I met Marcus at a crematorium. That should have been my first clue to keep away. He was nothing I wanted. Yet, everything I needed. He was dark, dangerous. And I couldn’t stay away. Even when I wanted to. We made a deal—just our bodies. But lines got blurred. I asked for more than one night – I ended up asking for forever. What a mistake that was. What a mistake he was. Sometimes love burns.And … mistake that was.
What a mistake he was.
Sometimes love burns.
And sometimes kisses and lies are all you get.
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Kisses and Lies
T.L. Smith
5 Stars
Absolute perfection in every way! This is so dark and has all the feels!
“They say love is something that suffocates you. That love is a permanent weight that will never lift you up, and forever hold you down, in that one spot you don’t wish to stay in. People are blinded by love and lose themselves in it. Some will take a fist to the face, a knife to the throat, and call it love.”
This is one of her top reads! Highly recommend!!
She has done it again! T.L. Smith is an absolutely brilliant author! I devoured Kiss and Lies, it was so good. It was dark and intense and twisted. You will not find any hearts & flowers in this one. Once I started it was impossible to put down.
I was a little weary at the beginning of this book. Because at first you are a little confused as to what and why but as the story builds it all becomes clear as to the direction it will take. This isn’t a hearts and flowers love, it’s one that is built from death, pain and need.
As the norm with this author it’s most definitely not straight forward. It dark, twisted and you are often left wondering, why? Shouting are you stupid? What’s wrong with you walk away. But in the end you just know that she will answer them all and give you what you truly want. I mean I can’t say much else only that it broke me.
I honestly don’t think I will ever forgive her for that scene. It destroyed me. I cried so much. This book is a beautiful broken love story. But my heart didn’t break so much for the love story at all but for the friendship, that’s what I really cried for. All will become clear in that regard when you read it.
Another great anti hero!
This guy gave me Death vibes. (Hint: read The Bratva Boys by this author)
This book actually physically made my chest ache with the emotional distress these characters had been through.
It has to be the start of a series!
There is so much about the characters I would love to know and there are several more characters I would love to read about.
Damn and she’s done it again.. this author is the master of keeping readers on their toes! Marcus Stone is one man you definitely want to stay away from but he is the one man who draws Rochelle in.. He’s dark, broody, extremely dangerous but he’s also one of the most beautiful men she’s ever met.
Hence why there is an electric attraction an invisible connection that seems to tie them together even though all the signs say stay away! This book will entertain, it will tie you up in knots as you go through every emotion with all the different colorful characters in this story. I can’t recommend this book highly enough it is surely not a light read as there are some dark story lines within this book, but if you enjoy a darker read then this is definitely the book for you!
Wowsers! This was a rather gritty but hot read.
“I’m unsure if I will survive Marcus. His specialty is death. My chances of survival are slim.”
Rochelle meets Marcus on one of the worse days of her life. From the outset, it’s clear that they are opposites, but he meets a need in her that can’t easily be given up. Especially, when her life starts to spiral.
“I need to have you enough times to remove my addiction of you from my mind.”
Marcus doesn’t like people and most people don’t like him. However, his “pretty girl”, Rochelle seeps under his skin and becomes an obsession that he can’t give up. No matter how glaring their differences, their need for one another can’t be ignored.
This story was raw, emotional and somewhat dark. Rochelle is confident and direct, yet the pain she goes through is so unbearable that she seeks to numb it by losing herself in Marcus. He is an alpha of few words and hidden demons. He thinks he knows exactly what Rochelle needs from him and, yet, he’s unwilling to give her what she truly seeks. This was a great read by a new-to-me author.
This book was absolutely amazing it had me hooked from beginning to end it’s a must read
A meet-cute outside a crematorium with death fresh on the air and grief clouding good judgement for a pretty girl and a gorgeous man? What could go wrong?
Marcus is everything a TL Smith reader expects and loves about her anti-heroes. Rochelle is similarly a tough, no-nonsense heroine and when lust turns to love everything gets confused in the best way.
This was a unique story and I’m really curious where it’s going to go when we get to Blaze and Kat’s story!
5 PRETTY GIRL STARS!! Wow….just wow!! This story was so captivating….Life stopped for my day, except for Marcus and Rochelle aka Pretty Girl. Their story is dark, exciting, lots of feels, sexiness and just off the charts PHENOMENAL. T.L. Smith has done it again with a top read of my year….I know this already, so early in the year.
This book had it all!!!! Freaking steamy scenes, tragedy on numerous accounts, lust, love, heartbreak, grief. I rode a rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end.
Marcus was spectacular!!!! The hero you truly love to hate. His chemistry with Rochelle was fire! I really enjoyed the short POV snippets we got from him too. They added a lot of emotional depth to the story.
