LIES & TRUTH DUET by Rina Kent

#1 ALL THE LIES

“You’re mine to screw and destroy, my ugly monster. It’s time to get used to that.”

BLURB

When lies become the truth.

My name is Reina Ellis.
Popular.
Beautiful.
Untouchable.
Problem is, I remember none of it.

His name is Asher Carson.
Gorgeous.
Silent.
Dark.
Oh, and my future husband.

He has three rules for me:
I'll bow. 
I'll break. 
I'll pay for what I’ve done.

Problem is, I don’t remember what I’ve done, but I have a clue.
There was a fire.
A dead girl.
And I was there.

            After reading this duet, I can certainly say that Rina Kent is now one of my go-to authors. I read her Royal Elite series and I loved it so much and after knowing that almost all her books happened in one "universe", I have to read every one of her works. I have yet to read her other series but I'm getting there. I've also read her Kingdom duet which is a book about Jonathan King, Aiden's father and I did not enjoy it as much as Rina's other book but I did not dislike it also.

            Anyway, so this book is about Asher Carson and Reina Ellis, and if you've read Twisted Kingdom, Asher was mentioned as Aiden's friend when he and Elsa was studying at Oxford. Apparently, he was mentioned as the American boy who is also a member of the debating team where Aiden and Elsa are also members. Turns out, Asher did not finish his studies at Oxford and decided to return to America because his fiance Reina got into an accident and she can't remember a thing prior to her accident. Now the mystery part is that Asher hates Reina to the bones that he decided to stay at her side for good so he can ruin her life. For what reason? Nobody knows and Reina is so curious as to why Asher hates her so much that he constantly calls her names especially a "monster". Asher is also surprised to witness Reina's change of personality like she's being expressive and being caring when before the accident, she was nothing but. The old Reina is a queen bee of their university and a "queen bitch" who only cares for herself and does a lot of dares to others just because she can. So anyway, while Reina is in amnesia, she can't help finding out the truth as to why she was in an accident, or who wants to kill her and the biggest mystery of all, as to why Asher hates her so much. Reina has no choice but to live old Reina's life but one thing that shocked her was whens he found out how she treated everyone around her like a crap. The present Reina is now questioning the old Reina why was she living such a life and how can she do those nasty things to other people. Another thing that also made her curious about old Reina is discovering that old Reina is actually having an "affair" to this instagram user that calls her nasty things and apparently do nasty things to her. What shocked her was the fact that she confided things on that account things that she never even told herself. She finds herself smiling and even feels comfortable whenever she talks to him.

            And then one day, Reina experienced a lot of creepy things like her being trapped in a vacant classroom, her being attacked in their locker room and her being tied in a pole at their school's roof top like someone wants her to jump in that roof. And in all of those circumstances, Asher always comes to her rescue to the point that Reina is now feeling things for him and thinks that despite Asher's hate towards her, she can still trust him. But boy oh boy, the biggest plot twist happened when Jason told Reina that Arianna, Asher's baby sister died because she committed suicide and that Reina is the reason why she did such thing. To top it all, she overheard Asher talking to Arianna's grave that the justice he's been looking for her is now almost in his hands. Reina then put two and two together and found out that Asher is behind all of the creepy things that happened to her and that all this time, Asher was only looking for justice for his sister and is bound to destroy Reina's life.

            This book is so short that I finished reading it in one sitting. To be honest, I did not expect a lot about this book and just thought that it'll be like any bully books that I read. So I was glad that I liked it and that I enjoyed it. This book is so straight to the point, it was not dragging and I love Asher's version of bullying towards Reina. He is all words but deep down, he can't do shit to Reina because he still likes her. One thing that did not sit well with me was about the football, cheerleading and cafeteria thingy. If I was not informed that they are college students, I would assume they are still in highschool because are those things and dramas happened only in highschool? Lol. Anyway, I loved this book and despite Asher's hate to Reina, their chemistry is so undeniable.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

#2 ALL THE TRUTHS

"I want the light and the darkness. The sanity and the madness. The beauty and the ugliness.
I want everything.
Just like I need him to accept me whole."

