Blog Tour – Lie To Me by Chloe Cox

The man who saved her is also the man who destroyed her… or is he?

Seven years ago, I decided I wanted to be a fighter. Marcus Roma showed me how.

Six years ago, my parents died in a car accident. Marcus Roma picked me up off the ground and held me until I could stand on my own two feet.

Five years ago, I fell in love with him.

And then Marcus Roma disappeared. No warning. No explanation. Just gone.

Yesterday, he came back.

And now I have to decide who’s telling the truth, and who’s lying. Who wants something from me, and who wants…

Me.

If I guess wrong, I could lose everything. I need to think clearly. But Marcus makes that impossible. Marcus makes me weak. Marcus makes me want, in a way I’ve never felt before.

Marcus Roma will make me fall. The only question is—will he be there to catch me this time?

LIE TO ME is a new adult / adult contemporary romance novel about truth, lies, and redemption. It is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Lie to Me is my first Chloe Cox book, so I had no preconceived notions. But I must divulge that this is not a BDSM book like her others, if that’s what you expect. This is an emotionally charged, angst filled NA/contemporary love story that will keep you up reading. Lie to Me was written beautifully in present tense, dual POV with flashbacks that weaved through the story seamlessly. The present tense was a unique style that kept you right there with the characters, breathlessly waiting for what will come next.

This is a quote heavy review, because the writing style is such an integral part of this book. There are no spoilers.

“Lie to me. Tell me I won’t have to love you for the rest of my life.”

Harlow (‘Lo’) is broken. Her parents died 6 years before and at 23, she is raising her genius 11 year old brother and trying to fight off a land development company who is trying to get hold of her childhood home. She broke 6 years before, but was gradually fixed by the love of her life, the big boxer with the heart of gold, Marcus. He was with her through every devastating moment after her parents died, and Marcus was the only reason Lo came out the other side intact. Then one day…he was just gone, and she broke even worse the second time.

“It’s been five years since he dropped out of my life with no warning, no real explanation, five years since he just left.”

She sees him on the street in the rain, but she just can’t deal.

“This is the man who broke me. This is the man who kept me going during the darkest time of my life and then disappeared.
This is the man who made me.
And I hate him.”

..I run away from it as fast as I can, like it’s a deadly siren’s call, like it represents a black pit of emotional fuckery from which I just know I will never emerge. 

This time, Marcus chases her.

“All I can see is that strong jaw, those huge shoulders. that tie dancing in the wind, water dripping down his face while he looks at me with those beautiful, sad eyes…
No single human has ever hurt me the way Marcus Roma has, and now he’s back. And I don’t want him to leave. And that will be my downfall.
If I let it.”

This time, Marcus won’t let her go.

“She’s got something on me, always has. All these years away and I still feel tethered to her, like what has kept my blood pumping all this time was that she was out there, existing somewhere in the world. And the closer I got to her now, the more alive I feel. Like I’m just waking up.
Feels dangerous, somehow.”

There is no question the pull between them is as strong as ever, 5 years later.

“Jesus.
So. Fucking. Beautiful.
My world goes from black and white to color, from dead and dull to alive and intense. It’s almost too much, like my entire nervous system clicks on at once, every nerve firing at maximum capacity, telling me to get the hell over there and claim her. Because she is mine, she was always meant to be mine, and I’ll be hers even when she hates me”

But Marcus left Harlow so broken, can she ever trust him again? Her brain may say one thing, but her body betrays her.

“The physicality of this man, and my attraction to him, removes all sense from my brain. I feel like a zombie, or like I’m hypnotized… “

Through current POV and flashbacks to 5 years before, when Marcus left, we are able to fully see the power of the relationship between the two, but Marcus never tells her why he left 5 years before.  And until he does, she can never fully give in to him again.

“Maybe it will always be this way with us now, the thing you love and the thing you hate all wrapped up in one.”

Likes:

• The writing style of present POV is very rare to read and Chloe Cox did an excellent job with it. It kept you right there with the characters the whole time.
• Flashbacks were woven in so seamlessly that you never felt confused as to which time you were in.
• Dual Point of Views worked perfectly in this story.
• It was a very intense, breathless read.
• Beautiful prose with a ton of amazing quotes.
• Marcus is so freaking amazing. Sigh……
• Great epilogue.

Dislikes:

• The present tense style of writing was great for this book, but not something I would want to read too much more of. It was very edge-of-your-seat, even when there wasn’t a lot happening. Great occasionally, and it made it very unique, but it was just too different for regular use.
• I’m not really clear why Marcus didn’t tell her sooner.
• As much as I loved hearing about Marcus’s big boxer hands, we heard a little too much about them.
• Lack of dialogue. I love dialogue, but this book was very much an ‘in the head’ book.
• A little too NA angsty for my tastes.

Rating: 4.25 stars 4 Heat

I could lie to you, and tell you not to read this, that it’s written like crap and you will keep putting it down.

But that would be a lie.

Because once you start reading Lie To Me by Chloe Cox, you will get sucked into the moment. The moment that is happening right before your eyes, and you won’t be able to put it down until the last word of the epilogue. Beautifully written, angsty, emotional, featuring a gorgeous fighter, and a broken heroine who is strong in her own ways, I highly recommend this unique read.

