Too Good to Be True is a long, winding road of a book, starting with the budding relationship between emotionally damaged trust fund baby Skye Starling and her older beau, Burke, that winds up quickly evolving into marriage, despite plenty of red flags. Told in alternating points of view, we're aware the entire time that Burke has ulterior motives... Namely, his first (and current) wife and children, who he's providing for by skimming money off the top of his new, joint bank account-- just a casual $7k/month that Skye'll never even notice. The third POV is that of Burke's first wife, Heather, who grew up poor and experienced a tragedy of her own. The emotional points are set up in the first third of the book, only to be completely upended when the narrators' reliability switches, jolting our perceptions of all parties involved.
My favorite thing about this book is Lovering's ability to call events into question by giving us multiple perspectives. It's psychologically twisted while still maintaining a domesticity and realism often lost in these sorts of stories. Unlike many mysteries, where characters are being killed and villains are evil, in black-and-white, this feels like a story your coworker might tell you about their sordid and intricate family drama. I would recommend this especially to people who enjoy the TV show The Affair.

I think I might be an outlier on this one.

This was another one of those books I finished early this morning, and as I sat down to write the review, I had to re-read the synopsis to remind myself of the plot. It was that forgettable.

Too Good to Be True had glaringly obvious red herrings (including the synopsis - I recommend you don't even read it if you're contemplating this book), an unmemorable story line, and an absolutely ridiculous conclusion. If you like happily ever after, this one is for you.

I honestly don't have anything more to say. Meh.

2.5 stars
Available March 2, 2021

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy.

I have some very conflicting emotions about this new book by Carola Lovering, but that’s what keeps a book interesting, right? The writing style, characters, settings, and plot were all excellent and well-orchestrated. My issue was with the personality of the lead female, Skye Starling. Even the name makes me cringe. She is so ditzy, clueless, gullible, and dangerous to herself, but this is exactly what kept me reading. Was I played? Does the author plan to generate some ire from the reader when we’re obviously supposed to be pulling for this dingbat? Then I played right into her plan. This story of poor little Skye was so good I couldn’t quit reading, and even after the last paragraph, I wanted to grab Skye by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. Excellent cunning, Ms. Lovering, I willingly fell victim to your ploy.
In an effort to avoid any spoilers, here’s my brief synopsis: Sickeningly rich Skye meets Mr. Right at a girl’s weekend. They fall into a whirlwind romance, culminating in marriage less than six months later. But she’s never met Burke’s family, friends, or coworkers. Skye’s friends try to alert her (when they’re not rolling their eyes or throwing up behind her back from the nauseously romantic relationship Skye and Burke are portraying).
Meanwhile, on another planet, we meet Heather. I immediately gained compassion for this young lady, even though she played a role in a horrible drunk driving event in her teens. We listen to Heather explain the years of her life and how she got to where she is today. Then these two worlds collide. In this collision, I lost respect for Heather and gained some sympathy for Skye, but not for long. She’s still a clueless little spoiled girl with a really big heart! Give this book a read; see how you react to Skye, Burke, and their drippy romance.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The release date is March 2, 2021.

There are always more than one version of the truth, however, which one to believe? That's always the question.

First, there's Skye Starling who, at a first glance, seems to have it all. However, spend some time with her and you see she suffers from a severe case of OCD with compulsions that usually make romantic partners walk out the door. She just craves acceptance and love from someone other than her close knit group of friends. Someone who can look past her compulsions.

There's Burke. Handsome, mature Burke, who says he loves Skye and wants her forever, but...truth is? He's married and using Skye in his master plan.

Then there's Heather, Burke's wife, who tells her story starting from 30 years earlier before the wicked scheme begins until the very end.

What I didn't like?
Okay, I read A LOT OF THRILLERS/MYSTERIES, and after reading one part of each perspective I felt like I got a lot of the big twists, so a little predictable for me.

What I did like?
While, I guessed a lot of the big things, there were a couple small things that threw me for a loop, which I liked. Going on, this book was fast-paced, without being rushed, and the changing perspectives kept the book interesting and made me turn the pages quickly. Now, while, some of the main characters may not be likable, they are so for a purpose and I found being in their head to be fun, and as I was reading I wanted to know more and more about them.

