Liquid Lies by Hanna Martine (The Elementals #1)
July 3, 2012
Paranormal Romance
Berkley

Reviewed by Mandi

I received this book unsolicited in the mail for review, read the blurb and knew I had to try it out. It is a fresh take on a PNR world. There are no vamps, shifters, or fae…but aliens. Let me set up the world.

About 150 years ago, two sets of aliens came to earth, the Ofarians and the Tedrans and are enemies. They currently live on Earth and no humans or as they call them, primaries, know of their existence. I don’t want to really go into why they came to Earth or their relationship with each other because there are some big twists and revelations that will be much more fun if you discover them as you read.

Gwen, our heroine is an Ofarian. All Ofarians are water elementals, which means they can use a water source to manipulate and transform into water to their advantage. Also let me note that Ofarians and Tedrans appear as humans bodies on Earth (we’ll get more into that later). Gwen also has a unique talent on top of being a water elemental. Once she hears just a few words of any language, she can instantly speak it and understand it. This ‘translator’ gene only comes by every few generations, so she is a prize commodity among her people.

Gwen’s father is chairman of ‘The Company,’ a company that makes a solution called Mendacia. This solution is extremely valuable and billionaires across the world buy it. Just a drop and people can glamour themselves, making them look young, old, healthy – pretty much any desire they have. Since Gwen is a linguist, she is in charge of international deals and the great amount of money that comes in helps the thousands or so Ofarians who live on Earth. They make the people who buy Mendacia sign extremely tight confidentiality agreements, and if they speak of the secret solution, death for them is the only option.

The deal Gwen tries to set up with a wealthy Japanese client goes sour, and her bodyguard Griffin (who is also betrothed to her through an arranged marriage) is only able to kill one of the Japanese men. Gwen kind of lets the other get away. Gwen has a few dumb-dumb moments at the beginning of this book which made me uneasy. I don’t like a stupid heroine. Fortunately, she admits that she was stupid and turns things around. Whew!

So of course the one man that gets away, comes back to get her later and a stranger comes to her aide. This stranger is named Reed. Later that night, they meet at a bar. Gwen knows she shouldn’t mingle with a human, but she is very attracted to him. He has a shaved head and lots of tattoos. (Hell, I’ll talk to him too!) Reed is a mercenary, who has earned the nickname ‘Retriever’ because he is so good at finding and kidnapping people for money. Guess who he discovers is his next kidnapping victim? If you guessed Gwen, you are correct.

He has to push aside his lust for her and do his dirty deed. He has no idea why these certain people want Gwen, it is not his job to ask. So he kidnaps her, and takes her to a remote location.

So to recap, hero is a human and an expert kidnapper (he also didn’t know she was his intended victim when they first meet and have  a drink at the bar). Heroine’s ancestors are from a different planet and she can manipulate water and understand any language.

I would say this paranormal world is on the lighter side. There is some magic with water, and people from a different planet, but for the most part, Earth is the Earth you and I know. All of this takes place in secret. I think this is a really solid PNR. This debut author combines a very sexy romance with an engaging conflict. The Ofarians and the Tedrans don’t like each other, but their relationship is very complex. Gwen starts to unearth secrets about both races, and good and evil become very blurred. There are a lot of twists in this book, and I loved discovering each one.

While we eventually get some answers about how the Ofarians and Tedrans make it to Earth, and why they are ‘humans’ for as far as anyone can tell, I do wish we got a little more background on them. Or exactly what type of planet they come from. What do they look like before they come? But maybe these are things we will continue to learn as the series progresses. It looks like we get a new hero and heroine in the next book, and I’m eager to learn more about the worlds (and the next hero very much intrigues me).

I really like the fact that Gwen and Reed don’t immediately jump into bed together. He is hot and sexy, and they have attraction ,but he is also her kidnapper. She is pissed, and her reactions play out well. And, Reed may be a kidnapper, but he is a damn professional one. It takes a lot of him to cross that line from jail keeper (although he does want to protect her) to lover. I think the author does a nice job with the chemistry and sexual tension as well as the payoff with the sex scenes. Reed is sexy (have I said that enough?). I do think we get to know Gwen much more than Reed. We don’t really dive into his background or learn all that much about him. I also wonder if he really redeems himself at the end. I mean, he truly is a good guy, but he has a very messy past and I can only assume he negatively affected many people’s lives with the business he is in. I would have liked him to go into that more.

Overall this is a really fun, sensual book. I’m excited about this world and I’m already eager to get the next one. A nice debut.

Rating: B

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