A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1) [Kindle Edition]

I am definitely a Tara Sivec fan, but this book fell flat for me. I would never make an as*hole comment like "she should stick to romantic comedy," but I do strongly feel she overreached her expertise when she chose to take on an action story with so many moving parts. More on that later - let's start with the good.

The Pros:

- Layers and layers of secrets. Think "Gone Girl" level of lies and surprises. I imagined that Ms. Sivec had to keep a physical storyboard (pictures, names, locations, aliases, titles) just to organize the number of characters and their histories.

- Good pacing. The action keeps the story moving. This is one of those "don't want to put it down because I'm on the verge of another revelation" books. I finished it in two days, which is quick considering the length of the book.

- Hot sex. I appreciate that Ms. Sivec isn't afraid to stray into the erotica realm, since this story is targeted to a slightly older (late 20's) demographic than the Chocolate Lovers series.

Unfortunately, there's only so much suspension of disbelief that a reader can stomach before the mountain of "coincidences" become completely implausible. I tried very hard to not nitpick, but these flaws and holes were impossible to ignore.

The Cons:

- Terminology/technicality issues. There are too many instances of unlikely/incorrect protocols, partnerships, laws and missions to ignore. The military and government have very distinct processes for approaching international conflicts, and the way this story is written is not the way it would be handled in real life. However, I digress on this point because I understand that most readers won't nitpick at things like "Wait, that is not the agency that is supposed to handle that part of the mission" or "That guy would not be that other guy's boss." Whatever, I let it go :)

- Ridiculous timing. There were far too many instances of impossibly timed, serendipitous moments when the right character heard or saw the exact important detail needed to move the story along. It was frustrating that the story was held together by convenient coincidences.

- The "surprises" became grueling. There are only so many "gotcha" moments an author can pull before the reader stops trusting that anything is real. It was like a never-ending Russian nesting doll of "just kiddings."

- The insufferable heroine and hero. Despite their highly specialized careers, those two acted like a pair of irrational teenagers straight from the "New Adult" genre. Their relationship had all the hallmarks of a bad teen romance: jumping to conclusions, long and painfully overwrought misunderstandings that the two never stopped to resolve, going from hot to cold with a single sentence, etc. It was a little insulting to their respective career fields that McCarthy and Parker were portrayed as so impetuous, temperamental and melodramatic.

- The characters are completely one-dimensional. The good guys are selfless and virtuous, the villains are disgusting monsters with no sympathetic qualities or redeeming traits. The only flaws in the perfect hero and heroine are that they put up "walls" and wear "masks" to conceal their feelings for each other. It's such an overused character device that I'm frankly angry to see it used in a book that is supposed to cater to mature readers. Most of us in our late 20's don't act like emo teens over our childhoods anymore.

I personally had higher expectations for Ms. Sivec with this story since I think she's capable of writing with so much heart and finesse, but (and this is a major but!) she did a damn good job for a writer going outside of her genre and comfort zone. I'd recommend this to readers who are less likely to question the details and just enjoy the ride :)

T.E. Sivec is best known for amazing, funny, hilarious, vagina talk in the Chocolate Lovers series. One of the few books that I literally laughed-out-loud the entire time reading the series. They have become my favorite books to read and I was so excited to read something new from Ms. Sivec and devour the book like I did with Chocolate Lovers. So when A Beautiful Lie was released I ordered a copy in paperback and couldn't wait to start it.

A Beautiful Lie is everything opposite of that of the Chocolate Lovers series. There is no humor, no completely and utterly inappropriate jokes about sex, and the use of the word vagina was not used once (Dangitt!!). A Beautiful Lie is a action/mystery/romance novel about three best friends from college with a lot of Navy Seal, CIA action thrown in. Annabelle Parker meets two cute boys in a coffee shop during her senior year of college. Her heart flutters for one but she is afraid of love and takes the safe route and picks the boy that makes her laugh and will eventually learn to love over time. The three instantly become best friends even though Parker is with Milo (the boy who made her laugh) while pining for Garrett who also is secretly in love with Parker as well. Love triangle anyone? Eight years later Milo is killed in action while working as a Navy Seal. His best friend Garrett and fiancé Parker think there is more to his death then what the Navy is telling them. They go on a mission to find the truth about Milo's death but end up realizing everything they thought they knew about each other is one big lie.

