Deception

Rating:
Summary: A search for buried treasure . . .
Review: A search for buried treasure brings Jared Chillhurst and Olympia Wingfield together in _Deception_, a stunning book by Amanda Quick. A pleasant change from the normal Quick novel, _Deception_ is a story full of pirate's gold, soaring passions, and intriguing mystery.

As always, Ms. Quick has filled the tale with captivating, true-to-life characters. Jared has a quiet strength and a calm arrogance. He prides himself on not yielding to the extreme passions displayed by his hot-blooded family. But, the moment he meets Olympia, he turns into the very picture of a dangerous, exhilarating pirate. He is tempestuously sensual and wildly passionate. Olympia is quirky, whimsical and scatterbrained while being highly intelligent. Somewhat of a recluse and quite the wallflower, when she meets Jared she comes to vivid life. She blooms and grows under his love and by the end of the book turns into one of the most charming and likable heroines you'll ever meet.

In the usual Quick style, _Deception_ is peopled not only with excellent main characters, but secondary characters who almost steal the limelight. Olympia's nephews are delightful and add a depth of warmth and feeling to the story while Jared's father and uncle are dashing, lively and spirited.

Not only is the story heart-warming and romantic, it may well be the funniest book Amanda Quick has written. At one point I very nearly fell in the floor I was laughing so hard. Once again I found myself caught up in a world created by Amanda Quick and it was a place I dearly loved. The plot is full of twists and turns and kept me transfixed the entire time. _Deception_ is a fine example of the reason Ms. Quick has become such a well-loved author. Her wit, talent and skill are present in every word and I felt privileged to be able to read them. _Deception_ is high on my list of favorites by Amanda Quick. Give it a read -- you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Nice Change
Review: Amanda Quick's books have a relative touch of innocence and fairy tale as compared to other romance stories. This has been a delightful read, sweet and charming but not too spellbinding. The theme of legends from the exotic regions sort of set the backdrop of the story in a surreal and fantasy atmosphere. So it almost reads like a fairy tale. As usual, the lady is smart but innocent and able to see beyond the facade of her man. The plot twists are not dramatic or suspenseful enough, too mild that they did not tingle much excitement from the reader.

Rating:
Summary: A search for buried treasure . . .
Review: Brings Jared Chillhurst and Olympia Winfield together in _Deception_, a stunning book by Amanda Quick. A pleasant change from the normal Quick novel, _Deception_ is a story full of pirate's gold, soaring passions, and intriguing mystery. As always, Ms. Quick has filled the tale with captivating, true-to-life characters. Jared has a quiet strength and a calm arrogance. He prides himself on not yielding to the extreme passions displayed by his hot-blooded family. But, the moment he meets Olympia, he turns into the very picture of a dangerous, exhilarating pirate. He is tempestuously sensual and wildly passionate. Olympia is quirky, whimsical and scatterbrained while being highly intelligent. Somewhat of a recluse and quite the wallflower, when she meets Jared she comes to vivid life. She blooms and grows under his love and by the end of the book turns into one of the most charming and likable heroines you'll ever meet. In the usual Quick style, _Deception_ is peopled not only with excellent main characters, but secondary characters who almost steal the limelight. Olympia's nephews are delightful and add a depth of warmth and feeling to the story while Jared's father and uncle are dashing, lively and spirited. Not only is the story heart-warming and romantic, it may well be the funniest book Amanda Quick has written. At one point I very nearly fell in the floor I was laughing so hard. Once again I found myself caught up in a world created by Amanda Quick and it was a place I dearly loved. The plot is full of twists and turns and kept me transfixed the entire time. _Deception_ is a fine example of the reason Ms. Quick has become such a well-loved author. Her wit, talent and skill are present in every word and I felt privileged to be able to read them. _Deception_ is high on my list of favorites by Amanda Quick. Give it a read -- you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: This is a fun, intelligent little read
Review: I am halfway through this book, and I am really impressed. The story is one I don't see often: no shrinking, beautiful virgin with a heart of gold who will be seduced by a vaguely dangerous, but brutally handsome man who needs to be tamed. The heroine is smart, unusual and happy enough with her life when her hero shows up. As a previous reviewer pointed out, there is humor in this book, as well as some passion and a lot of adventure. If you want something different, yet still enjoyable, this would be it.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic and Wonderful
Review: I first picked out *Deception* from my bookstore because it had the thickest spine, and I wanted to find the longest Amanda Quick book that I could. Without even reading the back, I bought it. A couple months later, I found it, never read in my to be read pile. But the first page pulled me in, and I fastened my seatbelt for a wild ride. Olympia and Jared were obviously made for each other. That is one predictable and charming thing that is in every Quick book. Olympia was rather like Beatrice from *With This Ring*. They were both interested in legends and studied them religously. Anyway, I really connected with Olympia, and I found myself predicting her next moves. The mystery of the Lightbourne Diary was definatly the driving force of this book. When little incedents occured, I couldn't turn the page fast enough to find out "who dun it". Jared was the ultimate pirate, but I loved the fact that he was unsure of himself around Olympia and the feelings that she had for him. In too many romance novels, the man is overly confident and assumes that the woman will just melt in his arms. The three young boys were nice spice added to the recipe. Olympia's maternal reactions to them were heartwarming, and the boys fear of being sent away to another relative was heartbreaking. They made this book real and alive. *Deception* is a book that is not just a story about rich English spirits who meet and fall in love. Instead, it depicts a more common romance among two people who don't move in the circles of the ton. All in all, *Deception* is a wonderful read and gives you the feel of what romance was like between two people who weren't loaded in the eighteen hundreds.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I liked this one a lot, I kept turning the pages long after I had told myself to put it down. She set it up so the hero, Jared, is a guy that goes around rescuing people, then puts the heroine into situations in which she needs to be rescued. Finally, the tables are turned, she rescues him (by locking him up) and that turns out to be what he needs to feel that she really loves him. It sounds very simple, but she threads this through the entire book & pulls it off.

