Her Perfect Life is an entertaining thriller about a woman that will do anything to protect her perfect life. Lily is a famous TV reporter that starts getting tips from a secret source, and one day that source starts revealing information about Lily’s life. Lily has the perfect job and the perfect daughter, but nobody ever questions who the father is. Greer, Lily’s producer, is jealous of Lily’s success but is even more afraid of Lily’s reputation being ruined from fear it will mess with her job. Lily and Greer are both contacted by the secret source with different stories to protect Lily’s secrets. What’s the truth? Her Perfect Life kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Lily is a fascinating character that keeps everyone at arm’s length. Lily’s sister disappeared when she was a child, but nobody knows what happened to her. How far will Lily go to find the truth or would she rather keep the past in the past? I recommend Her Perfect Life to thriller fans. Thank you Get Red PR and Forge for Her Perfect Life.

I have to say I LOVED this author. She knows how to write books with fabulous twists. This one didn't disappoint at all. I loved everything about it. This one is told in alternating timelines, the chapters are short (which I am a fan of) and filled with lots of drama. This one is stuffed with lies and secrets and you may think you have everything all figured out--but think again.

Hank Phillippi Ryan has quickly become a favorite author of mine! I have adored all of her books that I have read and I was super excited to check out her latest novel, Her Perfect Life. One of the things that I have loved about Ryan’s novels is that she always writes compelling female characters that are flawed and complex and this book sounded like it would be right up my alley!

Her mysteries are always a fun read and since Ryan is a former investigative reporter each book has this great investigative quality that feels modern and relevant. Ryan has also won numerous awards and accolades for her mysteries which gives me confidence that her novels are solid and well worth the read.

Not only is Ryan a wonderful writer with great books, she is just a general great human being! She is one of my favorite Tall Poppy Writers that I have worked with in the last few years. She is always so great to work with and I simply just enjoy her as a person and I love how her personality translates into her books. If you are even a little on the fence about reading one of Ryan’s books—just do it already. You won’t be disappointed!

Summary
The next thrilling standalone novel by USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Everyone knows Lily Atwood—and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all—fame, fortune, Emmys, 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—but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life. How does he—or she—know the truth?

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 will she risk to keep her perfect life? (summary from Goodreads)

Review
I think so many women will relate to Lily’s character and struggles. Even if the average woman isn’t ‘in the spotlight’ the same way the Lily is, I think the pressure to be ‘perfect’ is so relevant to the modern woman. I know for me there is a ton of pressure to be all the things to all the people and never slip up and make a mistake. That’s what drew me to Lily, that shared struggle to be ‘perfect’. I think lots of modern women readers will love that about Lily and this book. It completely drew me in and made me feel so invested in Lily and her story. While there is plenty for the average reader to like about Lily, there are things that make her anything but the average character. For one—she has a missing older sister and the crime was never solved and of course—-a secret she does NOT want revealed.

While I enjoyed this book and Lily’s character, there were things that gave me pause. Lily is a great representation of a modern women but then there was this gullibility that didn’t fit with her character. While it wasn’t enough to put me off to her character or the story, it was definitely there and I was surprised by how gullible she was considering how her character was set up. But other than that I still really enThe joyed this one and sorting out the mystery. The mystery was (as always), smart, twisty and enjoyable. I kept me reading and held my interested through till the end. It had Ryan’s trademark style and I felt that it kept its pace very well. Fans of Ryan will no doubt enjoy this one.

This is a standalone book so if you haven’t tried out Ryan’s books before, I would recommend this one—or any of her standalone novels! This one was a quick read for me, I could easily have read it in one sitting but I did stretch it out a bit, because ‘life’, but I think that it has enough drive and twists to keep readers up late to find out what happened and find out if Lily’s life is indeed as ‘perfect’ as she would like everyone to think. If you love mystery and suspense that will keep you guessing then this is the book for you!

