The riveting conclusion to the Illusions Duet…GIDEONShe took me with her when she left.A day.A thousand days.It doesn’t matter.She blew out the flame inside me and nowI’m in the dark.DEIRDRESuffering is the cloak that shelters. The mask that protects fragile skin. And happiness is something for those who have suffered less.Happiness doesn’t live here,in the house of broken dolls.Only sin.…
who have suffered less.
Happiness doesn’t live here,
in the house of broken dolls.
Only sin.
Author’s Note: This duet takes place in the world of the Vision Series but can be read as a standalone. Mature themes. HEA guaranteed.
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So this book takes us into the dark and dangerous cartel world. The author takes us to the good, bad, ugly in this book. Deirdre goes thru hell in this book. She is taken to into a world and treated like a doll. This is the ugly of the book and it goes on for most of the book. She has fight despite all this. She knows what she has to do to survive.
I must say I was happy to see that we got Gideon’s point of view. It was a nice change to see how he was dealing with everything and his thoughts. He was struggling badly but somehow managed to keep his head straight. He was determined to find Deirdre and bring her back to him.
This book keeps you on your toes. You don’t know if people are really dead or not. You don’t know who to trust and whether or not you’ll live. It’s a page turner that’s for sure. I couldn’t stop reading it. I was consumed by it.
The conclusion of Gideon and Dierdre’s story is here! This was a wild, twisted and dark romantic suspense story. Their journey to the end was heartbreaking and yet, full of hope and love. The couple face some terrible and horrific events and yet find strength and love in each other. I found myself turning the pages quickly to see how it all would end.
Gideon had so much stuff to work through during his journey. But in the end, what he felt for Dierdre was stronger than anything else. Diedre broke my heart throughout the story and yet we see how strong and determined she is as well. Their story was definitely not an easy one, but one that riveted me.
4.5-stars. Read and reviewed for Reviews From the Heart.
Happy reading.
I loved the way this book was written. You can literally feel the deep emotions of this book bleeding from the pages. I highlighted so much of this story, I just loved it so much. The characters in this Duet just grab your attention from the beginning. Dierdre is one of my favorite characters ever. Her strength is beyond amazing. Gideon has my heart. If he doesn’t have yours by the end of this book, you don’t really have one. This book is dark, emotional, and full of surprises I didn’t see coming. One of the best Duets I have ever read.
This is a direct continuation of the art of sin and the concluding part of the duet.
Her hand was forced, so to save them all she left her life…
Back to where the true nightmare began she went.
A mission, a goal, a freedom to secure.
He lost her, no visible trail to follow, no breadcrumbs upon the floor.
His life forgotten as everything comes to a standstill. Everything was her.
Oh my gosh!!! What an exciting action packed read with twists, turns and revelations a plenty.
Days of numbers not only shocked and appalled me but gave me a truer understanding of her past.
Darkness everywhere, an evil not far behind stealing the light bit by bit.
I was on the edge of my seat, my heart breaking and my mind praying, clinging onto hope no matter what.
I feel emotionally drained now. They took it all and I would gladly give it to both Deirdre and Gideon again.
Gideon is so full of passion, its dazzling. His heart only beats for one and his actions scream the same song.
Deirdre might be broken and shattered to a degree now her cracks are starting to show, but shes worth all the heartache that surrounds her.
An epic storyline with strong warrior like characters it’s almost like this book was wrote just for me!
But I’m willing to share, and let you know that this is one duet that everyone.. yes EVERYONE needs to read!!
Five stars from start to finish I cant say it simpler than that!
Once again she has hit it out the park. The conclusion to this wonderful duet had me all over the place. As usual it was a very long road to happily ever after but they finally made it.
Wow!! Unbelievable!! Heart pounding!! Literally blown away!!
The exciting conclusion to Art of Sin in the Illusions Duet.
As I’ve said before, I’m a huge fan of LM Halloran’s writing. Art of Sin had me in a spin and I read it non-stop. The pause at the end of the first part of the duet was both timely and also frustrating but fortunately, readers don’t have long to wait before the second instalment releases.
Gideon and Deirdre’s story in Art of Sin was explosive and with Deirdre’s past revealed and her secrets coming back to life, Sin of Love was set to be as captivating as book 1.
With Deirdre trying to finally put a stop to the horrors that haunted her early life, Gideon finds his life spiralling out of control. The love he has for Deirdre is all-consuming but for some reason, it wasn’t enough but with time and patience, he comes to realise that he has to find a way back from the brink before it is too late.
This book felt very, very different from Art of Sin. Whilst I loved book 1, Sin of Love, had me reaching rather than falling in love with it. I’m not a huge fan of dark storylines, especially the whole captivity/prisoner trope and this took a lot of the shine off the story for me. The first half of the book was too drawn out, sadly, with days being counted off, and a strange passing of time until the story starts to reach its final explosive conclusion. From 55% the story started to draw me in, despite my love for the characters, and I found myself itching to see what the last storyline twist would be, and boy was it a good one.
Having read both books, I was left confused as to why Finn was added as a prominent character in Art of Sin only for him to barely make an appearance in Sin of Love. Having fallen for him and his fun-loving ways, I was sad to see him become almost a shadow in this story.
This duet really was a story of two halves and for me, book one clearly shone brighter than book 2 but dark romance lovers will clearly enjoy the second part of Deirdre and Gideon’s journey towards a HEA. For me, the romantic suspense was enough. Had these been standalone stories, I would not have picked up Sin of Love because of the dark theme, but despite my reservations, I did enjoy the story overall. I’m not sure if the cross-over into characters and settings from the author’s other works were really necessary and whilst they added another dimension to the story, they also caused a distraction and had me leaning towards a wanting continuation of the other stories than focussing 100% on this duet.
