Friday, August 19, 2011

Book Review: Double Deceit By Stephanie Humphreys

Today I get to review Double Deceit by Stephanie Humphreys. It is a LDS suspense novel with plenty of twists and turns that keep you wondering if what you think is going to happen actually will.

Back Blurb:
Someone is watching . . .
As a young widow, all Elaina Bryant wants is a fresh start. Determined to put ten painful years behind her, she returns to her hometown and moves in with her sister, Natalie. Elaina soon accepts a job working at a small bookstore owned by the handsome Ryan Hill and his mother. Despite her reluctance to become romantically involved with anyone, she is drawn to Ryan and finds herself falling in love.

But someone isn’t happy with Elaina’s new life and is watching her every move. Her tormentor seems determined to destroy her sanity and her future, but Elaina can’t convince anyone the threat is real. Natalie is preoccupied with her own blossoming romance, and their friend Peter, a police officer, seems to believe the threat has been manufactured in Elaina’s own mind as a result of her guilt and grief.

Now Elaina’s plans for a new start are crashing down around her. She knows she will have to find the answers before she can overcome the past and enjoy love and happiness again. But how can she protect those she loves when she doesn’t know whom to trust?



My thoughts:
Double Deceit is one of those books that when you pick it up you know that you are going to want to know the end right away. The challenge of course is not to peak to see if all your guesses and deductions are correct. For me I will admit that I succumbed to the temptation. And wanted to see what happened, but it didn't ruin the story for me. I still had to find out how things got to the final conclusions.

Stephanie does a great job of building suspense and leave you guessing, and wondering if what you think is the truth is actually the truth after all. I was surprised along the way to find how certain characters reacted in certain situations. And at times I wanted a different outcome, but still it was fun to see how all the little plot twists and turns culminated in the end.

I like watching Elaina's growth through the story as she found that she could be stronger than she realized and take her life back and control the outcome. I liked that she realized how important it is to rely on others and that she learned how to reach out to others when she needed them. I liked that the other characters in the story had their flaws they had to overcome as well, and weren't just there to support the main character.

I also enjoyed how well Stephanie could make the images jump from the page. I had a clear picture of what was going on in my mind the entire time, from the forests to the city and even the details of the little book store was vivid in my mind.

I felt for Elaina and the difficult experiences she faced to the point that she even began to doubt herself. I wanted to comfort her and tell her she would make it through her trials.

Double Deceit is a book I would have not issues with my children reading. It is appropriate for ages 12 on up. And it is a clean read. There is plenty of mystery and a bit of fun romance along the way. To get your copy of Double Deceit click here.

Stephanie is running a really fun contest on her blog to go along with her book tour. Please click here to see what all the excitement is about and to learn more about Stephanie and her other accomplishments and books.

Disclaimer: While I do at times receive copies of the books I review, my opinions are and will always remain my own.



4 comments:

Stephanie Humphreys said...

Thanks Debbie.

Gail said...

What a great review. I'll have to go check out this book.

Vivien said...

Excellent review. I'm loving the sound of this :)

Vivien
deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Shame on you for peeking ahead! I'm glad to hear it wasn't spoiled for you. Good, descriptive review.