My 2nd indulgence in the author's work!

#herperfectlife by @hankpryan
Releases 14.09.2021
#preordernow

🦋About The Author:

USA Today bestselling author HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN
has won
five Agatha Awards
in addition to Anthony, Macavity, Daphne du Maurier, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards.

As on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV,
she's won 37 Emmys and many more journalism honors,
and her work has resulted in new laws, criminals sent to prison, homes saved from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in restitution for victims and consumers.

😲 what a bio!
________

🦋 Everyone knows Lily Atwood—and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all—fame, fortune, Emmy awards, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: #PerfectLily. To keep it—all she has to do is protect one life-changing secret.

Her own.

Lily has an anonymous source who feeds her story tips about others—but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life! How does he—or she—know so much?

Lily understands that no one reveals a secret unless they have a reason. Now she’s terrified someone is determined to destroy her world—and with it, everyone and everything she holds dear.

How much must she risk to keep her perfect life?
___________
ALL SHE HAS TO DO IS KEEP ONE SECRET.
____________
GENRE: #thriller

69 chapters.
It is written from three perspectives;
1 Lily's
2 her elder sis, Cassie's
&
3 Greer.

Lily lost her sis Cassie, when she was 7 & Cassie 18.. Lost as in, Cassie just vanished.. is she alive? Doing something wrong? Or dead? Lily doesn't know..
After Cassie, she lost one-by-one her dad, their dog 🐕 Pooch & then her Mom.

“But the world isn’t perfect, Lily. Even you can’t make it be. And the more you try to force it, the more it laughs at you."

You cannot choose your family..

Still..she is always hopeful..

A perfect thriller, keeping you on the edge of your seat 💺 with family drama in the backdrop. You will finish it teary-eyed..

🌸
Tell me something abt your relationship with your sibling/s..

Her Perfect Life is a fast-paced, engaging domestic thriller with plenty of twists to keep readers hooked. Lily Atwood has the perfect life. She's a famous, award-winning television reporter with a secret. Lily has an anonymous source feeding her stories. But when the source begins feeding her secrets about her own life that no one should know, Lily begins to worry. She can't be exposed. The characters are well written. The ending is unexpected and satisfying. Highly recommended!

I absolutely loved this book! It kept me turning pages long into the night because I couldn't put it down or stop reading. The suspense starts on page one and doesn't let you go.

Thoroughly enjoyable read, with well-fleshed characters, believable dialog, and engaging plot. I'll look forward to reading more of this author's novels.

*Many thanks to the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this pre-publication novel. I was not compensated in any way for my honest review.*

Although this was presented in a fairly straightforward manner (except for Cassie’s backstory), it was written from the standpoint of multiple characters. It had a very choppy and disjoined flow to the storyline.

The characters were not credible – at all. Nor was Lily’s work at the TV station. TV news anchors don’t just not show up or take off at a whim.

The story, itself, had nearly all the characters making bad decisions and then worse decisions to cover up their bad ones.

In the end I guess it all came together.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Definitely not the best from Hank Phillippi Ryan. I think her fans will be disappointed as I was.

Her Perfect Life is my first book by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

"Cassie disappears one night, leaving her younger sister, Lily, behind. Now Lily Atwood is an award-winning journalist and one of her anonymous sources begins telling Lily information about her family and Cassie's disappearance. There are things about her family that Lily is desperate to keep hidden. But secrets have a way of coming out. How much will she risk to keep her perfect life?"

This is a domestic thrill from Ryan so there is a slow build. We get the dual timelines with Cassie's story and the present with Lily. Cassie is in college and trying to be "cool" You're not sure which way the story is going. There's a lull and then it takes off. The last half is very good. Nice unexpected twist from Ryan. The ending was not what I expected - from any of the characters.I appreciate when an author can surprise me.

Good read from Ryan.

