Dirty Red (Love Me with Lies, #2) in The Indie Bookshelf

Feb 18, 2013 Mistress rated it it was amazing

Shelves: absolutely-love, so-good

WOW! I'm stunned, speechless, giddy from all the drama! I'm a sucker for drama and this book has it in spades. I went from wanting to scream in frustration when I finished The Opportunist to wanting to scream in excitement when I finished Dirty Red. AHHH!!! I love this series! I can't wait to devour Thief! This series is filled with lies, deceit, and major DRAMA! (Imagine me singing that last word at a high pitch because that is what I'm doing in my head... draaaammmmmaaaa!) At first I didn't wa ...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Kristy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Wow. So I have been counting down the days until this book would be released since the night I finished "The Opportunist". I was what you would call obsessed once finishing TO. I read everything I could find online related to it - interviews with Tarryn, theories of fans as to how the series would go, etc. Then I was out for the night when I found out that Dirty Red was going to be released a week early - it was going to be released that night! So as soon as Amazon had it up, I bought it immedia Wow. So I have been counting down the days until this book would be released since the night I finished "The Opportunist". I was what you would call obsessed once finishing TO. I read everything I could find online related to it - interviews with Tarryn, theories of fans as to how the series would go, etc. Then I was out for the night when I found out that Dirty Red was going to be released a week early - it was going to be released that night! So as soon as Amazon had it up, I bought it immediately using my iphone. Then I didn't touch it for 24 hours. I was sick to my stomach remembering the angst I felt throughout TO. I was scared it would be the same way with this book - and even worse because I HATE Leah. And I didn't want to feel sorry for her or like her even a little bit. I wanted her and Noah to die so that Caleb and Olivia could be together (ok, maybe I did't want Noah to die, but Leah, yeah she could go).

Anywho. I finally took the plunge and started this book. And I didn't put it down besides to feed my kids or take a bathroom break. I actually didn't mind being in Leah's head. Granted I hated her from the first page through the very last page, however it was OK because I was supposed to hate her. Unlike characters that I'm supposed to sympathize with but still hate (cough-Kiera from Thoughtless-cough).

I had to read this book in tandem with The Opportunist. I was constantly flipping back to TO to search for relationships between things that I missed. I had to look up the importance of "Great Expectations" in Caleb and Olivia's relationship. I searched for any info we were given in TO about Seth, Caleb's brother (not much) and also anything involving Olivia's new client. I loved any association made to the previous book.

"Caleb didn't - wouldn't use condoms. I'd gone on birth control shortly after we started dating because of this. He said the sight of them turned his stomach." - Leah

As much as this book tried to make me feel compassion for Leah, I still don't. In fact, I was upset whenever (view spoiler) There were several surprises in this book - especially in the final chapters. I really was shocked by one of the revelations. This book made me fall in love with Caleb even more than I was before. Unfortunatley even though Noah was only in one scene in this book I really like him too. I absolutely CANNOT wait to get inside Caleb's head in book #3. I really hope it comes out soon. If we have to wait a whole year to read it, I think I will scream! And Finally, I want to say thank you to Tarryn Fisher for (view spoiler). I just wouldn't have been able to handle that! This was an excellent sequel to The Opportunist. Bravo! ...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Kathy rated it really liked it

Reading Dirty Red was a completely different experience than I felt while reading The Opportunist. Being inside of Leah's mind was quite...saddening and disturbing at the same time. I'm still not a fan of Leah's character, but I do understand her and her motives a bit better.

I knew the book was in Leah's viewpoint, but I still went in a little blind. I love going in without reading the synopsis, or having read the synopsis so long ago that I've forgotten what to expect. In this book, the synopsi Reading Dirty Red was a completely different experience than I felt while reading The Opportunist. Being inside of Leah's mind was quite...saddening and disturbing at the same time. I'm still not a fan of Leah's character, but I do understand her and her motives a bit better.

I knew the book was in Leah's viewpoint, but I still went in a little blind. I love going in without reading the synopsis, or having read the synopsis so long ago that I've forgotten what to expect. In this book, the synopsis doesn't begin to tell you about the book or what to expect. I was surprised throughout my reading at Leah's sinner/saint persona.

