Year: 2017

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Collateral comes a gripping novel about a woman caught in a love affair that could be her salvation...or her undoing.
Tara is gorgeous, affluent, and forty. She lives in an impeccably restored Russian Hill mansion in San Francisco. Once a widow, twice divorced, she’s a woman with a past she prefers keeping to herself.
Enter Cavin Lattimore. He’s handsome, kind, charming, and the surgeon assigned to Tara following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. In the weeks it takes her to recover, Cavin sweeps her off her feet and their relationship blossoms into something Tara had never imagined possible. But then she begins to notice some strange things: a van parked outside her home at odd times, a break-in, threatening text messages and emails. She also starts to notice cracks in Cavin’s seemingly perfect personality, like the suppressed rage his conniving teenage son brings out in him, and the discovery that Cavin hired a detective to investigate her immediately after they met.
Now on crutches and housebound, Tara finds herself dependent on the new man in her life—perhaps too much so. She’s handling rocky relationships with her sister and best friend, who are envious of her glamour and freedom; her prickly brother-in-law, who is intimidated by her wealth and power; and her estranged mother. However perfect Tara’s life appears, things are beginning to get messy.
Writing in beautiful prose, Ellen Hopkins unveils a new style while evoking her signature poetic form that readers fell in love with in Collateral and Triangles.

Recently when I was at  Chapters I spotted Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins on the bargain table and I picked it up to read the synopsis and it peeked my interest. I don’t think I have ever read anything by Ellen Hopkins in the past. I do recall owning a book or two of hers but not reading them.

Anyways I am so happy I picked this up because I started reading it and I am enjoying it. I found the beginning a little slow but once I got about half way into the book I literally had a hard time putting it down because I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. The way the second half progressed I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat reading to find out what was going on and then bam I was finished. I heard that there is a second book but no idea when its suppose to be released.

As I was getting set to do my review I noticed that there was a prequel to this called On the Rocks and its still available on wattpad for free. Which I read after the fact but I have to say that after reading it the whole story line made much more sense.

If you know Ellen you are familiar with her young adult writing which she does her whole books in verse and this is completely opposite because this is a adult fiction book written in the traditional format. I really enjoyed the writing as it was smooth and her story line was easy to follow. The list of characters were kept to a minimum so you weren’t able to get things confused.

Our main character is Tara who has wealth and privilege. She was a widow at a young age and has been divorced twice. She has no kids and no desire for kids so she lives her life the way she wants to live her life. She doesn’t have to answer to anyone and can do as she pleases. She is enjoying life to the fullest and loves the company of men.

During her annual ski trip with her sister Mel she gets in a accident and is rushed to the hospital and its there that she meets the ever so charming Dr. Cavin, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Tara has no problem calling the good dr up and inviting him out to dinner and its over the course of this relationship she begins to think that Cavin could be the next one to make her settle down.

As I was reading I was actually beginning to really like Cavin because he is that kind of character that you know you will love because he is sweet, charming and caring but then as you read you begin to think this guy is way to good he is up to something and as I was reading I kept getting feeling that something is up. He was too good to be true, if you know what I mean.

I am curious to see where this story line will lead and to discover more about Cavin and what he isn’t telling. I would difinitely read the next book in this series.