Cruel Lies/Cruel Promises by Faith Summers-reviews

CRUEL LIES (Cruel Secrets Duet 1) by Faith Summers

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 27, 2021

He’s my villain, my monster, my forbidden path…Caspian Ivanov and I come from the same dark world.One where the Bratva and the secret society reign.And, he’s the son of their ruthless leader.

“I’ll destroy you.”

That’s the last thing he said to me.It was on the night of the Reaping.Hard to believe we were ever best friends.His vengeance is, however, the price I pay for keeping a secret I shouldn’t have kept.A secret that ripped our families apart.It made us forbidden to each other.That’s when he became the viperous devil.

Breathtakingly beautiful but with a cold black heart.Like any snake, he wanted to poison me.When our paths collide at Raventhorn University, I stay away from him.What I don’t expect is to become his obsession.Or to be forced to become his wife.Except, we might not get to say I do.

Because someone wants me dead.

••••••••••

REVIEW: CRUEL LIES is the first instalment in Faith Summers’s (Khardine Gray) contemporary, new adult CRUEL SECRETS dark, erotic, Mafia duet focusing on Mafia/Bratva heirs Caspian Ivanov, and Willow Raventhorn.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Caspian and Willow) covering several years in the life, CRUEL LIES follows the friends to enemies, acrimonious relationship between Caspian Ivanov, and Willow Raventhorn, heirs to their father’s Mafia control. Years earlier, Willow’s parents were murdered, and Caspian’s mother supposedly died by her own hand, leaving Willow and her sister in the care of extended family and friends. In the aftermath, Willow revealed a secret that labelled her persona non-grata in the eyes of the boy she once loved. Fast forward a couple of years wherein Willow’s sister tries desperately to save the life of our story line heroine but the resulting fall-out would find Willow locked up in a psychiatric hospital, fighting for someone to believe her story. Upon her release, Willow enrols at the exclusive Raventhorn University for the children of the connected criminal underworld, and a secret society of ‘Knights’, where she will come face to face with the boy she once loved, a young man who struggles to stay clear of our story line heroine. What ensues is the building but tempestuous relationship between Willow and Caspian, and the fall out as Caspian’s ongoing seduction of Willow is about to place our couple in the direct line of fire.

Caspian Ivanov, not only lost his mother, but his brother as well. As the new heir to the Ivanov family, Caspian is forbidden to contact our story line heroine but Caspian is unable to stay clear of the woman who has stolen his heart. Willow has struggled in the years since the death of her parents but years spent under someone else’s control pushes Willow to withdraw from family and friends. Starting college means a new start to life but the past refuses to let go, and in this Willow finds herself the target of some powerful people. As the soul heir to her father’s business, Willow will be forced to marry , a man she does not love, by the people in charge of the secret society.

The relationship between Willow and Caspian is a friends to enemies to frenemies relationship in which their college reconnection is forbidden , and the threat of retaliation is real and deadly. Best friends as children, Willow and Caspian’s lives will be turned upside down, and the aftermath will see Willow losing not only her parents, her sister but her best friend as well. The $ex scenes are impassioned and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of energetic and powerful secondary and supporting characters including Caspian’s brother Zak, their father Aleks, and their cousin Thorne; Willow’s friends Lucian Sokolov, and Eilish; Willow’s guardians Adrian and Elaine; Bratva heir Dorian Belkov.

CRUEL LIES is a story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, family, friendships, and relationships; hatred and love. The premise is dark, gritty and heart breaking; the romance is seductive; the characters are broken, desperate and lost. CRUEL LIES ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

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CRUEL PROMISES (Cruel Secrets Duet 2) by Faith Summers

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 21, 2022

Our vicious past dragged us into a whirlpool of dark secrets.

The villain isn’t supposed to be the hero.
Willow was always mine.
So, I’ll become whatever I need to be to save her.
Including breaking the oath I made when I became a Knight.

The oath is our life and our death.

But she is my path to redemption.
My obsession.
My love.
My wife.
I’ll walk through the fires of hell to protect her.
And the sky will rain the blood of our enemies.
I won’t stop until I get what I want.
Even if it kills me.

••••••••

REVIEW: CRUEL PROMISES is the second and final instalment in Faith Summers’ contemporary, new adult CRUEL SECRETS dark, erotic, Mafia, bully romance duet focusing on nineteen and eighteen year old, Mafia/Bratva heirs Caspian Ivanov, and Willow Raventhorn. CRUEL PROMISES should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events and cliff hanger of book one CRUEL LIES.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Caspian and Willow) CRUEL PROMISES picks up immediately after the events of book on in which Willow learns her fate and destiny at the hands of a secret society of ‘Knights’. As the heir to her late father’s business and fortune Willow quickly learns the ‘Knights’ have taken control, of not only her money, but her autonomy as well. Forced to marry a man she doesn’t love, Willow will discover that enemies will become friends, and friends will become enemies in a game of power and control, murder and revenge. As Caspian Ivanov goes in search of the truth, our ‘anti’ hero can no longer trust the people he once called family and friends, knowing the reach of money and power is greedy and long. What ensues is the building but contemptuous relationship between Caspian and Willow, and the potential fall-out as the truth reveals a more sinister darkness than they could have ever imagined.

The relationship between Caspian and Willow is acrimonious at best. Willow and Caspian had been childhood best friends but a family secret pulled Caspian out of our heroine’s life, forcing Willow to struggle with what happened on her own. Marrying Caspian has always been Willow’s fantasy and dream but forced to marry a monster meant the turmoil of a broken heart, and the possibility of losing it all. Caspian Ivanov had never stopped loving our story line heroine but life took a dark and dangerous turn for our story line ‘anti’ hero. Barely surviving the abuse and torture years before, Caspian turns his pain outwards, in an effort to protect the woman with whom he has fallen in love. The $ex scenes are aggressive and intense, with dubious and questionable consent.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of powerful and determined secondary and supporting characters including Caspian’s father Aleksander Ivanov, and his cousin Thorne; Willow’s friends Lucian Sokolov, and Eilish; Willow’s guardians Adrian and Elaine. The requisite evil has many faces.

CRUEL PROMISES is a story of power and control, money and influence, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, love and acceptance. The premise is dark, disheartening and twisted but felt a little bit rushed; the characters are haunting and tragic; the romance is dramatic and provocative.

Copies supplied for review

Reviews by Sandy

Faith Summers is the Dark Contemporary Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author, Khardine Gray.

Warning !! Expect wild romance stories of the scorching hot variety and deliciously dark romance with the kind of alpha male bad boys best reserved for your fantasies.

Dive in and enjoy her naughty page-turners.

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