I also liked the contrast between describing him as dull, when he really wasn't. I could emphatize with the idea of his holding to schedules and lists to keep order in his chaotic world. He was someone that had real power, because of his business skills and real intelligence too, but his family thought him dull.

The heroine was a space cadet and not aware of it She somehow didn't seem as interesting to me, but it worked.

The supporting cast was great fun, also - with the kids, the housekeeper, even the butler and especially Jared's father and uncle.

I see that some people felt that because Quick described Jared's family as thinking him dull, he really was. OTOH, what interests one person doesn't interest another - I thought the contrast between the different images people had of him one of the most interesting pieces of the book. None were perhaps totally right, but certainly he wasn't anything like as dull as described, he was actually quite intelligent & in his own way, as passionate as the heroine kept claiming.

Rating:
Summary: Do not be deceived, 'Deception' is a pleasure!!
Review: I loved it!! My favorite at this point until Quick weaves another tale to capture that title of favorite in my library.

Cute story with strange twist! Olympia Wingfield studies ancient artifacts while raising three young hellions whom masquerade as nephews. Olympia (during her free time) is searching for clues found in a diary which leads to hidden pirate treasure.

But alas, someone else is searching for the diary and treasure also, and his name is Jared Chillhurst, future earl and descendant of pirates whom is 'all that with a Coke and a bag of chips on the side'. Jared delivers the diary that Olympia's uncle recovers to her, hoping that Olympia will translate the poetic justice written in the diary. But Jared is baffled as to how to approach Olympia and gain her trust. But once he enters her chaotic home of unruly boys and dog, and encounters a housekeepers whom keeps house about as much as Benson kept house on the 70s t.v. show 'Benson' (whom was always lounging around drinking iced tea), Jared immediately uses quick wit and poses as the desperately necessary tutor for the boys with verbal references from Olympia's uncle. Of course, he is deceiving her while gaining her trust, eliminating embezzelers, rescuing abducted nephews, making passionate love to her, and all while solving mysteries of his own.

But it is Olympia whom discovers that there is yet another interested but dangereous party searching for the diary and pirate treasure.

Move over Miss Marple, Olympia Wingfield is to be reckoned with!

You'll laugh, sigh, cry, and just plain enjoy 'Deception'.

Happy Readings!!!

Rating:
Summary: Acceptable
Review: The plot itself was excellent, but it seemed to be going nowhere. Only occasionally did Miss Quick throw in the investigation details about where the jewels were hidden. Then at the end, we're left with being told that the jewels were on some island and that a boat would leave in a fortnight to go find them. It left the reader hanging. I usually love her books, but this one just didn't have that spark. I also didn't care for the hero and heroine's relationship. There wasn't a spark to that either. Not one of her best works, but I've read worse by other authors. If you're considering trying her books for the first time don't start with this one. Try Rendezvous, Slightly Shady (this is part 1 of the trilogy), Don't Look Back(part 2) or Late for the Wedding(part 3) Wicked Widow, With This Ring, Ravished and almost all her other books are better than Deception.

Rating:
Summary: yawn...
Review: This book unfortunatly was lacking in so many ways that I unfortunatly didn't enjoy it as I usually do when I sit down with a historical romance.
The first thing that bothered me as I read the book was how utterly corny Olympia and Jared were during their love making scenes. It was so unbelievable and silly the way they talked to one another that I couldn't stop laughing and wonder what Quick was thinking when she wrote this???
The main characters themselves, both Olympia and Jared, I found to be very unrealistic and not the least bit interesting. Jared bothered me the most out of the two. First of all, the book and the back cover keep referring to him as a pirate which he most certainly isn't. He's a boring, droll merchant. Just because he lost and eye doesn't make him a pirate. Which leads to the second thing that bothered me about him, the book sets up this dangerous pirate facade for Jared while at the same time describing him as an organized businessman. It just made no sense what so ever. Pick one, stick with it.
I also found the plot to be, while orginal, very dry, slow, and uneventful. I think she could have done so much more with it instead of wasting her time with the corny dialogs.
However this is not to say that I entirely disliked the book, as always (with the exception of the corny loving making dialogs) Quick is an exceptional writer and the book obviously wasn't so bad that I stopped reading it. I did make to the end...
I was just unfortunately not impressed with this novel.

Rating:
Summary: A Book to be Enjoyed by Everyone
Review: This book was yet another wonderful book by Ms. Quick. I especially loved Jared because he was intriguing and interesting. He was also not as confident in his seductive power as other heroes are, even though I think he was decidedly sexy. Quick managed to make a physical description of him that was not too long and boring but made Jared sound completely sensual and also establishes that he looks like a pirate. The second thing to love about this book is Olympia who was loving and scatterbrained without being dense. Characters like the Housekeeper, Mrs. Bird, and Olypia's three nephews and their pet dog made the story loving and funny. The plot line was also interesting with twists that are suprising for the most part. This book was a great read all around and is a fast and fun read.