As the book takes you back and forth between the present and the past of Leah and Caleb's relationship, Olivia is always there in the back of Leah's mind. Leah is still a manipulative witch who doesn't accept responsibility for her actions, always passing the blame to someone else...primarily Olivia. Given her childhood through adulthood relationship (or lack of) with her parents, it's a wonder this woman isn't sitting in an asylum drooling and making motorboat noises with her lips!

It's no surprise that Leah is the dysfunctional beauty queen who wears her pretentious mask for all who see her. She has a history of using and tossing men out like last season's Milanos. But Caleb is different. She's never "felt" anything for any man before, and jealousy is certainly not what she expected to feel along with possession. Her possession of Caleb is clearly more of obsession mistaken as love. She has Caleb on a pedestal, but he is certainly not perfect, as we learned in The Opportunist, and we see again in Dirty Red. But, I can't help but still love the guy. *sigh* and *swoon*

Leah's life is spiraling out of control from the beginning with the birth of Estella, and her jealousy of other women around Caleb includes her own daughter. She's having a difficult time bonding with Estella, which could be the final nail in her coffin. She doesn't know how to be a mother, and her selfish side wants to continue drinking and partying with her girlfriends. Enter the Manny, Sam. Sam, who just happens to be Cammie's cousin, quickly becomes her close friend and mentor for motherhood. He tells it like it is and pulls no punches around Leah, but he does understand her, when she lets him in, and tries to help her with both motherhood and relationship advice.

Leah's fear of losing Caleb has her scheming, confessing, and using anyone to keep Caleb as her husband. The confessions made by Caleb and Leah are both heartbreaking and astounding. The final confession right before the epilogue?! Oh. Em. Geeeeee. It truly took me by complete surprise and ended the book on a cliffhanger of sorts. I didn't want to empathize with Leah, and I tried every way possible to push those feelings aside, since I am Team Olivia all the way. Just as I didn't want to like Noah, but I couldn't help it. I DID empathize with Leah. My heart went out to her at times until her childish selfishness reared, and she would do or say something that made me want to slap her and yank Caleb as far away as possible. In Leah's world, the only thing she understands is that the ends justify the means.

As the story progresses from beginning to end, the reader truly gets the picture of Leah's issues and from where they stem. So many things contribute to Leah's behavior. Fear, family relations, postpartum depression, a shameful secret, and a possible history of mental illness. Are these things truly contributing to her behavior, or is she so detached from others and sociopathic in her thinking and behavior that she again is justifying the means? We also see Seth, Caleb's older brother, and learn a bit more about him and his connection to and view of Leah. I can't wait to see if he plays a part in the next installment, because there is certainly something about him...just an instinct I have about him and his feelings toward Leah.

The lengths that Leah goes to keep Caleb as her own clearly indicate no boundaries. Tarryn Fisher has done a spectacular job at taking the reader into the human psyche of a frightened animal who is backed into a corner and trying to preserve the only thing, or person, she connects to love. To watch Leah's dawn of understanding was magical, connecting me to her character with empathy even more....until her vindictive and spiteful nature of "You hurt me, so I'm going to hurt you, too" came to the front once again. I definitely recommend this series and have already begun reading Thief before even writing this review. I just couldn't wait. It is important that these books be read in order to understand the character backgrounds and relationship histories, even though the book could be read as a stand alone in my opinion. ...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Shannon rated it really liked it

This books is through Leah's POV. Ugh. It follows her life right after her and Caleb have their baby. The chapters alternative between present and past. It was nice to get a behind the scenes look at what was going on with Leah while we folloed Oliva in the first book. I could not stand Leah in the Opportunist and I still can not stand her after reading this. At times I disliked her more. There a few and only a very tiny few moments in the book where I was like aww, poor Leah. And then she turne ...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This is a five star in the "love to hate" kind of way. ...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Lori rated it it was amazing

I can't say too much without spoiling SOMETHING ... because this book is chock-full of shockers! So I'll just talk about Tarryn Fisher's writing. She's a wonder. With The Opportunist, she did something that is rarely done—changed the course of contemporary fiction, if you will. With this book, though, she's gone even further. She taken the Evil Queen and ... well, she's just changed the face of books forever, that's all.
Read it! Whether you love Leah or hate her, you will not be sorry you read t ...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Tracey rated it it was amazing

Holy crap!!! Tarryn Fisher you are genius!! I again am at a loss like I was when I read the Opportunist. I hate Dirty Red and always will. This book was cray cray!!! Bring on Caleb's book. This will be a tough wait. :( ...more

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