Lies and Truth
- its.brittanyb
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
“What are you doing?" I gasp, my voice breathy and choppy like I've been running.
"You had your dinner. It's time I have mine.”
REVIEW
Would I read this again? Yes No Maybe
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Tropes | Trigger Warnings |
Enemies to lovers, Forced proximity, Arranged marriage, Dark romance, Amnesia, Identity switch, Mafia | Violence, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Bullying |
SUMMARY
These are books 12 and 13 in the Rina Kent Universe. Most of these books can be read as standalone.
Reina and Rai are twins that have been separated at birth. Reina lived with their dad while Rai went with their mom. Their grandfather on their mother's side, Nikolai, was a leader of the Russian mafia. Nikolai wanted to leave his "business" to his granddaughter, Rai. But their mom, Mia, did not want this life for her daughter so she took her and ran. Nikolai wanted them to come home so he sent his guys after them, to bring them home safely. When the girls were 12, Mia picked Reina up from school, and the girls got to meet for the first time. Mia wanted to take them both and leave the country but Nikolais men caught up to them. Ivan, Nikolais brother, wanted the business for himself and knew he needed to eliminate the competition so he ended up killing Mia while the girls were hiding.
Reina felt bad that she had a good, comfortable life with their dad while Rai has been on the run and involved with the mafia her whole life. She told Rai that she wanted to switch places. Ivan only knew about 1 granddaughter so he was only looking for Rai. Reina made Rai run while she turned herself over to Ivan. Luckily, Mikhail, someone loyal to Nikolai, was there and took Reina, who we will now call Rai, to Nikolai (and now Rai will be called Reina). Rai loved living with Nikolai and found that she quite liked the mafia life. Unknown to Reina, their dad, Gareth, was still able to see Rai every once in awhile.
Reina loved living with her dad and she made a good friend. Her dad's business partner, Alexander, had a son, Asher. Alexander and Gareth decided that Asher and Reina should get married one day. Asher was a-ok with this because he had a big crush on Reina. Reina liked him too but she started to feel awful about that. She knew one day she'd have to go back to being Rai and then the real Reina would get Asher. So she spent the next few years just being an absolute bitch to everyone to push them away.
Gareth ended up dying in an accident and Reina went to live with Alexander.
Alexander's wife had died when Asher was 10, so it was just him, Asher, and Ari (his daughter). Reina got along great with Ari. She was the one person that Reina didn't push away.
Before Asher and Reina graduated high school, Ari killed herself. She jumped off the school roof, right in front of Asher. A few days prior she had told Asher that she was in love with Reina. Then she told Reina she was in love with Asher. The day she killed herself she told Asher that she had told Reina and that Reina laughed in her face and that she couldn't live in a world with her anymore.
After they graduated high school, Asher went to London to go to Oxford and Reina stayed in town.
3 years later, Reina gets in contact with Rai and they meet up. Rai tells her that she is dealing with shady people and that she doesn't want Reina around. She promises they will get together again soon. Rai tells Reina to go and then they are ambushed by Ivan’s guys. They beat the fuck out of Reina and try to take Rai. Luckily, Rai has a spy on the inside, a young man we know and love - Kyle Hunter. Kyle gets Rai away from Ivans guys and to safety.
Unbeknownst to Reina, she was followed into the woods. By Asher. He had come home and saw her leaving the football game early (she's captain of the cheerleaders). He found her unconscious and called 911 but then left the scene.
Reina wakes up in the hospital with no memory. None. She doesn't even know her name and when they tell her Reina she's like no, I don't think so.
Reina gets hit with a lot of hard truths about how big of a bitch she was to everyone. She has no idea why Asher hates her so much. Throughout the book, she works on repairing the messes she has made and slowly getting back her memories. Asher, even though he doesn't want to, is drawn to her still. He wants to ruin her...but also, she's his and he wants her all to himself.
Izzy, the housekeeper's son, Jason befriends Reina and tells her things about how awful Asher is and how he wants to kill her because he blames Reina for Ari's death.
Izzy finds a flashdrive in her son's belongings and gives it to Reina. Telling her she just found out and she's so sorry. The flash drive shows Ari and Jason talking. Ari admits to personally fucking up Asher and Reina’s relationship. She says it's been fun to mess stuff up for them. She admits to having no feelings about anything.
(If you've read God of Malice then you might remember Asher saying he was worried Killian was like her. This is the her.)
Reina and Asher's flabbers are gasted from finding out that everything that has gone wrong in their relationship has been because of Ari. Asher is heartbroken because he loved his little sister so much and feels very betrayed.
Meanwhile, Reina has been under scrutiny from the police for being found in the woods, beaten and unconscious. She was found near a shack that had been burned down and they found human remains inside. They are convinced that she knows more than she is telling.
The detective finally gets a warrant for her arrest and says he is taking her to the station. Except, not really. He's a dirty cop and has been working with Ivan. Now Ivan has Reina and he will use Reina to draw Rai out. He beats the fuck out of her before Rai, Kyle, and Asher show up. Asher kills him and they get Reina to the hospital. Luckily she didn't lose any more memories.
5 years later - Reina and Rai decided to not switch back. The girl born Rai will stay Reina and vice versa. Reina and Asher are married and Reina tells him she wants to have his babies.
Spoiler - Gareth from Kiss the Villain and Killian from god of wrath.
2 years later after the epilogue - Kyle Hunter is back. His and Rai’s story continues in the next duet - Throne of Power and Throne of Vengeance