Liquid Lies wasn't what I expected. It was more science fiction than romance, kind of a cross between I Am Number Four and an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation called "Encounter at Farpoint." The two alien races in the story were on Earth secretly. Gwen was from an alien race that communed with water and Reed was a human whose job involved kidnapping people for money. Gwen's story was quite complicated while Reed's was fairly ordinary. That made for an unbalanced story that was more about her than him. I enjoyed the story but didn't really get into the romance between the two main characters. ( )

Liquid Lies wasn't what I expected. It was more science fiction than romance, kind of a cross between I Am Number Four and an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation called "Encounter at Farpoint." The two alien races in the story were on Earth secretly. Gwen was from an alien race that communed with water and Reed was a human whose job involved kidnapping people for money. Gwen's story was quite complicated while Reed's was fairly ordinary. That made for an unbalanced story that was more about her than him. I enjoyed the story but didn't really get into the romance between the two main characters. ( )

3.5 stars

Liquid Lies is a debut novel and it was very interesting but a little uneven and the romance was awkward at times. Solid enough that I'll read the second one in the series. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Dark alien romance set on earth that involves kidnapping, blackmail and an almost cult-like alien group.

Opening Sentence: Deals always went down near water.

The Review:

Gwen Carroway is good at her job. She has expanded the family business and any day now she knows she will be accepted onto the Board, the ruling council under her father the CEO. When she is accepted, she will finally know the secrets to mendacia, which is how her family/race makes money. The aliens live almost like a cult, everyone is dependent one each other and the product they sell, humans are not allowed, marriages are arranged among themselves to keep their race pure. Gwen happens to be one of them, an Ofarian, an alien being from another planet that can turn into water. They can also have other abilities and Gwen has the ability to Translate, which is rare. She can pick up any language just from a few words being spoken aloud. Her abilities have helped to set up an international market for the company.

When Liquid Lies begins Gwen is handling a drop off for a buyer when the deal goes bad. She is attacked but the man gets away. Several hours later Gwen is attacked again but this time she is saved by a crazy stranger. Reed Scott happens to see something in Gwen when he deals with the man who attacked her. So when Gwen and Reed run into each other at Gwen’s favorite restaurant, they immediately hit it off. Gwen is ready to leave with the human when Reed has to meet with his contacts. They are there to tell him his next job and he doesn’t realize that Gwen is his target.

The betrayal Gwen feels at her kidnapping is heartbreaking. She believes that she has been played all along by Reed. But the lies that she learns about her people and their money making product are even more devastating to Gwen. Gwen must decide where she stands with her people and the feelings that she has towards her kidnapper. Can she trust him? Should she follow her heart? Reed knows he should just let her go but he has a feeling that Gwen isn’t safe with the people who paid to have her kidnapped so he negotiates to stay on as her watcher/bodyguard.

The world that is set up in Liquid Lies with aliens on earth is definitely a different spin on the paranormal. Some aspects of the novel are predictable from how the product is made to… well I don’t want to give too much away but in-between there are still a few surprises thrown in. I truly did want to know how the events in the novel would play out.

Gwen is a strong woman and she didn’t come off too whiney about her predicament. She wanted to fight but she always had a hard time coming up with a solution. (She couldn’t tell Reed about herself because once he learned about her his sentence would be death. No humans are allows to know about the Ofarian existence.) Gwen spent most of the book without her water powers so she seemed more human than alien.

Reed has two different personalities, the one he shows towards Gwen at the restaurant and the other icy, cold exterior he portrays as The Retriever when he retrieves people for his clients. Unfortunately Reed was not very good at his job, he could never really separate himself when it came to Gwen. Reed was called “dumb muscle” by a character and in a way he kind of was. He refused his previous job because it felt fishy but when he knows he has to kidnap Gwen, he just goes with it. The funny part is even though this relationship sounds really bad, it wasn’t. I enjoyed the time Gwen and Reed spent together, but for the most part I’m not sure how memorable they will be in the future.

Overall, Liquid Lies is a descent alien romance. I really liked learning about the alien races involved and I actually want to read the next book. I hated Xavier in the beginning of Liquid Lies but by the end I want to know what is next for him.

Notable Scene:

“Come on.”

“Where?” She couldn’t go anywhere without him.

A nod toward the bathroom. “You’re going to apologize to me.”

“What?” he began, a little angry, until he noticed the quirk to her lips.

Then he slid his hand into hers and let her drag him into the bathroom. They stood right in the middle of the demolished DMZ. Late afternoon sunlight hit the surrounding bedrooms, but she’d left the light off in the bathroom and it was so dim he could just barely make out their shapes in the mirror.

“Gwen, I’m . . .”

. . . sorry for what you’ve been pulled into and my role in it.

. . . obsessed with you.

The surprise of her mouth and the heat it stoked in him obliterated what he was going to say anyway. Slipping her arms around his waist, she gave a little tug toward her room, but he resisted.

“Maybe.” She rubbed the flannel of his shirt between her fingers.

FTC Advisory: Penguin/Berkley provided me with a copy of Liquid Lies. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )