Rating: 3.5 stars
Synopsis: Stella Gordon's life is a lie. She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the key witness in a murder trial, Stella is under witness protection, living a life she doesn't want. No one can know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, her hot, enigmatic neighbour. But against her better judgement, Stella finds herself falling under Chet's spell...
A storm is brewing. Is Stella really safe in Thunder Basin? And will Chet be her shelter, or her downfall?
A storm is brewing. Is Stella really safe in Thunder Basin? And will Chet be her shelter, or her downfall?
Review: Here's the thing. I always leave Becca Fitzpatrick's books unsure whether or not I liked what I just read. The Hush Hush series grew on me as the books went on and I ended up really enjoying it. Black Ice I didn't enjoy and now we have Dangerous Lies and again I'm not sure whether I liked it. I'm kind of swinging towards no, and I think the reason for this is because of the characters. I didn't relate to any of the characters.
Lets start with Stella. From page one she annoyed me. Her general attitude towards the people saving her life wound me up. She was cold, arrogant and rude for the first half of the book and then, all of a sudden, she was fine with all the characters she'd just spent X amount of time hating for just existing. I just could not connect with her at all. Chet was sweet and I enjoyed spending time with his character but, again, he was almost needy especially towards the end. He put his life on hold to look out for his younger brother Dusty which I admire but, he seemed a bit lack luster, especially towards the end of the book when his 'relationship' with Stella was starting to hit off. I couldn't help but compare him to Damon Black from the Lux series - he looks out for his younger sister Dee through everything. That never gets pushed to the side when Katy comes into the picture. I think that was what I wanted from Chet - was for him to stop yelling at Dusty and to just talk to him calmly. Like a grown up. And to stop putting Stella before his brother which I kind of felt he was doing.
The plot definitely had grounds to be interesting and I did enjoy that aspect of it. Seeing what it's like for young people in witness protection was really interesting and, while Stella did annoy me, you can understand why she might be prickly to begin with if she has to leave everything and everyone she's ever known behind. (I just wish she'd gotten over herself)! I really didn't like the twist at the end. I saw Reed's involvement in the whole thing early on, though I never guessed at his actual role in everything. Stella's big reveal at the end of the book just made it seem like a waste of time. I've spent 300 pages reading about how awful this Danny is and how he's a murderer and he's the reason Stella has had to go into hiding...all to find out that, actually, that's not entirely true. I was so annoyed with this moment because it just felt like I'd wasted my time.
Speaking of the ending, the whole final fight then lost it's punch to me and actually ended up just confusing me a little bit. Stella spent the whole book blaming her mom for bringing this situation into her life when, actually, if she'd told the truth, Stella would probably have been fine. I was never worried for Stella or Chet during the final fight scene and I think it's because what little empathy I had for Stella had just disappeared. I didn't really care and I knew they'd get out okay.
The second half of this book is definitely better than the first half, but I still think that Hush Hush is Becca's best work. I relate more to those characters than any of her others and I think it's because we had four books to get to know them. I think that's where Becca works best, in series, where she can draw out the characters and we get to learn more about them. Her stand alone novels just aren't the same for me. Dangerous Lies for me is better than Black Ice but I don't think I'll be picking it up again in a hurry.
Lets start with Stella. From page one she annoyed me. Her general attitude towards the people saving her life wound me up. She was cold, arrogant and rude for the first half of the book and then, all of a sudden, she was fine with all the characters she'd just spent X amount of time hating for just existing. I just could not connect with her at all. Chet was sweet and I enjoyed spending time with his character but, again, he was almost needy especially towards the end. He put his life on hold to look out for his younger brother Dusty which I admire but, he seemed a bit lack luster, especially towards the end of the book when his 'relationship' with Stella was starting to hit off. I couldn't help but compare him to Damon Black from the Lux series - he looks out for his younger sister Dee through everything. That never gets pushed to the side when Katy comes into the picture. I think that was what I wanted from Chet - was for him to stop yelling at Dusty and to just talk to him calmly. Like a grown up. And to stop putting Stella before his brother which I kind of felt he was doing.
The plot definitely had grounds to be interesting and I did enjoy that aspect of it. Seeing what it's like for young people in witness protection was really interesting and, while Stella did annoy me, you can understand why she might be prickly to begin with if she has to leave everything and everyone she's ever known behind. (I just wish she'd gotten over herself)! I really didn't like the twist at the end. I saw Reed's involvement in the whole thing early on, though I never guessed at his actual role in everything. Stella's big reveal at the end of the book just made it seem like a waste of time. I've spent 300 pages reading about how awful this Danny is and how he's a murderer and he's the reason Stella has had to go into hiding...all to find out that, actually, that's not entirely true. I was so annoyed with this moment because it just felt like I'd wasted my time.
Speaking of the ending, the whole final fight then lost it's punch to me and actually ended up just confusing me a little bit. Stella spent the whole book blaming her mom for bringing this situation into her life when, actually, if she'd told the truth, Stella would probably have been fine. I was never worried for Stella or Chet during the final fight scene and I think it's because what little empathy I had for Stella had just disappeared. I didn't really care and I knew they'd get out okay.
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