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Cruel Lies
“I’d hate to make you cry more when I take you back.”
Marcel is kind, generous, and compassionate. He’s also hostile, mean, and unsympathetic.
Moving in with her older brother’s best friend—an absurdly handsome and wealthy actor—is not what Bell wanted. Marcel didn’t give her a choice when he promises he’ll take care of her while she works on her dream college program.
He won’t expose her to the hideous experience of the entertainment industry. He’d love to wrap his arms around her with cameras showing the world that Bell is his.
He’s aware of how much pain and changes the industry can do to someone. There’s no need to tap into that unsightly world to control her.
Marcel is good at what he does. He’s confident in his power over her, but too much desire will ruin his plan.
Day after day, Marcel smiles at her with adoration, watches with overwhelming love, and touches with so much possessive pain.
“Growing pains,” he’d say.
He never put a hand on her, but she seems to always be hurt when she’s with him. Maybe that’s why Bell has always been scared of him.
He’s just as much of a manipulator as he is a liar.
Bell doesn’t stand a chance, nor will she ever have one.
Marcel is kind, generous, and compassionate. He’s also hostile, mean, and unsympathetic.
Moving in with her older brother’s best friend—an absurdly handsome and wealthy actor—is not what Bell wanted. Marcel didn’t give her a choice when he promises he’ll take care of her while she works on her dream college program.
He won’t expose her to the hideous experience of the entertainment industry. He’d love to wrap his arms around her with cameras showing the world that Bell is his.
He’s aware of how much pain and changes the industry can do to someone. There’s no need to tap into that unsightly world to control her.
Marcel is good at what he does. He’s confident in his power over her, but too much desire will ruin his plan.
Day after day, Marcel smiles at her with adoration, watches with overwhelming love, and touches with so much possessive pain.
“Growing pains,” he’d say.
He never put a hand on her, but she seems to always be hurt when she’s with him. Maybe that’s why Bell has always been scared of him.
He’s just as much of a manipulator as he is a liar.
Bell doesn’t stand a chance, nor will she ever have one.
104 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 13, 2021
About the author
Celia Crown
71 books242 followersMinors: Do Not Interact. I write explicit content, please be respectful of the rule so I can protect everyone to the best of my ability.
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(Just me on a mental beach drinking a tall, sexy Tears of Stress while I avoid working on the 5 unfinished WIP because ✨writer's block.✨)
Hit me up in IG Q&A if you're curious about anything.
[STAY UPDATED]
MAILING LIST: https://mailchi.mp/a5f330b44161/celia...
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/celia_crown...
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/crowncelia/
(Just me on a mental beach drinking a tall, sexy Tears of Stress while I avoid working on the 5 unfinished WIP because ✨writer's block.✨)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 11, 2022
ADDED (3/11/22): Plot
UPDATE(3/10/22): 2-star (from original 3-star yesterday & my reason is on the 5th paragraph below)
PLOT...Introverted 19yo h finally agrees to live at the house of her brother's BFF, famous actor 30yo H, although she's not thrilled to be near H. When he'd come by to visit their house over the years, she tried to avoid him since she didn't trust him with his easy charms yet violent tendencies. However, her desire to go to a certain college and H's offered help as well as her family's encouragement made her agree to H. H became obsessed with h for the past year and made plans to keep her as his but knew about her aversion to affection and most people. He gradually gets her to get used to being touched by him and offers her a job as his assistant, knowing about her desire for independence. Yet he closes in on his web to entangle her completely in his life. After a few weeks, h realizes she's now attracted to H and doesn't mind as much his touching her more & more intimately and even roughly.
My 1st Crown book. Mixed feelings about the romance/rom dev/chars/char dev/S chem because even up to the end I was unsure about 30yo anti-Hero actor H.
The book has dual POV so we get H's thoughts & feelings re: his recent stalkery-obsession with his BFF's sister 19yo virgin & new assistant h & his wanting to control her & even hurt her. We also get h's POV about her feelings & reactions to H's facial expressions, statements, & actions. H's plans to hurt h seem part BDSM-y pleasure thru pain and part psychopathic control that he has the power to make her cry & seems to get sexually aroused by it. I wasn't ever 100% sure if H's niceness & caring intent towards h was completely genuine or came from a good motive since he was a good actor. Her POV showed how unsure she was of H's sincerity too. At the end & including the epilogue 5-mos after h told H she loved him back, h's cautious & asocial character and her drive to be independent changed to one of reliance on and trust of H. Which I don't think was a good thing. Maybe.
No boring moments for me. It's emotionally-involving mostly due to how uncomfortable & unsure I was about their whole romance & H's character portrayal. This was a kinda creepy romance with handsome & successful psychopathic stalker H. Liked the questionable morality of both H&h and the different nature of their romance & characterization. It made me think and wasn't predictable. Definitely not a typical romance book. Liked how unique this whole book was, including the writing which was full of warnings about H's true intent & his sneers & smirks and h's discomfort with him (which was part fear and later mixed with sexual attraction).
Compared to my 2nd Crown read (Daddy's Little Bait), this romance was lacking mostly due to h's character regression. H's skilled manipulations (i.e., buying her gifts, making her family & her agree to let him stay at his house, getting her a job as his assistant, asking her to be his pretend-girlfriend to supposedly help him with a movie) and controlling ways chipped away at her independence and her smarts. So, by the end, she became obediently submissive and dependent on him. Losing the wise caution I liked about her. She reminded me of a Stepford wife minus the housekeeping. An HFN ending. H's version of love was 1-sided, where he must get his way and dictate their relationship. She just obeys or else. Which made the detailed sex scenes feel somewhat cringe-y for its dubious consent. H sneakily conditioned h to get used to being touched by him, using safety excuses and their pretend-romance as his reasons. So, when they finally had sex by the epilogue, she kinda liked it and was also uncomfortable. This H didn't improve. He remained as manipulative, as mysterious, and dangerous to h as the beginning.
