ILLUSIONS DUET by L M HALLORAN

“Whatever you’ve come from, whatever you’ve lived through, I don’t care, I’m not afraid of your dark.”
Trapped in his gaze, I whisper, “But what if I am? Afraid of the darkness inside me.?”
He kisses my forehead, murmuring against my skin, “Then I’ll set the world on fire to bring you light.”

Tick. Tock. Didn’t this duet give our hearts and nerves a run for their money! L M Halloran led us into the darkness, taking us on a suspenseful, raw and gritty rollercoaster of emotions, into a world of duplicity, passion. A haunting past kept us on our toes, guts churning. A love story against the odds kept our romantic hearts beating. Captivating and intelligent storytelling kept us turning the pages.

‘Life is a fucking magic carpet and we’re standing beneath it. All we see is broken threads and horrendous knots. Weirdness. Darkness. Chaos. But that’s because we can’t see the top. The pattern.
And it’s beautiful up there, I’m sure of it.’

Although some characters from the Vision Duet make appearances, it’s not necessary to have read these before diving into the Illusions Duet, though, for us, it was fabulous to catch up with Dominic, London, and Liam, the Irish man of mystery! We loved the banter between Liam and Gideon, two men from very different worlds with one heart-stopping suspenseful goal!

Deirdre Moss is the renowned hard arse PR Shark. On the surface, she appears put together, ruthless and professional. A cool customer but dig beneath the surface and we find a woman with a violent and horrific past, who has the emotional and physical scars to prove it.

“Tell me a story…. Tell me a story, Deidre, so I can paint something beautiful with your words.”

Gideon Masters is the son of the CEO of a massive tech company, however, Gideon is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum. He’s the darling of the LA art community, who, following the breakdown of his marriage is on a bit of a freefall.

Whilst Deirdre is put together and tough as nails, Gideon is wild and untamed. Opposites in so many ways, yet with a dark past that haunts them both. Gideon is a man on the edge and it’s Deirdre’s job to get him back on the straight and narrow.

“I don’t want to save you, Deidre. I want you to save me.”

Gideon has a reputation for wanting to save broken women, and they don’t come more broken than Deidre, yet maybe Gideon also needs saving, and despite her own darkness, maybe Deirdre can enter his. There’s a connection between the pair with Deirdre opening up to Gideon more than she has to anyone in her life, with the exception of her best friend, Nate, her ‘brother’ who lived through a childhood nightmare with Deidre. Their pasts carry an omnipresent cloud over the story, making sure we could never rest, waiting for the strike. When it came it was gut-churning!

“You may be beautiful when you smile, Ms. Moss, but you’re a vision when you’re enraged.’

Deirdre was a strong harsh character, and despite what she’d been through, we didn’t feel any vulnerability in her, in Art of Sin book one, which is told in her pov. She showed no softness and her voice felt quite masculine and severe. Though we empathised with her, sadly, Deidre was possibly one of our least favourite L M Halloran heroines. We found it difficult to connect with her in book one, though we warmed to her more in the second book which is told in both Gideon and Deirdre’s pov, maybe his voice added the softness and vulnerability we missed in Art of Sin.

Gideon was a revelation. At first, coming across as grumpy and detached, and lacking a filter, once his true personality and heart broke free, he was sweet, seductive and vulnerable, a man who cared beautifully and passionately for Deirdre. This man had honesty and strength of character, never shying away from being drawn into Deirdre’s darkness to free her from herself.

“Whatever you’ve come from, whatever you’ve lived through, I don’t care. I’m not afraid of your dark.”

L M Halloran is one of our favourite authors. She’s a lady who never fails to weave an emotional, passionate and gripping story, with her talent for painting a picture with her exquisite and intuitive storytelling leaving us spellbound. The Illusions Duet was emotional, sensual and erotic yet the sex didn’t overshadow the flow, intensity or grittiness of the story. Instead, it served as a sexually charged enhancement rather than a page filler. A mesmerising epilogue capped off another fabulous read! Now…we need Finn’s book! We desperately need his story!

 ‘Memories are magicians. Every time you look at them, they change a little. A tweak here, a smudge there, a new color or shape. Because of this, your best and worst memories, the ones you think of most often have changed so many times, they aren’t even memories anymore.’

Art of Sin available now
Sin of Love is releasing 26th March