Summer is almost here and Emily Giffin has written another good beach read. Romance with a love triangle, some twists and a cameo from some of her characters from her earlier works make this a fast read.
Thanks NetGalley for a copy.

One of the things that I love about Emily Giffin's books is how she gets everything in such a tangle and then slowly, methodically untangles it to a satisfying conclusion.. However, she provides plenty of surprises and monkey wrenches along the way, that keeps the reader on the edge of her seat while reading. I usually read the ends of books after reading the first chapter and then I go back and finish, however reading with a kindle makes that problematic, so this was a new experience for me with a Giffin book. I always find it fascinating to see how she goes from A to B to C, when reading this one I didn't know what C would be and so there was an underlying excitement, which man would she end up with--Matt or Graham and while I read I would try to figure it out--until at the end, I just gave up and found out when she wanted me to. As usual a good quickee read!!

So many twists!

Holy moly I was not expecting this book to have so many twists! I really enjoyed this book! I liked that it was set in the past (2001) and that it included a tragic time in history (9/11). I quickly connected with the main characters and enjoyed that the main character is from the Midwest.

This book was a quick read for me, which was nice during these stressful times (COVID-19). I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends when it comes out in June 2020!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy of this book!

Emily Giffin book that does not disappoint! I will admit that right off the bat, I thought this was going to be a little strange being set in the early 2000's and I wasn't sure where she was going with the story but WOW, I'm so glad I read this! The story line reminds me of some other books I have read but this one felt unique with the 9/11 feel and the characters residing in NYC. I was so proud of Cecily for recognizing her worth and that things should be a compromise in a relationship - not done on one particular person's timeline. She reminded me a lot of myself. I loved this one so much.

Thank you so much for the eARC!!

The Ties That Bind reminded me of Emily Giffin's earliest books. There was a cameo from Rachel, Ethan and Darcy from Something Borrowed and. The story of paths crossed, the quest for love was relatable.

This book left me with so many different emotions and so many questions. I am not really sure how I feel about the 9/11 situation either.

Cecily is just getting over a bad break up with her boyfriend. Instead of sitting in her house and sulking over him, Cecily decides to go to the bar. She is sitting there nursing her drink when she is about to call her ex and see what he is up to. Suddenly Cecily hears someone behind her say, "Don't do it". What in the world? Cecily meets Grant and their relationship is one for the books. The way they just exist together without even having to say anything or do anything with each other is strangely amazing.

Cecily and Grant get to know each other a little better. Grant is about to quit his job and is totally devoted to his twin brother that has a illness now. Things are cruising right along with Cecily and Grant and then 9/11 happens and it is believed that Grant was in one of the towers when it collapsed. Now what is going to happen with Cecily? She had just found her Mr. Right.

You will so enjoy going on this ride with Cecily. I couldn't wait to get to the ending even though I knew what was probably going to happen. These characters drew you in and didn't let go until the very end. You will enjoy this Emily Giffin book no doubt!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a copy of this book!

Cecily Gardner is at a local bar and had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend Matt. That night she happens to meet an attractive man named Grant. Their connection is immediate and they spend a wonderful month together. But then 9/11 happens and Grant is missing. Cecily learns he is married when she calls the phone number on the flyer that his wife put up. She gets engaged to Matt quite suddenly and finds out she is pregnant. Should she tell Matt the truth? Also included in the book, Grant has a twin brother with advanced ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). They travel to London for treatment (before 9/11). It doesn't seem to work. There are a few more events that happen but I don't do spoilers. All I'll tell you is the baby is named Alice. I would recommend this to a friend. Five stars! #theliesthatbind #netgalley

I was really enjoying this book. I was all set to defend this book against the bad reviews.

Then I hit the 80% mark.

No. No, no, no.

9/11 is central to this plot so this is not a spoiler. But the author uses it in such a rude, disrespectful, infuriating way. This is inconsiderate to the families who lost loved ones on that day. It’s offensive and degrading to those who lost their lives.

I’m disappointed in the author for trivializing such a monumental event.