Sexual History:
19yo virgin h wasn't used to affection due to her somewhat-asocial personality so had never dated. Her protective older bro & H's long-time BFF would beat up boys who showed interest in h. So , h had never dated or kissed anyone. H had lovers but not sure if he's ever had a GF. What we know about him is from h's POV & she wasn't all that interested in H's life or any celebrity life and had been avoiding H since she's known him since she's always felt uncomfortable with him. H's interest in h only began maybe only a year ago or less.
UPDATE(3/10/22): 2-star (from original 3-star yesterday & my reason is on the 5th paragraph below)
PLOT...Introverted 19yo h finally agrees to live at the house of her brother's BFF, famous actor 30yo H, although she's not thrilled to be near H. When he'd come by to visit their house over the years, she tried to avoid him since she didn't trust him with his easy charms yet violent tendencies. However, her desire to go to a certain college and H's offered help as well as her family's encouragement made her agree to H. H became obsessed with h for the past year and made plans to keep her as his but knew about her aversion to affection and most people. He gradually gets her to get used to being touched by him and offers her a job as his assistant, knowing about her desire for independence. Yet he closes in on his web to entangle her completely in his life. After a few weeks, h realizes she's now attracted to H and doesn't mind as much his touching her more & more intimately and even roughly.
My 1st Crown book. Mixed feelings about the romance/rom dev/chars/char dev/S chem because even up to the end I was unsure about 30yo anti-Hero actor H.
The book has dual POV so we get H's thoughts & feelings re: his recent stalkery-obsession with his BFF's sister 19yo virgin & new assistant h & his wanting to control her & even hurt her. We also get h's POV about her feelings & reactions to H's facial expressions, statements, & actions. H's plans to hurt h seem part BDSM-y pleasure thru pain and part psychopathic control that he has the power to make her cry & seems to get sexually aroused by it. I wasn't ever 100% sure if H's niceness & caring intent towards h was completely genuine or came from a good motive since he was a good actor. Her POV showed how unsure she was of H's sincerity too. At the end & including the epilogue 5-mos after h told H she loved him back, h's cautious & asocial character and her drive to be independent changed to one of reliance on and trust of H. Which I don't think was a good thing. Maybe.
No boring moments for me. It's emotionally-involving mostly due to how uncomfortable & unsure I was about their whole romance & H's character portrayal. This was a kinda creepy romance with handsome & successful psychopathic stalker H. Liked the questionable morality of both H&h and the different nature of their romance & characterization. It made me think and wasn't predictable. Definitely not a typical romance book. Liked how unique this whole book was, including the writing which was full of warnings about H's true intent & his sneers & smirks and h's discomfort with him (which was part fear and later mixed with sexual attraction).
Compared to my 2nd Crown read (Daddy's Little Bait), this romance was lacking mostly due to h's character regression. H's skilled manipulations (i.e., buying her gifts, making her family & her agree to let him stay at his house, getting her a job as his assistant, asking her to be his pretend-girlfriend to supposedly help him with a movie) and controlling ways chipped away at her independence and her smarts. So, by the end, she became obediently submissive and dependent on him. Losing the wise caution I liked about her. She reminded me of a Stepford wife minus the housekeeping. An HFN ending. H's version of love was 1-sided, where he must get his way and dictate their relationship. She just obeys or else. Which made the detailed sex scenes feel somewhat cringe-y for its dubious consent. H sneakily conditioned h to get used to being touched by him, using safety excuses and their pretend-romance as his reasons. So, when they finally had sex by the epilogue, she kinda liked it and was also uncomfortable. This H didn't improve. He remained as manipulative, as mysterious, and dangerous to h as the beginning.
Sexual History:
19yo virgin h wasn't used to affection due to her somewhat-asocial personality so had never dated. Her protective older bro & H's long-time BFF would beat up boys who showed interest in h. So , h had never dated or kissed anyone. H had lovers but not sure if he's ever had a GF. What we know about him is from h's POV & she wasn't all that interested in H's life or any celebrity life and had been avoiding H since she's known him since she's always felt uncomfortable with him. H's interest in h only began maybe only a year ago or less.
November 30, 2022
Quick thoughts:
Cruel Lies has many of the DARK romance aspects that usually makes this author good but, this story doesn't quite work. This feels like a rough draft that has the general vibe down but could really benefit from being reworked and having some of the flaws, characters and especially inner monologs ironed out.
Cruel Lies has many of the DARK romance aspects that usually makes this author good but, this story doesn't quite work. This feels like a rough draft that has the general vibe down but could really benefit from being reworked and having some of the flaws, characters and especially inner monologs ironed out.
July 12, 2021
This book was awful. I was really excited to read this because I like this author but this was just a mess. The chemistry between these two was non-existent and I didn't understand what attracted Marcel to the main female character. She acted like a 10 year old instead of a grown woman and they had no interaction to lead to any attraction. The main female lead was so mousy and I think she had some mental illness. She mumbled and stuttered most of the time. I just can't understand how a movie star leading actor can be attracted to someone like that. I don't mind a shy female lead but at least have brain and act normal. Would not recommend.
March 27, 2022
0*
Incredibly boring that I ended up skimming through whole book in 15 mins. Nothing saved it...not even 1 great line.
Incredibly boring that I ended up skimming through whole book in 15 mins. Nothing saved it...not even 1 great line.
June 23, 2021
It was too bad. I can't even say how much.
August 7, 2021
Sorry I paid for this book. Didn't make sense, it was like whatever random thoughts was in author's head was written down. Absolutely no connection between hero and heroine.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews