Tempted by Deception: A Dark Marriage Romance (Deception Trilogy, Book 2)

I don’t know where to start with this book, because I honestly loved it so much and it has left me speechless, happy, sad, mad, heartbroken, and confused. So many feelings.Tempted by Deception takes us back in time to where Lia & Adrian first met as we see the beginning of their relationship. At the beginning of the book, Lia is a 24-year-old prima ballerina who is at the peak of her career when she meets Adrian. Adrian & Lia’s first encounter is memorable, to say the least, from the beginning their relationship starts with dark secrets. The push and pull chemistry & relationship between them is captivating to read. Some turnover events cause Lia to lose her ballerina career forever, devastating her. From the very beginning, Adrian becomes interested & obsessed with Lia until they eventually get married. Their marriage starts very rocky as did their relationship. Throughout the book, we get to see the dynamic of Lia & Adrian’s relationship & marriage while we also get an insight of both their feelings. It’s obvious to me, that Lia & Adrian care deeply about each and there is more than the animosity that they often show around each other. Seeing Lia & Adrian as a family with Jeremy was the highlight of the book, I hope we get more scenes of them in the last book. By the end of the book, we get to discover more of how we got to the events of the first books. This book is a step back from the first book (A Vow of Deception) as we see the beginning of their relationship but it’s so perfect as we get to see more into Lia’s & Adrian’s life to help us understand their relationship and persona.I loved Adrian & Lia from the very first book & I loved reading about their past; I think it helps us understand them personally & how they’ve become the person we meet in the first book. All I can say is that Lia is one of the best characters that Rina has ever created. Lia is strong, haunted, and a very real character who has mental health disorder. Adrian is possessive and dark who devotedly cares for Lia & Jeremy.Final conclusion: you need to read this. Such a good read that would keep you wanting more! All I have left to say is, Lia & Adrian please get your act together, I want to read about your HEA in the third & final book, y’all deserve to be happy.

I’m torn on this review. On one hand, this is an insanely cool, unique story. I’m fully into the story and I’m a huge Adrian fan. My issue is Lia. I just can’t connect with her and I’m not sure I like her. I understand girlfriend has a lot going on mentally and deep-rooted issues, but I just feel like a lot of the time she’s being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

Ugh I love the backstory of book 1! This was such a great book! I can’t wait to finish this trilogy!

- Mind your triggers- Mind your mental health, if like me, you are a little sensitive? (Yes, we will call it sensitive)- I really had to separate myself from the characters because WOW this one is INTENSEAnyways, I am off go read the next book in the trilogy because WTF was that cliff hanger. LITERALLY!

