"Deadly Deceit" by Natalie Walters

About this book:

  “Welcome back to Walton, Georgia, where everyone knows your name—but no one knows your secret.
    Independent and tenacious journalist Vivian DeMarco is back in Walton, Georgia, for one reason -- to do her job and get out. When her boss suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, Vivian's only hope for finding the truth -- and the next big story -- is small-town law enforcement's lanky poster boy, Deputy Ryan Frost. But the deeper they dig, the more twisted the truth becomes. False leads, incriminating emails, and someone called the Watcher force Vivian to fight for answers -- and her life.”


Series: Book #2 in the “Harbored Secrets” trilogy. Review of Book #1 Here!


Spiritual Content- The villain of this novel uses a Scripture in one of his blackmail messages; A few prayers & a blessing over food; Talks about God, trusting Him, being love by Him, & forgiveness; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; At the beginning, Vivian cuts her mom off when she tries to talk about God & forgiveness; Vivian feels like God disappeared from her life about the same time her father did and that all of her prayers when she was little went unanswered (she thinks that whatever she did to push her dad away must of pushed God away too); Ryan cuts himself off from thinking that he hasn’t been blessed due to how his life has turned out (this makes him pause and think about if he’s only looking at the complications in his life and missing the blessings); Vivian thinks more about God, forgiveness, and not putting the sins of her earthly father on God towards the end; A side-character feels like God had somehow forgiven him for cheating on tests and was being blessed due to receiving good news; A pastor’s daughter feels guilt and sinful due to her actions (see Sexual Content section) and doesn’t want to go to church because she’ll have to pretend that she’s the same virtuous pastor’s daughter and hear her father preaching about the destruction of sin “when he couldn’t even keep his own daughter from it”; Mentions of God & forgiveness; Mentions of prayers, praying, & a blessing over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, a pastor, & sermons; A few mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of the Pope sprinkling people & baptism; A few mentions of sins & sinners; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of a devotional; A mention of a Sunday school class; A mention of a mission trip; A mention of an angel;
             *Note: A couple mentions of Norse mythology; A mention of Ryan feeling uncomfortable after hearing a sermon about the Song of Solomon and unable to stop thinking about Vivian; A mention of Vivian thinking of Ryan’s transformation as “Samson-like”; A mention of a young man saying a bully made his life hell.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blah blah blah’, a ‘dang’, a ‘darn’, a ‘drat’, a ‘gah’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘screwd up’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘what in tarnation’, three ‘dumb’s, four ‘idiot’s, and nine forms of ‘stupid’; Vivian fights not to curse in a phone call with her mother (it’s added that “She wasn’t prone to cursing, but sometimes thinking those horrible, awful words made her feel better, at least temporarily.”); Mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Seeing someone have an allergic reaction & their death (up to semi-detailed); A fire, smoke, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Being held at knife-point, being held at gun-point, being kidnapped, & Threatened (up to semi-detailed); Screams, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Knocking others out, Gunshots, & Seeing someone shot (up to semi-detailed): Hitting someone (up to semi-detailed): A boat chase, nearly drowning, doing CPR, & pain (semi-detailed); Throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); Some lying & half-lies (most due to being undercover or trying to find out information); A side-character wants to get drunk to try to erase the guilt he feels & another side-character grabs a beer after work; All about many mentions of blackmail, an extortion ring, threats, hacking, parties, drugs, snorting drugs, drinking (including underaged drinking), getting drunk, & drunks (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of allergic reactions, deaths, & someone who killed another with what they’re allergic to (peanuts, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of Book #1’s murder; Mentions of a drunk husband beating his wife to death; Mentions of wars, veterans, & those who come back different (mentally and physically); Mentions of gunshots; Mentions of a fire, smoke, & arsonist; Mentions of a boat chase & someone possibly being tossed overboard (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of break-ins, thugs/burglars, crime scenes, criminals, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of jails/prisons; Mentions of pain, injuries, blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of cheating on tests; Mentions of grief (a close friend); Mentions of nightmares (including ones of someone’s death, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, underage drinking, getting drunk, & a father who drank a lot (including champagne at a charity event & the bar); Mentions of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, & smoking; A few mentions of throwing up; A mention of some journalists being insulted, assaulted and sometimes killed for pursuing a story; A mention of drunk drivers; A mention of the mafia; A mention of bullies; A mention of graffiti; A mention of the lottery; A mention of burping & fart jokes from young boys; A mention of animal droppings; A mention of a sister being on husband number four; 
             *Note: After Ryan’s father walked out on their family, Ryan has been the man of the house since he was twelve and struggles at the beginning of this book when he learns his mom is dating; Vivian feels betrayed by her biological father & resents him; Both Ryan & Vivian feel like they did something to cause their fathers to leave & Vivian particularly feels like she’s not enough; Many mentions of movies, TV shows, actors/actresses, superheroes (Marvel & DC), Star Wars characters, & other fictional characters; Mentions of cancer & someone fighting it; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of brand names & items (Aqua Net hairspray, a Lilly Pulitzer dress, Tiffany’s, Cartier, iPhone, Diet Coke, Keurig coffee maker, Axe body spray/cologne, Harley motorcycles, and Kool-Aid); A handful of mentions of newspaper companies (Times, Atlanta Tribune, People, National Enqurier); A few mentions of Prince Harry; A couple mentions of Boy Scouts; A couple mentions of social media (Facebook & Snapchat); A couple mentions of Hallmark movies & The Weather Channel; A mention of Mark Twain; A mention of a hacker motel from an Alfred Hitchcock movie; A mention of the Oscars; A mention of Costco. 
 