Genre” Mystery & Thrillers
Publishers: Forge Books
Pub. Date: September 14, 2021

Mini-Review

Lily Atwood has a successful career as a TV reporter. She is a loving single parent to an adorable little daughter. She has a fan base that has dubbed her #PerfectLily. The author makes sure the reader understands the pressure Lily endures by her fame of being “perfect.” However, Lily has a secret besides who is the father of her child. She was 7 years old when her older sister, Cassie, disappeared as a college freshman. Even as a journalist, with sources, Lily hasn’t been able to find her. The chapters alternate between Cassie, Lily, and Greer who is Lily’s producer/assistant. The novel has potential but didn’t pull it off. There are many twists and I did not believe one of them. Maybe for some but, not my idea of a good thriller.

On the outside, television reporter Lily Atwood has it all, fame, wealth, looks, and an equally perfect daughter she would do anything for. On the inside, she conceals a dark secret that would shatter the perfect facade she has built.

For months, an anonymous source has fed her tips, exposing society’s deepest secrets and giving Lily news-breaking stories. But now, the sights have turned. The source is revealing things about her own life that no one should know and threatening to expose her.

Her Perfect Life plunges readers into an intense, twisty page-turner. Hank Phillippi Ryan brilliantly utilizes the unreliable narrator to the novel’s advantage. Alternating between Lily and her producer’s POV (point of view), each woman has vastly different perceptions of themselves and each other which left me questioning which one, if either, was the truth. I often didn’t know whether to like or dislike them, but I always needed to know what would happen next, making the book hard to put down. With an additional group of characters who aren’t always what they seem, I was kept guessing until the last page. Even when I figured out several of the secrets, shocking twists still awaited me at the end. I love it when an author manages to surprise me!

A story of deceit, appearances, and consequences, Ryan shows that the "perfect life” is rarely what it’s cracked up to be. The truth has a way of finding the light. Fast-paced and intriguing, I recommend Her Perfect Life to readers who enjoy suspense and matching wits with the author.

Great mystery/thriller read! I enjoyed the author's last book and was so excited to read this one. It did not disappoint. We have a couple of different storylines told from multiple points of view. It kept my attention as well as keeping me on my toes trying to figure out what would happen next. Highly recommend this page turner.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I absolutely loved Hank Phillippi Ryan's book "The First to Lie" and it was one of my favourite reads from last year. I had high hopes for this one, which maybe was my problem and why I didn't love this one.

The story is told from multiple POV's and flashing back and forth between the present and the past. It was a very slow burn throughout the story. Although the way each chapter ended made me want to continue reading, I just overall wanted more to the story and felt unsatisfied with the ending. There were a couple unlikable characters as well which sometimes made it hard to want to read!

IN typical HPR fashion I was hooked. I love her books, I think she is probably one of my all time favorite authors and I was so excited to get this one early.

I loved this - I thought the story was unique enough to really keep me interested, without having TOO much going on that you couldn't keep up with the story and mystery.

The pacing was interesting, not my favorite, but overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to HPRs next book!

I used to watch "Hank Investigates" (or "Help Me Hank"?) on Boston's WHDH-TV (I don't watch TV anymore), and I met Hank Phillippi Ryan at BEA a few years ago. She was as sharp and friendly as I had imagined. I have read several of her novels. Because I trust her skill as an investigative reporter I enjoy her mysteries probably more than others.

Her Perfect Life is probably one of the best books Hank Phillippi Ryan has written. The book is narrated by three women: Lily, Greer, and Cassie.

Lily Atwood is a Emmy winning beautiful television reporter who is famous as #PerfectLily on Social Media. However, her life is not that perfect. She is a single mother with 7 year-old daughter and she keeps her father's name secret. She also has a tragic past which she never talks about. When Lily was 7, her college freshman sister Cassie disappeared and never came back.

Lily's producer Greer knows her place but couldn't help feeling jealous of Lily. Lily wins the awards and not Greer who is actually the brain of the award-winning program.

when strange "Mr. Smith" started giving Lily and Greer great informations for the program something sinister started to happen. Then, you can't stop following the 3 narraters around until the end.