A terrorist attack is not fodder for entertainment. Full stop.

This book was infuriating and the plot twist offensive. 1⭐️

I was so excited when I found out that I had received an advanced copy of this book because it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020.

Emily Giffin has a certain flow to her writing that makes it easy to get sucked right into her books. I have read each and every one of her books to date, and unfortunately, “The Lies That Bind” is my least favorite one yet.

Although I still ended up finishing this one in less than a day, (her writing is still exceptionally good that much hasn't changed!) I wasn’t able to properly formulate a review right away as I was at a loss for words after finishing it, and not in a good way. Out of all the things I expected to happen in this book, I never expected any of…that.

This book was one giant, hot mess. An outlandlish, way over the top hot mess, really.

Now i’m all for suspending disbelief in the name of fiction, especially when it makes for a good storyline and a fun read, but unfortunately that was not the case in this book. Just when I thought it was already tip-toeing the line of being a bit hard to believe, the story would delve even deeper into incredulousness, and just started getting downright ridiculous the further the story went on. There was one event that happened that was so beyond ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud and said “are you actually kidding me?!”

This really could have been an incredible story of love, loss, grieving, relationships, and the power of moving on and forgiving and healing. Especially with the added plot line of the events of 9/11 thrown into the story. But instead, pretty much any and all seriousness was cast aside and overshadowed by the downright absurd things that were happening.

I also found the main female protagonist to be be extremely irritating and unlikeable, as she was just downright selfish with some of her actions. That only further added to my dislike for this book.

I love Emily Giffin and her writing, but unfortunately this book was a complete letdown for me. I know some other readers' really enjoyed this one, but I just can't say the same. I am hoping that her next release will be a much more satisfying one!

"The Lies That Bind" takes us back to NYC, which reminded me of the books that turned me into an Emily Giffin fan many years ago. The story takes place in 2001 and it's nice that there's been enough time since 9/11 for more authors to use it as a backdrop for their novels. The portrayal of NYC during that time period was an interesting part of the book. The beginning of the novel seems pretty similar to many in this genre. Cecily's in her twenties, her life in NYC hasn't turned out the way she imagined it would and she just broke up with her boyfriend. The story definitely takes some turns that I did not see coming and I sped through it to find out what was going to happen next. Unfortunately, the second half of the story was just too far fetched and the ending felt rushed.. Cecily's friend, Scottie, was a bright spot in the book, but just played a supporting role. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

I was SO excited to get an early copy of this book. I love Emily Giffin's books. After reading it, I'm so let down.
This story started out great but it quickly went downhill. Unrealistic and downright stupid at some points. *SPOILERS* But really .. guy just saw the opportunity to fake his death with 9/11 and disappear. The stupid main character is going to befriend his wife without telling her who she is .. And then she's going to take back this married, cheating, death-faking asshole. Wow.

This part has no relevance to this book and does not effect my rating but I also want to say that I have been disappointed in Emily. The past couple years her social media is full of nothing but hate for Trump. I understand voicing your opinion but it is all she posts about on her stories. Blatant hate for the President. Recently she has also added Meghan Markle to her hate list. Not what I would expect from following an official author account.

I want to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and author Emily Giffin for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

I was so, so excited to see that I was approved for this title! I am a huge fan of Emily Giffin and I was looking forward to this.

This was a beautiful story involving the 9/11 tragedy. The Lies That Bind follows twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner as she sits alone in a dive bar in New York’s East Village. She’s questioning her life; she wonders if she’ll ever make it as a reporter in the big city, and also if it was a mistake to break up with her longtime boyfriend, Matthew.

As she reaches for her phone to call him, she hears a guy on the bar stool next to her say, “Don’t do it, you’ll regret it.” Their love story blossoms from here, until 9/11 hits. Grant disappears, and Cecily goes into detective mode to find him.

I thought this novel did an amazing job of approaching the topics of devastation, grief, horror, and tragedy that surrounded 9/11. You will be sucked into the story line, wanting to know how it ends. If you like a “kind of” romance, give this one a try. There’s enough of a love story sprinkled about, but there’s also enough other things happening that it doesn’t become overrun.