 
Sexual Content- Four hand/finger kisses, a cheek kiss, a jaw kiss, five head/forehead kisses, two not-detailed kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three borderline barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses, and two border-line semi-detailed // detailed kisses; Wanting to kiss (up to semi-detailed); Staring at someone’s lips & mentions of it happening; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Butterflies, Electricity, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace; Blushes & Winks; Noticing (including Vivian noticing his muscles and chest, up to semi-detailed); Vivian’s parents weren’t married when she was born (said to be an affair that went on for more than a decade; *Spoiler* Her father is a famous actor and after gaining popularity (after Vivian was born), his publicist said his personal life needed to be like the characters he played, so he got married to another woman and had children *End of Spoiler*); An underaged teen girl is blackmailed with a video of her seducing guys at a party (the only details given are that the video shows a guy took off her clothing and the act only lasted a few minutes before the next guy came into the hotel room) and her being forced to engage in “moral depravity” by the blackmailer (being sent to motel rooms to be a “companion” to men who have paid to be with her); Vivian is grabbed by a man (who is high) and he wants he to come with him for a “good time”; Vivian gets a creepy vibe from a man and doesn’t want to be left alone with him; a ‘hot’, a ‘hunky’, a ‘sexy’; Many mentions of affairs (including one that was a “slip” when a married man was drinking and he says it was a one-time thing), a video of a man and woman getting very close, & a child born out of wedlock from an affair; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & making out; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends/girlfriends, & break-ups; Mentions of cute guys & a couple teen girls being boy-crazy and having “hot dates”; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of blushes, winks, & whistles; A few mentions of a man becoming obsessed with his ex-girlfriend & harassing her; A couple mentions of young girls being taken advantage of at parties & not wanting to report anything due to their shame and feeling responsible; A couple mentions of a man being caught with an underage girlfriend & the media calling him a rapist and ending his career; A couple mentions of couples kissing; A mention of a man saying that his girlfriend slept around and made him look like a fool; A mention of Vivian being hit on by guys at a bar who want a “sleepover where sleep wasn’t the main goal”; A mention of women lusting over an actor; A mention of a teen girl saying that she liked guys with “sexy abs”; A mention of Ryan suffering from many black eyes as he caught guys saying inappropriate things about his younger sister; A mention of a teen having “super strict” parents and not being allowed to date; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: When watching the blackmail videos, Ryan thinks that he feels like a peeping tom and wants to scrub his eye balls clean; Vivian recalls when she used to strive for approving glances from men by taking very good care of her appearance, but now the idea of using her looks to manipulate makes her feel cold; Ryan says that another woman (who he went to school with) has “nothing special about her” (she’s been trying to get his attention all of a sudden after he become attractive); A few mentions of a woman saying she’s never been “able to resist a man in uniform” & puts her hands on Ryan’s vest (she then giggles and apologizes); A mention of a teen girl’s parents being in an open-door policy, meaning that “if the door was open, trouble was less likely to happen”; A mention of Ryan’s teenage sister’s cropped t-shirt revealing more skin that he is comfortable with her showing; A mention of a thought of a guy ripping off his shirt like Hulk to protect the one he loves; A mention of a woman saying she makes all the first moves with her husband; A mention that it would have been disturbing if a set of siblings had said “I love you” in the Star Wars franchise; A mention of college-aged boys looking at Vivian differently after hearing she’s not a teacher; A mention of a college student having his hair in a bun.
 