If you want a fast paced mystery/thriller read? Something light, without too much suspense to scare you? A more domestic type thriller? Definitely check this one out!

3.5 rounded to 4.

Burke, although older than Skye, is handsome and seems to be just who Skye has been waiting for. After just a very short time they get married and everything is wonderful in Skye's world. Then she is shown an email by a friend and her happy world comes tumbling down. Meanwhile, thirty years previously, Heather is trying to break up with Burke, but soon they all come together very unexpectedly.
I did enjoy this thriller and thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one fell a little flat for me. Throughout most of the book, I felt Burke was just playing Skye (which turned out to be true). The saving grace was that I didn't see the twists and turns coming, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested or to fall in love with the book.

THank you for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion.

I adored Carola Lovering's debut novel, Tell Me Lies, so I had high hopes going into Too Good To Be True - and I'm happy to report that it blew my expectations out of the water! It takes an extremely skilled writer to tell a story through three POVs combined with a nonlinear timeline and never leave the reader feeling confused. Each character's voice was distinct and given background was tightly tied in with the overall plot (no long tangents of irrelevant info). Too Good To Be True is fast-paced and enticing from the very start. Get ready to go through a rollercoaster of emotions with the flawed-but-lovable characters of this novel, to surprise yourself with the amount of empathy you can feel each, and for a major twist you will not see coming!

Too Good to Be True is an excellent domestic thriller with strong elements of psychological suspense. The story is told from three different perspectives - the husband, his wife, and his new wife. Things aren’t entirely what they seem. There can’t be three different versions of the truth. The plot is filled with plenty of twists and an unpredictable plot. If you’re looking for a completely addictive domestic thriller, this is the one for you! Be sure to check out Too Good to Be True immediately.

Three different point of views keep you going...but that is part of the mystery. It is so difficult sometimes to review books with twisty endings, but this is one of the better ones!

Amazing story of a teenager who babysits for a rich family and takes along her very young brother for whom she is responsible, since her father split and her mother died. Unfortunately, a terrible thing happens, and the teenager turns to her boyfriend for comfort. They marry and have a family and are struggling for a better life. Then, the husband meets this woman at a resort. She is fresh and rich and he is taken with her. She doesn't know that he's married. You have to read this book. There's so much more.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out great, but around the 20% mark I figured out the twist. So the rest of the book was just boring and a chore to get through. I thought it was way longer than it needed to be. I think I’m in the minority though so if the description sounds good to you - read it!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGallery.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. To do a review would give too much away, there are so many twists, turns, and switchbacks that I would hate to spoil it for anyone. I could not put this book down.

There are 3 points of view for this book and to watch it unfold - work of art and genius.

A man is viewed by two different relationships. Skye is a young woman thrilled to be engaged to her older boyfriend, Burke, even while she is battling OCD. Their life together is going to be perfect, despite only knowing each other for 6 months, Skye is due to inherit some money and they can live where they want and do what they want. Meanwhile, 30 years in the past, Heather is dealing with taking care of her little brother because her addict parents can't, and is deciding whether or not to stay with her boyfriend, Burke, who is a bit of a party boy. A mentorship with an older woman she is babysitting for seems to be putting Heather on track to change her life, and that may mean Burke. And in between, there are diary entries from Burke, talking about his life with Heather and his affair with Skye. It soon becomes apparent that not only is he cheating, he is scheming as well. Who is Too Good to Be True?

A lot of twists and turns in this book will keep the reader guessing to the end. Ultimately, I wasn't quite fond of most of the characters, and found myself liking the person who was to be the villain in this piece.

The twists in this one were fun. I saw some coming and others surprised me. It was a fun read, but nothing extraordinary.

