Imagine lonely people searching for love, romance or a life time partner on an online dating site, at a social function, through a pen pal service, on a social network or through a chance meeting and believe they have found true love and happiness, only to discover that they have been deceived by heartless con artists. Written by Vivienne Diane Neal, Shades of Deception is a collection of ten fictional short stories centering on diverse men and women who in their speedy search for love, romance and bliss, become the targets and victims of deceit, betrayal, fraud, revenge and scandal. Each chapter tells a story as to how ordinary citizens who are sophisticated, successful and financially smart fall prey to insightful predators that use love, romance, lust and money as embellishments to destroy lives.
The characters are as dynamic as the stories themselves. Enoff is a business owner who is eager to find someone. Passion, a pastry chef always sees the good in people. Marsha is the devoted and clueless wife. Tawney, a computer developer plans to marry a man she has only known for 24 hours. Shaun, an ordained marriage and wedding officiant longs to find a woman with whom to share his accomplishments. Lea, the caterer, sets out to take her best friend’s man. Mark, the well respected and retired math teacher will soon become the subject of scandal in his community. Kamani, a thriving business owner thinks going the distance to find someone is the answer. Nia, a top negotiator at a major New York brokerage firm thinks the men she keeps meeting are boring, and Jamo, a cunning college student, is about to obtain a large trust fund, which he will never get to enjoy.
The stories with their subtle adult themes, and attention-grabbing plots and twists, will have readers turning the pages quickly to see how each character handles the bad hand that has been dealt to them. And even though the tales are heartbreaking, Vivienne always finds a way to add some humor to her anecdotes.
Ms. Neal is not new to writing. Her first book, Making Dollar$ And Cent$ Out Of Online Dating was released in the summer of 2008 and is now sold and distributed worldwide. In March 2009, the book ranked 250 in sales on Lulu.com. She continues to write short stories and articles on love, romance, dating and relationships, and on other significant topics. Two of her short stories appear on Short Fiction and Bibliofaction. She has also been featured on Solo Spotlight on SingleEdition.
You can sample or read the book in its entirety, by going to Public Bookshelf or you can order the printed book from this site.
Shades of Deception: ISBN: 978-0-578-03187-3
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