Monday, September 9, 2013

The Opportunist - Review

The Opportunist (Love Me With Lies #1)

By: Tarryn Fisher

Published: November 14, 2011

278 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library ($.99 deal)

(Goodreads / Amazon)

*The above Amazon link is an affiliate link.  All affiliate links support giveaways on Words Fueled by Love.

Summary:
Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.
MY REVIEW:
The series title really gives a great indication of how things go down in this book.  The reader is taken on a journey, much like watching a train wreck happen that you can't peel your eyes away from, where we alternate between the present and the past between Olivia and Caleb.  Olivia is skilled in the art of manipulation and deception and lies, skills that will later aid in her career choice, but in a relationship will lead to doom pretty fast.  Caleb is the one "who got away" though and when she sees him after 3 years and decides to speak to him, unknowingly to her at first that he has amnesia, she sees this as an opportunity to reconnect with the love of her life, knowing that at any moment it can all come crashing down on her.  I gotta give it to her for trying, however misguided her intentions may be.

In college Caleb was the star athlete of basketball and was the most sought after bachelor.  Olivia (who has Daddy issues) holes up in her dorm room reading not allowing herself the normal past times of college students and certainly not boys.  But one time meeting Caleb changes all of that.

The author does a great job of getting you to really root for Olivia and Caleb, even though what she is doing is unethical by becoming his friend as if he's never met her before.  The spark between them is undeniable and as their connection grows she tries to tell him who she really is but he says things like "the past doesn't matter."

Not all stories have happy endings though.  As I said, a train wreck waiting to happen.  This will definitely tear at your heart strings by the injustice of bad timing and missed opportunities.

FAVORITE QUOTES:
"He was like a jalapeno: bright and smooth, but dangerously hot.  A small part of me wanted to bite him."

"I loved him with everything in me.  He taught me who I was, something I never would have known, without his deft handling of my personality."

"Life is all about choices, I decide - good ones, bad ones and selfish ones."

"There is more to loving someone than just making yourself happy.  You have to want him to be happier than you are."

"There is something about my life that is scripted with his.  We keep crossing - no crashing together."

"You will forever be loved first, nothing will change that."

"He is a longing I will never cure."

"You can only give your heart away once; after that, everything else will chase your first love."

Final Rating - 4 stars

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