A review by thesassybookworm
Breath of Deceit by Selena Laurence

4.0

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Thanks to my friend Kate I went into it with lower expectations regarding the romance aspect, and to be honest, there really wasn't any romance in this one. Maybe a hint here and there, but overall this was more a mafia family type of book than a romance. That said, the writing was very good. The pace moved along at a good clip. The plot was engaging, but maybe a little confusing at times with so many characters and moving parts (the Irish mob, the Mexican mob, the Russian mob, the Feds). Not to mention a good portion of this book is dedicated to Cian's brother Conner and Jess's "romance". There was A LOT going on and because of that Cian and Lila's "romance" (if you want to call it that) really took a backseat. I imagine since this book ended on a cliffhanger we will see more development between them in upcoming books.


~MAIN CHARACTERS~
There were so many characters in this book. From the blurb, I assumed Cian and Lila would be the main ones, but honestly, Cian and his brothers are really the focus here with Jess (Connor's ex) being the main female lead (IMO). That said, Lila was an intriguing character and I can't wait to see where she and Cian are headed in the next book. I was intrigued by pretty much every single character in this book. Cian, Liam, Finn, and Connor were all great characters. All different personality wise. Even the secondary characters and baddies were intriguing and well written. 


 

~HEAT LEVEL~
Basically zero. There is one super mild sex scene between Connor and Jess, and one super mild sex scene between Cian and Lila right at the end. Other than that this book was super tame. Like I mentioned above, I wouldn't consider this book to be a romantic suspense, more suspense with a tiny bit of romance. Perhaps upcoming books will be spicier?


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Plot wise...medium. Relationship wise...medium (Connor and Jess) None...(Cian and Lila). Most of the angst in this one comes from all the mob dealings, murders, secrets etc. Connor cheated on Jess, so those two have some issues between them and that causes relationship angst for them. Cian and Lila really have no romantic relationship throughout the book, so no angst there. There really wasn't any OW drama (other than the fact Connor cheated), and there wasn't any OM drama either. None of the people having sex were virgins.


~IN THE END~
I enjoyed it a lot. Don't go into this expecting some great romance story because you will be sorrily disappointed. That said, it was a fantastic start to a mafia family focused suspense story. It was well written and well paced. The characters were interesting and had depth. The plot was well executed (if maybe a little convoluted at times), but I wasn't overly bothered by that as this was the first book in a new series and the author was laying the groundwork. Therefore yours truly is going to give this one two thumbs up and I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for book two that should be out in Septemeber.