Synopsis from Simon & Schuster:
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.
*This book is part of my POPSUGAR 2016 Reading Challenge.*
I absolutely love Ellen Hopkins and there’s only one book of hers I haven’t read yet but I’m hoping to change that soon. Anyway, the point it, when I discovered she had a new book out that was written in prose instead of her typical poetic style was over the moon.
I’m a big fan of Hopkin’s poetic style of writing, which is why when I discovered Love Lies Beneath was written in prose I was shocked but also intrigued because it’s new. And although the book is mainly written in prose we do get a poem every couple of chapters. But if I’m being honest, which I always am, I could’ve done without them because I felt like they took me out the story and didn’t really add anything.
If you don’t know anything about this book (because truthfully I didn’t until I stumbled upon it in the library) it’s Hopkin’s third adult novel and follows Tara, a forty year old woman who’s been divorced three times. And she’s filthy rich.
Tara also comes a pretty tough background. She grew up with just her sister, mom, and whatever boyfriend her mother had the time. Her mother wasn’t the best, to say the least, and all Tara ever wanted to do was leave her mother and past behind, which is exactly what she did.
I really liked this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end. I never knew what to expect or who to trust. Everyone was suspicious to be and Hopkins still somehow managed to hit me with a big surprise in the end. Unbelievable. Seriously, Hopkins is one of the greatest storytellers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading and if you haven’t read any books by her yet I definitely recommend this one (and all the others!).
Really, though, this novel was excellent. It was mysterious, sexy, and I couldn’t put it down. Definitely give it a read!
Borrow or Buy: Buy!!!
Stars:
Favorite Line:
“Even as a kid I had to be the adult.”
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Zakiya N. Jamal 
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