I found the book uninteresting and boring, and it took me a while to finish because I couldn't connect with it. This was not for me.

'There is urgency at Whimsy Towers. Families have crumbled and then risen from the ashes. I am part of that continuity; I feel its pull. We are women who could not stay put, who could not settle, who need passion and purpose. Some women dare to defy and can hold secrets without remorse; some cannot.'

Love and Lies is a memoir of Theresa and her deep connection with Whimsy Towers, a house that she inherited from her grandmother she never knew and one she is in a habit of visiting every summer for the past forty years. This house has seen life unfold--a life which is filled with secrets and deceit. She has kept this deceit and betrayal well hidden from both her husband Kevin and her three sons for so many years. But now the untimely death of her youngest son David can become the cause for her well kept deception to unravel and she is not sure if she is ready to face the consequences  since it will surely lead her to lose the one thing that she always wanted & loved and was willing to start on this path of lies for--her family.

I am not sure if I liked the character of Theresa and the excuses she made for the life she has led. She talks a lot about being a strong and daring woman but I didn't find her to be either. Instead I found her to be selfish. She knows that she is in the wrong for leading her husband and children on with her lies and deceit but she is alright with seeing her family bear direct/indirect repercussions from it rather than be brave and own up. The only character that I liked was Theresa's housekeeper who I felt defined more what a strong and daring woman--a true survivor--should be like.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Secant Publication and the author Ann Hymes for the e-Arc of the book.

The book was published on May 15, 2020.

I was really looking forward to this story since it seemed to have all of the great plot elements I love- family secrets, love lost & found, a beautiful setting. However, I found the writing to be very heavy. The main character is a lover of poetry and philosophy and I felt that every paragraph was an epiphany. It was like reading Shakespeare where I knew there was beauty in the story I just had to bring my mind back to read the words on the page a few times because it was wordy and deep. I think I was under the impression that this novel was going to be more of an escapist summer read than a true piece of literature as it was. There is a good plot here and there are some great elements in this book, but the main character was unrelatable and the writing was wordy.

I was really looking forward to reading this story. I liked the style of writing and the way that it went from past to present but there was just so much going on that I got lost.

This novel is full of emotion. Betrayal, regret, loss and reflection fill the pages as Theresa’s life is conveyed. Music lyrics and poetry are a great addition as past and present come together to reveal a thought provoking family story.

Honestly, I found the number of people involved in the story and the generations, just confusing rather that intriguing. I have no identification with the characters and honestly between all the twists and turns and subplots, I really couldn’t find much to like about it.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I was really interested in the synopsis of this title. I like stories that bounce between the past and present day. The setting of Whimsy Towers was very appealing. However, I felt like the story didn't live up to my expectations for it. The transitions between the past and present were clunky rather than seamless. Theresa didn't have very many redeeming qualities that would make her likable. The relationships were not very well developed, I felt like Rick was just randomly introduced without a lot of background as to why Theresa would continue to carry on a years long relationship and have secret children with him. This story could make more sense if there was more development in the characters and their relationships, however I think that Theresa will always remain completely selfish and unlikable making it hard for the reader to resonate with her feelings.

Was looking for a quick reading to keep me busy during the pandemic. As the description included places that I am familiar with, I decided to give it a chance. Really bored with this and didn't understand how the female character could pull off such a deceit to her husband. would not recommend.

I had a hard time connecting or empathing with the main character. I guess I didn't agree with her life choices and it made me judge her.

Regret, lies, secrets, and betrayal make up this book. Theresa is a woman who just can't come to terms with what she has done in her past and how it has complicated her present and future. The book is well written, but at times I did struggle with it. So many times I felt too much was written and other times not enough. All in all, an enjoyable read.

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was very well written the characters had depth and were extremely relatable which for me made a really enjoyable read.

This was an interesting read that was hard to get into for me. I liked the writing style but perhaps the content was not relatable and did not capture my attention. I kept trying to give it a chance as it is a memoir, unfortunately it was not a gripping read for me.

Thank you so much Secant Publishing & NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ann Hymes is a classmate of mine and I’ve enjoyed the writing she has shared. I was excited to read this book and quickly snapped it up when it became available on Netgalley. From the start, I was impressed by Ann’s turns of phrase, life observations, and bits of wisdom. It is told from the first-person POV of Theresa, who was mostly likable, but at times had me very frustrated. Several stood out to me:

Whimsey Towers is not only a very real place for Theresa, but also a metaphor for the independence and free-thinking that she so values. It is a place that holds secrets along with memories of love, some of it illicit. She compares herself to Theodesia, her grandmother, a woman who refused to conform to expectations. At one point, she remarks that “relationships with men are harder for women without broken wings,” almost as if making an excuse for her own difficulties.

She loves Whimsey Towers almost as much as any person in her life, at times giving the place too much importance. She seems to see it as the source of her being, a place without which she would be incomplete. She gives it too much power. “Like the rushing flow of streams that meet and blend, our stories share power that roils and carves its way through the landscape with dogged determination.”

On aging, Theresa muses: “Do I yearn for my youth by wishing my children had not left theirs?” And Razor tells her: “Hopefully, you are only older than what is outgrown.”

Theresa laments her aging mind, wondering whether she has dementia. She comments on the struggles of Mattie’s mother, observing, “the memories had wandered and lay in her head like exhausted nomads.” She fears a similar fate.

She feels herself growing dependent on her sons and it bothers her: “I am torn between wanting to be close and needing space. Communication takes work. I am absent and present in one body, living in duality. Sometimes I cannot finish a sentence because getting to the end requires remembering how it began. I am holding on to strands of normalcy that occasionally slip away. Lapses are infrequent, but I fear what may tumble from my lips.”

Another snippet: “Memory is a gift not to be taken for granted. It holds all my yesterdays. I think it's easier to stay in the past, because I know my way there.”

One of the female characters, explaining her need/desire for numerous male partners, explains it this way: “My father is a farmer. He is careful to rotate his crops, nourishing the soil to get the best harvest each year. The soil can become stagnate (sic - should be stagnant) and barren if not furnished with fresh nutrients. I am like that soil that needs replenishing.”

It may surprise you to find that although I loved many things about this book, there were several things that bothered me. My first complaint was with the pacing. Sometimes the book got too bogged down in description and philosophical conjecture. Additionally, conversations between characters were stilted and unnatural. And I never got a really good sense of why the men in Theresa’s life loved her. Presumably, there was something special about her, something magnetic that drew men to her, but as the reader, I never felt privy to what that special thing was. The only thing I felt privy to was her conflicted sense of guilt over the lies she had told in her life as well as her fears of growing older, both mentally and physically. She was tortured by regret and haunted by what-ifs. Given the opportunity to unburden herself, her initial response was to hold her secrets even closer and even pretend she didn’t have any, but this was after numerous personal reflections on her desire to confess to someone. I was surprised by her resistance to confiding in someone and I found it difficult to relate to her pain because she’d been provided with an opportunity to share her load with someone who loved her.

In the final analysis, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the writing. I didn’t relate to Theresa or find her particularly sympathetic as a character and I felt conversations, in general, were unnatural and contrived. As far as philosophical observations go, this book had some great ones.

Love & Lies is a memoir-story of Theresa and her deep dark secrets. This book opened a lot of portals for me, which kinda made me overthink and analyse my decisions. Thats what Theresa does in her memoir. She feels she has lead a double life.. her pain, feel of remorse, her hesitations are penned well by the author. The words are very moving and deep!
Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way.

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!