The Opportunist (Love Me with Lies, #1) in The Indie Bookshelf

May 17, 2012 Megan • Reading Books Like a Boss (book blog) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This book moved me, shook me, and knocked me on my butt! I reread this book in preparation for Dirty Red, which is rumored to come out before Christmas! I am a mess! What a maddening, romantic ride!!

As I reread this book....
I expected to be angry.

I expected to feel love.

I expected to feel sad.

I did not expect to cry and feel this depth of shock all over again.

Even though Olivia did some pretty horrible things, I still loved her. I loved her self-centeredness. I loved her, despite the lies th ...more

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May 14, 2012 Jenny - TotallybookedBlog rated it it was amazing

I was originally going to give this book 4 stars after finishing it last night but seeing that it's totally consumed my thoughts and I've been discussing it since then, I've bumped it up to 5 because of the effect it's had on me.

First off I'll issue a warning! DO NOT read this book before going to sleep! You won't be able to put it down and if you finish it you won't be able to stop thinking about it. I should know...I'm functioning on 3 hours sleep because of it!

I was discussing it with a frien ...more

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May 18, 2012 Anne OK rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012-reads

Powerfully entertaining with its unique and heartbreaking storyline filled with flawed characters. This one kept me in the dark and holding my breath with the turn of each page. With all the lies, manipulation and destructive behavior, you're never quite sure if redemption is even an option.

Looking anxiously forward to reading "Dirty Red," the next installment in the "Love Me With Lies" series. ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Laura rated it it was amazing

This book took my breath away. I went in expecting to hate Olivia, but I loved her and her human-ness. I don't think I've ever read a better last line. EVER. ...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Luisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2012-reads, british-book-boyfriends

Emotionally distraught doesn't even begin to describe my emotions. This book has made me feel so alive! I can't even wrap around my head with all what I'm feeling... the hate, the love, the anger, pettiness... murderous feelings! UGH, just everything combined makes me feel psychotic!

When a book brings all those emotions in you, you can't deny that your world has changed. I want to recommend this book to everybody but I don't know if I can. I feel selfish for not wanting to share this book but I ...more

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May 14, 2012 Maureen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, blog-recommendations, read-2012, lots-of-angst, messed-with-my-mind, series-favs

This is from the author, Tarryn Fisher's, Goodreads page...

"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."

Mission Accomplished!!! Wow, I finished this book this morning and my emotions are reeling. I'll be thinking about this story all day long...so many thing to ponder and motives to mull over. This book explores the consequences of making bad decisions. Decisions made out ...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Nance rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, nance-rr-2012-challenge, books-read-2012

All I can say is that I am way beyond totally surprised how this novel ended. Not anything like what I was expecting, which happens to be a good thing. Who wants to be able to predict how a book is going to end from the very beginning, which in retrospect, is a letdown when you’re in pursuit of finding that element of surprise? Kudos to Ms. Fisher for pulling this off!!

Olivia Kaspen’s ex-boyfriend, Caleb, has no idea who she is. She discovers this during a chance meeting with him in a record st All I can say is that I am way beyond totally surprised how this novel ended. Not anything like what I was expecting, which happens to be a good thing. Who wants to be able to predict how a book is going to end from the very beginning, which in retrospect, is a letdown when you’re in pursuit of finding that element of surprise? Kudos to Ms. Fisher for pulling this off!!

Olivia Kaspen’s ex-boyfriend, Caleb, has no idea who she is. She discovers this during a chance meeting with him in a record store. They were in love once-upon-a-time, even when Olivia had destroyed what they once had during their years in college. How could he forget her? They had met in college...he, the skirt-chasing basketball star, and she, the recluse pre-law major. During those college years, Caleb didn’t hide his love from Olivia, but she was not used to admitting her true feelings to anyone. In the end, their love is doomed because of Olivia’s failure to commit to Caleb. As the years pass, both individuals have moved on, living their own lives separately, except now that the couple have re-connected, people will be betrayed and, eventually, secrets are divulged. In the end, will the couple decide that the love they experienced together ever be forgotten? Will both individuals have moved on enough in their lives for them not to be able to go back in time to the once special bond that they had so innocently craved? And, will the lives that they have now chosen be enough to live with when now all that remains is a love lost along the way? These decisions and others will eventually be answered along the way.

Within the novel’s pages, two very significant quotes that might also be reminescient in today’s society are expressed:

“I think that after the first time you give your heart away, you never get it back. The rest of your life is just you pretending that you still have a heart.” – spoken by Noah.

and...

“You can only give your heart away once; after that, everything else will chase your first love.” - one of Olivia’s final thoughts as she narrates the conclusion of the novel.

my thoughts exactly...

This was a real gem of a novel...full of twists and turns that were explosive and unsuspecting. The character of Olivia was not like one that I had read about before. She put on the air of being quiet and not really interested in mingling with the popular and rich societal accolades, but in reality, she was just a sarcastic manipulating person willing to hurt others to get what she wanted. Caleb, however, really seemed to love Olivia and was oblivious to her shenanigans, even though he was this so-called rogue amongst the ladies. The book was totally convincing with its not so perfect ending. It pretty much made sense as opposed to the happily-ever-after ending. Great first novel!!