Book Info and Rating
Format336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publicationSeptember 14, 2021 by Forge Books

ISBN9781250258885 (ISBN10: 125025888X)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Forge Books in partnership with the Tall Poppy Writers/Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: mystery, suspence

I really wanted to like this one as I've heard great things about this author's previous work. But sadly, this book just didn't work for me at all. *THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I just found the whole thing to be way too far-fetched. Lily is supposed to be this amazing, famous investigative journalist, but she's naive enough to go off with this supposed police detective and she never even asks for any identification? Come on!

One of my main issues with the book was that there were zero characters to like. Not in a fun, unreliable narrator, or morally grey character way, but in a "these people are on my last nerve" way. I'm still not even sure why we got Greer's POV and why hers was the only one in first person. She wasn't even that big of a player in the story. Lily was insufferable - she was so selfish that the idea of her missing sister returning causes her to worry about her reputation? Wow.

And Cassie. Oh, honey. I know she's supposed to be 18, but she seriously was fine with going into a witness protection program based on one cop saying she killed Jem? She literally stumbled upon a big bag of drugs and barely tapped the guy with a cabinet, and she's really worried a jury is going to send her to prison for life? Who did she supposedly testify against? She knew nothing about the dealers of the drugs she found. She went through a whole trial and her parents never knew about it? Like I said, way too over-the-top far-fetched and completely unbelievable.

I could honestly go on and on, but I'll just say that sadly this was not the book for me.

Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Thriller.
Lily is a television personality. She guards her life and secrets carefully. Greer is Lily’s assistant and researcher. She sneers at LIly’s perfect life and knows Lily wouldn’t be where she is without Greer’s help.
Three perspectives: Lily and Greer in current time, Cassie in the past.
Lily seems driven by fear of discovery. Greer is all about the story. When their source turns to Lily’s past, the past starts unraveling.

Intense and dynamic.
Lily was cold, mostly from fear. Greer unravels emotionally more and more as the story unfolds. And Cassie I feel sorry for. I won't spoil it by saying more but her road is the hardest.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook at the same time as reading an ebook copy. The audiobook was narrated by Angela Dawe who did a wonderful job with the emotions and tenseness of a lot of the scenes. The child’s voice was a bit forced and unnatural but it was distinct from the adults. Fortunately each chapter clearly stated whose POV is was but once each of the three woman was established, the content alone was really enough to determine who was speaking. I listened to this at my standard speed of 1.25 which was a good conversational speed. Any faster and I lost the clarity of who was talking. The intro and afterward included a bit of theatrical music that would fit a thriller.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, MacMillan and MacMillan Audio.

<b><i>”The boy who cried wolf,</i> Lily thought again. But again, there was no wolf. Not here, at least.”</b>

<b>I’ve only read one other book by this author, but it was so impressive that I had to try another. And this one didn’t disappoint, with its lovely cover! It’s well-written and full of unpredictable surprises. I alternated between the audiobook and the Kindle version, so I got the best of both worlds on this one!</b>

Lily and Greer are a team. Lily is the talent. An award-winning journalist. Her fans and the camera love her. Greer is her producer. She’s content to be in the background, rather than the spotlight. Or is she?

When Lily was seven, her older sister disappeared and was never seen again. This is a secret she doesn’t share with her fans or coworkers. And she secretly hopes that one day she will be reunited with Cassie.

There are three POV’s and all three are equally as engaging. Lily tells us about her life from her perspective. Nothing is as perfect as it seems on the outside. She’s made her share of questionable choices that she tries to keep private.

Greer describes how she interprets their partnership and Lily’s fame. In public, she’s more than happy to let Lily take the spotlight and stand back in her shadow. But privately, she’s full of resentment and maybe some jealousy.

Cassie gives us an account of the past, leading up to her disappearance. She was a flaky, naive, and trusting college student, who encountered the wrong people and made bad choices. Don’t we all think we’re invincible at that age?