-Vivian DeMarco
-Ryan Frost
       P.O.V. switches between them, The Watcher (x3), Preston (x1), Blasie (x1), Bethany (x1)  
                                                        322 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

After reading the first book in this trilogy, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this sequel. I’m definitely not a fan of how heavy the instant attraction was between Ryan & Vivian, though, I thought it was…interesting (not the word I’m looking for, but we’ll go with it) how it was more of her noticing his muscles and such than him noticing her physical attributes. The first book had a lot of that couple’s physically noticing and I was quickly over it. I was over the insta-love in this book pretty quick as well, but there were other parts that took over my attention that I enjoyed. 

There’s a few different things/parts that I did enjoy, so let’s discuss those for a minute. 

I wasn’t expecting the humor this book had at all and I actually laughed out loud quite a few times. The banter between Ryan & Vivian and then them with their friends were so unexpected, but I really liked those parts. 

I liked the small-town vibes, which were much more apparent in this story than the first book (perhaps due to Vivian not being from there but learning to appreciate the charm of small-town living). 

Something that might be an odd thing to note, but I also liked how unique the villain was. No spoilers here, but that person wasn’t the typical Christian Fiction Suspense villain I’m used to seeing (i.e. religious motivation which is very common in CF) and it was a unique feature of this book among a few other suspense elements that I haven’t seen before or rarely see. 

And speaking of the villain, the parts I wasn’t thrilled with understandably includes that person due all the blackmail that affects the villain’s victims’ lives. This included a high school girl being blackmailed into being a “companion” to men for money after a video is captured of her sleeping with other guys, and while the words prostitute or human trafficking is never used, it’s very obviously known what’s happening. 

On a lighter note that still affected my ratings, Vivian and Ryan were super-duper insta-attracted to each other. I already said that, I know, but it needs to be mentioned again. Sure, they were pretty cute together. However, it was a bit much in my opinion of how quick they were interested in and fell for each other. Because of both of their pasts and their fathers not being great men, it’s affected how they let others get close to them and that’s totally understandable, but I wished they had communicated more and didn’t let a misunderstanding happen for so long. 

All of those many thoughts said, I do plan on continuing the trilogy by reading the third book. We’re introduced to Pecca and she was a hoot, so I’m looking forward to learning her story.  

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Living Lies" by Natalie Walters

About this book:

  “In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name--but no one knows your secret. At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.

   Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Harbored Secrets” trilogy.

 

 

Spiritual Content- A handful prayers & thanking God; Lane thinks that God doesn’t hear her prayers or that He doesn’t care, there’s a mention of when “she was naïve enough to believe there was something bigger watching out for her”, how she used to search for an answer to why God would make her broken, later she wonders if “God predestined these individuals with a [mental] sickness that made them a danger to others? Did that mean she was just as dangerous?”, and if God made a mistake allowing her to live (Ms. Byrdie replies that God never makes mistakes and she’s here on a purpose, that Lane was perfectly made and that she needs to stop punishing herself for “the way God made you—even for your depression”); Ms. Byrdie witnesses a bit to Lane and tells her that she and God love her and that God makes all things new, that they need to put their hope in Him; *Spoiler* Lane says at the end that she’s going to live her life with a purpose and thanks Charlie for saving her, but there’s no mention of God in her statement *End of Spoiler*; A handful of talks about God; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God, His purpose for you, & faiths; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, & a benefit being at a church; A couple mentions of saints; A mention of thanking God; A mention of a hymn; A mention of a missionary trip; 