“You are my everything. You’re the reason I learned how to laugh. You’re the reason I learned how to be strong. You’re the reason I learned how to be good. I am who I am because I found you. Because you let me love you.”-Marcus

Purchase Lie To Me by Chloe Cox

Standalone but will be part of the Redemption Series with other characters. 314 pages.

Amazon | BN.com

I am so angry I can barely see, and I want him so badly it actually, physically hurts. Like the absence of him inside me aches.

I’m pulling at his shirt now, twisting it, and Marcus’s fingers are digging into my waist, pushing under the waistband of my shorts, almost like they have a mind of their own. They must, because Marcus himself is rock solid and rigid, his body riddled with tension, his muscles working with restraint.

“Lo,” he whispers, shaking his head.

“I don’t want to have to think about this anymore,” I say. “Please just help me to feel something else. Please.”

His thumb sweeps along the inside of my waistband, coming around the front, dipping low so that I shudder, even while the muscles in his shoulders pop and it looks like he’s struggling.

I want to scream.

I do.

I rip at his shirt; I go for the buttons on his jeans. I say, “I don’t want to be scared of being broken forever because you fucking broke me…”

I think he’s about to snap and finally take me when his hands move, lightning fast, and grab mine, pinning them to the table. Marcus is breathing heavy, his whole body hard and alive and pulsing between my legs as I sit on this stupid table, and when he looks at me, it’s with a fierce hunger.

“Not until you tell the truth,” he says. “Not until you say why.”

I know exactly what he means. He can still see through me.

“Because I hate that it’s you that does this to me,” I say. “Why does it have to be you? I hate that it’s you that makes me feel this. I hate you, Marcus, because I…”

Because I love him. But I can’t say it.

He’s leaning into me now, his head close to mine. He’s smelling me. I can feel his lips move along my jaw, my ear, my neck…

“Please don’t make me say the rest,” I say. “You already know the truth, you bastard.”

One hand moves to the back of my head, the other to my hip, and I can already feel the complete control he has over my body. Like he’s just deciding. Feeling it out, the way he does.

I hate him so much for making me love him.

“Marcus, I need you to—”

He doesn’t let me finish. With a growl, he threads his fingers through my hair and pulls my head back, his face hovering just above mine. For a beat his eyes pierce mine and I see what I feel echoed there: a wild need, a fierce, burning fever, the desperation of needing someone you can’t have.

And then when it happens, it happens all at once: his mouth crushing mine, his hand pushing into my shorts, beneath my underwear, his fingers sliding between my wet folds, and then his hand gripping me there. He stops for a moment, as though just wanting to establish ownership, and his tongue parts my lips savagely. I moan into his mouth and grapple at his shoulders, trying to get him to move, to just do it already, because I feel like I might burst, but he’s the one in control, and that drives me even higher. His other hand tightens its grip on my hair, and he takes what he wants, kissing me deeply until I yield to it, until I’m not thinking about anything at all.

I love to tell stories. I especially love romance, only with all the good and sexy parts left in, and sometimes with a little kink, too. I cry at the dumbest commercials, I hide behind the nearest person during scary movies (and then make them tell me what’s going on), and I spend way too much money sending my friends gag gifts. (Amazon Prime free shipping is a dangerous, dangerous thing.)

So aside from feeling compelled to sit at my computer and make stuff up all day, I’m an otherwise normal gal navigating life, family, love and the rest. I am also a voracious, omnivorous reader, a disastrous cook (recipes are at best just suggestions), and the human who belongs to two bat%$&! insane cats.

I love to tell stories. I especially love romance, only with all the good and sexy parts left in, and sometimes with a little kink, too. I cry at the dumbest commercials, I hide behind the nearest person during scary movies (and then make them tell me what’s going on), and I spend way too much money sending my friends gag gifts. (Amazon Prime free shipping is a dangerous, dangerous thing.)

So aside from feeling compelled to sit at my computer and make stuff up all day, I’m an otherwise normal gal navigating life, family, love and the rest. I am also a voracious, omnivorous reader, a disastrous cook (recipes are at best just suggestions), and the human who belongs to two bat%$&! insane cats.

FIVE FUN FACTS

– Number of jars of peanut butter and peanut butter-chocolate consumed while writing (oh god why did I figure this out): 5 and 4, respectively. I started out with just the plain peanut butter, but at some point in the writing process peanut butter just wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. I had developed a peanut butter tolerance. I needed something stronger. And thus I leveled up to this peanut butter chocolate devil mix. It was like a swirl thing? Whole Foods does it. You can get the peanut butter and chocolate mixed together, and it is the laziest snack ever, and it is wonderful. With a spoon, people. I ate it with a spoon.

– Marcus, like one of my previous heroes (what up, Chance fans!), is loosely based on someone I know. Fighter’s hands really are very heavy.

– Actually, I’m just going to throw this out there: boxing is an amazing workout, and the scenery ain’t half bad. You know, if you need to work off 9-10 jars of peanut butter related condiments for some reason.

– Harlow’s never had the time to pursue her own dreams, but she’s actually a very talented self-taught musical composer. Marcus might have plans for her, there…

– I cried like a baby writing the ending.

 Connect with Chloe Cox

Amazon | Website  | Facebook  | Goodreads 

Purchase Lie To Me by Chloe Cox

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Kindle Fire HDX 7” Tablet
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