Thank you again to those named above for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

This book isn’t my typical read, but it was a good one and quick.
Set in 2001 New York, it starts out as a typical love story involving your typical late 20s professional who moved to New York after college and is becoming disenchanted with love and the City. She meets a man who sweeps her off her feet, and then the terrorist attacks of 9/11 change everything.
I wasn’t completely enthralled with any of the characters, though they all had decent development, but yet their story kept me reading in a “stay up until midnight” kind of way that doesn’t happen all that often.
I received an uncorrected proof of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was only ok for me. I didn't really connect to any of the characters, and many parts of the story just didn't feel realistic/genuine. Not my favorite by this author.

Fans of Emily Giffinn will not be disappointed by her newest offering! I was immersed in the love triangle and loved the “throwback” element of the setting. I devoured it in one night!

Leave it to Giffin to write a compulsively readable and comically eyeroll inducing book. So many of her characters are unlikeable yet her books are still page turners. Cecily is the most immature 28 year old and, although she does have a one sentence realization of this, I cannot with the plot, charcters' behavior, and the ending. A Giffin loyalist will still enjoy it because as stated previously, somewhow she makes it compulsively readable.

The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin, is about twenty-eight-year-old reporter Cecily Gardner who meets 30 year old Grant Smith in a bar one night. They spend the night together, but just sleep, a highly unusual occurrence when meeting someone at a bar. Then Grant whisks her away on a road trip to a secluded, romantic cabin for the weekend. Sparks fly when their relationship goes to the next level. Grant is sweet and vulnerable, divulging his deceased parents and twin brother with ALS who he is traveling to London with in a few weeks for a controversial treatment.

When her ex boyfriend Matthew resurfaces a month after their breakup, things get a little cloudy for Cecily. Yet she stays true to her heart and her relationship with Grant progresses. Then, right in the middle of this cute love story, 9/11 happens. I'm not sure how I feel about this event because it definitely made it more exciting, but less enjoyable in a way to be reminded of such a tragic event in history in the middle of a more lighthearted story. Since Cecily is a writer, she gets pulled right into the thick of things. When Grant goes missing after 9/11, the story takes a darker and sadder turn as she searches for him.

The whole time I am wondering... Will she find him? Who was Grant really? But that all takes a backseat to the twists and turns in the plot for Cecily. Just when I thought I had figured out what was going to happen, I had another thing coming. It definitely kept it interesting!

The book is more plot-driven rather than character-driven. I couldn't help but want to know more about the characters, like what they looked like, what they were like at work, and what they were thinking. Because it's womens fiction, I suppose that's why it is more focused on the main character, Cecily. However, the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading until the very end. And wow, what an ending! Emily Giffin isn't who she is for nothing. All in all, a solid read and one I would highly recommend.

Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living.
But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen.
But he wasn’t always that way.

Samantha has a transformation when she moves on from her past school. The Duncan Carpenter she knew in her past was fun and entertaining and is now serious and stiff. Samantha is determined to get the old Duncan back before she loses her school and her pride and joy. I wasn't expecting what happened to Duncan to be revealed but it makes sense. I loved losing myself in these two and I was hoping they could both work out their issues together. The author painted such a picture of the school you could picture every design on the wall and the library. I loved it and wished it hadn't ended.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you #netgally

This is a stay-up just a few more minutes kind of a novel. Cecily meets Grant the summer before 9/11. He is caring for his brother, who is dying of ALS. In the aftermath of 9/11, Cecily learns Grant is not who she thought he was. In the 3 months that follow, more relationships are formed and unraveled as a result of lies that have been told by all involved.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley.

This book Is kind of a romance, but not really. The protagonist falls in love with a man who turns out to be hiding a very big secret. That secret unravels in the aftermath of 9/11. Then the main character starts lying about their romance and the story unfolds predictably. Of all of Giffin’s books, this is my least favorite. It felt like it was written by a completely different author.