At first, I thought this was going to be another rich "mom-squad" book about women facing privileged life problems of who has a nicer car, smarter kid, and is planning the better vacation. Although there is plenty of privilege in this story, there is also a lot of dysfunction which turns the book into a bit of suspenseful thriller as the reader hurriedly turns pages to find out who was in the fatal car accident described in the prologue.

Sherri and her daughter Katie move to a small Massachusetts town to hide from Sherri's organized crime involved ex-husband. Desperately seeking to fit in, she and her daughter land in a tight-knit social clique. Rebecca, still reeling from the sudden, unexpected death of her husband is wanting to distance herself from the clique, befriends Sherri. Rebecca's youngest daughter is Katie's age and her oldest daughter, Alexa, who is fighting her own issues regarding her future after graduation helps Sherri by frequently babysitting her younger sister and Katie.

Alexa struggles to find a way to tell her mother she doesn't want go to college, Rebecca secretly begins dating again, and Sherri finds a job while continually looking over her shoulder for bad men who will threaten her well-being and new life. Each of the women are also trying to avoid the barbs of the "Mom Squad's" criticism.

Great summer read that drags you into the story and doesn't want to let go.

After last year's The Islanders I was so excited to read Two Truths and a Lie. This book did not disappoint! Setting, characters, storylines, everything! More please!

Took me for a ride with twists and turns and no narrators who could be trusted ... My deviant little heart loved it and the reveals were perfectly done.

Utterly charming and effortlessly enjoyable, Two Truths and a Lie is a perfect beach read that is exactly the kind of book we all want and need now. I devoured this and will be sure to include it in all upcoming promotions at the store and virtually at the two women's fiction book groups I run, which is great because both groups have gotten so big that we've had to rotate more books in. So, Two Truths and a Lie was fun to read and will make lots of people happy, a total win!

Two Truths and A Lie is the perfect book for summer!! It has love, suspense, and the beach! Definitely a great book to read while laying out at the pool or beach!

Enjoyable enough beach read with multiple POV's and interesting characters. Lots of secrets and a little suspense which lead to a satisfying conclusion. I've always liked Meg Mitchell Moore's books and this one doesnt disappoint. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fun beach read! Interesting characters and an idyllic setting. The multiple points of view was a key component and brought this book to another level. There were a lot of characters but I had no problem keeping track. There was a lot of suspense build up until the conclusion, which was very well done. The conclusion angered me but only because I was invested in the characters. It was well written and the storyline moves at an even pace. I flew through it and enjoyed the ride!

It's summer in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and the only thing hotter than the Mom Squad on the beach are the secrets three women are keeping. Rebecca can't come clean about her new love, not when the whole town is still talking about her husband’s tragic death. Her daughter Alexa is making enough money via webcam to bypass college. And mousy Sherri holds the most dangerous secret of all. What will happen when everything comes to light?

This book earns its comparisons to Big Little Lies; the characters' secrets are salacious at the outset, but ultimately reveal truths about the women that are sympathetic and heartbreaking. The Greek Chorus known by all as the Mom Squad is in turns funny and catty, with absolutely no self-awareness. Snark and gossip aside, the mother-daughter dynamic compels the story forward. This is a good pick for vacationers who prefer relationship drama to mystery.

This review is based on an ARC I received from the publisher, and can also be found at https://eisenhowerlibrary.org/tag/book-review/

This was a great and fast read. I don’t feel like I felt super connected to the story so that kind of took away from the experience. Overall, this is a great beach read and will do well!

Lots of twists and deciphering of truths and lies in this cleverly written book about mothers and daughters and so-called friends. Very enjoyable!

I’m a big fan of books based in a shore community and also of books by Meg Mitchell Moore...so was very happy to read Two Truths and A Lie.

There are a lot of secrets in Newburyport....and clearly a group of bitchy women (described at one point as: “pretty mothers who had sharp serpent tongues”). Chapters alternate by focusing on the main characters: Rebecca (a fairly recent widow and her daughters, Alexa and Madison), Alexa (Rebecca’s daughter and also a young woman challenging the lines between being a teenager and a grown-up), Sherri (recent arrival in Newburyport with lots of secrets), and The Squad.

As usual with Ms. Moore, the book features interesting characters and compelling and unusual
themes. There’s some mystery and intrigue, but for me, the strength and best part of the book was about Rebecca and her evolving relationships with her daughters. I think the book would have been fine without The Squad’s chapters, however, and their excessive use of exclamation points!

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for an advance look at Two Truths and A Lie in exchange for an honest review.

Mother’s...”The Squad”
Middle age teens
Older teens
Beach town setting
End of the summer before going back to schools

Tequila cocktail parties with hired bartenders and DJ’s, drugs, secrets, lies, surf camp, nature overnight camp, babysitters, fashion and beauty concerns, ice lattes, walks, gossip, one woman was writing a domestic thriller ( nothing amounted to knowing more)....everyone drives an SUV...


