Member Reviews

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow.

Poppy is a nanny who is abruptly wrongly fired from a position. She immediately meets a man who sweeps her off her feet and begins a happily ever after life with him. Things from the past come to light, and it becomes evident that both Poppy and her prince charming have secrets.

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This has a slow, suspenseful build to the end! Poppy meets wealthy Drew who's 15 years older by chance one evening. She was just fired and is short of money and needs a place to stay. Drew offers her help. After a few weeks together they quickly get married. Before the ceremony, Drew asks to make a pact that they don't discuss their pasts. It seems both of them are hiding something. Is Poppy's marriage too good to be true and what are their secrets? The slightly haunted house they live in along with the odd reactions people have when they mention where they live add a mysterious factor.

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I literally could not put this book down. I had no idea what wasgoing on and could not imagine where it was going. I can’t wait to recommend it and to see people’s reactions. This will be another book to recommend to people who love unexpected endings!

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In this story of an ex-nanny swept off her feet by a wealthy mysterious stranger, the two of them agree to an unusual proposition - not to talk about their pasts. Through flashbacks, we slowly gain an understanding of Poppy's past as she settles into her new married life.

The story was fine, and I was surprised by the ending, but it felt rushed at the end. I suppose that's often true with books with these unreliable narrators, because once you know the "twist", then everything else needs to wind up quickly before reader interest dwindles.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The Truth Hurts is one of those books you'll stay up all night reading just because the twists keep coming! Couldn't put this book down!

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4/5 stars!

Thrillers are a lot of fun to read but it’s so hard to pick one. The Truth Hurts definitely stands out amidst the nonstop novels being put out in the genre.

This was a fun twist on the idea that your past will come back to haunt you.

Poppy and Drew meet, never part, and almost immediately get married. It sounds like a whirlwind romance but there’s one catch: Poppy and Drew have decided to not talk about their pasts. Can you really marry someone while not knowing who they were before you met? Is the only thing that matters the future you build together? Or will secrets cast shadows and surface every sinking doubt you have in the back of your mind?

Poppy and Drew were both characters that I liked and desperately wanted to know more about. Every time a bit of information was revealed, we took two steps back and the mystery continued. I hurriedly raced towards the end of each chapter. I kept trying to find clues and piece together what was going on and wondered if anyone was who they seemed to be. The ending goes from 0 to 100 real quick and left me breathless, it was the perfect succinct conclusion I needed after all the buildup!

I can’t recommend this book enough!

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I loved it! It was the kind of book that I had to read in one day because I couldnt wait to find out what was going on! I went into it not reading any reviews and so from the very first page I was intrigued. I loved the details of the home too. So beautiful.
This is a really well written book with a very twisted plot and some really messed up people :-) Read it!!!
Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Yikes! What a read! It grabbed me from the beginning & did not let up until the end. At which point I said, “ WHAT??!” The ending was so sudden & unexpected... I really enjoyed this book. New marriage, an old BFF and ample mystery & suspense to make it positively unable to put down until the last word. Just. Read. It. 😊

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3.5 stars. Super twisted, kind of gothic, totally engrossing! Definitely recommend if you like secrets about troubled pasts, creepy houses, and dangerous marriages.

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What a quick read this book was! And I'm saying it in a good way!

This was a smart, engaging, thrilling and entertaining book! I loved the blurb and was thrilled to get an ARC.

I don't want to reveal too much because this book needs to be read. It needs to be inhaled and devoured!

The story is cleverly narrated and it completely pulls you in.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Poppy and Drew’s whirlwind romance begins in Ibiza after Poppy is fired by her wretched boss. Working on vacation as a nanny, she has nowhere to go and finds herself at a random bar on the side of the road. When she meets a handsome stranger there and he offers to let her stay the night at his place, she figures it can’t hurt. Four weeks later, they’re getting married. After moving back to England to a gorgeous eight-bedroom house, Poppy feels lost and isolated from the others in her village. After inviting her friend Gina to stay at the house to keep her company, things get very tense in the house.
Poppy and Drew have an agreement that they don’t talk about the past. Poppy has things she’d like to hide and she figures so does he. It works for them but she’s wondering more and more what exactly he is hiding from her. Poppy spirals and tries to unravel Drew’s past.
A twisty domestic thriller that will leave readers on the edge of their seat at every chapter. I read it in less than 24 hours!

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Meh. I wish I could say I liked this book. It had potential but for me just never got there. I read on, eagerly awaiting the reveals of multiple mysterious plot lines, but in the end I was like left “What!??”
The last 15-20% of the book was just ludicrous to me. I was disappointed but I’m tired of storylines with dumb women who never ask questions or help themselves. Maybe I’m being harsh. But it was only memorable to me for being so silly at the end. So why the three stars? It’s certainly a readable book and entertaining for much of it. But to me it was like eating Cheetos. Tastes good in the moment, why did I bother later on.
#netgalley #arc

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Poppy is a nanny who gets canned from her current job as a result of talking back to her boss Mrs Henderson. Then she finds herself being kicked out in the middle of the night with nowhere to go. She meets a stranger at a bar named Drew and they quickly fall for each other. She spends a few weeks with him before he asks her to marry him and on the condition that they do not ask about each other’s past experiences before meeting. The story is mainly told in Poppy’s perspective, flipping between past and present. Both Poppy and Drew have dark secrets that come to the surface eventually. I was not able to predict what would happen and what they were hiding. This book really kept me guessing the whole time. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for allowing me to read and review this title!

