Dirty Red

I already knew from The Opportunist that Leah was a horrible person so I wasn't looking forward to reading a book entirely from her POV. This book just further confirmed that she is insufferable and has no redeeming qualities. I felt like she was more in love with the idea of winning Caleb than she was in love with Caleb himself. Even though I hate the character and hated being inside her head for an entire book, I can see why her story is essential to the series.

[a:Tarryn Fisher 5410816 Tarryn Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1336086252p2/5410816.jpg] deserves a big round of applause just for the sheer audacity of making a dislikable character the “heroine” of this story. It is quite a gamble and I'm happy to say it pays off.Leah lies, cheats, generally plots and schemes every step she takes in life and to put a bow on her sins doesn't seem to have an ounce of feeling for the baby girl she's just given birth to at the beginning of this book. But she's never boring. Well except for her fixation with Caleb Drake, that demigod roaming the coast of Florida and making women crazy.You really can't read this as a stand alone as much of what is referenced and the backbone of the story is what happened in [b:The Opportunist 13312527 The Opportunist (Love Me with Lies, #1) Tarryn Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374526831s/13312527.jpg 18518411]. There is some retread from a different POV to some of the action in that book but mostly we get Leah's back story, how she met Caleb and the lengths she went to get him and her plunge into motherhood. It ain't pretty and some scenes not for the faint of heart (as relates to the baby) but as the narration goes on you do start to develop a semblance of feeling for Leah and begin to chip away at Caleb's saintliness. He has done her wrong, by omission and commission.Like the prior book there are WTFs around every corner which I found fun except that for the life of me I don't recall Caleb having a brother and suddenly here comes Seth! And isn't he full of surprises.In any case this is a gutsy bridge between [b:The Opportunist 13312527 The Opportunist (Love Me with Lies, #1) Tarryn Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374526831s/13312527.jpg 18518411] and [b:Thief 16090981 Thief (Love Me with Lies, #3) Tarryn Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361401256s/16090981.jpg 21895518]. Not filler or boring. I'll definitely finish the series.