LOVE LIES BENEATH is the first book by Ellen Hopkins that I have read but it will not be the last. This story pulled me in at the very beginning. There is steamy, sexy, dysfunctional families, mysterious threatening notes, and an unbelievable ending that I never saw coming. Very well written.

Tara Cannon is a 40-year-old rich, gorgeous woman who can have whatever she wants. She has been married three times. She married her first husband at age 20 and became a widow at age 23. She married and divorced two husbands later. She is now a very rich woman.

She goes on a ski trip with her sister to Lake Tahoe and has an accident which is where she meets handsome and charming surgeon Dr. Cavin Lattimore. They are immediately attracted to each other.

Family dysfunction is present throughout the story beginning with Tara and her sister Melody with their mother, with Melody and her husband and their three kids, and finally with Cavin and his 17-year-old son. Melody's husband, Graham, is resentful of Tara and her wealth because she gives his family things he can't. Cavin warns Tara about his son Eli, who appears to be manipulative and keeps making innuendos regarding Cavin that makes Tara question her judgement.

This story is so well written that while reading it I was totally focused on trying to decide the motives of certain characters and never saw or expected the revelations at the end. In between chapters, Ellen Hopkins provides poetic prose that are thought provoking. If you are looking to read a book that will keep you entertained until the end -- this is the one! After you finish reading the book you really will get the title and it's meaning -- LOVE LIES BENEATH!