Dirty Red ~ Tarryn Fisher

Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



5 eye-opening, drama-filled stars!

Dear Opportunist,

You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever.

Dirty Red

Once again Tarryn Fisher exceeded my expectations. The second book in her Love Me With Lies series was an angst-filled, emotionally charged journey into the mind of the ultimate anti-hero.



Unlike some readers, I didn't hate the character of Leah in The Opportunist. Truthfully, all three of the main characters were exceedingly flawed and not in any kind of way that endeared me to them. I think that is one of the main things I love about Fisher's writing; her ability to make the readers feel invested in the lives of some truly unlikable people. So, going into this book, I was excited for the chance to get a glimpse inside the mind of someone as cold and calculating as she is.

While many of the things that Leah has done...okay, most of them...are out and out selfish and self-serving, we finally get some of her backstory to enable us to understand why she is the way she is. Fisher doesn't expect the reader to forgive Leah for all of her sins because of her history. But, it definitely gives us the bigger picture.

I have done a number of things to keep this man. I have lied and cheated. I have been sexy and meek, fierce and vulnerable. I have been everything but myself.

My name is Leah, and I will do anything to keep my husband.

While for me, Dirty Red wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series, it was still an amazing piece of work. Tarryn Fisher's writing is just so solid and confidant. I love that she never once backed away from having her characters be the way she envisioned them to be. There is no watering down of the story...Leah, Caleb and Olivia are all far from the traditional romance "hero/heroine". They are all flawed, selfish and conniving. Each lying in various and repeated ways in order to get what they want. But in the end...I cared. I may not like or even understand some of the things they do, but I still care about them, despite it all. That fact...shows how incredibly talented Fisher is as an author.

I was born red: my skin, my hair and my hot, fussy attitude.

I wanted what Olivia had and threw away - someone who adores me even though my insides curl and lash like a poisonous snake.



As with The Opportunist, I found the skipping back and forth from the past to the present quite interesting and it definitely kept up the feeling of dread...knowing that the caca was going to hit the fan in a big way by the end of this book. Leah is such a complex character and I had a twisted sense of enjoyment by spending some time inside her head. Probably more so than I did with Olivia as narrator of the first book.



The ending of Dirty Red was another punch to the gut - the perfect setup for the final part of the trilogy, Thief which is told from Caleb's POV. I'm excited to see how Tarryn chose to end this wild ride on the dysfunctional side of romance.

The Opportunist ~ Tarryn Fisher

The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5++++ intense-beyond-belief stars!

Summary:
Olivia Kaspen is a sharp tongued manipulator used to always getting what she wants. With just one exception-Caleb Drake, the one she foolishly let slip away. After a chance encounter brings Caleb back into her life, Olivia finds herself wanting a second chance with her first love, and asking herself how far she is willing to go to get him back. Her only problem is a red head named Leah, Caleb's new love. Olivia must fight for what was once hers, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.

It's been a long time since I came across a book that actually lived up to all of the hype surrounding it. The Opportunist is definitely one of those books.



**Yes, I realize this wasn't published in 2013. But I READ it this year...so it counts. :P **

"I fell in love underneath a tree," I began.

This book is not a romance. In fact, I would probably classify it as an Anti-romance. The three main characters are all guilty of various things. Lying, cheating, causing intentional pain to people they supposedly care about...and that's just for starters. In fact, at about the half-way mark i realized an important fact; I was absolutely loving the story, but at the same time I did not like a single one of the characters. Not one.



Fisher has done something absolutely extraordinary...she has created a book centered on a bunch of truly unlikeable people, and made the reader...well, she made ME...still care about what happened to them.

I think that shows just how much of a badass author Ms Fisher is.

There were times when I was pissed off beyond belief at something one of the characters did, or said. And then 5 pages later, i felt like my heart was breaking. Not because that character had redeemed themselves (because honestly, none of them really do, imo), but because I still felt sympathy for them. I can't tell you how many times Olivia pissed me off, but yet...I still felt her pain... (view spoiler)[over losing Caleb. Again. And again. (hide spoiler)] even if she did totally bring it on herself.



"I am doing this, because he still calls me Duchess."

But that was a big part of Olivia and Caleb's relationship...it almost seems like they fed off each other's insecurities and watching their roller coaster life together implode is gut-wrenching.

"Caleb was like a hurricane that swept through my life, stirring up things inside of me that I never knew existed. He is a longing I will never cure.



I debated on including my absolute favorite quote from the book in this review, but I've decided not to as I am trying to keep the spoilery content to a minimum. All I will say is...

The last line of the book.

It made me cry, and feel like someone hit me in the stomach with a hammer. Damn you, Tarryn Fisher. Damn you.



But, despite all the emotional turmoil, I am beyond grateful that I decided to give this book a chance. It is hands down one of the best books I've read all year, and i'm both excited and terrified to read the second book, Dirty Red.

"You are going to destroy me, you know that?"
I knew...