talking guy in the bedroom; he’s the downright dirty, do-as-you-are-told guy, otherwise suffer the consequences. He is all about Felicity, too, when he does give in, and he won’t let anyone take her from him. I could type up the whole review about him solely, but how about I go into why I loved Felicity, too?
I loved Felicity and how she was her own bada$$ because she was not going to let anyone dictate her life. Not her grandparents, who wanted her to live that life of luxury but with rules and stipulations, and not Jude, who was trying to push her out of his life of fighting and partying that he didn’t want her a part of. I loved how she handled everyone in her life, especially Jude, and she put him in his place several times in this book. She handled his jerk ways like a champ.
This is a darker read than usual from Eva Simmons, and I recommend checking out her website, which lists her content warnings about this book. I do not mind triggers in my books, but some readers may need to know what they are getting into before reading the book. This book does touch on some difficult topics that involve the FMC, and I was not expecting the twist to the story when everything was revealed, but I now understood Jude’s character a lot better, which is why I didn’t mind his attitude. Eva did leave me shocked by the twist at the ending, and I wasn’t expecting it. I had to reread that part to make sure I read it correctly and not in a bad way.
A good example is when you are watching a movie and something happens that you need to rewind to make sure your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. That was what happened when reading that particular part of the book. Seriously, I was not expecting that twist to the storyline, and I was shocked by the characters.
I thought Eva’s other series were friggin’ fantastic, but after reading this book and learning all about Jude Carlisle and his fellow tattoo artists and friends, Sage and Crew, this series may take the top spot away from the Enemy Muse series, and I LOVED that series! I wish I could give this book more than five stars; that’s how much I enjoyed it. It’s definitely steamier, and I loved that Eva went dark with this one. I can’t wait to read Sage and Crew’s books because you get a taste of those guys in Jude’s book.
Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Steam/Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶.5
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Twisted Roses series.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. I highly recommend this book to readers who love tattooed/pierced MMCs who immediately let the FMC know he’ll never be her hero because he prefers being the villain, especially when he’s protecting her.
Genre/SubGenre(s): Romance | Contemporary Romance | Dark Romance
Trope(s)/Element(s): Stepbrother Romance | Forbidden Romance | OTT Jealous/Possessive MMC | Morally Grey/AntiHero MMC | Tattooed/Pierced MMC
Favorite Quote(s): “Eyes on me, Red.” Jude wraps his hand a final time. “Watch what you make me do.”
Fel can run, but she can’t hide. And she can hate me all she wants–she’s mine now. I’m not giving her back to them.
Just like I’d sell my soul for her, she can’t deny I’m the drug in her veins. I’m the high she’s chased until she couldn’t help but feed her addiction.
“Don’t you dare look away from me when I’m touching you, Felicity.” He leans in to graze his lips over mine in a taunt. “I want you to watch every wicked thing you let me do to you. Deny it all you want; we both know you’ve always dreamed of being my bad girl.”
About Eva Simmons
Eva Simmons writes hot, heartbreaking romance with complex heroines, and broken, dirty-talking bad boys who fall hard for them.
When Eva isn’t dreaming up new worlds or devouring every book she can get her hands on, she can be found spending time with her family, painting a fresh canvas, or playing an elf in World of Warcraft.
Eva is currently living out her own happily ever after in Nevada with her family.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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