After the death of Maddy’s mother, Martha, during the Japanese attack on Shanghai in 1937, Leo married a hard-hearted woman he entrusted to take Maddy to safety in the U.S. By 1942, 12-year-old Maddy has come to live with her aunt, Martha’s sister, Bernice Mason, in posh Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Bernice hopes to protect her from Leo, a mysterious man she doesn’t trust, who by now has reached North Africa. Leo’s encounters with such real-life American intelligence figures as Col. William Eddy and Carlton Coon lend verisimilitude to his WWII exploits. Maddy’s later romantic travails with Bradley Harrington Gordon IV and New York mobster Gene Mandretti yield unexpected conflicts.
This is the sequel to Heart Of Lies which sadly, I have not read. After dipping into this novel, I really wish I had. This is a literary treat for the historical fiction lovers. Leo Hoffman is a character that will keep you reading. You will want to know more about him and I know I missed out by missing part of this incredible characters story in the first book….
however…
Heart Of Deception still brings much to the table. The book starts with a bit of background story to Heart Of Lies so you can get a bit of what has been happening before you move on. As you follow Leos journey trying to work his way back to his daughter by gaining citizenship. With twists and turns that occasionally lost me on the way to their destination, but I plugged on trapped in this intriguing stary and having to know how it ended.
I met M.L. Malcolm in New York during BEA last year and what an incredible fun woman! Always wearing a hat in what I would say is a signature style for her, Malcolm was a delight to talk to.
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of the tour,
HarperCollins for providing me with a courtesy copy
Book Journey 
Hm, sounds interesting. But I haven’t been drawn to historical fiction lately.
I wish I would have read the other book first Hannah, I liked Leo and wanted to know where he began in the story.
Yeah, as much as people say series books can be read as stand-alones, I think it’s not always true.
this one will have to go on my list
Enjoy Sidne!
This one does sound intriguing…I love books from this time period.
Thanks for sharing.
You would like this one Laurel!
She WAS certainly a treat to talk with at BEA last year, wasn’t she?! I loved all her hats!
I’m ashamed to admit that I still haven’t read her first book, though I do have it. Must remedy that ASAP.
Thanks for being on the tour Sheila!
I have to read that first one too! 🙂
I noticed this book on the list of TLC tours and it definitely grabbed my attention. I love the characters and the story certainly sounds really interesting. I think I might want to read the first book before delving books. I’m kind of obnoxiously anal about reading books in order. It’s a problem.
I agree with you there Jennifer – I like to read them in order too 🙂
You definitely don’t have to read the first book to enjoy this one. I really liked it, though I wish the WWII storyline had been more developed and there less telling rather than showing. I will link to your review on War Through the Generations.
Thanks Anna 🙂