Sounds great right? I thought so too... I love a good mystery novel with romance thrown in; add a love triangle and I am there! The first 30 pages or so of the book I was hooked, I absolutely loved Garrett and Parker's relationship right off the bat. Garrett is a sexy Navy Seal with the brains to boot and is incredibly romantic- in a secret way since Parker never knew how he felt.

The book is mostly in the POV of Parker and Garrett and you understand right away that they have loved each other in secret the past eight years as Garrett watched his best friend get the girl he always wanted. There are glimpses throughout the book about past events- which kind of confused me at times because it was just thrown into a section of the book without any type of page break or different font/italics.

The book started to lose me after about 30 pages in, almost up until the end. Don't get me wrong, there were times in the middle of the book I liked a lot and some parts I even loved but I was getting really bored for many of the scenes. I found some of the CIA/Navy Seal scenes to be a little over the top and unrealistic in my opinion. With that said, the book definitely picked up towards the end- I totally did not see the ending coming at all, at least not how it all played out and who was really who. It had my full attention!

The CIA/Navy Seal aspect in this book may have not been for me but I loved the love triangle between Parker, Garrett and Milo. The ending was kick-ass with a lot of suspense and had me reading so fast so I could find out what was really going on. I give Ms. Sivec total props for writing a completely different type of book then what she has in the past. I think she is a very talented writer and loved the idea of what A Beautiful Lie is; I just didn't love the book.

I give A Beautiful Lie 3 Stars.

4.5 Stars Reviewed for totallybookedblog.com

I have to honest and say when I initially picked this book up I went into it with reservations. Not about T E Sivec's (Tara Sivec) talent because I had loved her Chocolate Series and know she can write wonderful characters and engaging stories, but this book about Navy Seals, which has suspense, romance and drama was such a departure from her previous work I did wonder how she was going to pull it off.

Well how misplaced were those concerns and how clueless was I to ever question if she could do this! There is no doubt in my mind that this author nailed this genre! This book had it all. It was intriguing, romantic, suspenseful and not only that but this felt like more than a story, this book was like an adventure on pages and it was a journey I was on all the way!

The story does build quite slowly at first while we're introduced to the main characters Annabelle (Parker), Garrett (be still my book boyfriend heart!) and Milo and acquire background detail on their story. Three friends who are as close as friends could get. These three have an unbreakable bond. They've shared and experienced so much together and you really feel the camaraderie between them.

I loved the characters of Parker and Garrett instantly. I connected with them and I was invested in these two from the very first page. I liked Milo, but he didn't have the same pull for me that the other two did.

I know the third person writing can be a distraction for some people but I never felt it in this book at all. I felt the moments and I loved the switch between Parker and Garrett which allowed me to see both sides of the story and therefore feel an all round connection with what was going on around them.

Parker has to be up there as one of my favourite book heroines. This girl has it all. She's confident, kick ass, full of personality, is strong yet incredibly vulnerable at same time. There are times I just wanted to give her a big. This girl really does get put through the wringer. What a wonderfully refreshing female character Parker was.

I loved the way the story unfolded, I loved the flashbacks which gave us glimpses into their pasts and I was left positively gasping in parts due to the pure suspense of the story. Talk about getting the adrenaline pumping! I have to be honest and say I haven't read many suspense stories, but if this is anything to go by I need to venture out more because this one definitely kept me on my toes.

I was there every step of the way, I went everywhere they went, I saw it through their eyes and I felt everything they felt and at times it left me breathless!

I was astounded at the level of detail T E Sivec brought to this book. It floored me how realistic the scenarios were that played out before my eyes. I'm guessing a lot of research went into writing this story.

Be sure to dust off a spot on the book boyfriend shelf ladies because Garrett McCarthy is going to steal your heart! This alpha, hot Navy Seal definitely had me fanning myself on more than a few occasions. If I was ever caught in a dangerous situation this is the guy I want by my side. Oh hell, even if I wasn't in a dangerous situation I'd want Garret beside me!

Did I forget to mention the steam factor in this book? Yep, it's pretty steamy that's for sure, but the sex scenes aren't contrived and felt real. They were passionate, romantic and hot indeed with the chemistry and sexual tension making me anticipate every moment.

As I said before, this story is a slow burner and I urge you to hang on and strap yourself in because once it takes flight you will eventually be taken on a ride through some intense, suspenseful, emotional, dramatic and passionate scenes, in a story that I hope will bring as much to you as it did me.

The conclusion was perfect, the epilogue was beautiful and I even shed a few tears. All in all this was an enjoyable reading experience.

ARC supplied for an honest review