Rochelle was so damn strong! She kept taking blow after blow and lost herself a bit along the way but bounced back stronger than ever. She had a perseverance that was undeniable! I was rooting for her the entire read.
I love how this love story came together in the end. I had my own suspicions of how the story would go and the author did an awesome job keeping me on my toes and uncertain of how things would go down. I loved the anticipation and unexpected that was around every corner.
**** This novel is FULL of triggers! I listed a lot of them below. ****
* drug abuse
* suicide
* child abuse
* grief/loss
* sexual assault
And this is why TL Smith is a favorite author of mine!!! Holy HELL!!! I absolutely LOVED and DEVOURED Kisses and Lies! I could not get enough, and honestly I didn’t want the story to end. TL has a way of drawing me into her worlds, and it’s just PERFECTION!!!
The characters in Kisses and Lies spoke to me. Marcus, ugh! I tried not to like this brooding, mysterious, jerk, but even as cut off from the world as he wanted to be, he spoke to my heart. I just wanted to hug him. I knew it would take a strong woman to take this anti-hero.
And Rochelle, I ADORED her sooooo much! She’s strong, and feisty, and is struggling. I don’t want to spoil anything, but she’s one hell of a woman.
I think Kisses And Lies is now my favorite TL book!! Well down woman! You continue to amaze me with your complex characters, and unique story lines! A definite must read!
It was not one of my favorite reads but I finished it. I did not like Marcus or Rochelle.
Rochelle and Marcus are the main characters in this book. Rochelle feels lost after losing her loved ones. She needs a distraction. She meets Marcus who gives her a ride of the dark side. I loved this book with all of its twists and turn. Hoping for a book for the secondary characters
Omg ! I really don’t know where to start with this one as this book was one emotional roller coaster for us!The story was exciting and intense and riveting and the characters just captivated me especially Reap/Marcus he was one seriously dark and dangerous man and a whole lot of mind -ffed.
“The story left me reeling and my heart pounding!”
No matter how messed up Marcus was that man drew you right in and saying he was a bad boy was not nearly enough but, one word sinister comes to mind and whats more women are drawn to him just ask pretty girl.
Rochelle comes from a loving family completely opposite of Marcus but, she in a sea of pain at the moment and Marcus seems to be her salvation but, is anything but, she is drawn to him and perhaps she sees something in him that others don’t but, we always crave the things we cannot have.I really loved Rochelle’s character she was a whole lot of fun, sexy,funny,tells it like it is kind of girl,sassy and has no filter and with the men she is currently hanging with can get you dead.We loved Marcus’s pet name for Rochelle the moment he saw her all broken and lost he started calling her pretty girl which was kind of sweet .
The push and pulled and distance did nothing to the chemistry that Rochelle and Marcus had as their chemistry was explosive and hotter than hell.Marcus was whacked in my book but, when he was with Rochelle he was still a douche but, he was also something else as he could be loving and caring and compassionate and Rochelle was changing him because he was addicted to her not only sexually but, on some small emotional level just by being who she was.Marcus’s possessiveness was hotter then hell and their is no doubt if someone tried coming between them there would be dire consequences.
Blaze was another interesting character as he could be sexy and playful and could turn on a dime and be deadly as sin.What a contradiction this man was.Blaze was intriguing and we are going to love getting to know more about him as you could not help but be drawn to the man who could go out of his way to help a girl he barely knows and yet , could hate someone so fiercely.
Overall this dark romance was a gripping read for us and we loved it and we love how unusual it was so much so as Marcus owned and worked a crematorium “yet”, he belonged to and MC as well and his brother was the Clubs President and somehow they where partners not your typical biker and it is really unclear what roll Reap is within the club but, with a MC and its members being thrown into the story in any capacity made the story all the more interesting and Snow he caught my interest. lol
” We loved it !”
If you love Dark Romance this is the perfect book to dive right into the book left me reeling and uneasy but, it had me engrossed into the pages to the bitter end .The more I read this author the more we love her….
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book (given by author)…
Well damn! I need a moment to process what the world just happened. I have no idea how to feel right now except that this book was crazy and I loved every minute of it. Hey when love story begins in a crematorium you can expect the unexpected.
I can’t say too much otherwise it could ruin the ride but Marcus and Rochelle were definitely a hot couple, a twisted couple, but hot. The spark between them instant even on one of the worst days of Rochelle’s life. It must be stated Marcus was a buttmole from day 1, but he did change for Rochelle over time.
The relationship between Tanika and Rochelle was beautiful yet bittersweet. I absolutely adored the sister bond between Rochelle and Kat.
Marcus’ life is death and Rochelle represents light, two complete opposites yet they balance other. Unfortunately, uncontrollable events and relationship send our couple into situation that has the potential to break them. They somewhat remind me of Death and Polly from the book Disbelief.
