July 21, 2015

Wicked Review: Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher


Published: December 21, 2012
Publisher: CreateSpace
Series: Love Me With Lies #2
Acquired: Digital copy





Dear Opportunist,

You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever.

Dirty Red


Leah Smith finally has everything she has ever wanted. Except she doesn't. Her marriage feels more like a loan than a lifelong commitment, and the image she has worked so hard to build is fraying before her eyes. With a new role and a past full of secrets, Leah must decide how far she is willing to go to keep what she has stolen.




Yesterday, I posted my review of the first book in this phenomenal New Adult series, The Opportunist. It shed light to Olivia's story. Dirty Red is Leah Smith's story.

Leah Smith in The Opportunist is Caleb Drake's current girlfriend and soon to be bride. Just like Olivia, she is willing to go above and beyond just to keep Caleb. And above and beyond she went. She married Caleb and proceeded to give him a baby he so desperately wanted. It's just that she doesn't want children. Leah is vain and spoiled. Adopted to a rich family, she was used to having her way. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. She's also smart like Olivia.

Their daughter, Estella, is her leverage against Caleb. Should Caleb decide to end things with her, she'll use Estella to lure him back. Except things didn't go the way she planned. She neglected Estella. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree though as her own birth mother and her stepmother, neglected her as well.

She grew up in the shadow of her younger sister, Courtney. Although both of them were adopted, her parents wanted Courtney over her. She was ridiculed by her own stepmother. Leah has a promising career in a bank until her father decided to appoint her as Vice President of their company just to spite her.

She wasn't supposed to fall in love with Caleb. She knew that Caleb was nursing a heartache so painful that she did everything she could to have Caleb love her. She wanted him to forget Olivia but Caleb couldn't.

I almost felt sad for Leah because she had a shitty childhood but that doesn't excuse the fact that she uses that to her advantage to get what she wants. She has lied to get where she is now. And she will continue to do so just so she can stay where she is right now.




I would like to write a novel that every, single person loves, but not even J.K. Rowling could do that. Instead, I try to write stories that pull on people's emotions. I believe that sadness is the most powerful emotion, and swirled with regret the two become a dominating force. I love villains. Three of my favorites are Mother Gothel, Gaston and the Evil Queen who all suffered from a pretty wicked case of vanity (like me). I like to make these personality types the center of my stories. 
I love rain, Coke, Starbucks and sarcasm. I hate bad adjectives and the word "smolder". If you read my book-I love you. If you hate my book-I still love you, but please don't be mean to me; I'm half badass, half cry baby.