Thief (Love Me With Lies #3) by Tarryn Fisher

"She will be your destruction. She's not healthy."

"Then let her destroy me."

“Maybe our souls touched underneath that tree. Maybe I decided to love her. Maybe love wasn't our choice. But when I looked at that woman, I saw myself differently.” 

The Blurb:

Note to Self

Love is patient; love is kind.
Love doesn't boast or brag.
There's no arrogance in love;
it's never rude, crude, or indecent-it's not self absorbed.
Love isn't easily upset.
Love doesn't tally wrongs.
Love trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.
Love will never become obsolete.
I'll fight for her.

Thief

Caleb Drake never got over his first love. Not when he got married. Not when she got married. When life suddenly comes full circle Caleb must decide how how far he is willing to go to get the aloof and alluring Olivia Kaspen back. But for every action in life there is a consequence, and soon Caleb finds out that sometimes love comes at an unbearably high price.


IMO:

This book left me an emotional mess. I wasn't that much broken like after reading The Opportunist but still this book, like the others in this series, has toyed with my emotions.

Seriously, how does Tarryn Fisher do it? How can she write such a story that feels so real? I've read a lot of books and even though other authors try to be surprising, it can only go so far. Love Me With Lies series kept me guessing. One moment, I think I know what's gonna happen but then Ms Fisher suddenly throws a curve ball on her characters. It's just refreshing.

“Broken people give broken love. And we are all a little broken. You just have to forgive and sew up the wounds love delivers, and move on.” 

She also has such a way with words and the emotions leap off the pages. It's truly an experience to read her sentences. They are so enthralling and takes a hold of your heart and squeezes them at the right moments.

“Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. Love is mean, but it’s good. It keeps us alive.” 

It is what happened too here in Thief. This is the last book in the series and everything hedges on it. Will it be a happy ever after for Caleb and Olivia, or will our hearts be broken once again?

“How many times can a heart be broken before it is beyond mend?” 

The book, like the ones before it, told the story in a non-linear pattern. We start in the present but also get glimpses of the past. The story is mostly told in Caleb's POV with surprisingly 1 chapter from Noah's POV and 1 chapter from Olivia's POV.

Caleb and Olivia are still doing their usual dance but this time, Caleb is willing to fight for the love of his life and Olivia is changing. The changes are still subtle but her ice armor is definitely thawing bit by bit.

“She has the kind of love that can stain your soul, make you beg not to have one, just to escape the spell she’s put you under. I’ve tried to break myself of her over and over, but it’s pointless. I’ve got more of her in my veins than blood.” 

I was rooting for them from day 1. It was even more reinforced in this book because there was absolutely no doubt that Caleb love Olivia. Reading their college days from Caleb's POV, I was struck on how enamored he really is with her.

"My first words to her should have been: Will you marry me?
Instead, I went with: 'Why are you angry with this tree?'"

One of the biggest obstacles in this book was Noah. I'm glad that Ms Fisher didn't turn Noah into something that everyone would hate just to bring back Caleb and Olivia. I liked that Olivia really cared for him and was actually happy with him for quite some time. He's biggest flaw was just he wasn't Caleb. It will always be Caleb.

"I don't love anything more than I love you."

Leah, of course, also made an appearance here and she was still the conniving bitch that she is. Her vindictiveness knows no bounds. And using her daughter and lying to Caleb about her was just an all time low for her. I was so proud of Olivia when she defended Caleb and even slapped the bitch twice.

“Wherever we go in the next life, we’ll be together,” I say."Let’s not go to hell then, that’s where Leah will be.” 

Thief also cleared one of the most depressing situations in The Opportunist and I was so glad that didn't happen at all.

In the end, I still got my HEA. But you could say that it's definitely a Tarryn Fisher kind of HEA. It's not win-win at the end but after all the stuff that Caleb and Olivia have gone through to get there, I'm so not complaining.

"Love is a God-given tool. It screws things back in place that were loose, and it cleans out all he broken pieces that you don't need anymore."

Conclusion:

How many times had this series got me frustrated? Lots. I don't even know if I should be sad or glad that it is finally over. Thief offered a satisfying conclusion to the most heart wrenching, frustrating, and fucked-up love story I had ever read.

A

Read my reviews of the first two books in the series here:

The Opportunist
Dirty Red