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?
On the surface, Taylor is every rich-girl cliché you can
think of. She has the looks, the boyfriend she’s using, and equally shallow
friends. She can have anything at her fingertips except for loving, involved parents. Underneath her
mean, bitch attitude is a little girl who wants so much for her parents to take an interest in her. When Levi shows up as the new head of maintenance, she sees a guy
who’s unlike any other she’s had. She makes a game of seducing him so that she
can toss him away.
Levi is as gritty and serious as they come. He’s lived
through some hard times and this current gig as head maintenance guy is his one
last time to score some major cash and then fall off the radar permanently. He doesn’t
count on Taylor being a distraction. At first he sees her as a spoiled
brat though he can’t deny that physically she’s a specimen to die for. He knows that she’s working hard to get him to notice her so tries to ignore
her advances and limit their run-ins.
Taylor doesn’t give up easily and well, you can guess where
this all leads. Both Taylor and Levi eventually have mixed feelings about what
they’re doing with each other but they can’t stay away. Levi's feelings
are complicated by the fact that he still has a job to do and it’s not just
his fate on the line but also that of his fellow cohorts. No matter what the outcome, someone will get hurt and it will inevitably be Taylor.
If there’s anything to glean from this is that what’s on the
surface is not the whole story. Taylor is both wild and a jumbled up mess
thanks to her parents. While it explains why she is the way she is, I still could’t
help but be a little cool towards her. I have to hand it to her though because
she does do some growing up when she learns of all the lies and secrets. Levi is
a surprisingly sensitive guy who loses himself in poetry. Seriously, that is one mega turn on! He doesn’t want to
hurt anyone, most of all Taylor but he’s made a commitment to get things done
and people are depending on him.
It’s quite a predicament they get themselves into. In
the end, it’s not the money on the line but their hearts and what they’ll
decide moving forward to find happiness. I enjoyed Season Vining’s previous book, Held Against You, and I’ve enjoyed Perfect Betrayal just as much. She’s good at
giving her characters depth, even the ones who may be slightly unlikable. Despite
my reservations about Taylor, I still wanted her to be happy as much as I
wanted it for Levi. And you’ll just have to read it so see how things turn out
for them!
~ Bel
