Review: Defined by Deceit by A.E. Via

Author: A.E. Via

Publisher: Self-Published

Pages/Word Count: 333 Pages

At a Glance: Out of all the books I’ve read by Ms. Via, Defined by Deceit is by far the best!

Reviewed By: Kim

Blurb: Life isn’t always fair, and that’s something that Llewellyn Gardner knows about first hand. His life was on the fast track until one night of extreme passion changed everything. Now eight years later, he’s still living with the aftershocks of that night. Everywhere he turns or runs, there’s another reminder. What the hell do you do when you try to drown your demons only to find out they can swim?

Shane Smith, Jr. owner of Smith Construction, could see the emotional turmoil within his new employee — it’s why he hired him. There was something about the gorgeous, misunderstood man with the overly expressive eyes that came to their small town with a past no one was willing to overlook. Shane could see the good in Llewellyn, and those eyes of his were a clear window to his soul. Shane wasn’t going to let the man live a future of solitude because his past had been plagued with deceit.

Llewellyn wasn’t sure what to think about Shane. After years of protecting himself from being tricked twice, he was now faced with worry again. What would happen to him if Shane didn’t believe his truth, and walked away? Llewellyn wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive being left alone. Again.

Review: Whoa… A.E. Via’s Defined by Deceit had my emotions all over the place. This book had me looking inward, at myself and my own belief system, and it took me a couple of days just to digest what I’d read. This was no light, fluffy read!

Llewellyn and Moss thought themselves in love and were making plans to attend the same college together. But, with Moss’s reluctance to come out because of the repercussions he feared from his family, Llewellyn thought it best that they break up. When Moss begs for one last time with Llewellyn, what happens afterward is a major FUBAR! I so badly wanted to kick Moss’s fanny for doing what he did to Llewellyn. He not only threw Llewellyn under the bus, he backed up over him a few times with it. What Moss did was unforgivable! You just don’t do that…to anyone!

As for Llewellyn, knowing the truth, my heart went out to him for his suffering. I give major KUDOS to Shane & Ms. Pat for seeing beyond the label. I’m sorry but if someone like Llewellyn had come into my town, I’d be more than a little reluctant to extend a helping hand. I wouldn’t deny him a livelihood like the rest of the town tried to do, but I wouldn’t be inviting him over for dinner either. This is where my belief system was challenged. That kind of trust is beyond me.

Out of all the books I’ve read by Ms. Via, Defined by Deceit is by far the best! And I highly recommend it if your heart can stand all the angst, and the subject matter.