Paradise of Lies by Brittany Amara

 Paradise of Lies 

by Brittany Amara

My Rating: 🟊🟊🟊🟊

Spice Rating: 🫑

Blurb:

For a young woman whose time is running out, a healing trip to a dreamlike town becomes a nightmare of dark secrets, twisted obsessions, and inescapable truths in this propulsive speculative thriller.

Evangeline Windemere knows love. Despite her wealthy mother’s objections, it’s her rebellious boyfriend, Slater, who’s always been there for her. But Evangeline is struggling with a mysterious illness. Hovering between life and death, her only hope is in the compellingly handsome, silver-eyed Dr. Sebastian Blithe. He knows what’s best for Evangeline.

A restorative stay in Dr. Blithe’s estate in the remote town of Paradise will work wonders. With hills of grass uncommonly green for the desert, quaint shops, and fresh air, it’s like a dream come true. But something is wrong. Sebastian’s staff is evasive, and the town’s residents seem to revere the altruistic doctor. Then come the whispered warnings that Evangeline is not safe. When a strange marking appears on her flesh, Evangeline fears she’s awakening the dark side of Paradise.

Now Evangeline must search for the truth. As Slater journeys to Paradise to rescue her, the fate that awaits him and Evangeline is written in the stars…and in blood.

My Review:

Hooked from the very first page and I never looked back.

Brittany Amara's writing style is the kind that makes a book disappear in your hands. Fast paced, completely gripping, and dripping with mystery from the opening chapter. I was flying through pages without even realizing it because I simply had to know what happened next.

At the center of it all is Evangeline and her mysterious illness, which had me curious and unsettled from the moment it was introduced. Then a silver eyed stranger shows up and suddenly everything gets more complicated. Is he there to help or does he have something else entirely in mind? That question alone kept me turning pages. And Slater. Sweet, wonderful Slater who deserved absolutely everything good in this world and I was rooting for him with my whole chest.

The mystery builds beautifully and the blend of love, death, and revenge is exactly the kind of chaos I live for. God yes please. I had my suspicions about the good doctor early on, and watching those suspicions slowly confirmed while the creepiness escalated around every corner was genuinely so satisfying. There were moments I wanted to reach into the pages and drop kick certain people, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.

The ending was well deserved for every single character involved, and I walked away completely satisfied.