There are so many places you'd shout at them "Don't do that!" or "Why don't you do this instead of that?" etc.. but I guess it's necessary for them to make silly mistakes to make situation messy.

What I enjoyed most was the details of Lily and Greer's jobs and situations. Thriller itself was 4 stars to me, but because I liked "Hank Investigates" I added 1 more star.

I received an ebook version of NetGalley ARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review.

Lily Atwood has the perfect life: perfect career, reputation, daughter. However, Lily has secrets. Secrets that may be exposed and leave her world crumbling around her.
I enjoyed this story. The mystery around Lily’s sister kept me intrigued. My one critique was that the pacing was a little off. I grew impatient at about the 75% mark and it ran a little long for my personal taste. However, the ending was rewarding and worth the wait.

Who doesn't love everything Hank Phillippi Ryan writes? She is in her element.

The thriller queen of cat-and-mouse suspense and one of my favorite authors, Hank Phillippi Ryan, returns with her latest novel, HER PERFECT LIFE—a fast-paced powerful tale of fame, perfection, deceit, and deadly secrets.

Lily Atwood has it all. She is a famous Boston TV investigative reporter (much like the author), beautiful, talented, hardworking, and recipient of numerous Emmys and awards. She even has the hashtag title by her loving fans, #PerfectLily. Everyone loves her.

With this title, she must live a life of perfection, from her appearance, home, and work. She resides in a beautiful white Victorian home, perfectly manicured in the best area of town. She works very hard to keep her daughter, Rowen sheltered from the public eye, cameras, and social media. She demands privacy when it comes to her child. She must keep her safe. None of the ugliness should ever touch her child.

"Fame, Lily knew, had two conflicting sides. The glory. And the danger. The power, And the spotlight. The raging relentless spotlight."

However, Lily harbors some big secrets. If exposed, it could ruin her career and everything she has worked so hard to achieve.

No one knows the father (Sam Prescott) of her seven-year-old daughter, Rowen, except the father. She must keep that secret safe for many reasons. She also has a past life which she must keep a secret from her world of fame and perfection.

"Perfection is in the perception."

Her sister, Cassie, went away to college years ago, and something happened. Not long after, she left and has not been seen since. Is she alive, imprisoned, kidnapped, brainwashed, or dead? She looks for Cassie everywhere she goes, imagining what she possibly looks like today. Since Lily is widely known, she thinks her sister could find her. Would she recognize her big sister after all this time?

Lily was only seven when she vanished, and Cassie was around eighteen. She misses her, and they were close. Maybe Cassie will find her.

Told from 3 POVs: Lily (protagonist), Green (her producer), and Cassie (her sister). Flashing back and forth from present to past to when Cassie attended college, as the events unfold. Nothing is as it appears.

Greer is behind the scenes and a bit jealous (a lot) of Lily. "Approval is such a sister to envy."

Petra is the nanny, competent, and fits in perfectly in the Atwood household taking care of Rowen and protecting her. Rowen is inquisitive about her father, but Lily does her best to keep those questions at bay.

When an anonymous tip comes in from a stranger (they call Mr. Smith), that proves to be a good lead, they both wonder who this person is and what he really wants. Is he a stalker? Can he be trusted?

Soon after that, everything spirals out of control. Mr. Smith knows more about her past and could be dangerous. Who is this man? He appears to know something about Cassie. Could he help find her?

When Lily starts receiving floral arrangements at her home of lilies, more intense calls from Mr. Smith, and strange things begin happening at Rowen's private school, Lily becomes afraid for herself and her daughter. Greer is also acting strange.

From past to present, Cassie's story is so compelling, it will draw you in. A girl with no one to turn to for help. Now she is also living a secret life. The intensity builds with a multi-level cat-and-mouse game of twists and turns.

Events from the past connect with the present, which is dangerous both for Lily and Cassie. Someone goes missing. Sam Prescott becomes involved, a detective, a drug dealer, a professor, Rowen, Greer, Cassie, and Lily.