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss, Macmillan Audio, and Forge Books. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

<b>My Rating: </b> 4 ⭐️’s
<b>Published:</b> September 14th 2021 by Forge Books
<b>Pages:</b> 304
<b>Audio:</b> 11 hours
<b>Recommend:</b> Yes

#HerPerfectLife #HankPhillippiRyan #readinginsidersclub #NetGalley #Edelweiss #BookReview #InExchangeForReview #ARC #Bookstagram #MacmillanAudio #AudioBook #PerfectLily

After publication, my reviews can be found at Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Barnes and Noble, BookBub, NetGalley, and Edelweiss

@hankpryan @forgereads @NetGalley @edelweiss_squad @MacmillanAudio

I received a free ARC of Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan from Macmillan in an exchange for an honest review. I wish I had more positive things to say about it.

When Lily Atwood was seven years old, her college-age sister Cassie disappeared. Now, 25 years later, Lily is a famous, successful television reporter, with a seven-year-old daughter Rowen, whose father is Lily’s deep, dark secret. Lily and her team, led by her intrepid assistant Greer Whitfield, have just won another local Emmy thanks to tips from the anonymous Mr. Smith. But when he, and a private detective named Banning, start speaking to both of them about Lily’s past, Lily and Greer have to decide how far they’ll go to protect Lily.

Her Perfect Life is told in short chapters from the alternating perspectives of Lily, Greer, and Cassie. Greer’s chapters are told in the first person, while Lily and Cassie’s chapters are told in the third person. I could not figure out the reason why Greer is the only first-person narrator, but it definitely contributed to making her into the least likable of the three characters.

There were a couple of ideas explored in Her Perfect Life that I did enjoy. The pressure of being a public figure who has to constantly worry—every minute of every day—about her public image. Also, the conflict within Lily between how much she wants to know what happened to Cassie and her fear that learning the answer may not only be worse than not knowing, but could place her and Rowen in danger, was really interesting.

Unfortunately the plot of Her Perfect Life made so much less sense than it sounds. Why is the identity of Rowen’s father a secret? Allegedly because if people knew they’d judge Lily and it would ruin her career, but that idea seems pretty far fetched in 2021. Cassie’s backstory is incredibly contrived to put her into the situation that leads to her disappearance. Lily, Greer, and Cassie each make an inexplicable decision to trust a man in situations that scream this is sketchy as hell, I should not go off alone with this man I don’t know. The plot would not work without even one of these terrible decisions, but it’s difficult to imagine actual women of intelligence making such obvious, unnecessary mistakes. Finally, the motivations of the story’s antagonist made little sense, placing themselves at great personal risk for no clear reason. A disappointing read.

I Couldn’t Put This Down!

3.75 stars

“I’ll give you the best story ever.”

Her Perfect Life is a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller about a news reporter with a secret life. When her confidential source threatens to expose her secrets, she must either decide to play his game or risk being canceled.

Lily Atwood is perfect. A beautiful, Emmy-winning news reporter in Boston, she enjoys her celebrity status. However, her perfection is threatened when her confidential source turns on her and threatens to expose Lily’s secret life...unless she plays along.

Greer, Lily’s producer, also gets pulled into the mysterious source’s game. With both women’s careers on the line, they find themselves entangled in a dangerous web of lies.

Narrated by Lily, Greer, and Cassie, a woman from Lily’s past, all offer a different take on the current events. Lily wasn’t my favorite. For someone who is a supposed star, her character lacked charisma. Greer was awful, but she made me laugh. Her character has some great one-liners. I can’t say much about Cassie without spoiling the plot, so I will leave it at that.

I must say for two women who are award-winning journalists, their investigative skills suck. I rant about this frequently, but why do characters never seem capable of doing a basic google search? Google solves problems, my friends, lol! And it could have saved these two characters a lot of drama.

Her Perfect Life has some good twists and turns. I consider myself a decent arm-chair detective, but I found myself always one step behind-- I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. It’s a page-turner, and the plot, while a little over-the-top, is unpredictable, which I appreciated. The mystery is compelling, but I was left with some unanswered questions and a few plot holes to grapple with.

Overall, Her Perfect Life is a little messy, but it’s an entertaining read that kept me on my toes!

I received an ARC of Her Perfect Life from MacMillan in exchange for an honest review.