Review & Giveaway: Give Me Something by Elizabeth Lee

by Paula on Friday, March 15, 2013

AMAZON | KINDLE

Give Me Something by Elizabeth Lee
Contemporary
Elizabeth Lee (March 3, 2013)

Rating: C
Heat: Sweet

Heroine: Lila Garrison – Con Artist, Misguided 
Hero: Nick – Con Artist, Manipulative 
Hero: Tucker Kline – The Mark, Rich
Setting: USA

Review:

Trickster, bamboozler, grifter. There were lots of names for what I did, but only one that everyone seemed to know -- con artist. That was me and I was good at it.

Lila Garrison has led a life of lying, cheating, and conning people out of their money, expensive jewelry, fast cars, and fancy clothes. Growing up she didn’t have much, since her parents never had the motivation to do much more than live their simplistic lifestyle. Lila wanted more. She wanted to live big without all the effort that comes to earning those things. To do this, she leaves home and learns the ropes of conning with her best friend, Nick. As a team, they soon become very good at swindling rich men out of their money. But the one thing Lila wants more than the money and fancy things is Nick.

Now that Lila and Nick have both earned enough money to put themselves in college, they decide to go legit and lead a straight life. That is, until Nick, the man who owns her heart, asks Lila to do one more con with him to pay off a debt he owes. He promises, or more like manipulates, Lila into thinking they can finally be together once they pull off one more con. And because Lila has loved Nick for as long as she can remember, she would do anything to finally be with him.

However, this con is unlike any con Lila has ever pulled off. She will be playing herself rather than changing her name and her appearance. Instead of conning her typical, rich millionaire older man, she is surprised to learn her mark is a highly attractive and very charming young man named Tucker. Oh, but what’s even worse, Lila is not only attracted to Tucker but finds herself drawn to him. Will she be able to pull this con off without getting too close to the mark? As Lila dives into the role of Tucker’s girlfriend, this con becomes way more complicated than she ever anticipated.

Lila is definitely a smart and sassy gal who knew what she wanted in life and went after it. But, I will be honest here, I’m not even sure I ever grew to like Lila until the very end of the story. Some of the choices Lila made were extremely questionable. For instance, why would you let someone who has supposedly been your loyal best friend, for so many years, talk you into doing one last con for HIM before you can be together? For a smart girl, she should’ve questioned Nick’s motives a little more closely before she agreed. I think over the years she has been blinded by who Nick truly is. Also, I didn’t understand her reasons for leaving her family behind. Just because her family lacked the motivation to live richly, doesn’t mean she should’ve abandoned them all-together. What redeemed Lila for me was the character growth she had by the end of the story. She does eventually figure out the path she was taking was the wrong one to follow.

I questioned Nick right from the beginning. I never trusted him. He always came across as a manipulative user. It was obvious to me he had a hidden agenda and there was more to this con that just paying off his debt. But what his true agenda is, that’s all a part of his game. And I will keep that little tidbit to myself. Bottom line, though, I really never liked Nick. And I never warmed up to him even at the end. Trust me, the author tried to make up for his manipulative, sneaky ways but I wasn’t buying it.

And finally, there is Tucker, the mark or more likely Nick’s mark. My first impression of Tucker was that he was another womanizing playboy who thought he could have any woman he wanted. And that woman was Lila. But, as you get to know him, he is not the womanizing, spoiled rich kid Nick made him out to be. He is a hard worker, who wants to make his deceased father proud. Especially now that he is the heir of his million dollar company. Tucker is definitely a charmer. He charmed the panties right off of me. He’s uber sexy, confident, considerate, and completely smitten with Lila. So when she was lying and scamming him, it pained me knowing she was going to hurt him with her lies. There were times when I think I was supposed to doubt him and question his motives, but I never truly felt that way about Tucker. For me, he came across as genuine. Let’s just say, Tucker turns out to be a real surprise after you get to know him.

Even though the romance between Lila and Tucker was orchestrated, the chemistry was still incredibly intense. So intense, I flushed quite a bit. The author definitely knows how to write sexual tension to make your heart pitter patter. The cheesy pick-up lines they joked about between them were so much fun and make me laugh out loud. And, as the relationship between Lila and Tucker becomes more real, Lila begins to question this job because of the feelings she develops for Tucker. Once she gets to know Tucker, she goes through a gamut of emotions as she struggles with doing the right thing and staying loyal to Nick. It was exciting not knowing which direction Lila would go. Nick or Tucker? And the question that remained on my mind when things start to unfold… Who is really playing who?

Give Me Something is a fast-paced, different kind of new adult contemporary that took us on a journey of self-discoveries, secrets, hidden agendas, betrayals, and romance all rolled into one con. I really love the idea where the main characters are con artists. To watch how a story unfolds, with a clever con, is fascinating and exciting. Yet the characters didn’t bring out the emotions in me that I wanted. I didn’t feel impacted in any way. It was hard for me to like Lila and Nick for most of the story. And when the story was over, it wasn’t something I thought about for too long before I moved on to the next book. However, even though I may not have loved this book, it’s still an entertaining, good book.

Giveaway!

Up for grabs is a signed paperback copy of both Give Me Something and Shattered. A winner will be chosen/notified on Monday, March 25.

For more chances to win, follow the tour and visit the other blogs!

LABELS: C, Contemporary, Elizabeth Lee, giveaway, love triangle, mistaken identity, one night stand, Reviews by Paula, Sweet, USA

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