Title: Ten Thousand Truths Author: Kelli Jean
Series: Ten Thousand #3
Release date: October 18, 2016
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 367
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Horror is Odessa “Opie” Powys’s truth.
One with muddied memories and haunted dreams.
Finding and putting the pieces of her shattered life together is impossible.
Hiding herself and her truth is the only option.Until the force that is Deo Dahl notices her from across a crowded bar.
Not one to back down from a challenge, Deo pulls the seemingly shy Opie out of her comfort zone, arousing courage inside her to not only face her abhorrent demons, but to also hunt them down.
However, Deo has horrors of his own, evil he’s fought to conquer his whole life. Just as they begin to reveal their truths, Opie’s past returns, turning Deo’s nightmare into a reality he might not survive.
Ten Thousand Truths is the third book in ‘the Ten Thousand series’ by Kelli Jean. Like the previous books in the series it has a dark side, exactly what the author warned for in the first book. In the previous books we’ve met Opie and Deo, and Ten Thousand Truths tells their beautiful and heartbreaking story.
“Opie?” “Yes, Deo?” “Are you seeing someone?” She shook her head and smiled again, and something inside me relaxed. “No. Are you?” “No.” “See you then,” she said.”
Opie is an accomplished woman, she owns a successful shop where she sells perfumes and soaps she makes herself and has a PhD in botany. She doesn’t have many friends, and although she wants more out of life, she just can’t. Years ago a madman destroyed all Opie held dear; her family destroyed and she barely survived herself. The act of horror has left Opie with deep scars, inside and outside. Opie doesn’t think it’s possible to be intimate with a man, but Deo makes her want more. She has known him for twelve years, and for him Opie is willing to try.
“Will he try to hold my hand? I wonder what his hand might feel like. Will he try to kiss me at the end of the night? I’d fantasized about those soft-looking lips for years.”
Deo is the owner of a barbershop and works with his friends for ‘the Locals’. Being shaped by events during his own childhood, Deo is now helping other people to overcome assault and abuse. Being a big, handsome man, Deo is popular with the ladies, but he doesn’t do serious. He’s still coming to terms with the ‘sudden’ engagement of his former girlfriend Xanthe (the heroine from Ten Thousand Words). Not that he’s still in love with her, but he just wants to know why they didn’t work. All thoughts about Xanthe move to the background when Deo meets mysterious Opie, the lady who makes the creams for his barbershop and friend of Xanthe.
“She stood there, right bloody behind me, her huge eyes looking up into my face. My jaw dropped. Her eyes were fucking violet. “It’s you,” I said stupidly. Her plump lips mashed flat, and I got the impression that she was trying not to laugh.”
When Deo meets Opie during an evening out he’s immediately interested in her. Seeing her again in her shop seals the deal, he has to get to know her. Opie tries to keep Deo at a distance. Thinking of herself as damaged goods and her experience with men Opie doesn’t believe Deo can be with her. She’s also knows he’s her friend’s ex-lover, and she feels Deo isn’t over her just yet. But slowly Deo breaks away Opie’s walls, and together they have sweet and very sexy moments. I love how Deo is with Opie – gentle and caring – and how Opie opens up to Deo. Their HEA is a hard-fought, very deserved one, I love it.
The romance between Opie and Deo is easy to read about, Deo helps Opie to overcome her believes about her own body, and slowly they start to love each other. Throughout the story the darker side of Deo’s work for the Locals is being told; it’s not easy to read, but it’s a part of the story. Just when you think Opie and Deo have had the worst, the author delivers a horrific blow. Gone is the happiness the couple almost had and all what’s left is a world of hurt and despair. My heart broke for both Deo and Opie; they so didn’t deserve what is done to them. And although it’s painful to read, I appreciate the realness of the aftermath.
“Does this still feel like your home, Witch?” His voice was the deepest, warmest caress to my soul. “Because no one lives here but you.” I swallowed and closed my eyes, feeling the strong, steady beats against my palm, sensing that light once more seeping into my blood. “Yes.”
I love Ten Thousand Truths; this book will stay with me for a long time. I give the story of Opie and Deo 5+ stars.
Leave a Reply