It was a chore to read this book for me.
I liked Meg Mitchell Moore’s book called “The Admissions”, years ago and thought I’d enjoy another one of her contemporary novels.
However... I just didn’t care for this one.
it was one of the most Un-FUN - fun books I’ve read in ages with catty characters, catty friendships, and a dull story.

“I’m not mad, she said. I’m tired. And I forgot I have to get up early tomorrow”.
“Two truths, one lie”.

1.5 stars

I just finished Two Truths and a Lie by Meg Mitchell Moore and it was the perfect brain candy reading! Her books always scream summer vacation to me (I brought the Islanders to Maine last summer and it was just perfect!)

This one is a beach book with a little mystery tied in which made for a great mix. And it made me so happy to have little glimpses of the Islanders tied in (like the Dinner by Dad blog!) This will be published on ‪5/26/20‬ and I can't wait to share more about it then.

Thank you to William Morrow Books for an advanced copy.
⁣

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This is the first book I have read from Meg and can’t wait to read more of her books. She had a way of writing that makes you want to root her the characters. Such a great book.

If Elin Hilderbrand and Liane Moriarty had a literary love child it would be Two Truths and a Lie by Meg Mitchell Moore! This is an awesome book, one I think should be in everyone's beach bag this summer! Not only will you be a part of small town secrets and lies but you'll be plunged into suspense! I can't wait to read more from this author!

When I first started this book, I thought it was going to be another beach read. Boy, was I wrong. I could not wait to finish this book. I feel that everyone is going to be able to relate to somebody in the story. I did not see the end of this coming, oh my gosh. Great great read. I am going to be recommending this to a lot of people this summer.

Okay.... I am really torn on this book, which isn't something that happens often. First of all, I felt took a little bit to get going....however, once it picked up speed, I was really into it. I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters- many were so self involved that they didn't even realize what their children were up to or feeling; they were gossipy and two-faced; all had secrets of various degrees of severity..... it was just A LOT. Sure, I enjoyed it. I'd read future titles by this author.... but was it my favorite? Absolutely not. Comes in at about 3 and a half stars.

I loved this so much that I immediately went out and bought the author’s prior works. Great character development, a tightly woven plot, and a satisfying ending!

This is something between Moriarty’s Big Little Lies waltzes with Kimberly Belle’s Dear Wife and salutes to Flynn’s Gone Girl and Elin Hilderbrand’s beach town stories. It is a little big long story with multi POVS and I actually enjoy Rebecca’s facing the trauma and Sherri’s running away from the trauma stories more than Rebecca’s daughter Alexa’s problematic future thoughts, dealing with death of her dad and her unexpected Youtube channel success. And obsessively controlling freak squat parts made me laugh hard and also terrified the hell of me! Yeap, they were meaner than my neighbors.

So this is 3.5 wavy sea, breezing wind, small town gossips and beware of the mommy squat stars rounded up to 4!

Sherri Griffin and her eleven year daughter Katie moves to a new beach town of Newburyport, Massachusetts after a devastating divorce. She is adamant to build a new life but we sense that she’s hiding so many things about her past live, disguising herself in cheaper clothes, barely making her ends meet and we realize her ex was really wealthy so why she is afraid of her own shadow and why she scares to leave her daughter alone?

And Rebecca tries to build a new life after her husband’s unexpected death, estranging herself from OCD mummy club a.k.a deadly squat (It sounds like a great Quentin Tarantino movie!), living a secret relationship.

So Rebecca befriends Sherri and their secretive lives built by not so white lies fit with each other. Then Alexa involves into their equation by accepting babysitting job to take good care of Katie. She also deals with her inner evils: has problematic relationships with her besties and boyfriend, is attracted by charming Cam, hides her California plans from her mother. But when she finds Katie’s secret diary, the balances between two widowed families naturally change.

And there are also so many untold secrets, schemes, gossips and scandals are piling up around the dirty rotten scoundrel mom squat (fourth remake of same movie without Anne Hathaway!) As they start to reveal I clapped and jumped on my couch with pleasure. It was better than any Bachelor episode.

Overall: It should be classified as women’s fiction more than thriller or mystery. It was a fun, riveting beach reading but please gather your wits and don’t punch the sands in anger and be careful not to get burned because even though it’s really long reading, it still captivates your attention from the beginning.

Oh let’s not forget to clap the talented illustrator of this fantastic book cover!

Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this intriguing ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

I enjoyed this book but it never rises above a good beach book. I liked the use of multiple voices and the way they were arranged. The author took several compelling themes and got them into this novel. I liked the characters, especially Sherri and Rebecca. But I especially was impressed by the character of Alexa. So nice to see that Moore didn’t rely on stereotypes and created a very interesting modern young woman.

Thank you Netgalley for this very lovely read.