             *Note: A few mentions of looking like cave people; A couple mentions of taking money from the devil & making a deal with the devil; A couple mentions of Mother Nature; A mention of facing demons in wars; A mention of a hellish nightmare of war; A mention of thinks that his nightmares are atonement of his sin.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form ‘biddy’, a ‘crap’, a ‘heck’, a ‘sheesh’, two forms of ‘shut up’, and six forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written, one held back by Charlie); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Lane has depression and anxiety & battles the darkness, suicidal thoughts, and self-blame (this is a very important part of the book and we see her struggling with her worth throughout the whole book, if she should even be alive since she’s “broken”, and her telling someone else that she’s never going to get better (she goes to a psychiatrist and has pills/medicine to take; her family isn’t supportive/helpful, choosing not to discuss her depression) *Spoiler* Two years prior to the book starting, she tried to commit suicide by overdosing and back when she was younger, she wanted someone to listen to her and to “explain that she wasn’t the same as those people on the news who went on killing sprees” *End of Spoiler*); Miguel struggles with PTSD after being in the Vietnam war (up to semi-detailed); Finding a body (of a teen girl), the smell, & how the murder happened (border-line semi-detailed // detailed); A nightmare that’s a combination of a murder and being in a war (the person is injured by themself during the dream, up to semi-detailed); Cars racing around to terrify someone & two car crashes (and panicking, semi-detailed); Being held at gunpoint, Being drugged, Being hit, Self-harm (Miguel), Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Fighting, gunshots, & seeing people shot and killed (up to semi-detailed); Throwing up; Many, many mentions of suicides (including those who have attempted to commit suicide and those who were successful), suicidal thoughts, a bridge that many people go to to commit suicide (the book opens with Lane at the bridge), depression, anxiety, & PTSD (including military men) (there is a comment that hits Lane hard from her brother about not being able to understand why a person would commit suicide since life’s not that hard); Many mentions of the murder, the killer, & how it happened (semi-detailed to detailed); Many mentions of wars, fighting, bodies being torn apart, seeing many deaths, deaths, & those coming home struggling with PTSD (including a woman calling a Nam vet a “baby killer” because his unit was told to kill a village (though he tried to stop the violence), up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of drugs (including meth and marijuana), drug lords, cartels, & teens going to a place to get high; Mentions of a car accident, death, & the grief of the family (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of terrorists; Mentions of random attacks at schools, nightclubs, and shopping centers being almost always centered on a person suffering from a mental disorder and Lane wonders if she is just as dangerous; Mentions of gunshots, someone being attacked/hit, self-harm, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding & nightmares (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of criminals, jails/prisons, thieves, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of a judge threatening to take a child away from his mother due to her mental health (*Spoiler* Lane and her son and she thinks that her father (the judge) is manipulating her because of it *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of computer hacking; Mentions of smoking, tobacco, cigarettes, & pipes; Mentions of alcohol, an alcoholic, bars, drinking, social drinking at dinner and events, & teens going to a place to get drunk; Mentions of throwing up; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of tattoos & piercings; Mentions of hitting a deer with a car & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of betting; A couple mentions of criminals in jail having their own code of justice and that the murder of a beautiful young girl is a crime they don’t tolerate; A couple mentions of fires & smoke; A couple mentions of a potential break-in; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a teen saying her parents are jerks & later sneaks out of the house; A mention of those that double-cross drug lords head up naked and headless; A mention of a story of a saint being decapitated and then carrying his head for six miles; A mention of a robbery; A mention of a bully; A mention of cyber-bullying; 

             *Note: Some women (who mean well) tell Lane that she’ll be ready again for a man/marriage; Mentions of social media & other technology (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google); Mentions of celebrities, actors, & authors (Paula Deen, Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Aniston, John Wayne, Gizzly Adams, Prince Harry, Laila Ali, Mark Twain, ); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of brand names (LEGO, Converse shoes, J.Crew magazine, iPhone, & Tic Tacs); A few mentions of sports teams; A couple mentions of Disney Princesses; A mention of Hallmark; A mention of the TV show Friends; A mention of someone being a Trekkie (Star Trek fan).

