Artful Lies by Jodi Ellen Malpas

But as Becker pulls her deeper into his world, she discovers there's more to him than meets the eye.

And falling for Becker goes from being foolish to dangerous...

Move over Jesse Ward and Christian Grey, it's time to fall in love with Becker: the ultimate alpha hero!

Artful Lies by Jodi Ellen Malpas

My Thoughts: 

I have mixed feelings about this book. Mixed to an extent that I longer feel like starting off with the second book. Its very different from what I expected out of a Jodi Ellen Malpas book. "This Man" is one of my favorite books in the genre and its a delight to read if you are into that sort of books but "Artful Lies" just did not turn out to be my cup of tea. It bored me like anything. 

The story revolves around Becker Hunt and Eleanor Cole. Becker is an art/antique collector and a dealer, a multi billionaire from this legacy business. Eleanor on the other hand is a small town girl who developed her interest in antiques because of her father who was a self proclaimed antiques dealer and ran a small shop mostly filled with old useless junk. The passion in Eleanor's father instilled the same love and drive in Eleanor since her early years. When Eleanor's father passes away she is left to run the shop which wasn't doing well in the first place. She is following behind on mortgage payments and after continuous efforts not bearing fruit she decides to sell the shop with a heavy heart. The deciding factor turns out to be her boyfriend who she catches cheating on, with her best friend. She puts it up for sale via an agent and moves to the big city, London, with the guilty feeling of leaving her mother alone. She is tired of the small town life and wants to pursue her love of antiques by working at some big time antique management company. 

She settles into a small apartment in London and becomes friend with her next door neighbor who also has come to London with the same ambition. On her way to her first interview, her cab is stolen by a handsome fellow who saves her from falling on the pavement, then steals her cab ride. She arrives late for the interview and is patronized and told that the position has been filled by a much responsible and punctual candidate. This leaves Eleanor fuming. As she is exiting the building she comes face to face with the same cab thief. They have a heated verbal argument while standing between revolving doors and the man ends up snatching away Eleanor's scarf. They have another encounter at a coffee shop where Eleanor confronts the man and accuses him of stalking her. The man notices a book in Eleanor's bag on antiques and inquires about it. He is taken by her interest and knowledge in antiques and leaves. Soon afterwards, Eleanor is approached by her hiring agency about a job in an unnamed company. She goes for the interview and meets an elderly woman who describes her the job. Eleanor is taken by the number of antiques, the beauty of this majestic place, billions of worth stuff and the history sitting there, waiting for her to be read. She then meets the owner, Mr. Hunt who is in his 90s and at the verge of retiring. Eleanor is hired and she loves every bit of it. Few days into her job and she runs into the cab thief at her workplace to find out he is the legacy owner of the place, the famous, notorious, womanizer - Becker Hunt, grandson of Mr. Hunt and now owner of Haven, a company that deals in antiques and is the best. 

From here starts the cat and mouse play of instant attraction, sexual tension and the need to maintain professional boundaries at Eleanor's end as she needs the job and its also her dream job. I found first 2/3 of the book interesting and a fine read as long as the story was building up and the sexual tension was rising between the two. I enjoyed Becker's possessive and jealous side. He is comfortable flaunting his play boy ways in Eleanor's face but cock blocks anyone who shows the slightest bit of interest in her like Brent, archenemy  and nemesis of Becker. As the story progresses we dive further into the world of antiques antiques and art and get to witness Eleanor's passion, her thirst to absorb every piece of information. Becker also starts to get comfortable around her and starts opening up to her about business dealings. 

One particular auction event turns out to be the turning point for their relationship where Eleanor gets to experience the dark side of this world, the frauds that take place and the millions involved. She is internally shook and shocked how ruthless and cruel Becker can be when it comes to antiques. Seeing the increasing involvement of Becker into Eleanor and vice versa, Becker's grandfather warns Eleanor that his grandson is damaged and incapable of love as he lost his parents in a tragic way. His only passion is antiques and his sole love is his search of finding a rare antique piece no one knows where it is.

The last part of the book literally dragged for me. I was bored and only wanted to finish off the book to tick it off my read list. The story takes a turn for the worse when Eleanor is attacked in her own apartment one night by an intruder. Becker asks Eleanor to stay at the Haven with him to which she agrees after very little resistance and deliberation. We experience monkey sex scene afterwards that lacked chemistry and felt enforced where Becker has a spanking fetish and to an extent he makes it difficult for Eleanor to sit comfortably. The sex scenes were totally flat and off putting. 

By the end of the book we are blessed with a plot twist where Eleanor figures out the danger she has gotten herself into. I wish Jodi had not taken so long to to racket up the mystery as the book had totally lost its charm for me by then. The mystery is revealed in last 2 to 3 pages. Imagine!!!

Verdict: 

This books is a 2/5 for me. 

Availability: 

I bought it from Readings bookstore, however I no longer see it available on their website. I may have opted to read the second part if I had it in hard copy, since I don't, I might skip reading it. 

Hope you liked the review. Drop in your comments to share your feedback with me. Stay healthy and beautiful. xoxo!!!