I loved this book even if it did shatter my heart most of the time. This book had tragedy, drugs, MC, loss and so much more and couldn’t wait to see what happens next.
I would have loved an epilogue to see how things progressed in the future. I can’t wait to see more about Kat and Blaze (because he was such an a** to Rochelle from the beginning with no reason).
Rochelle is lying on the ground outside the crematorium to scared to go inside. What she wasn’t expecting was that there would be man simply standing there just staring. Pushing her buttons on this of all days.
Marcus finds himself captivated by this wowan just lying on the ground outside his crematorium, just lying there not wanting to move and go inside for the service.
Marcus and his brother Blaze have had a very dark childhood and the darkness clings to them both in different ways. For Marcus the marcabe comfort in death surrounds him. His fascination with this woman captivates him.
These characters and their storylines are complex emotional heartbreaking and the bold between the brothers is unbreakable or is it.
The emotional attachment between Marcus (Reap) and Rochelle (Pretty girl) seems to be all one sided both, Rochelle is finding herself falling for this bad boy who will destroy her if she lets him.
I don’t want to like Marcus however I can’t find it in me to hate him only his behavior. I’m really hoping all these beautiful broken characters get their stories told.
I did not expect this twisted, deviant and sinful story when I started Kisses and Lies by T.L. Smith. The people here are imperfect and fascinating. They have emotions they should not. And they go after their feelings even when they end up getting hurt beyond help.
Rochelle met Marcus Stone at a crematorium on the day her grandparents expire. She should not be attracted to and intrigued by someone like Marcus. Not only because of his unusual career as a crematorium owner. Because he is dangerous and all kinds of f***ed up. Because she is dealing with a lot of disabling emotions. Her best friend Tanika is going off the rails and lost in the world of drugs, sex and biker gang problems. The prez is Marcus’ brother. Her job. And Marcus is not a flowery, flattering and happily ever after kind of guy. How far can she go before she cannot accept the fact that they are using each other?
I loved reading about Rochelle. She has real feelings and she is very open about it. I loved her reckless sides with extra edge. I loved how she loved her friend and family members and even someone unlovable like Marcus. She wanted Marcus and she needed him to escape. But she also acknowledged that she is falling for him and I admire her strength to push and deny Marcus. I have mixed feelings about Marcus. I mean I am totally gone for his dark and cruel side. I can feel his brokenness and his issues. He is the kind of guy you would want to help and heal even when he doesn’t want that and even when you know there is no helping the devil. He does not know love. Or at least he thinks so. I feel the end was rushed and the abrupt change in his decisions was not believable. Yes I know Rochelle changed him but somehow the ending missed something. But the chemistry was definitely on point. Very intense. Very sexy. Very dirty, filthy and sensual! This story deals with many kinds of heartbreaks and shocking feelings too.
Kisses and Lies by T.L. Smith is a devious, passionate and very different romance. It is something in between an amazing contemporary romance and an angsty dark romance.
Received ARC for honest review
Darkness and Love Combined in one phenomenal story!
WOW! This story is an intense, emotional and very turbulent love story. It played with my emotions and forced me to embrace the darkness of the characters. It’s dark, twisted and emotionally heavy at times, but all around utterly phenomenal!
Rochelle is a good girl who is dealing with some painful events in her life. In order to deal with the pain, she has decided to welcome in the darkness of pain and death into her life. The perfect man to take her into the darkness steps into her world just when she needs him. Marcus is sexy, deviant and a bit twisted, but he’s just what Rochelle needs to forget the pain.
Marcus doesn’t want to ruin Rochelle or bring her down the rabbit hole of his life. He sees the good in her and wants to keep it that way. But like two very lost souls, Marcus and Rochelle are drawn to one another. She’s the ying to his yang or the light to his dark. Their chemistry is undeniable and oozes off the pages. But are they truly meant to be together and fight their darkness together?
This story is heartachingly beautiful in all its dark moments. Highly recommend.
What a refreshing new book from T.L Smith! still our dark queen but with an emotional element that was different from her other books. Marcus is such a dream! my heart was happy reading his POV. Rochelle was good, but in this case Marcus…. he is such a perfect character for my dark heart. His work for me was like!!… please can I join you? LOL. Amazing world with extra characters that got me dreaming too, please can we have Blaze ASAP I started to love him from the first chapters, let’s see how he acts when love comes knocking on his door. 5-Lies to me – stars
Wowza! I was riveted by this story, the characters just captivated me. Marcus and Rocelle’s story was sexy, it’s deep and dark with an exciting chemistry.
I loved the excitement and thrills they both brought to the story.
The storyline was great and the character development was excellent. A very enjoyable read from T.L. Smith, I enjoyed every page.
A definite must read!