Review: Lie To Me by Tori St. Claire

Lie To Me
By: Tori St. Claire

Ebook: 352 pages

Publisher: Berkley Heat

ISBN: 9780425253076

Source: author for an honest review

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Series: Black Opals #2

Read in order: No can be read as a stand alone

Stars: 3.5

Flames: 5

Summary from Goodreads
After helping to break up a Russian human trafficking ring as part of the CIA’s elite Black Opal team, Alexei Nikanova’s newest assignment is to rescue one of the stolen women and return her to her father. When he arrives in Dubai, he discovers his target is Sasha Zablosky—a woman he knows all too well, and who has haunted him ever since their one unforgettable night together. But he finds Sasha reluctant to leave her Sheik, the only true friend she’s ever known. Only Alexei can’t give her a choice.

With their yearning roused by intrigue, Alexei and Sasha can no longer resist and spend night after night in forbidden pleasure. Soon Alexei finds himself falling for her even as he battles a shadowy menace to protect her. But Sasha is no innocent. She has a past darker than she could ever admit or that Alexei could ever forgive. And it is about to explode into her life once more. Now, as the lies they tell themselves—and each other—pull them deeper into a perilous desire, what began as simple passion becomes a love certain to destroy them and end the lives of countless innocents.


Review

I did not realize that this was number two in the series until after I finished it. This story had a lot in it. The book was well written and the length was good. There are two instances of M/F/M ménage also. My problem  with the story was that even though I did like the book it wasn’t one that I had to finish right away. It didn’t pull me in for the ride and not let go. Because of this I am giving this 3.5 stars. It was better than average but not quite a must read for me.

Sasha and Alexei both have had hard lives growing up and as adults. They have always treasured the time that they had together but never believed they would see each other again. Alexei goes undercover to retrieve the last woman that was part of a human trafficking ring. He doesn’t realize the woman he is to rescue is the same one he thought was forever gone from him. When Sasha accidentally blows his cover in a moment of passion the fun starts from there on. Lots of running, trying to stay alive and gun play. You never know who you can trust.

The characters needed to grow emotionally and learn how to let others in as well as each other. We get to see this during the course of the story. The two main characters both believe that they have done things so horrible in the past that the other would not want to be with them should they find out. So they of course do not tell each other and what happens but it ends up surfacing anyway.

This story was full of double agents. Sasha and Alexei never know who they can trust most times. Someone was always trying to kill them or kidnap Sasha. The story was very fast paced with a lot of action in it. I honestly did not figure out who the bad guy was until the very end. The author did a really good job at keeping me guessing on this.

Misha joins the group a little later in the book. He is Alexei’s best friend and the one who helped him get into the Black Opals. We learn a little about him and his past. I am hoping that the next book also concentrates more on Misha. He was my favorite character in this story and I would like to see more of him.

In the end they catch the bad guy and all is forgiven. There is also an Epilogue that lets you know what happens a few months later. I really approved of where the author took this story. It was a great ending.

I enjoyed this story and I do recommend reading it. I am looking forward to the next book.  Also I like the cover for this book. I am thinking of going back and reading the first in the series to see what I missed.