This review is for bk2 of a trilogy of books. Since the story does deal with alot of characters from other books it can get confusing.“I’ll meet you over and over again if I have to.” Adrian's comment above pretty much sums up the storyline but ...Adrian is first introduced in Rai's bks & we meet Lia a bit in that bk. At the end of Rai's bks Lia comes to Rai & asked her to help her run from Adrian so Rai hides her at a safe house. Jeremy who is Adrian/Lia son is mentioned in Rai's bk. Reina&Rai are twins. Reina's (All The Lies/ All the Truths ) & Rai's ( Thorne of Power/ Thorne Of Vengeance ) & all the Royal Elite ( havent read Seb/Naomi books (Red Thorn/Black Thorn ) yet but they seemed to be more of a side story) I did decide to read Adrian/Lia story as their children are important to the Legacy Of Gods Series which starts w/ God Of Malice which deals w/ the books mentioned above & Rina Kents Royal Elite Bks (7 bks ) characters childrens. I also suggest reading the Empire of Desire books which tie both Royal Elite & Reina/Rai/ Adrian's story into it. SPOILERS BELOWBK 1 drops you right into Adrian (MMC) & Lia (FMC) story ( right after Rai bks ends) But BK2 starts in the past & childhood. MMC grew up w/ a mom who abused him. She thought Dad would leave his wife for her but wife was important (bratva marriage) so mom broke MMCs arm & ordered a hit on wife (who was always kind to MMC). Lia(24yrs) is Italian & a prima ballerina in the NYC Ballet. Childhood friend is Luca they don't see each other alot bc he's into illegal things/mafia. FMC had something happen as a child that affects her now with hallucinations & paranoia. Nightmares she isnt sure are real or fake. She uses pain to determine if what she is seeing is real or not. FMC saw MMC murdering people in a parking area of her apartment. MMC holds a gun to her head & threatens her & lets her go.MMC shows up later to FMCs ballet rehearsal for 'Giselle' where she is the lead & asks her out to dinner. MMC has a thing for patterns. Youll see these patterns from the 1st bk come through in their relationship origin story and how he claims Lai as his. Honestly it makes this bk repeative . 50% in Lia goes to party at vcorp w ppl from ballet & happens upon Adrian & finds out he is engaged to Igor's daughter Kristina & Lia doesnt want to be a mistress but still sleeps w him . After this Lia is at rehearsal & she ends up breaking her tibia badly & has surgery. Its a career ending break. Lia attempts to jump out the hospitals window but Adrian shows up & tells Lia he broke off the engagement. Few weeks later Lia finds out she's 5 wks pregnant then MMC forces her to marry him that night which he had planned for weeks even had her dress custom made. He planned it all to ultimately protect her. She decides shes going to make MMC pay by planning with Luca even though Luca said no one will save her including him. 75% in the book jumps 6 mths to Jeremy's birth where a group tried to kill MMC. Then jumps again a few months (1yr after wedding) where Lia tries escape w/o any real plans. MMC catches her. She realizes she loves MMC but the eacape really affected him. Then jumps 4 years which gets you to the timeline in bk 1. You find out she made the bratva document for herself. She goes to Mikhails Bday party where Luca tries to kill Adrian but Lia saved him. Luca tells her she is Lazlo Luciano’s illegitimate daughter & Lazlo ordered the hit on her mom & stepdad in Italy. Luca said MMC was using her & she told him to give her evidence & she'd kill Adrian herself. Lia goes "ghost" & is depressed/ mental breakdown barely registering Jeremy's existence. Then blow up happens about her parents about their death & how she had to hid in a black box until someone came & she went to live with her grandma. MMC also figured out Lia was getting outside help (Luca) but doesnt know who. During Rais Coffee event ( in her bk) where Lia gets shot at is mentioned towards the end of thos bk. Lia is sprialing & hallucinating more. She meets someone at the homeless shelter that looks like her named Winter & makes a plan to trade places. MMC knows right away this is not Lia & tracks Lia via a dental tracker. Winter fell while all this was going on & hit her head. While Lia is on the way to safe house MMC finds her so she runs in the woods. They talk & she realizes shes an idiot she jumps off a cliff.Honestly Lia is super frustrating in this book.

"You called me a disaster, but this is the true disaster, Lia. You and me."The book starts by diving into Lia's past. We get glimpses of Lia's life before Adrian. And then when she meets Adrian for the first time. Sparks do not fly the first time they meet. 😄 Of course Adrian becomes obsessed with Lia shortly after their first meet up. I know I love a man obsessed with his woman. Adrian is definitely a morally grey hero at its finest."I already claimed you as mine. And there's no going back." ❤️This book was dark and full of heat, angst and plot twists. Rina Kent does so well weaving a story. Just when I thought I had something figured out she would throw in another loop. I'm not going to lie the miscommunication between Lia and Adrian was a bit maddening at times. I just wanted them to really talk to each other! Well onto the last book of the trilogy. I'm not sure what's going to happen next.