...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Mindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I thought Sea of Tranquility was the most emotionally draining book I'd ever read. But this either ties it or surpasses it. I'm so upside down and backwards and inside out I can't even describe it to you. I can't think straight when it comes to this book. I read it about two weeks ago and I'm still thinking about it. The longest book hangover I've had since The Hunger Games. Tarryn was able to write so brilliantly that she made me so invested in the characters. They've gotten under my skin. I wi ...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Melissa Brown rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-shelf

Wow! This book had me under its spell from the very first page....lovely, sad, powerful and intense.....incredible....just incredible.

Update: Even weeks after reading this, I am still thinking about this book...still thinking about Olivia and Caleb....and still obsessing over certain scenes in this book. For me, this is the way I know a book is fantastic----I MISS THESE CHARACTERS!!

Cannot wait for Ms. Fisher to write/publish more books! She is an incredible talent!

5 likes · Like · see review

May 27, 2012 Kate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, all-time-favorites, bookshelf-nook

The opportunist
I have never written a review before, but I also have never been so compelled to do so. I can honestly say that The Opportunist is now one of my all time favorite books. I started reading on Saturday evening and didn’t put it down until I finished somewhere around 3AM. I found myself on a rollercoaster of emotion, it stirred up feelings of my first love, it had me laughing and reminiscing, by the end I was actually crying. It totally blew me away, I saw so much of myself in Olivia ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Charlotte Kelly rated it really liked it

I can not review this book right now, as I am too pissed off. I hated it and loved it at the same time. Totally jacking with my mind right now!

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Jul 30, 2012 Lydia Laceby rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-must-read

Originally reviewed at Novel Escapes

The Opportunist has every ingredient for a gut wrenching, scream inducing, roller coaster ride of a novel. It’s obsessive, dark, and greedy – both the novel itself, and how it makes you read. I snatched this one up any time I had a few seconds, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, how much I loved it, yet hated it, and I could feel my eyes growing narrow and shifty after every page. The Opportunist marries a psychological thriller with a love story and will kee
Originally reviewed at Novel Escapes

The Opportunist has every ingredient for a gut wrenching, scream inducing, roller coaster ride of a novel. It’s obsessive, dark, and greedy – both the novel itself, and how it makes you read. I snatched this one up any time I had a few seconds, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, how much I loved it, yet hated it, and I could feel my eyes growing narrow and shifty after every page. The Opportunist marries a psychological thriller with a love story and will keep you guessing until the very last sentence. It will make you feel every possible emotion and remain in your brain long after you flip the last page.

The sense of foreboding that Fisher created in this novel is phenomenal. From the very first page you get a sense something terrible is going to happen between these people. My mind zipped and zoomed all over the place with possibilities. The tension between Olivia and Caleb was palpable and was probably the most intense relationship I have ever read in a novel. I really didn’t expect I would be into Olivia. She’s jealous, possessive, manipulative and self destructive, and so completely unlike me that I could not relate directly in any way. But somehow I tore through pages, desperate to see what she would do next and what she had done in the past. It was like gawking at a train wreck. I think anyone can relate on some level to their love, heartbreak and being so consumed with each other as love often is. Fisher does a fabulous job at making Olivia human, creating reasons for her flaws and making her likeable to some extent, even if you can’t love her.

I can’t get over the ease at which I got sucked into Olivia’s life and how urgently I needed to flip pages to find out what would happen. The Opportunist was unlike many of the novels I read, which are, more or less, cheery and lighter. They usually do not have a protagonist that is so dark and obsessive. They do not have a leading man I can’t decide if I love or loathe. These kids hurt each other, tear their lives and hearts apart, move on and do it all over again. I hated their decisions and what they do to each other from even the smallest things. But there was a romance to them, some tender moments, and I couldn't help but root for Olivia to get over her insecurities and for Caleb to be patient with her. And then I would flip the page and think - oh, no, no, no - they need to get away from each other, now.

Somehow I predicted one of the things to occur, but I was looking for it. That didn’t stop my enjoyment in any way. There were multiple unpredictable events and almost every page surprised me with something. One thing that did surprise me was the writing. It was incredibly easy to read, held no frills and there were multiple ‘rules’ broken if you look at it from the writing ‘handbook’ but it all worked and it was still a smashing read. But then again, rules are meant to be broken right? And I thought it fit really well with Olivia’s personality, her age, her tone and her rule smashing ways.

The Opportunist is hands down one the best self-published books I have read so far and may very well make my Top 5 reads of the year. Oh, just go out and get it already.

Thank you to myself for buying this one. All opinions are my own.
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May 30, 2012 Jennifer rated it really liked it

This was the hardest book I've had to rate so far. Why? I have no idea ;) 3.5-4 stars...I can't make up my mind. I can tell you that Olivia is officially the most hated character I've read. I reserved that spot for Keira in Thoughtless. Olivia is, by far, much worse. I guess that's why I don't understand the attraction between the 2 characters. What is it about her that Caleb can't seem to live without? She does not have any redeeming qualities, but i guess you could say he doesn't either. You f ...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Angela rated it it was amazing

In my 2012 top 5! Evoked many different emotions and could not put it down. Loved.

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May 15, 2012 Erica Alyson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorite-books, favorite-series-book-1

Wonderful book! One of my favorites. Loved Olivia and Caleb. Wished it ended differently but I understand why it needed to end the way it did. Can't wait for the next but I HATE Leah! ...more

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