Deceptively Yours by Anise Storm
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anise Storm’s first book in her Titans of Chicago is Deceptively Yours. Harper Grimes and Gabriel Blake were soul mates planning to marry after graduating. Both of them had grown up together and fallen in love. One evening, Harper and Gabriel were eating dinner at Gabriel’s home when his parents came home. Mr. Blake asked Harper to meet him in his office for a minute. Harper’s parents were killed in a car accident. Devastated, Harper is shocked to learn her uncle was picking her up to live with him in Portland. Despite the Blake family offering to let Harper stay with them in Chicago, he refuses and takes Harper away.

Jayson, Harper’s cousin, tormented her two months later. Jayson rapes Harper and takes pictures of his acts. He sends them to her to prevent her from telling anyone. She felt as though she had unwillingly cheated on Gabriel. In a single phone call followed by pictures, Harper breaks Gabriel’s heart. She also stopped contact with everyone she knew in Chicago.

Nine and a half years later, Harper discovers Gabriel’s parents died in a mysterious plane crash. She knew she had an inheritance, and Mr. Blake had been trying to help her despite her uncle denying she had anything. Her friend, Jackson, had helped her look into Mr. Blake’s work, and they found something off. Just before the plane crashed, her uncle was making incremental payments to someone in Chicago. Now the same payments were being made. Harper fears that Gabriel is in danger and tries to warn him on the phone. He hangs up on her. Determined, Harper has to warn Gabriel of the danger. When White is flying to Chicago, a blizzard strikes the city. She finds Gabriel at a bachelor’s auction for a charity. When it is time to bid for the date, Harper uses over half her savings to pay for the date. However, Gabriel has other plans. Unprepared, Gabriel is angry but won’t turn Harper away since all the hotels are full. He takes her back to his penthouse.

Anise Storm’s Deceptively Yours covers several deep topics in a passionate romance story. The sixteen years Harper and Gabriel had before her parents’ deaths held onto hope. Even a decade after Harper foolishly ended the relationship, Gabriel and Harper never moved on to another real relationship. While they were apart, some of their dreams had come true, while others had fallen through due to unfortunate events that happened in real life. Despite the chemistry between them, the pain of betrayal is brought to light through Gabriel’s eyes. The alternating views are well-transitioned, and they keep the momentum of the story moving forward without being a repetitive rehashing of each detail. The personalities are well-developed, and the vivid depiction of their physical attributes adds to the appeal of this book. Readers who enjoy well-developed romantic suspense novels will find Deceptively Yours a great book for their personal library.

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