This story is a complex thriller and I won't try to describe it - you can read the summary in the book description. This is a page turner with a good plot and some quite disturbing twists and surprises. All the characters have major flaws and I only liked Skye - the other characters were not likable for me, especially Heather. The story was told from three points of view - Heather, Burke and Skye. Some of the themes in this book are friendship, family, tragedy, revenge, bigotry, theft, mental illness, wealth, greed - quite a range! I wasn't satisfied at the end - it was too hard to believe and I didn't like the way it wrapped it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

3 1/2 stars

This is the first book I've read by the author and I enjoyed it. What worked for this book was the multiple point of views and the multiple timelines. I enjoyed that aspect of it and I liked trying to figure out how the characters fit together. I was pleasantly surprised at how it came together toward the middle. The first half of the book keep me interested but somewhere along the way that changed for me. It started out reading like psychological suspense but then it sort of got cheesy in a way. I wanted more from the story; something more suspenseful than it turned out to be. The first half was so interesting and I loved the twist but the second half wasn't as fun to read. I say all of that to say that although this wasn't the best book I've ever read, I still liked it. I liked the twist, the characters, and how the author tied everything together.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I do not even know where to start with this review. This book was truly incredible, and I do not think my bumbling words will do it justice, but here I go.

Told in three unique perspectives, both current and thirty years in the past, we get a phenomenal demonstration of how well a mystery/thriller can be orchestrated. This explosive novel depicts the budding romance between Skye and Burke, the devastation at learning he is not at all who he says he is and the history of Heather, the girl who dated Burke in the past.

Told in alternating chapters, the story unfolds in such a great way that even when you think you know what is going on, you soon realize that you are wrong because nothing it what it seems. Even when you do finally find out the truth, there is still so much of the story yet to come. I was completely riveted while reading this masterful novel.

Skye is dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder stemming from the death of her mother when she was younger. This condition has kept her from making many real romantic relationships in her life. Until Burke comes along. She is older, beautiful and so kind to her, making her feel truly special. And they quickly fall in love and plan to marry. In a series of digital diary entries to his therapist, though, Burke clearly is not who Skye thinks he is. Instead, he is a married man using Skye and her expansive wealth for his own dastardly plans.

Meanwhile we get Heather’s perspective from the year 1990 when she is a teenager dreaming of a better life away from her good for nothing upbringing and her drug abusing boyfriend, Burke. She finds solace in the form of the mother of the children she babysits for, a woman who befriends the 17-year-old Heather and makes her understand her worth.

My heart broke for all three characters involved for reasons I cannot spoil for you. Just when I thought we had a clear villain, Carola Lovering made my head spin. And when I thought I had a character to root for, it was so elegantly ripped away from me in such a way that I was screaming out loud. To say my enjoyment of this book was immense is an understatement. This book was clearly crafted specifically to keep you guessing indefinitely and I absolutely loved it!

Too Good to be True by Carola Lovering is a 2021 St. Martin’s Press publication.

Wickedly good!

This is one of those books that falls into ‘the less you say, the less you know, the better’ category- so to that end-all I’m going to say is:

This is one clever little mind-trip- highly absorbing, and wildly entertaining. If you like getting sucked so completely into a story that you lose track of time, this might be one you want to consider.

There is no agenda- no messages- no sermons, just a good, original, well-plotted thriller with one amazing twist that completely took me by surprise!!

I got a little more than I was expecting from this one! I will definitely read this author again!

Too Good to Be True was a roller coaster of a read.

Unbelievable character growth throughout the story. I enjoyed seeing them all flounder in some way and grow in others. Absolute suspenseful moments and a timeline that flings you back and forth and you are trying to piece together when the inevitable crash of events will take place.

When you think something is too good to be true...should you dig deeper?

With a plot like this one it begs the question; is love enough?

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a review copy.

I could not put this book down. It sucked me in from the first page it didn't let go. Mostly.

It's a story about relationships - a babysitter and the family she's taking care of. A woman with OCD and her boyfriend. Two teenagers trying to carve out a future.

Exactly halfway through the book, as you're immersed in the momentum of these relationships, you get completely blindsided by a twist. I mean, truck-ramming-into-the-side-of-your-car blindsided. I did not see it coming at all.

Here's the problem, that's halfway through the book. Usually the great reveal is at the end of the book. So there was still another 50% to go. There were more twists and turns as the book went on, but most of it was explaining and cleaning up the story around what happened midway through.

That aside, this one is worth reading.
Side note: much of it takes place in Westport, CT, where I grew up. So I might have an extra bias around that.

#netgalley #toogoodtobetrue