Cunning

By: Aleatha Romig

Narrated by: Samantha Prescott, Brian Pallino

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

"He owns you. Whatever he tells you to do, you do."

One year. No future. A past that won't go away.

Lennox "Nox" Demetri broke his own rule by making a deal. It may not have been directly with the devil, but that doesn't mean Satan himself isn't watching. Was it fate that brought Charli into his life and his bed? What will happen when rules are broken and secrets are revealed?

"New rules...my rules."

Alex "Charli" Collins found pleasure with Nox like she'd never known. That was before she knew his last name. Now that infidelity is involved and the rules have changed, what will result when real life and fantasy collide? Is it really cheating if you're doing it to yourself?

©2016 Romig Works, LLC (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

Thankfully this book picks up right where Betrayal left off. Nox and Alex's relationship is a complete mind f*ck. This book raised so many questions for me and left me with few answers, which is why I need to starts Deception right away. This story is full of secrets, excitement and hot sex. I love that we get to go back in the past and see what happened when Alex was young even if it just raised even more questions. I can not wait to find out about Nox's wife and all of Alex's family secrets!

Great narration!

TICK TICK BOOM, TICK TICK BOOM WENT THE PLOT

Charli didn't know what lay ahead for her now that she's the property of Nox for one whole year.... to do with her whatever he likes - but nothing could have prepared her for this very different version of Nox. Gone is the thoughtful kind lover from their time in Del Mar and in his place is a cold, ruthless and controlling version with many secrets and an untouchable and unspoken past. But just when Charli loses all hope of ever seeing the nice side of Nox again he surprises her yet again.... and continues to confuse and shock the ever lovin Hell out of her with his revelations.

There's some things Nox wants Charli to know however there's A LOT that he's keeping back from her..... partly for her own good and partly for his benefit. His ruthless Father comes into the story to further complicate things and throws a spanner in the works when he announces that, not only does he know exactly who Charli really is, but that he's also met her Mother. There's also a sub story told from her Mother's POV giving the backstory to her choices and life - which includes revelations, twists and a wicked plan that's centered around Charli's life and future.... a despicable plan that was brokered when Charli was just a child. The Chess pieces are starting to make their moves, lay their traps and sacrifice their pawns.... but who will be the victor, what will the cost be and when "check mate" is finally called which pieces will still be left on the Board???

I couldn't wait to jump right into this second instalment.... however N O T H I N G could have prepared me for the mind blowing revelations, the devious twists and the emotional roller coaster that this listen took me on. It's so well thought out with its tangled mixed up crazy web of a storyline... and, just when you think you're getting somewhere in the plot, AR throws in another spanner to toss things off course. You can't forecast or predict what'll happen next because this skilful Author has an endless supply of spanners that she randomly tosses into the mix and then you're, again, heading into the unknown.... holding on tight and praying for divine intervention.

Gripping storytelling at its very best, descriptive, addictive, explosive and scorching hot as well as being romantic, tender and touching at times too. There's a full cast of toxic, loveable and mysterious characters whose plans and destinies are yet to be revealed to us.... but whatever they are I know it's going to be a spectacular ride. Ends on another cliffhanger, dual POV's (but mainly Charli's), don't think of starting this book without first listening to book 1 and the narrators were pretty darn perfect.

Worth a credit? This is a 10 star listen that cost only 1 credit so Hell YEAH it was soooo worth using one on this absolutely awesome and addictive book.

Eeeep!!

This series keeps getting better and better! I love listening to my favorite books after I've read them. Nox, Charli and company do not disappoint in this installment!! I cannot wait for the next one...amazing Aleatha!!

Really?

Any additional comments?

How am I the only one who really did not like this book? Maybe if this was the first book series I had listened to by the author Aleatha Romig I would have been impressed, but I hate when you find an author you think you love and all of her books have relatively the same characters. I fast forwarded through much of this book. And rolled my eyes at the rest.

Loved this book ¡

I'm not great at reviewing here goes.
Loved how it picked up right where it left off.
Love all the back drama. If you think this is a couple romance story you are so wrong. It has mystery, deception, back deals and so much more! And I'm the center are Not and Charli. Just trying to get there HEA! Not crazy about the cliffhanger endings. But they do keep us coming back! I'm on to book 3.

Exciting story

Love this set of books. So sexy and suspenseful. Can’t wait to listen and for more parts to come to light

What a story! Gripping, hot, and infuriating!

