Saturday, August 10, 2013

Come Undone: The Love Me With Lies Series by Tarryn Fisher

" You can only give your heart away once, after that,
 everything else will chase your first love."

A little over a year ago I marked this book as to-read.  Friends warned me that they had read that The Opportunist isn't HEA.  I didn't care.  Something about this book kept calling to me and I jumped in.  

When I was about 19% into the story I read
""When I look up, his face has gone from its usual tomato red to an ugly shade of scared shitless."
My only thought was  "I'm in deep like with this book." 

(Goodreads Blurb)
Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.
Olivia Kaspen is a broken person.  She never got over her first love, Caleb Drake, a fact that slaps her firmly in the face when she sees him in a music store.  As Olivia talks to Caleb, she finds out that he was in an accident that caused amnesia.  Not only does he not know who he is, he has no idea who she is and doesn't remember the hurt they had caused each other.  Olivia sees her second chance and clutches it with both hands.

Olivia and Caleb spend this book getting to know each other. As Olivia and Caleb get closer, the sexual sparks fly and Olivia's feelings of guilt multiply.  

Caleb's new girlfriend, Leah, shows up.  Leah has no idea that Caleb and Olivia used to date,  but she is determined to hang on to Caleb and force him to remember what they shared.  Leah begins to stalk and dig and eventually discovers that Olivia has been lying to Caleb about who she is.

Caleb and Olivia's love is obsessive, possessive, and deeply toxic.  Is there any hope for a future once Caleb discovers their past?

(Goodreads Blub)
Dear Opportunist, 
You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever. 
Dirty Red
Leah Smith finally has everything she has ever wanted. Except she doesn't. Her marriage feels more like a loan than a lifelong commitment, and the image she has worked so hard to build is fraying before her eyes. With a new role and a past full of secrets, Leah must decide how far she is willing to go to keep what she has stolen.

Now that Olivia Kaspen is out of the way.  Leah is determined to have her happily-ever-after with her husband, Caleb, and their new baby.  Olivia may have held Caleb's fascination and may still consume his thoughts, but she doesn't have what Leah now has: Caleb's child.

Dirty Red is told from Leah's point of view.  Sometimes we are taken back to the time during Caleb's amnesia and we see what she was going through.  That being said, this is not simply a retelling of the same story.  Caleb and Leah now have a family and are facing a completely new set of challenges.  But...

Olivia is not out of the picture and is never far from Leah's mind.  Although Caleb doesn't talk about Olivia, Leah knows that Olivia still holds Caleb's heart.  
"My name is Leah, and I will do anything to keep my husband."


(Goodreads Blurb)
Note to Self

Love is patient; love is kind.
Love doesn't boast or brag.
There's no arrogance in love;
it's never rude, crude, or indecent-it's not self absorbed.
Love isn't easily upset.
Love doesn't tally wrongs.
Love trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.
Love will never become obsolete.
I'll fight for her.

Thief


Caleb Drake never got over his first love. Not when he got married. Not when she got married. When life suddenly comes full circle Caleb must decide how how far he is willing to go to get the aloof and alluring Olivia Kaspen back. But for every action in life there is a consequence, and soon Caleb finds out that sometimes love comes at an unbearably high price.
Finally, FINALLY, we get Caleb's point of view.  Thief alternates between the past and the present.  We get Caleb's view on the time of his amnesia.  We get his reasoning behind dating and eventually marrying Leah.  Through Caleb's eyes we see the whole back and forth of his and Olivia's relationships, over a decade of push and pull.
“How many times can a heart be broken before it is beyond mend? How many times can I wish to not be alive? How can one human being cause such a crack in my existence? I alternate between periods of numbness and inconceivable pain all in the span of — an hour? An hour feels like a day, a day feels like a week. I want to live, and then I want to die. I want to cry, and then I want to scream.”
As much as I loved Caleb before, I fell for him all over again.  He is passionate, romantic, and he loves Olivia in ways that are sometime unfathomable.  The steps he takes to protect and love her are astounding.
“The plans were in motion. In six weeks I would ask Olivia — no — I would tell Olivia, to marry me. She would probably say no, but I’d just keep asking — or telling. That’s what happened when you were possessed by a woman. All of a sudden you stopped running from love and started breaking all of your own rules … making a fool of yourself. I was okay with that.” 
This series is filled with lies, betrayal, and hurt, but I have never read a more romantic love story.  I loved every minute and cherished every tear. 
 “Broken people give broken love. And we are all a little broken. You just have to forgive and sew up the wounds love delivers, and move on.”




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