I do not like Daring Deception. The hero, Nathan, has known heroine Rachel for two years because she helps her grandfather and Nathan runs Grandpa’s bank. Nonetheless Nathan knows Rachel is a man eater with no morals who sleeps around because he witnessed Rachel steal another girl’s fiancé a year before he came to work for Grandpa. In truth the other girl is Rachel’s cousin, roommate and business partner and the fiancé is a fortune hunter. The cousin had agreed to let Rachel try to steal her guy because she did not believe he had been after her money. Nonetheless, Nathan is never wrong.
Rachel is in love with Nathan, supposedly, although it’s hard to believe when they spend almost no time together. It turns out Nathan is in love with Rachel too, although he despises her and fights the attraction. Again, hard to believe.
Plot Synopsis – Click to Avoid Spoilers
Grandpa needs someone go retrieve love letters his good friend had written to a dead aristocrat. The letters would hurt aristo’s wife and embarrass his family and Grandpa was good friends with both the lady and her lover. Lady’s nephew swiped the letters and is blackmailing her. (Yes, the plot is this dumb.) Will Nathan please whistle up a blonde bombshell and go get the letters while bombshell distracts the villain?
Nathan doesn’t have a spare blonde in his pocket but, oh yes, Rachel! Rachel is blonde and gorgeous and of course, being a man eating slut can surely vamp the villain. Rachel protests but goes along with it. She nearly loses her temper when Nathan takes her aside to explain just why he knows she can do this little job and gets so mad she decides not to tell Nathan about her cousin. Nathan threatens to tell Grandpa about Rachel’s dark side and Rachel manages to not tell him that it was Gramps who sent her to extricate cousin.
Nathan is lucky at cards and Villain loves to gamble for high stakes, so off to Tahoe we go, where Nathan engages Villain in card game while Rachel leans over him and pretends to be his lucky talisman. Villain invites Nathan to his house – oh, be sure to bring the blonde too – and off we trot. While Nathan gambles with Villain Rachel goes exploring and finds the letters in Villain’s bedside table. The next morning Rachel flirts while Nathan grabs the letters and we leave quickly, but not before Rachel and Nathan end up in bed together.
The next day Nathan comes by Rachel’s apartment, meets cousin, realizes Rachel is not the vamp he thought. Explanations, I Love You, and Happy Ever After. Supposedly.
Characters, Really?
If this were real life if I were Rachel I’d avoid Nathan like poison. He only believes her not to be a slut/vamp/man eater after he talks to cousin. Despite knowing each other for two years, seeing her up close for a few days, sleeping together, Nathan still does not trust Rachel without third party proof. This is not a good way to start a life together.
I don’t think Rachel loves Nathan either. She likes his body, she likes what she knows about his personality although she knows he doesn’t like her even before she learned what he thought about her. She is hurt by his nasty comments and accusations and angry and gleefully anticipates showing him the truth. She knows almost nothing about the man himself before their Tahoe weekend.
And shall we look at Grandpa? A man who cheerfully sends his beloved granddaughter and well-liked and respected friend to tangle with a villain and all to prevent embarrassment to someone else?
Nope, I do not buy that any of these people know what love is. Nathan and Rachel may be happy together, but it will blow up the first time Nathan has a breath of suspicion against Rachel, and she will never know where she truly stands with him. Nathan was able to sleep with a woman he claimed to despise, tell her the next morning it was a one night stand, not a relationship, who then claims later his is in love.
Not only is the plot incredibly stupid the people and their motivations are inane, juvenile, and yes, stupid.
Overall
I finished this stupid story because I bought it and wanted to get to the end. It isn’t worth wasting your time and certainly do not waste your money.
2 Stars
I purchased my E copy on Harlequin.com and you can get Kindle E versions on Amazon. Look at Amazon and used book sites for paperback copies.
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