Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher

(Love Me With Lies series, book 2)

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

“He thought Olivia could hurt him, I’ll hurt him worse. I’ll keep hurting him. And if he goes after her again, I’ll rise up and do everything in my power to keep them apart. Some people never change. I guess I’m one of them. – Leah

Never in a million, billion, gazillion years did I ever imagine I would be saying what I’m about to say……….

I actually like and was rooting for Leah.

Yep. Let that soak in for a minute. Continue when you’ve composed yourself…

Dirty Red throws us into the deceitful, manipulative mind of Leah, and allows her to essentially tell her side of the story. Going into this book, I was freaking pumped. I was so pumped I might have even fist pumped a couple times (don’t you judge me). I wasn’t excited because I liked Leah after reading The Opportunist; in fact, two words kept replaying in my head while reading that book… “Bitch crazy.” I didn’t like her. At all. But if you had the chance to get inside the mind of a “crazy bitch” you knew, wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity? I sure as hell would. Hence, my excitement for Dirty Red and all the conniving antics that came along with it.

My change of heart for Leah didn’t happen immediately or even within the first half of the book. Her attitude and actions towards Estella disgusted me and made me want to reach through my iPad and smack the shit out of her. But then something happened that hadn’t ever happened before – I felt for her. My heart hurt for her a little bit. It was like Tarryn chipped away at her bitch exterior and finally revealed who Leah really was – a vulnerable, needy, desperate woman. A woman who had been so emotionally hurt in the past that she was willing to do absolutely anything to keep the one man she loved – even if he didn’t love her quite as much; even if she was just a second choice. It’s quite sad really, but it made me see her differently. It humanized her.

Although we did get a little of Olivia, I wanted more; I wanted more confrontation, I wanted more Olivia/Caleb moments, and FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY I wanted to know what the fuck was in that blue box!! I have my suspicions on what it could be…but damn it, I want to know! If it is what I think it is, what does that mean for Olivia and Noah? Or does it even matter? It couldn’t not matter, right? Ahhhh! Tarryn Fisher is an evil genius for leaving these little unanswered questions bouncing around in my head until she releases Thief.

Of course I have to discuss this – the ending. The ending…well…all I’ll say is, it gutted me. Plain and simple. And I don’t blame Leah for that last line, even if it’s not true. I mean, it’s a bitch move, but I’d pretty damn pissed off too if I found out my husband had lied to me about something so incredibly huge. Oh my God, it was just a perfect ending/cliffhanger…freaking perfect.

While I didn't love Dirty Red quite as much as The Opportunist, Tarryn Fisher certainly didn't disappoint with this second novel. It gave me something I wasn't expecting, which made it all the better, while continuing to give my emotions a pretty severe workout. I mean, not that I would expect anything less from this series…nor would I want anything less. Tarryn is 2 for 2 in making me never want to put down her book, while at the same time never wanting the story to end. The writing is fantastic, and I feel like everything I knew about this series got flipped on its ass. I don’t know what I want anymore! Do I want Caleb and Olivia together? Do I want Leah to find someone new? Do I want Noah and Olivia to have a HEA, while Leah and Caleb suffer? I. JUST. DON’T. KNOW. I’ll tell you one thing I do know… I need a drink after this and a dirty martini seems quiiiite fitting…

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