The strength of the author’s writing was, as always, a huge attraction for me and I was not disappointed. Her word skills are second to none and the diversity of her story writing skills are becoming legendary. Tropes that I would clearly avoid normally are brought to life in a way that I can appreciate, even if I may never learn to love them.
This duet will definitely be one to remember in 2019.
I couldn’t wait to read this after the cliffhanger in the last book and I wasn’t disappointed. Deirdre is a strong heroine. She gave everything up to protect everyone she loves. Gideon tried so hard to respect her wishes but in the end he did everything in his power to find her and get her back. I love how Gideon gave her space but at the same time he showed her that he still loves her. I love how after everything Deirdre went through she chose to live. There are some triggers.
ARC received for an honest review
I knew after the ending of Art Of Love that we were going to be in for one heck of a ride with Sin of Love.
And Ms Halloron has not disappointed.
We learned a little of Deirdre’s past in Art of Love – but hooley dooley, that was nothing compared to what I have learned reading Sin Of Love.
Sin of Love is darker, more emotional. I had such a visceral reaction to this story, my heart ached, my stomach hurt, and I didn’t know whether to throw my kindle on the couch or turn the page at times.
It takes a while for Deirdre and Gideon to come together in this installment, however it is not surprising once you start reading.
I liked the darkness of this story – I know, it is something that a lot of people shy away from, however the story could not have gone any other way with this one.
I loved getting more into Gideon’s head with this story as well.
The quality of the writing is amazing, the story telling is wonderful, and I was hooked from the first word to the last.
Thank you Ms Halloran for giving us Deirdre and Gideon’s story.
I received an ARC of this book and am giving my voluntary review.
Have you read “The Art of Sin”, book 1 of the “ILLUSIONS DUET”? If you haven’t you’ll miss all the back story of what’s happened up to this point. If you have, then I’m sure you’re as excited and thrilled to have this story told as I am. Waiting on pins and needles, it’s here and picks up where we left off last time. I don’t want to give a spoiler of any kind but I will say to grab some tissue before you start. This one too me on an emotional journey the likes I hadn’t been on before, stripping my emotions bare, and making me feel the emotions L.. M. Halloran laid out for her characters. I wouldn’t have missed this bone chilling adventure for anything.
I was left emotionally reeling by the first book of this duet, but Sin Of Love took me to epic heights of every single feel and emotion. This is an all consuming story that is so powerful that it obliterates, smashes into tiny pieces yet slowly but surely the pieces are put back together again. This story was heart wrenching, devastating, raw but ultimately was a tale of healing and daring to hope for a hard-fought happily ever after.
Deidre and Gideon’s story is not a typically ‘hearts and flowers’ story nor is it for the faintest of hearts. It’s dark, gritty and at times extremely painful and disturbing. Yet, in the midst of the darkness, there is a shining ray of light and hope for a well deserved happy ending. Deidre and Gideon owned my heart completely and I found myself utterly immersed in their story. Their love is unwavering and relentless. Despite the sadistic cruelty, unimaginable suffering and silent desperation, their bond is completely unbreakable. In spite of the dark moments, you also get gratifying happiness, laughter and romance.
As with Art Of Sin, L.M. Halloran amazed me with her captivating ability of creating characters who are perfectly flawed and beautifully broken yet at the same time that are real, true and endearing. She is a true crafter of words and produces a plot that is so gripping that it evokes such vast, intense emotions along with compelling characters and a storyline that is poignantly touching. It’s so incredibly rare to see an author who can take the reader through the depths of agonising lows yet can give us breathtaking highs like Halloran is able to do. This stunning duet is truly magical.
In my review of the first book in this duet, I mentioned the story’s darkness and lack of hearts and flowers romance. I also referred to this second book as what I anticipated to be a stunning conclusion, but “stunning” doesn’t begin to do it justice. There is still plenty of darkness in the second part of Gideon and Deidre’s story, some of which is discomforting to read, and the hearts and flowers are delivered by way of patience, boundless understanding and steadfast, unshakeable love. In the midst of vicious cruelty, unspeakable suffering and quiet desperation the bond between two shattered souls is unbreakable.
These two characters owned my heart, every corner, every crevice, and every cell. Their story is raw and devastating, their road to forever twisted, broken and violently wrecked, but their love is stubborn, determined and unwavering. Their human frailties are ripped open and laid bare, only serving to entrance the reader and carry her along through all of the challenges, twists and turns that Gideon and Deirdre experience. Throughout the vast pain and darkness runs a thread of hope, shining a ray of light at the darkest moments, again cementing the reader’s investment in the hard-won happily ever after.
Halloran is a master crafter of words with a gift of captivating the reader with authentic, endearing characters who are perfectly flawed and beautifully broken. She then paints a masterpiece from words with a gripping plot that evokes such vast, deep emotions that the reader’s heart is no longer her own, but at the mercy of the spellbinding characters and poignantly touching storyline, to finally return to its proper owner, battered and beaten then soothed and healed, all the better for the experience. If you haven’t read her work, you’re missing something vital. It’s a rare author who can take the reader to the despairing lows and euphoric highs like Halloran can. If you want a book that makes you feel, prompts you to think, and leaves you better for having read it, with characters that will forever hold a place in your heart, be sure to grab Gideon and Deirdre’s story today!
*I reviewed an advance copy of this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.