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Different

This was a slow burn for me. I found the premise different and entertaining but the pacing lagged for a bit too long in the middle. The writing was solid and characters were interesting.

The reveals were decent. The conclusion was pretty wild (a bit far fetched but fun nonetheless).

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and HarperCollins Publishers for a copy in exchange for a review.

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Mind blowing, with one f the most shocking endings I have ever read, A gripping mystery/suspense novel that I somehow had to finish in one sitting. Absolutely great--the plot, the characters, the writing. Will leave you breathless. One of the best novels I have ever read.

TEN STARS!

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The Truth Hurts by Rebecca Reid hooked me from the beginning pages when Poppy happens to randomly meet a handsome stranger named Drew. She’s not in a good place at all, having been fired abruptly from her long time nanny job. At a bar in the middle of the night, sad, desperate and depressed Poppy meets a man who seems too good to be true, Drew. He’s truly a knight in shining armor as he immediately offers Poppy a place to stay for the night. He also buys her new clothes and has her go to a hairdresser basically giving her a Pretty Woman makeover.

Because they are so in love, why ruin it with bringing up the past? Let’s just live in the now! So knowing very little about Drew, Poppy agrees to move into his remote country house. She’s happy to not bring up the past because there are some things she doesn’t really want Drew to know.

She does wonder, however, what Drew is hiding because when she goes into town and people learn where she lives, they quickly clam up and walk away. Did something happen at “Thursday House” and if so, what could be that bad? Of course, Poppy can’t ask Drew because they agreed not to bring up the past…

Plot:

Caught up in a whirlwind romance that starts in sunny Ibiza and leads to the cool corridors of a luxurious English country estate, Poppy barely has time to catch her breath, let alone seriously question if all this is too good to be true. Drew is enamored, devoted, and, okay, a little mysterious—but that’s part of the thrill. What’s the harm in letting his past remain private?

Maybe he’s not the only one…

Fortunately, Drew never seems to wonder why his young wife has so readily agreed to their unusual pact to live only in the here and now and not probe their personal histories. Perhaps he assumes, as others do, that she is simply swept up in the intoxication of infatuation and sudden wealth. What’s the harm in letting them believe that?

How far will they go to keep the past buried?

Isolated in Drew’s sprawling mansion, Poppy starts to have time to doubt the man she’s married, to wonder what in his past might be so terrible that it can’t be spoken of, to imagine what harm he might be capable of. She doesn’t want this dream to shatter. But Poppy may soon be forced to confront the dark truth that there are sins far more dangerous than the sin of omission…

This book surprised me because I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. It really kept me engaged and turning the pages, a true suspense!

Due out on July 28, order here!

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This was a very engaging and engrossing book! It was suspenseful and full of twists. I especially liked the main character, Poppy, anyone who enjoys a good domestic thriller will love this book. It was impossible to put down once I started reading!

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This was such an interesting read! I loved the relationship between despite the red flags, but you know sometimes things happen like that. Poppy and Drew decided not to tell each other about their past, which works for some people, but probably not the idea, especially in their case. This book was a little hard to read at times due to a few scenes that dealt with suicide and adultery and minors, but I wouldn't say it was a bad book because of that, This book had such a good build up and I was so excited to get to the end of the book but the ending kind of fell flat or me. I needed more.
There were a few twists in this book, but they weren't jaw dropping or made me gasp. I just read through them. This is a nice quick read if you want something a book for a trip.

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The Truth Hurts reminds me of a Tarryn Fisher novel in a way and I am LOVING IT! This book has all the fixings for a domestic thriller and I gobbled it up! Rebecca Reid has weaved quite a story about marriage and lies and I couldn't put it down!

** Full review to come during release!

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Thank you to #netgalley #rebeccareid and #harpercollins for sending me this book in exchange for my honest review.



This book was arduous for me. It took so long to get to ANY action, whatsoever. By the time you finally get a single answer.. It's hard even care about them anymore, honestly. The ending was a let down that was only amplified by the endless build up. The nanny-and-the-dad stuff was too cliche. I was a little excited when it felt like maybe Caroline would be the one to overstep, at least that'd be different. And unfortunately, the twist at the end felt cheap. The "mistake" Poppy made was terrible, but resulted in Jim dying inadvertently. And the murder from Drew's past was somewhat similar, also. For one, he was a child. And also, it haunted him and shaped his life, forever. Why are they SUDDENLY stone cold killers? Like I said, it felt like an out of the place twist for mere shock factor alone. If I was retooling this story, I'd drop some clues that they're both actually evil throughout the book and add some action at a couple of earlier intervals, as well. Too bad it didn't work out overall for me because the premise was SO intriguing.

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