Perfect Lily must stay perfect; however, how will she do this when her life is now a disaster and she is losing control?

Wow, an intense page-turner that will have you staying up way past your bedtime and then some! Tense and compulsive, HER PERFECT LIFE is a delicious web of lies and deceit.

Suspicion, betrayal, and dark secrets abound in this intense and masterly plotted gripping thriller, all hidden just beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect life. As always, the mega-talented Hank Phillippi Ryan knows her way around a good story, whether an investigative true-life news TV story or a fictional novel psychological thriller.

I am not sure how the author does it all and will be the first and not the last to award her with the title #PerfectHank. She has won how many Emmys?

An avid fan of the author, stay tuned for my #AuthorElevatorSeries Q&A with Hank, coming on my birthday, 9/14 (pub day), where we go behind the book and the author. Also, this will be a special 3rd-anniversary edition of An Elevator Ride with the Author. Hank was my first interview back in 2018 and excited to have her back to mark the occasion.

Put this gem on your TBR read list now. There is plenty of guessing and twists - for fans of Mary Kubica and B.A. Paris.

Ironically, I read my first Hank Phillippi Ryan book in 2014, TRUTH BE TOLD, the year I started my blog. My top books of 2014 and became an instant fan reading every book since and always a winner. ( 7th-anniversary #JDCMustReadBooks Blog).

A special thank you to the publisher Forge Books and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. Also pre-ordered the hardcover for my special birthday gift.

Blog Review:
#JDCMustReadBooks
@JudithDCollins
My Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖
Pub Date: 09/14/21

The story is told in dual timelines, about 25 years between them. The past timeline centers around Cassie, Present time deals with Cassie, a successful news personality.

There are some great twists in the story. However, I just could not connect with the characters.

Hank Phillippi Ryan is back with another psychological thriller, Her Perfect Life, and I rushed to hit that request button SO fast on NetGalley!

Lily is perfect. No, really, that's the image she presents to the world. Lily Atwood, the great and famous television reporter. And as long as she can keep her secrets where they belong – hidden – she can keep on appearing perfect to the world.

Unfortunately, somebody else has figured out her secret. Lily cannot deny this fact, as they begin leaking these secrets to her. As a threat? As a warning? But how far will Lily go to keep this secret in the dark?

“I'll give you the best story ever.”

Right away, I was invested in Her Perfect Life. I love the author, and I was fascinated by the description here. A television reporter getting her secrets fed back to her? That sounds so thrilling and thus the perfect basis for a thriller!

I was pleasantly surprised by the alternative perspectives in this story – I thought that Lily would end up dominating the plot. In a way, she did, but it didn't unfold the way I expected it to. On the whole, I think the additional perspectives added to the story, though there were times when I was frustrated with the lot of them (suspension of belief issues, my bad).

It took a bit of work to really get into the narrative for Her Perfect Life, and by that, I mean that I didn't feel invested until at least a third of the way in. I think that's probably because Lily seemed to be at her most perfect early on, though that wasn't the entirety of it.

There were certainly some interesting elements in Her Perfect Life, which is one of the reasons why I had no trouble finishing the book. It did a good job of starting conversations, especially in regards to fame and the like. I'd recommend this book for any thriller reader looking for something fun and quick.

I thought that the pacing of this book was absolutely amazing. I thought the premise of the story was also super interesting, and one that hooks you from the very start. I loved this idea of this double life, and this choice to either go along with the blackmailer or have her life go up in flames and everything that she knows be destroyed. Lily is just such an interesting character, I loved the glamorous life she built, and also had a guilty addiction to this idea that it all could come crumbling down. I think Lily, Greer, and Cassie, all brought their own different strengths... and weaknesses to the plot that made it multilayered and truly so interesting. I will say that I am a bit surprised with their inability to dig deeper in their own problems, I mean they are supposedly award winning journalists... where are their investigative skills? I thought as a whole this was messy in the best way. I think that a lot of the twists are hard to predict which says a lot for the authors ability to write a story. There were a few things I wish had been wrapped up a little more, but all in all this is a good book that I think will be talked about for awhile.

