loving the liar is the first book in the silver falls university series, it is an interconnected standalone. Lola king always writes the best dark romance books, and Chris’s story was the one I was most curious about after i finished the disaster of rose’s story. I love Lola’s writing, and this book pulled me and here we are. You may want to read the books in the order.
- the stoneview series.
- rose’s duet and prequel.
- north shore series.
- silver falls university series.
So, i wasn’t planning on reading this series at all, but then lola’s writing pulled me in, and reading one chapter became four to five chapters, and after that i couldn’t stop.
Trigger warnings & spoilers : I will spoil some s••• for you, sorry.
https://www.authorlolaking.com/series-trigger-warning/
Story : ⭐⭐⭐
Plot : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing style : smooth, precise, easy to read.
MMC : christopher Murray — ⭐⭐⭐
FMC : ella baker — ⭐⭐⭐
side characters : nathan white, my man made an appearance, along with my fav Xi. Yay, and Alex is ella’s friend, makes it even more interesting.
Story setting : dark college, elite college, secret society.
Dedicated to by the author : This book was dedicated to people who survive themselves. Me with my many scars felt seen in this book, thankyou Lola.
Pacing : slow to medium..
Tropes : ☑️ Brother’s best friend.
☑️ Exes to enemies to lovers.
☑️ rich boy x rich girl
☑️ secret society
☑️ Touch her and meet god. (Literally and figuratively).
Type of romance : dark, contemporary.
What i loved : i loved nate’s appearance, the twins arriving right at the moment, ella was gonna self - harm, chris’s possessiveness and protectiveness.
Favourite parts/ highlights : - “How about: guys, don’t betray our trust and privacy by sharing intimate pictures we send you because we trust you? You bastards are always the ones begging for them.”
- Who knew you needed so much knowledge to become a whore for rich men?
-My hand twitches to touch her again. I can’t breathe when she’s unwell. It eats me from the inside, crawls up my neck. I worry.
- Watching Ella squirm every time I walk a little too close to her table is a thrill that makes me giddy. If I’m close enough to smell her perfume of vanilla and lavender, then I’m close enough to make her feel how much I want her.
She knows what I smell like too. I could sigh lovingly remembering that. He didn’t smell like you.
- “Looks like we’re stuck, Mr. Murray, the wolf.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “Ah-ooooh.” (ella, baby you so funny when you’re drunk 😂)
-Ella is a gorgeous ballerina. Breathtaking. She’s as good as a professional in many types of dances, but in ballet? She’s flawless. She used to attend Ms. Barry Dance School in Stoneview. It’s practically impossible to get in, but she did. Because she’s perfect and deserved it. I watched every single one of her performances. Sometimes with Luke because he would invite me. Sometimes from the back so it wouldn’t look strange to her brother that I showed up at every show. (The way he sees ella 🫠🤏🏼🤌🏼) Ugh, such a pookie.
She’s mastered how to look perfect to the outside eye and forgot that everything that makes her so perfect is the little things she never thinks of. The ones she does subconsciously. People don’t notice them; they’re too taken by the general appearance and confidence of the popular girl. But I notice. I’ve always noticed.
The way her pale eyes blink repeatedly when she’s processing something. When I manage to get her out of her own head, she giggles so beautifully and carelessly. And when someone says something she dislikes but she doesn’t want to contradict them, she scrunches nose in the cutest way imaginable.
And I only care about who she really is. Mine. Because the main thing Ella has always done subconsciously is love me. It came naturally, even when she shouldn’t have, and even when she doesn’t want to. It’s always there, and I know it because I feel it. Even when she promises she hates me.
I’ve lost count of how many times in my life I explicitly told her she wasn’t dumb. But when something is instilled in you, you know no other way. (Some f•••••• need to be in jail 👺)
“I already have all the control I need, Sweets. You’re the only one who believes I ever lost it. You’re the only one who doesn’t want to accept I own every single molecule in your body. You can tell me to leave you alone all you want; you know I won’t. And I know you’ll let me get closer if I push. That’s the kind of toxic we are. That’s how we fit together.”
“Because that’s how your dad talked to you. All violence and insults. I hate it. That’s not an appropriate way to communicate with someone you love. I don’t want you to bring it into our relationship, our marriage, our family.”
We walk up to the main area, and the first thing he does is go to the vending machine there. He pulls out his card and taps the card-reader on there, then presses a number, and a protein bar falls. Then another. Another…
“Chris?”
“You love these,” he says casually. He remembers everything.
“I do, but…” I tilt my head to the side, watching him repeat the process over and over again, until he ends up with fifteen of them in his arms and walks back to me with a grin on his face. “Seriously, what are you doing?”
“So you can bring them to the kids you teach on Saturdays. Is fifteen enough?”
I blink up at him, my heart swelling. “Uh…yeah. Yeah, it’s enough.”
- As humans, we find such comfort in our toxic habits. It’s not just the obvious ones like smoking cigarettes or cutting. It’s the more subconscious ones. Loving someone who doesn’t deserve us. Putting our happiness on the line to please others. Letting our dark thoughts take over because they feel familiar.
Is a part of a series : yes.
Series name : silver falls university.
Series order number : 1 of 3.
Plot or character driven : plot driven.
Loveable characters : yes.
Strong character development : no. Chris is still chris, there is no growth for him, or ella. Both are f•••••• toxic.
Flaws of characters a main focus : yes.
Interconnected/ or standalone : interconnected standalone.
Recs from the same author : if you are curious about their world, then you can read their books, but in order, please. I read them in any order, but it is best, because they are all interconnected, and some books are spoiler-y.
Similar books : if you love a manipulative, toxic MMC,then you’d love lawless god by the same author. It is the fourth book in the north shore series, can be read as a standalone, please read the trigger warnings before you dive in, that book may be dark for some readers.
Last details : the book cover has an paper document, that is the essay chris edits and prints for her before submitting it to professor reeves, the pearl necklace is the one which chris plays with whenever he gets anxious or nervous, and the same for ella, she makes it and calm herself. Chris also counts the days he wasn’t with ella and makes the necklace out of the pearls he collects. He’s manipulative, but he can be sweet. Oh, and his nickname for her is sweets. And his aftercare is to give her a sweet heart shaped candy, because she needs the sugar, and he also likes to take care of her, because he knows she doesn’t. And the statue is the statue at the founder of the secret society building, or the mentions of greek mythology.