This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Cate Beauman’s What Started In Deception, Virginia kindergarten teacher Lydia Monroe learns that the FBI is investigating her cousin Will and her uncle, Senator James Monroe, for possible ties to organized crime. Special Agent Tyler Corddry needs access to the Monroe family’s Massachusetts compound, so he asks Lydia to pose as his girlfriend during her summer visit. Lydia agrees, hoping to protect her family while discovering what the FBI believes is happening. As Tyler settles into the role, his investigation turns toward Will’s connection to Richard Russo, a man linked to the Giordano crime family. The assignment places Lydia inside an operation she never expected to join, while the relationship she is pretending to have with Tyler begins changing the terms of their arrangement between them.
Cate Beauman’s What Started In Deception is excellent romantic suspense, placing an undercover FBI assignment inside a romance that changes as Lydia Monroe draws closer to Tyler Corddry. The romance thrives on back and forth. Lydia’s discomfort after lying to a neighbor meets Ty asking her to trust him, then a moonlit walk turns playful when he asks whether she will miss him once his assignment ends. I loved Lydia’s loyalty to her family. Reaching Massachusetts leaves her shaken by what their cover could cost the people she loves, and she tells Ty exactly how much they mean to her. Ty won me over through his vulnerability, which we see when the pair is on a helicopter that brings someone's loss rushing back. The book is written beautifully, and the balance between sizzle and suspense is excellent. Still, where the author shines is in her near-cinematic settings, from a Virginia home with its airy granite kitchen and cozy library, to a seaside restaurant with picnic tables on a screened porch above windswept water. Well-written and immersive, readers who enjoy invented-to-cemented romance stories will adore this.
