Beloved Deceiver is a tale of circumstances, deceit and plans gone awry. This is an engaging story with some clever plot turns that kept this reader interested right from the start. Flora knows marrying Mars would keep her from her father’s scheming. Mars sees not a bride when he looks at Flora, but a way to gain retribution for a past wrong. Each has an agenda, but love doesn’t always follow a set format, as these two learn.

The witty dialogue between Mars and Flora kept me in stitches. In the beginning, his less-than-favorable, yet brutally honest, assessment of her physical attributes put me off. His thoughts seemed callous and I didn’t instantly like him, but Mars redeemed himself and by the end of the story I had found a place for him in my heart. Flora, however, was a character I fell in love with right from the beginning, when she proposes a “pretend” marriage. Her direct approach was too funny! Again, the way Mars and Flora become officially engaged made me want to wring his neck, but again, he overcame those feelings very quickly by showing how considerate he could actually be. The strongest point about this book is the characters. The plot is interesting, but the repartee and growing mutual affection between Flora and Mars is what kept me glued to the pages. I enjoyed Beloved Deceiver. It is the first of Ms. Blake’s novels I have read but it certainly won’t be the last!

Reviewed by: Marlene