Moonlight Muse's TILL DEATH DO US LIE is a razor-sharp, addicting slide into power, betrayal, and the nuanced violence of being underestimated that gripped me from its very first page. Layla Blackwell refuses to thin out, and her reluctance motivates every chapter with tremendous suspense, she is not a pawn trained to yield over power, she is a storm that studies the map before attackinga! The plot was very well constructed and the details were chef's kiss, an alpha's daughter is forced to choose a partner to reign in her place... but the execution is stunning in how it deconstructs that assumption, every relationship feels complicated, and every alliance is questionable. I questioned everyone! More than once. The book thrives on uncertainty and never lets go of its grasp!
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Layla has a stunning personality that is strong with such emotional depth, her resistance is thoughtful, proprioceptive awareness of the environment, of threat, and of weakness, she watches, absorbs, and then moves! This keen instinct keeps the tension tense. She is surrounded by men who believe they can control her fate, yet she repeatedly shows to be the most dangerous player on the table, the suspense is not only about who betrays whom, but also about whether Layla will come after them first!
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Quade Steele, the Lycan King, walks the morally problematic line with absolute confidence, he's obsessive, possessive, slightly insane, and utterly committed to disaster, in such intriguing style he does not soften himself to appear likable, which makes him far more interesting, his evolution is one of the book's most compelling elements; by the end, he reveals that he is more than a deadly deal with a heartbeat! Julian, faithful and strong, makes for a quieter contrast. That ultimate bombshell involving his true mate hits hard, creating a further layer of emotional damage, the conversation amongst the men was sharp and humorous, it delivers an unexpected respite before things crash back into perspective!
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Lies are the novel's true driving force. Untruths pile on deceptions until everything you believed to be true is changed when it is revealed that Tray was pulling the strings, in dark romance, the psychological push and pull is critical but the suspense occasionally surpasses the plot mechanics! The imbalance in power, control, and secrets is systematic and ongoing, the cliffhangers are brutal, there are more twists than licorice and I didn't manage to anticipate what was to come, it's an entertaining, dynamic shifter romance that has a strong tendency toward messiness and territoriality. It was definitely addictive and well worth the ride!