Single Sundays: Perfect Betrayal by Season Vining

Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Perfect Betrayal (from Goodreads):
To the outside world, Taylor Hudson has it all: beauty, money and social status. But Taylor’s privileged life is far lonelier than it appears.

Levi is the inside man on a job to steal fifteen million dollars from one of the town’s wealthiest families, putting him on a crash course with Taylor. Neither of them believe in love, but lust. . . that’s undeniable.

Now they’re locked in a wicked game of seduction and it’s unclear who is playing who. But neither of them expected the affair to lead to the deepest connection they’ve ever experienced. Because beneath Taylor’s perfect exterior lies a need for love that mirrors Levi’s own.

As the heist approaches, how can Levi protect Taylor from the truth?

Is he willing to give up everything to save the one girl who’s made him want to be a better man?

Author: Season Vining
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Heat Rating: really warm
Point of View: Third Person, Alternating
Publication Date: August 18, 2015
Source & Format: Netgalley–eBook Thank you St Martin’s Press!

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I’m a sucker for romances that have a little bit of deception to them. When people aren’t supposed to fall in love but do–I am SO there. It may be cliché but it works for me!

Add to that the heist plot line and this book was a must request for me! I couldn’t wait for the sexual tension and the inevitable forbidden love!

The Plot:

The plot isn’t super focused on the actual heist in the sense that it is strictly a heist novel. The elements are there though and I thought it counter balanced the romance nicely. There was also a lot of character growth as well. I’ll talk a bit more about Taylor later but I enjoyed watching her grow as a person.

The plot progression overall reminded me a lot of a Harlequin romance, only with New Adult aged characters. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just felt like this book had a much more subdued plot line than I expected. It coasted at a nice pace until everything hit the fan near the end. And what a splatter that was! Here I thought I had everything figured out but I was pleasantly surprised! Bonus points!

The Characters:

After the first chapter, I had come to the conclusion that Taylor was a bit of a cliche. I got the impression that she was your typical rich girl who comes across as a spoiled brat but really had a heart of gold. SO NOT THE CASE! She is a spoiled brat–but that made watching her grow so nice! When you learn more about who she is a person, you start to root for her a bit. You want her to succeed and find herself and I enjoyed watching that journey for her.

Levi also had some character growth but not as much. I feel like this was Taylor’s story first and foremost and Levi was just a catalyst for change. I liked him but I didn’t love him.

The Romance:

For me personally, I wanted more close encounters with these two. BUT, I appreciated why the romance was done the way it was. I like how the parallels to Romeo and Juliet were discussed by the characters. It helped establish their attraction and subsequent relationship. I liked the two of them together but I didn’t love them. I wanted a little more but, it definitely worked for this story I think!

My Rating: 3.5/5

This book wasn’t has high action/tension as I was expecting but I did enjoy it overall. It’s more subdued from my usual New Adult Romance reads but I liked the change of pace. It had a great balance between the romance, the heist and the character growth. I think those who want to dip their toes into New Adult would really enjoy this one!

Read if You Like: rich girl-poor boy stories, character growth
Avoid if You: want more suspense