Hank Phillippi Ryan’s story telling style is so smooth, her books fly through your reading fingers faster than you can think, almost. This novel may be the most emotional, heart felt story in all of Ryan’s books. It’s the alternating story of big sister, Cassie, and little sister, Lily. While the book opens with Lily telling the reader how perfect her sister is, it fast forwards in time to Lily’s life, which does seem actually perfect.

Lily has grown up into well known investigative reporter Lily Atwood, a beautiful, single mother living in a swanky area of Boston. She has the perfect daughter, Rowan, the perfect nanny, Petra, and the perfect assistant, Greer. But, Ryan seems to be asking, is anyone’s life actually perfect?

Back when Lily was seven, Cassie had gone to college and disappeared, leaving behind a grieving mother, grandmother and of course, sister. Lily has grown up looking everywhere for Cassie, always looking over her shoulder, thinking is that my sister? Is that her? It’s something of an obsession, understandably so. This book is the story of this search coming to a head.

Lily’s other obsession is Rowan, and keeping her safe. Rowan’s dad is not a part of her life. Lily is perfectly plugged in to Rowan’s schedule, school, activities and friends, despite her busy career, a career supported and made possible by Greer, who toils in the background. Greer doesn’t resent this, though she does seem to resent the fact that she feels she works harder than Lily does.

I think that’s a splitting hairs question, but it’s definitely how Greer feels, and it fuels some of the events in the book. As Ryan alternates her narrative between the three women, something at which she excels, she plays out their stories by going back and forth in time and between the three of them. Because Ryan has given each woman a distinctive voice and personality, the switching is seamless. In less skilled hands, this could have been confusing, but instead, it’s suspenseful.

It also packs an emotional punch. As readers, we not only feel Lily’s grief at losing her sister, but her fears of keeping Rowan safe and out of the spotlight, away from prying eyes. We see her balancing act as fans approach her on the street, and her graciousness in responding to them. But the balancing seems difficult.
As readers, we follow Cassie’s story and slowly learn what happened to her as a series of not even bad decisions, but just ones that were slightly off, send her life completely off track. And, as mentioned, we see Greer’s frustration which I felt was also a thinly veiled jealousy. There are few more destructive emotions, in my opinion.

As Cassie, Lily’s, Rowan’s and Greer’s stories begin to intertwine and create conflicts, the suspense of the story ramps up and up. Lily is not sure who to trust, which is a noir story telling attribute, but Ryan’s essentially optimistic world view prevents her from being a noir writer. While the end of the story questions if anyone has a perfect life, and doesn’t tie everything up in a bow, it is still not lacking in hope for the future.

I found all of the characters appealing and well drawn, which again, is not noir. In a noir novel every one of them could have been made awful and disagreeable. To my mind, Ryan bucks trends and embraces her own inner voice, which lends her books a strength and appeal that I don’t find in much contemporary domestic suspense, and it makes me revere and enjoy her books all that much more. This is a wonderful read, one you won’t be able to put down, and one you will probably end in floods of tears.

A perfect life. A perfect mystery. If I could, I would give “Her Perfect Life” by Hank Phillippi Ryan 6 or more stars! I sat down to read the ebook in the morning and never got up until I was done that evening except for a few breaks (eating, stretching & such). It grabbed me from the beginning and never let go. I loved the story being told from the different points of view, past and present. There were twists, turns and ticklers all along the way which kept my interest going right through until the very end, SURPRISE!

There’s so much mystery and wrapped up in this one I didn’t want to put it down. I needed to find out lily, Banning, Geer, and Cassie’s webs of secrets.
Lily life seems so perfect and she really likes it like that. Through she seems to have it all she is so likable. Her producer Geer I had so many questions about her and her motives. I was curious about Cassies disappearance and what Lily really knew about it! Lily’s daughter Rowan added a little bit of sweet to the story. She was fun to read about mixed in with all the mess! So much mystery, lots of questionable actions!