Release Day : Feb 15,
2016
Their love led to a lie.
Their truth led to the end.
Scottish enigma Brigs McGregor is crawling out from the
ashes. After losing his wife and son in a car accident - and, subsequently, his
job - he's finally moving forward with his life, securing a prestigious
teaching position at the University of London and starting a new chapter in the
city. Slowly, but surely, he's pushing past the guilt and putting his tragic
past behind him.
Until he sees her.
Natasha Trudeau once loved a man so much she thought she'd
die without him. But their love was wrong, doomed from the start, and when
their world crashed around them, Natasha was nearly buried in the rubble. It
took years of moving on to forget him, and now that she's in London, she's
ready to start over again.
Until she sees him.
Because some loves are too dangerous to ever rekindle.
And some loves are too powerful to ignore.
Can you ever have a second chance at a love that ruined you?
The Lie is a second-chance romance with a dark, forbidden
twist.
MY Thoughts:
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Karina Halle can do no wrong. Her books are always on point and I've yet to read a book by her that I didn't love.
This book was just so sad. Love is never wrong. That was the lesson that Brigs and Natasha had to learn. Both loved each other in a time that wasn't convenient, but what they felt for each other was not wrong, but so very right. Brigs thought that his family died because he loved another woman who wasn't his wife, Natasha thought she killed his family because he loved her. There was so much heartache in this book, but so much happiness at the same time. I really loved Brigs, he was such a lovable character and I kept imagining his Scottish accent in my head. If you have read any of Karina Halle's books, you'll know what an amazing story-teller she is. This is a must read for everyone. Just put your trust in me on this one.
iBooks pre-order
- geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-lie/id1061522210?mt=11
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27570367-the-lie?from_search=true&search_version=service
ABOUT
KARINA HALLE
Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.
Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.
LINKS:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetalBlonde
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Karina-Halle/e/B0050KE63C/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1407546895&sr=8-2-ent
EXCERPT
Without even thinking, I end up in Natasha’s neighborhood,
on her street. I pull the car over and stare at her building. I can drive off.
I can go blow off some steam with Lachlan. I can drive and scream and wish to
god that things were different.
But I don’t want to do it alone.
I get out of the car and head to her flat.
I knock on her door, wondering if she’s even in, if she
might still be sleeping. It’s still early on a Saturday and we don’t see each
other on the weekends without it being work related, such as seeing a classic
film at the cinema. I hadn’t planned to talk to her until Monday, her last week
of work as my research assistant before going back to London.
My heart pinches at that thought.
She’s leaving me.
What the hell am I doing?
But then the door opens slowly and she’s staring at me with
wide eyes, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, a fluffy robe
around her body.
“Sorry,” I say quickly, immediately feeling bad. “Did I wake
you up?”
She yawns. “Kind of, but I should be getting up anyway.
What’s, um, up?”
I rub my lips together. “I…I wanted to know if you wanted to
go for a drive?”
“Where?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Far away. But not too far. I have to
be back by twelve-thirty for Hamish.”
“What time is it now?”
“Eight-thirty.”
She rolls her eyes. “And you were wondering if you woke me
up. I should still be sleeping for at least another two hours.”
I nod, embarrassed at my enthusiasm. I’m being
inappropriate. “I should go.”
I turn around, but she reaches out and grabs my arm, holding
tight. “No, don’t,” she says. “I want to go with you. Just give me five
minutes, okay?”
I turn to look at her and she’s flashing me a persuasive smile.
“I’ll be in the car,” I tell her.
Somehow she’s true to her word. In five minutes she’s
jogging down the steps of her building, dressed in jeans and a tank top that
shows off the tawny warmth of her summer tan. She hasn’t touched her hair at
all; it’s still up in that bedhead bun, and there isn’t a bit of makeup on her.
She doesn’t need it. She looks joyful. She looks absolutely beautiful.
“You’re fast,” I tell her as she slips into the passenger
seat.
She giddily drums her hands across the dash and beams at me.
“I’m fast when I want to be. I love this car. Where are we going again? Oh
right, somewhere far away. Can we get coffee first? I’m dying.”
I can’t help but grin at her as I turn the key. The car
starts on the first turn. She’s my good luck charm. “You don’t seem like you
need coffee.”
“I always need coffee,” she says emphatically. “You know
this. So where to?”
“I honestly don’t know. You pick.”
“Do you have a map?”
“Of Scotland?”
“Yeah.”
I nod at the glove compartment. “In there.”
She opens it and it falls open with a clunk. She takes out
an old faded road map and starts looking it over.
“Anything strike your eye?”
“I’m looking for Loch Ness.”
“That’s too far.”
“Okay, is there like another lake with a swamp monster?”
“Nearly all the lochs are in the Highlands.”
“Arrrrrrrrrr in
the Highlands,” she says playfully, imitating my accent.
“Okay, maybe no coffee for you.”
“Don’t be cruel, Professor Blue Eyes.” She goes back to
studying the map but the mention of my nickname makes a small fire build inside
me. And not one of anger.
She points on the map. “Here. Balmoral.”
“That’s where the Queen lives.”
“I know. I want to say hello.”
“It’s a two-hour drive,” I point out.
“Well, then we better get cracking,” she says. “The Queen is
expecting us.”
She’s definitely full of spirit today. It seems to latch
onto me and I ingest it like a tonic. She’s erasing all the humiliation and
pain from the morning.
We head out of the city, taking the A-90 to the M-90 and
speed north. After we get her some coffee and we share a couple of sausage
rolls for breakfast, I warn her that we literally will see the estate and have
to head back. But she doesn’t mind.
And honestly, neither do I. I crank the old radio on the car
to pick up an oldies station playing a special on Otis Redding. The day is warm
and gorgeous, and even though we’re going fast, our windows are down, enjoying
the wind and the sun on our skin.
About an hour into our drive, Natasha turns to me and says,
“Tell me the truth. Why did you come to get me this morning?”
“Was it that unusual?” I ask without looking at her.
“Yes,” she says. “The last time you came to my house without
me knowing…”
“Back then I was following up on an email. I wanted to know
if you were all right,” I tell her before she can tell me anything else about
that night.
“And now I want to know if you’re all right,” she says
gently.
I glance at her. There’s a softness in her eyes that undoes
me. I grip the wheel hard, conscious of my every movement and how they might
appear to her. A good man, after the night she kissed me, the night I kissed
her right back, would have never been alone with her again.
But I’m not a good man.
I’m a man who is slowly but surely falling in the wrong
direction.
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