Liar, Liar
M/M Romantic Thriller
Dreamspinner Press
May 12, 2017
216
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Jacob Archer works for a cleaning company whose client is Syntech a huge eco-engineering firm. Jacob has worked for the cleaning company for a few months waiting until he was finally given the CEO’s floor. Devon Porter is the CEO and Jacob is definitely not a janitor. His real job is industrial espionage and his current job is getting into Porter’s computer and copying all of Syntech’s files.
Jacob is successful as usual—except this time he is caught leaving by Porter’s brother-in-law Simon Ramsey the Chief of Security and Jacob’s lover. When Simon sees Jacob and realizes what he is doing, he can’t get over the sense of total betrayal and being used by a man he cared for. Jacob manages to get himself locked into a janitor’s closet with Simon kicking, banging and cursing on the other side of the door. It will take all of Jacob’s expertise to get himself out of this jam and he does it quite creatively. I won’t reveal how he got out but it is quite a surprise.
Jacob has what he was hired for and when he meets Harry Clayton, the man who hired him, things take a turn for the worse. Jacob and Harry are kidnapped and Harry winds up dead. With just enough time to get away Jacob calls Simon for help and Simon arrives just in time to save him. Jacob is in bad shape when Simon brings him home having suffered a serious beating, broken ribs and the rest of his body turning a beautiful shade of purple. The kidnappers wanted the information that Jacob had stolen but Jacob managed to get away with save the info.
Now Jacob and Simon have to find out what is going on, who killed Harry, and why is the information so important. They are up against trained killers who have no problem getting rid of anyone who gets in their way. In spite of his betrayal, Simon can’t keep his hands off Jacob even though he knows that there is no chance for a relationship with him. For Jacob lying is second nature and it is hard to know when and if he is telling the truth.
Jacob is framed for Harry’s murder, Devon is blamed by his Board of Directors for what is going on, and Simon is trying to stay one step ahead of a bullet. The story was very good and there were surprises, betrayals and sex. We do find out what is going on and Simon is falling in love with Jacob. Even if Jacob confessed to loving Simon, could he be believed? I loved Simon, but not so much Jacob. It is hard to love a character who is so blatantly a liar and who proudly admits to it.