“That’s why I don’t do it anymore. That’s why I want to get used to pain, so I won’t need to cry.” - Adrian never stood a chance.- Monsters are made from monsters, it’s no wonder, Adrian is who & the way he is.Adrian takes what he wants without a second glance & without remorse. He answers to no one, doesn’t care what or who gets in his way, he will have it.- Beyond obsessed & possessive- Demands her submission & attention solely on him, no matter how he gets itI had the wildest range of emotions from chapters 19 & on; anger, fury, frustration & pain. I wanted to pluck, Lia, from the pages so many times.- The “trump card” makes so much sense nowLenochka.. Lia was caught in Adrian’s web from the start, trapped, with nowhere to go. It was too late when she realized Just how monstrous Adrian really is & couldn’t escape his clutches.Each are so blinded and consumed by one another they can’t see what’s right in front of them, amidst the chaos surrounding them.- Adrian, couldn’t see he was indirectly ki**ing her & one of the major reasons she was falling into her mind- Lia, blinded by the truth found her strength & taking back what little power she had even if it cost her, herself.“I took your hand before, Adrian, and you smothered me with it.”Tempted by Deception is devastatingly beautiful. It’s heavy, truly powerful & a chaotic mix of raw emotions🖤

What a story … loved Adrian and Yan. I didn’t like Lia she is too psychotic …Definitely recommend this to everyone

I have no words! Actually that’s a lie!I have a lot to say, but I don’t know how organize my thoughts.The book ends where the first begins, its like I’ve entered in a time capsule and learn all the blank spaces the from the first book.Adrian and lia story are so much complicated and intense that I still can’t believe how Rina do it!There are so many paths and so many connections with prior books and the timeline is perfect!Maybe I’m not making any sense but reading this two book changed my entire perspective off all characters.Lia it’s not this sick fragile woman an d Adrian is far from a heartless machine, they are so the opposite of that!Their love and their obsession are what it’s driving the away and what’s brought them together every single time! They are connected in a level that unmeasurable.Absolutely stunning!Amazing read and completely unimaginable!

This is the second book in the deception trilogy and it’s AMAZING! I loved the first one but I loved this one so much more! We get to know the characters better, like waaaay better. And honestly something I have always loved from Rina’s writing its how everything always makes sense at some point, everything just clicks and you go like oooh that’s why and I love that so much. Not that we get all the answers with this one but we did get some and also a hell lot more of questions lol.I really don’t want to spoil anything for anyone so im going to keep this short. I think one of the things that made me love this book so much were Lia's struggles, I mean don’t get me wrong I don’t like her suffering but she is SO real as a character I cried and laughed with her and I am fully Invested on her journey and her happy ending (well as happy as it can get by being a mobsters wife lol). By this I don’t mean that I didn’t love Adrian because I did, so so so much! He is a difficult and hard man but we get to know him so much better and to feel his pain fully, and boy oh boy those this beautiful men suffers!Honestly the plot is everything! It’s so good and it makes so much sense why Rina made it a trilogy, this two needed the space to tell their history properly. This was another amazing read by the fantastic Rina Kent, the women does not disappoint, you will cry, laugh and want to punch both Adrian and Lia believe me. I wanted to get in the book and slap some sense on those two! I am also so excited for the next book, I can’t wait to see how they get their happily ever after and to recover from the cliffy at the end lol!110% would recommend!

I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but I genuinely love Rina's books and they all coincide with each other, starting from Cruel King onwards. If you read them starting from there you'll understand exactly what I'm saying.Regardless of that lets talk about this book and what we feel of think about it!!Well the truth of the matter is it's nothing short of brilliant. This book answers all the questions brought up in Vow Of Deception and even answers those questions that you didn't realise you needed to ask!! It keeps a thorough pace throughout the book and draws you in until you feel invested within the relationships and the trials that are constantly being thrown in their way.You become so drawn in that you can't help but ache and want to cry along with Lia, when the "accident" happens. You really want to reach in at times and bang their heads together to just stop, then talk and listen to each other.That's how brilliant Rina's writing is. She knows how to bring you into the book, until you can't help but want to reach out for them and the pain they're causing each other.So to the daft question.....would I recommend.Hell yes I'd recommend and you'd be a fool not to buy this book and the audio, as listening to it while reading the book, REALLY brings it to life!!So what are you waiting for?? Stop reading the reviews and get the book 🙄🙄🙄🙄🤦🤦