Okay, let me begin by saying that the core of this book is freaking excellent. With that being said, I have ONE BIG ISSUE. It is SO needlessly wordy in different areas of the book, particularly Adeline's story. While I loved that her background was added in and that it added an entirely new and also irritating aspect of the story for me to be fuming about, it was utterly ridiculous how verbose these parts were. I didn't notice it in the beginning, but eventually I was saying out loud "get to the point!!" and I am extremely patient with this kind of thing. I wouldn't have posted it in my review without it being irritating enough for me to have to speed up the speed of the speaking to 1.6x. On top of that, Adeline is one sort of cowardless, pathetic excuse for a woman, not even attempting to stand up to the people that manipulate her, but it PHYSICALLY HURT ME to listen to how Alex was spoken to and not hear her tell them to go f*** themselves! It's the mark of a good book to have it affect me this way but Jesus is it ever angering. I cannot wait for her to hopefully stand up for herself finally and tell them all to go lick rocks. At any rate, this book was amazing and the performances were great too. The author just needs to cut out the unnecessary fluff. I don't care how Alton smells like tobacco, but a refined version. I don't care to listen for ten minutes about Adeline's thoughts regarding a yule log fire on tv versus real life. It's not needed. It gives little to the characters depth and it's just frustrating at a certain point. I even had to stop at one point because along with the lengthy descriptions, I was getting so angry that Adeline allowed her pride over money and a name to completely and totally dominate her life and get married to a disgusting piece of garbage like Alton that I had to stop and take a break. I don't think a book has ever evoked such anger in me before and I've read a lot of sad stories; I think it stems from the fact that these women don't know or refuse to act upon their ability to say screw this I'm done, although Alex increasingly understands and seems to come to appreciate this. And I now understand why this series has so many damn books in it, it probably could have been cut down by quite a bit if the unnecessary descriptive sequences were cut out. Luckily the storyline is so freaking juicy and the love story is so epic that I am utterly addicted. My emotions evened out toward the end and the cliffhanger it left on would undoubtedly be resolved but the lies upon lies within this family are just unbelievable. This story will enrapture you and grip you in it's hands and you won't be able to let go. Every credit has been worth it's weight in gold and I for one have been impressed to no end by the twists and turns the author throws at me, making this a story unlike any other I've read or heard.

Intense Erotic Mystery

I read the freebie first book wondering whether this author could encapsulate sexual tension and mystery as well as Willow Summers does in her full-length tension-filled romantic comedies. And Ms. Romig did not disappoint.
This book has it all; sexual tension between the hero and heroine, comedy of errors with the other characters as well as subtext regarding the intrigue within the intertwined family histories. That's not even mentioning the steamy foreplay and sex scenes.
I read the first book and listened to this one. Initially I was put off by Charli's voice thinking it was too old sounding, but now after 300+ pages of the voice-over artist integrating Charli's various moods and that of the other female characters I do appreciate her acumen.
All in all Ms. Romig's books have kept my attention, she even had me talking to the characters depending where I'd stopped reading or listening.
I am still intrigued by the characters' desires and manipulations to get what they believe is theirs. I just have to decide now if I'm going to listen or read the next two books. Mmmh, what a cunnudrum, eh?

Addicted!!!

Holy crap, these people are crazy! His father is slimy. Her mother is selfish. Her step-father is creepy and evil. I want to see him suffer a terrible, violent death. Her ex is the worst kind of spoiled rich boy. Her ex’s mother is just as creepy as the step dad. Telling her she needed to take care of her sons needs. Gross. They all need to go down in flames. I won’t even start on how awful her grandparents were when the story shifted to the past. These people are vile!

I love and hate Nox. When he’s good to Alex, he’s a dreamy H, but he goes cold real quick and on a hair trigger. Then I want her to tell him to suck off. Alex is mostly a strong heroine. She has fight in her and I love that she isn’t taking crap from her family. For the most part she doesn’t take crap from Nox either but there were a few times she became a doormat.

Why do I love this so much? Well, when Nox is good to Alex, I feel like they can take on the world. I love these two together and I can’t wait to see them conquer the evil. Nox is very protective of Alex. When we get his POV, you see how much he cares for her. His surliness is due to his deceased spouse. I’m not really a fan of that being part of the storyline but it explains why he runs hot and cold. There is more to her death and I’m curious what that is.

This ended on a cliffhanger. I’m not going to jump to conclusions. But, she better not believe what she just read or I’m going to think she isn’t as strong as I thought. On to book 3...

Oh wonderful suspense

Second book in this series is even more intriguing then the first, the author has a way of popping surprises and twists to the story that I've not often experienced before.

The plot of this story is revealed little by little but still makes you left feeling like there so much more. I love it 😍

The characters are well written and the book is filled with enough dialogues to be a very intense read.

I've invested in whisper sync and the narrators is just adding to the suspense.

This is the second book in a series and they must be read in order to give meaning to the plot.

CLIFFHANGER!

Brilliant!

Charli/Alex and Nox meet up again through Infidelity, but he's not the same man she met at DelMar. He's cold, angry and dominating.
Cunning is book #2 in the brilliant Infidelity series by Aleatha Romig. It's an intricate web of lies and deceit that keeps you hooked and excited for more.

good read

Would you listen to Cunning again? Why?

yes, it is a good read with a good narrator.

What does Samantha Prescott and Brian Pallino bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

the tone and set of their voices bring a real feeling of raw emotions to the listener.

Any additional comments?

love this, read betrayal first then this. also have read others by Aleatha Romig