 

 

Sexual Content- Quite a few fingers/hand kisses, three forehead/head kisses, an almost kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two semi-detailed kisses, and detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to be kissed & to kiss; Charlie stares at Lane’s lips “with a hunger” and later battles temptation for her; Touches, Nearness, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Warmth, Smelling, & Butterflies (up to semi-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (including Charlie with Lane’s skin between her shirt and waistband, and Lane with his bare chest, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of dating, dates, girlfriends/boyfriends, & crushes; Mentions of flirting, a flirt, & winking; A few mentions of a playboy; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of men staring at Lane with hunger in their eyes & Charlie feeling possessive; A couple mentions of making googly-eyes at someone; A mention of rapists in jail; A mention of a man knowing better than to touch a girl that would be jailbait; A mention of an older woman looking at Charlie’s bare chest & saying that she’ll enjoy the view; A mention of a man eyeing another man’s wife; Love, falling in love, & the emotions; 

             *Note: Mentions of postpartum depression; Mentions of a teen girl’s tiny shorts & revealing top and her mother’s outfit not leaving much to the imagination either; A few mentions of hunks & chicks; A couple mentions of hot/haute women; A couple mentions of a man in his boxers; A cut-off mention of “posters with women who—” (in context of a playboy’s art taste); A mention of a wife suffering depression after being told her and her husband couldn’t have kids.

-Lane Kent, age 28

-Charlie Lynch

                                P.O.V. switches between them & Miguel (x3) 

                                                        335 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens- 

 

Early High School Teens- 

 

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Those who have a heart for those struggling with mental illnesses may find this book insightful, but those struggling with suicidal thoughts or depression could find it triggering. }

This was my first book by this author and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Christian Fiction Suspense is one of my favorite genres, but it’s also the genre I have the most pet peeves about—particularly when it comes to the romance elements.

This book dealt with a lot of serious topics such as depression, anxiety, mental health, suicide and suicidal thoughts, veterans, and military men coming home a shell of themselves with PTSD. There’s a lot of potential triggers and is definitely not a book I would recommend for younger readers.

It’s hard to say that I “liked” this book because of such serious—and important—topics found in it, but this book definitely gave me more perspectives on these topics and made me a bit more aware of them. So, yes, I “liked” this book because I learned while reading but also because it was very different from the typical CF Romantic Suspense books I’ve read before.

However. There’s a few other things I need to note that is the cause for the low ratings.

-The body and murder were more detailed than I was expecting. If I would have dwelled on those parts or the family of the victim, it would have been really hard to get through. Regardless, I would say that this was pushing the envelope for me personally, and those with sensitive stomachs might need to pass on this one.

-Secondly, the attraction between Lane and Charlie. At only a few pages in, Charlie noticed Lane’s blouse riding up and the bit of skin between it and her waistband showing. I think that gives you an idea for how the rest of the book was. If this was a secular book, I probably would have just rolled my eyes, but for a Christian Fiction book, I wasn’t happy with this or a scene of Lane noticing his bare chest.

-And finally, I can’t say I’m happy with the ending. I purposely did not read about the next book, thinking that it would still be about Lane, but I now know that it’s not. And that’s the problem I’m facing because I was really expecting a faith scene. As I was nearly the end, I was thinking, “Oh, okay, it’s going to be lighter in this book—realistic for everything that Lane is going through—and we’ll see the faith elements in the next book.” Well, no. Don’t get me wrong, I did like Charlie and his manners (minus the…noticing and desires mentioned above), but I’m not thrilled with him being looked at Lane’s hero and rescuer. That’s the Good Lord’s place, not another human that will inevitably fail you and let you down—we’re humans, we’re flawed, we make mistakes. While there was more faith content towards the end than the beginning, I wish there made been more for Lane. Especially as I’ve seen that those struggling with depressing or anxiety still have hard times, but pulling their attention back to God is what truly helps…not putting their trust in a fellow human.

-Also on that note, I don’t personally agree with the mindset that those with mental illnesses (is that the correct word? Forgive me if it’s not) were made that way by God as a couple parts of this book implied. Something I’ll need to pray about, think on, and research in my Bible.

Would I read more by this author? I think so, yes. After seeing that the second book in this series features Deputy Frost, I’m more apt to do so because he was easily my favorite character.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.