Heart of Deception

Rating:
Summary: London's underworld exposed in work of intrigue and romance.
Review: Taylor Chase has written a wonderful story full of intrigue and passion. The pages of the book crackle with the combustible chemistry between Vivian and Rafe. The story moves quickly and provides a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Taylor Chase creates a rich romance and a delightful read.

Rating:
Summary: London's underworld exposed in work of intrigue and romance.
Review: Taylor Chase has written a wonderful story full of intrigue and passion. The pages of the book crackle with the combustible chemistry between Vivian and Rafe. The story moves quickly and provides a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Taylor Chase creates a rich romance and a delightful read.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: The most truly amazing thing about this book was the heroine, Vivian. Vivian and her brother Nick control the underworld of a certain area in London. I had a couple of doubts when I read this in the back blurb. I thought she'd either be a hair-tossing, feisty little girl, who thought it would be fun to dabble in illegal activities, or that her role would be to mother all the little pickpockets.

I was wrong. Vivian is no ninny and she's no earth mother type, either. She's an intelligent, capable, ruthless woman, who's well versed on the machinations needed to control her territory and is capable of being brutal when needed. She takes no pleasure from killing, but she doesn't hesitate to do so when necessary. She's not promiscuous, but she likes sex and has affairs with men when she feels like it. She can be kind, but she can also get enraged enough that she breaks things. In short, she's a strong, complicated woman, who does what needs to be done and if she enjoys it in the process, so what?

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the Elizabethan England underworld, Vivian's domain. This is no sanitized version of it. Vivian and Nick do protect their people, but they also do things like make shopkeepers pay for protection (very mafia-like, that). Their world is violent, and this shows in Chase's very colourful portrayal of it.

I loved to see her with Rafe, who's a darling, even if his whole purpose when he decides to infiltrate Vivian's domain is to betray her. Of course, soon after he meets her he becomes so fascinated by Vivian that he talks himself into believing it would be a good idea to become her lover, and he soon starts having doubts about whether a woman such as Vivian would do such a thing as plot treason.

I must say, the man really drives himself crazy about what to do. He's truly between a rock and a hard place. The mental torture he puts himself through goes a long way in helping me forgive him for betraying Viv.

The relationship between these two people was fascinating. Vivian's impulse is to treat Rafe as a toy, almost, I guess as a reaction against the feelings he engenders in her. I really liked Rafe's reactions to this: he doesn't allow for her to dominate him, but neither does he try to dominate her himself. He loves her the way she is, strong and ruthless. His upbringing with a grandfather who drilled virtue into him makes him not be comfortable with the fact that she makes her living off crime, but he doesn't judge what she's had to do to survive.

The plot was really good, too, though I wasn't too happy about a certain intrusion on this very nitty-gritty reality of a supernatural element, near the end, and which is crucial to our protagonists' finding out exactly what's going on. Too much deus ex machina to me, that.

Rating:
Summary: Viv and Rafe in "Heart of Deception" are a "Must Read!"
Review: This book has a compelling plot that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page. The relationship the author builds between Viv and Rafe is psychologically complex and oh, so hot and steamy! Her secondary characters are richly colored and they infuse the plot with intrigue. As you near the end you wonder, "How can this possibly work out?" Ms. Chase does make it work, and with believable finesse. I highly recommend this as a "must read."

Rating:
Summary: Viv and Rafe in "Heart of Deception" are a "Must Read!"
Review: This book has a compelling plot that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page. The relationship the author builds between Viv and Rafe is psychologically complex and oh, so hot and steamy! Her secondary characters are richly colored and they infuse the plot with intrigue. As you near the end you wonder, "How can this possibly work out?" Ms. Chase does make it work, and with believable finesse. I highly recommend this as a "must read."

Rating:
Summary: Riveting dark and edgy romance
Review: To free his family from charges of treason, Rafe Fletcher infiltrates the Southwark underworld of Elizabethan England. There he meets the Queen of the Clink, beautiful and dangerous Vivian Swift, a woman full of contradictions, a woman he cannot help but love. Loaded with intrigue, HEART OF DECEPTION is intelligent, dark, and sexy. The plot is labyrinthine, but so well developed, and the characters so finely detailed, that the reader cannot help but be drawn into the endlessly fascinating web of deceit surrounding Rafe and Vivian's relationship. And what a relationship! Anger and passion are rarely so well blended. Don't miss this outstanding novel.

Rating:
Summary: Dark & Senual Elizabethan
Review: What a fabulous, daring heroine - matched up with a dynamic and sexy hero! Set in bawdy Elizabethan England, this is a dark, sensual romance merged with a plot full of surprises and intricate twists. I loved this book - it satisfied in every way.