'Of Love and Deception'

★★★★

High Creep Factor...

​...in more ways than one.

The creep, Bruce, that started messaging eighteen-year-old Sarah, and the creepy feeling you get reading it.

​It's apparent this is a YA because the writing is extremely simplistic, but not poorly done. You can tell the author is a fan of the Phantom of the Opera by all of the references to it in the book. It's also a cautionary tale of Internet predators.

​Sara is an innocent first-year college student being swept away by the flattery of someone she barely knows, who is far older than she, and only meets when we get more than halfway through the book. As a parent, my heart was pounding for Sarah and the situation she was willingly throwing herself into.

The author did make a minor mistake, which can easily happen. She states that Sarah is celebrating her 19th birthday, but nearer the end of the book when she's fighting with her parents, she exclaims, "...I'm eighteen, for goodness sake!"

​Anyway, the end of the book ends abruptly as a set up to book two. Overall, it's a book that will make your skin crawl (if you're a parent) and was well-written for YA audiences.