Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.
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REVIEW:
This book is like a vacuum. This whole series is like a vacuum, but I’m going to focus solely on The Opportunist for now!
First of all, Tarryn Fisher, if you were in front of me, I would bow down to you! THE WRITING WOWED ME. The story was a train wreck. Even though absolutely nothing ever went the way I wanted it to, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the story. I wanted more and that makes me feel very masochistic. It was the best kind of torture! Her references and wit were enough to keep me enthralled in the massacre that was this story. There was so much drama. It was the best!
The book starts out when Olivia runs into an old flame in a music store. Caleb was the one but she lost him. When she sees Caleb, she is surprised to find out that he was in an accident and doesn’t remember anything. Being the selfish, conniving girl that she is, she decides that it’s best to NOT tell him who she really is to him. If he knew who she was, he wouldn’t have a thing to do with her. She is blinded by her love for him so she jumps at the opportunity to be with him. She knows it’s doomed from the start but she does it anyway. She does everything ANYWAY.
The book is told in Olivia’s POV and goes back and forth between the present and the past. You see Olivia and Caleb’s relationship develop in their early years as you see them reunite in the present. Sometimes flashbacks can be a turn off for me because I want to know what’s going on in the NOW, but that wasn’t the case with The Opportunist. I was just as invested in their past story as I was their present. They both equally broke and shattered my heart!
Both characters make so many mistakes. It’s heartbreaking to see them both LOVE each other so much yet let these misunderstandings break them. They are both so buried in lies that they can’t see through to the truth. I wanted to shake them. I wanted to cry for them. ALL of my emotions got a workout while reading this. A P90X workout. This WAS NOT Yoga.
As crazy as Olivia’s actions were …not a single girl out there can tell me that they haven’t had some of the same thoughts as she had at least once in their life. We are ALL devious to a certain extent. She just had the balls to act on her thoughts. It was so fun to read about it. Her adventures with Cammie were hilarious. I love Cammie. She is the epitome of the best friend ever.
"You broke into your ex's apartment?" My head was swimming now. “How do I not know about these shenanigans and when did you turn into me?”
“You’ve been busy. Lucy and Ethel didn’t break in to spy – Ethel broke in to find her grandmother’s earrings, which she had left there.”
“Okay, first of all, stop referring to yourself in first person, Ethel, and second of all, I am not breaking into their house!”
“Since when did you become the moral police?
So, even though I know some of Olivia’s actions were devious and conniving and…insane… I still love her. I felt for her and I have to admit, I totally GOT her at times.
“…you’ve done some pretty lousy things, but you did it all because you love this single human being so much, you couldn’t help yourself. There is an honesty in that.”
As far as Caleb goes, this book really makes you fall in love with him and feel sorry for him. I was feeling his magnetic pull through the pages of the book, so I totally understand why Olivia was so crazy over him.
Leah. LEAH! Leah is Caleb’s fiancé. That he doesn’ t remember. AND who tries to destroy Olivia and Caleb’s blooming relationship. Wow. Ok, so I pretty much hated her in The Opportunist. There was no love. I’ll dive more into her character when I review Dirty Red (book 2), but you will hate her. Everyone hates her. I love to hate her. Caleb definitely has a type.
Just when you think things are going to line up. Just when you think the characters have finally grown up enough to turn things around…
“I miss you. No, I don’t just miss you – my heart aches every day because you’re not there.”
The end broke. my. heart. On the same token, Olivia also won my respect. She was always so afraid of being vulnerable. She worked so hard to shut herself off and in the process built up her ice queen shield. When it fell and she faced the one thing she always tried to avoid, heartbreak & vulnerability…it was brutal. Olivia does grow up. Life just gets in the way of her happily ever after.
“I have finally accepted that there are consequences to every action. I earned them and they are rightfully mine. There is no time to make bad decisions. Every step is precious. The definition of living is mine.”
MY RATING: 5 STARS
Reviewed by:
This book was amazing. Really, the entire series was. I literally could not put them down. Her writing is incredible and the places her mind went - and pulled me along - were just... wow. So very good. Great review.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I loved the series as well! -Erica
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