Marissa Frasier met and married the love of her life at 15, and lived happily ever after until a dreadful accident took her husband away from her. She couldn't get over it, and for a few months all she did was work and drank herself into a stupor every evening. Her assistant, Parker Thibodeaux, who accompanied her to the hospital when her husband died, became a good friend. Marissa's sister Leah tries to convince her to go out, but Marissa is too distraught. Leah had loaned Marissa some BDSM novels that had Marissa quite curious. Several months after the tragedy, along with Parker, Marissa attends a convention that had been scheduled months in advance. Parker knows a lot of interesting people, and at the convention he comes across some men who are members of a very unconventional and elite club. Marissa is trying to get as far away from her old married life as much as she can. She wants to reinvent herself and a visit to the BDSM club might be just what the doctor ordered.

DESIRE'S DECEPTION is exceptionally well written and perfectly paced. I will say as little as possible about the story because it is positively enthralling. Ms. Coakley describes Marissa's pain so convincingly after her husband's death that I felt her despair. And when Marissa gets to the club, that's where things really start rolling, and I have seldom read anything so riveting! Ms. Coakley has a real understanding of the BDSM lifestyle, and the descriptions of the club, the atmosphere, the goings-on are entirely convincing. The author does not aim for sensationalism but rather to give an honest depiction of two people who embrace the alternative lifestyle. DESIRE'S DECEPTION is not a book I might have chosen on impulse, and I would have missed out on a fabulous read!

DESIRE'S DECEPTION is not for the faint of heart. This is not about a little tap on the bum and silk blindfolds; this is about heavy duty BDSM. The only readers I would advise against reading DESIRE'S DECEPTION are those who hate that genre no matter what, otherwise if you have an open mind, you will not regret the experience. There is a very solid, mesmerising story apart from the sex angle. There are plot twists that had me reeling. Marissa and the hero, whom I will not even name so as not to spoil anything, are exceedingly complex and reading about what they are, what made them how they are, what they seek, is unforgettable. DESIRE'S DECEPTION is just the sort of book you never thought you would love. Promise.