Only Pretend by Nora Flite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Seductive Confliction

I’ve read all of the Hard Body Rock books by Nora Flite and really enjoyed them. I’ve also read Tears of Tess, though I haven’t delved too deep into dark romance besides that. I do like it sometimes, but I think other times it’s done a bit oddly and too far for me.

Saying that, I really enjoyed Only Pretend. It had some of the same elements that I’ve come to enjoy from Nora Flite’s books, but with a sense of something more like in what Pepper Winters’ writes.

Only Pretend is a wonderful story, but there’s a definite sense of darkness and depravity going on. After Celeste is not only fired from her job, but also broken up with by her boyfriend, for being “boring” as he says, she decides to find a new life for herself. I really liked the idea of that, too. I think sometimes everyone imagines what it’d be like to pretend you’re someone else for a day, right? So this is like that, except…

She gets what she wants in a way, and then way more than she could have ever imagined. Leonide is sensually provocative, but with some absolutely dark desires. He’s that man you love to hate, who can pull your strings and bring out the best in you, providing you with immeasurable pleasure, but… what does he want in return?

That’s really the driving question that I kept wondering about throughout the novel, and I think that’s one of the things I liked most about it. We start off knowing a little about Celeste, but not everything. And Leonide is a complete mystery initially. Where did he come from, what is he doing, and why?

Celeste started off trying to pretend, but maybe there’s even more pretense to all of this than we know?

If you like Nora Flite’s other books, or Tears of Tess, I think you’ll really enjoy this one. It’s got a seductive style that really keeps you reading. I liked the thrill and suspense aspects, too. There’s some darkness, obvious, so you really need to be able to handle some adult themes, but… I think everything in this book is the sort of thing you really want to read about, but maybe not talk about in “polite” company? Haha. Curiosity is a dangerous and compelling thing! But oh so wonderful, too.

Highly recommended! I loved this book.

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