BLURB

The truth doesn't set you free.

Revenge shouldn’t be rushed. It needs to be savored.
Reina ruined my life and it’s only fair I ruin hers back.
Or that was the plan.
That was before she got under my skin and flowed into my blood.
Life as we know it crashes and burns.
All we have left is revenge.
Or is it?

            Oh my god!!! That revelation in book one was HOLY SHIT! Also, everything that happened in this book got me all SOOOO CONFUSED as heck! This book is so short but a lot of things happened I can't keep up! You cannot just rest and internalize that's happened and another thing is already happening. From the revelation of who does the creepy things to Reina, to Arianna's death, to Reina having a twin sister and that they switched places since they were twelve years old and to the fact that Reina's mother is a Russian mafia princess and that her uncle is now out looking for her and her tin sisters to kill them. Wew! The revelation about Reina's family was told by Alexander, Asher's father. That was why he was so protectice of Reina when she was dismissed from the hospital because of the danger that her uncle is out their for blood to take the throne of being the mafia leader.

            My brain just can't process things because we went from Asher making it his job 24/7 to make Reina's life miserable to us being dragged into the mafia world. LOL. And then we finally found out who cloud003 is. AND DAMN!! I WAS RIGHT!! I always thought it's not freaking Jason and that it was Asher! So imagine the shock I felt when Reina found out it was Asher! She was supposed to finally meet who this cloud003 is and when she saw Asher, she thought he found out about their meeting and even thought that she was cheating. LOL. A looootttt of revelations happened during the last part of the book like finding out about Arianna's lies and that she was doing anything to make sure Asher and Reina did not end up together. Turns out, Asher's hate towards Reina started when Arianna told him before she jumped on the roof to seek justice for her and that everything is Reina's fault. Asher being a father figure to his sister was so devastated that he promise that day that Reina will pay and that he will seek out justice for her baby sister by making Reina's life miserable. So when Asher found out about the lies of her sister, the first thing that he did was to say sorry to Reina, as he should be! Reina now remembers everything and the reason why she was meeting her twin sister in the forest the night the accident happened. She also remembered how she and her twin Rai switched places when they were young so one of them will stay alive. Reina also remembered the reason why she had to stay away from Asher and give her the cold shoulder everytime he's close. Turns out, Arianna manipulated her and Asher saying that she loves Reina romantically and that Asher should give way for her. She also told the same thing to Reina saying that she loved Asher not as a brother but as a man and that he will never love Reina because she is all that he got. How sick is that?? And that asshole Jason was also with her when they were plotting the whole thing! I still don't get the reason why Arianna did all those things to the point that she committed suicide just for Asher and Reina to not end up together?? Girl???

            

            Just when everything is becoming clearer, Reina was kidnapped by her Uncle Ivan and tortured her just to tell him where here twin sister is hiding. And then... surprise surprise! Her twin sister was all this time hiding and was training to become the leader of the mafia that her grandpa left. And that the person who helped her hide was Kyle-yes the assassin Kyle in Kingdom Duet who killed Margot's nephew (see? this Rina's books are really wrapped in one universe so you will meet some characters from other books to another). Reina was finally saved by her sister and Asher when he killed her uncle.

               A lot of things really happened here that I was not sure how they fit into 200+ pages. HAHAHA. I guess I liked the fact that it was really straightforward and fast paced. You will not get bored reading the two books because a lot of things are happening and before you know it, you're on the last page already. Can we also talk about Asher's possessiveness towards Reina even though he hates her so much? Reminds me of Aiden and Elsa. Oh, and that phone call between Asher and Aiden. Aahhhh I miss them already! Guess I have to read Royal Elites again. 😅

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