Deep Deception (The Deep Series #2)

Title: Deep Deception (The Deep Series #2)
Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Genre(s): M/M Paranormal
Page Count: 234
Reviewed by: Crabbypatty
Heat Level: 4 flames out of 5
Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
Blurb:

He’ll give up everything for his immortal lover…except his humanity.

Leave a note and slip away to Paris alone, Adin thought. It’ll prove to his vampire lover he doesn’t need 24/7 supervision, Adin thought. Instead, Adin lands in a surreal situation that isn’t going to endear him to Donte. At. All.

As he awaits an old foe, Ned Harwiche III, for a prearranged meeting, Adin is head butted, tossed into the back of a car…then gets the chance to acquire an artifact Harwiche had been bidding on.

Adin jumps at it, if only as payback for all the dirty tricks Harwiche has pulled over the years. To his horror, the “artifact” turns out to be an adolescent boy named Bran.

Sickened, Adin vows to help the boy out, but like Donte—like a lot of the world Adin never knew existed—Bran isn’t at all what he seems to be.

While Donte and Adin negotiate the meaning of the word “forever”, Bran is running out of time. Especially when tragedy and betrayal pit Adin’s long-cherished beliefs against Donte’s love.

Product Warnings: Contains a gothed-up college professor armed with guyliner (which is a big problem when you’re up against a little monster) and an old vampire who doesn’t like his lover out of reach. Not that he can’t administer discipline from afar…

Deep Deception is the second book in Z.A. Maxfield’s The Deep Series, following Deep Desire and preceding Deep Deliverance. Please note it’s not a stand-alone book. Characters from Deep Desire make an appearance in Deep Deception as well – mainly Boaz, Donte, Santos, Edward, Tuan and Ned.

Deep Deception begins, appropriately enough, in a cemetery where Adin is meeting Ned Harwiche, his rival in bidding wars over antique artifacts. In a case of mistaken identity, Adin is thrown in the back of a car and brought to see the “merchandise” Ned is negotiating over – a young boy in iron chains. Why does Ned Harwiche want this boy? Is the boy Bran human … or something else?

The plot definitely holds your interest as Adin attempts to discover the mystery behind Bran. He is frustrated that Bran doesn’t know “what” he is, but as Boaz points out, how do any of us know what we are? We learn from our parents, we learn from our history- we do not develop and mature in a void.

Donte and Adin’s relationship remains as steamy as ever, but this book delves further into the problems inherent in their relationship. Adin doesn’t want eternal life, but wants Donte and doesn’t quite realize he can’t have things both ways. The strength of this book is how it explores the hard truths behind how the vampire world really works, and how humans are “strangers in a strange land” at best. My only problem with the book was how darn irritating Adin can be! (But having read the third book, I’ll warn you that he doesn’t get much better.)

Deep Deception is a great read that sets up the third book in the series wonderfully.

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