DNF at about 20% - I don’t think Annie Ward is the right author for me. I found most of the characters annoying and not relatable, and nothing really happened in the entire time I was reading to keep me engaged or hook me. I know lots of people rave about Ward’s work, but this one wasn’t for me.

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. Maybe it was because it was reminding me of another popular lying themed book that I could not unsee.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ahh, I really loved this book, it hit all the checkmarks for me. Snooty pristine private school with rich irresponsible unsupervised student athletes under huge pressure to perform with their poor rich dynamic at home, this book got it all. I love how the story didn't wait, and started with a bang. I love the interlude of police interrogation scenes between the story.

I was also very intrigued by Natalie's relationship with the kids, the moms, the coach and everyone around her.

Now excuse me, I need to go and read Beautiful Bad.

The Lying Club is about a private school in the Colorado mountains. The book starts off with someone being found dead and then backtracks six months to the events leading up to the death. Natalie is the office assistant who has a problem with pills and starts dating Coach Nick. Brooke is an heiress who recently separated from her husband after she'd been caught one too many times with another man. Her daughter, Sloane, is one of the school's soccer stars and dating an older student. To help Sloane get into UCLA, Brooke's alma mater, she is doing private lessons with Coach Nick. Asha is a real estate agent with family money who suspects her husband of cheating. After Brooke tells her about Sloane's private lessons, she signs her daughter, Mia, up for them as well. This book is full of suspense and drama. There are several plot lines and at some point, I suspected every major character. I loved all the twists and turns, but don't want to give any spoilers because this book is definitely worth the read! I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Lying Club is a puzzling book. Every character in the book is dysfunctional, flawed, and wounded, and there is nothing in the plot or character development to balance the defective characters. Some levity would have added to the plot which seems to be overwhelmingly toxic and full of drug use, taking advantage of teenage girls, familial strife, and eventually murder. The book is well written but a challenge to read in its darkness.

I read this book in 3 hours and could not put it down. I brought it to dinner in Mexico to finish. I already can’t wait for my friends to read it when it releases.
It started off strong with a whodunnit, and who IS IT and literally did not stop, even in the epilogue.
If you like thrillers that involved the lives of the very wealthy with twists you don’t see coming (and coming and coming) you will love this book.
I cheered for our main character Natalie, throughout the book even when she made poor choices because honestly, who can’t relate to Natalie? She just wants what everyone around her has as the administrator of a very wealthy, private high school.
I can already see this becoming a Netflix series and just hope they do it justice! Well done, Annie.

Just finished reading “The Lying Club” by Annie Ward.

It opens with a dead body and then goes back six months to tell the story of how it happened.

As the story unfolds you get caught up in the mystery and try to figure out who was murdered and why?
Many of the characters are intertwined as it takes place at an elite private school. From teachers, to secretaries, to parents - not everyone is how they appear and it makes an interesting story. I found it was an easy read and very interesting and intriguing.

A great read for this time of year!

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of The Lying Club, which pubs on March 22, 2022! 💕✨

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

The setting of this book is a snowy town in Colorado - more specifically an elite private school where the kids and parents alike are insanely rich and entitled. The book starts with a body being found at the school, then going back in time to unravel the events leading up to what happened. The book revolves around 3 women, who are all different from one another yet their lives end up intertwining. Major Big Little Lies vibes with this one!

Read this one if you like...
⭐️Psychological thrillers with school settings
⭐️Lots of twists, drama, backstabbing, lying and cheating!
⭐️A bit of a slower burn that allows you to really unpack each character
⭐️A conclusion that you likely won't see coming and will keep you guessing

This was my first book by this author and absolutely won't be my last! Couldn't put this one down.

The Lying Club is a melting plot of suburban issues. Infidelity, jealousy, substance abuse, competition, kleptomania and more fill the pages of this superb psychological thriller.

In the prologue, Natalie wakes up after passing out in her car outside the school gym during a freak winter snowstorm. Inside that gym are two bodies lying in a pool of blood. What happened?

Six months earlier, Natalie is an assistant to the Principal of a private school attended by many entitled students with equally entitled parents. She is one of the three narrators of this twisted mystery. The others are Brooke, mother to Sloane, and Asha, whose daughter is Mia. Both girls are soccer standouts and are applying to the same very selective colleges. The school’s soccer coach is handsome Nick, subject of many fantasies. Everyone is hiding something and after the secrets are peeled away, only murder is left.

No spoilers in this review. You’ll have to read it yourself and, believe me, you won’t be able to put it down! The Lying Club is well constructed, the characters are sympathetic with very real problems and the conclusion is a total surprise. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Annie Ward for this ARC.

This is my first time reading this author and it will not be my last. Great book. Loved the pace. It definitely kept you guessing. Will definitely recommend once it’s released.

Great character development with some you love, some you hate, some you love to hate, and some you hate to love. Mix them, their relationships, and their motive to get an excellent 'whodunit?'.

It’s a fast-paced thriller that will appeal to most fans. The writing is decent, and the ending was satisfying. The story also includes a few different POVs and timelines to heighten the suspense. Unfortunately, I didn’t love (or even like) any of the characters, and I think this prevented me from really getting into the story. It was also disheartening to see smart women making bad decisions over a man. But I guess that’s a tale as old as time. I’m giving this 3/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really liked this thriller. It was full of twists and turns. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened and I really liked the characters. I highly recommend.

Holy cow, hangover not even over yet! This one was absolutely a book not to be missed! Love the setting, character development, writing style, and suspense the author easily created throughout the story! Kept me needing to flip more pages and find out exactly what was going to happen! Full of twisty turns, lies, lies, and more lies, thrills, chills, and shocks! Highly, jiggly recommend! Has me wanting to go back and give her prior book a chance, it’s that good!


Will buzz around and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This story centers around an elite private school in the mountains in Colorado.

The kids and parents are uber rich, arrogant, entitled and self-serving

Someone is found dead at the beginning of the book and then it goes back in time to chronicle the events that led up to this death.
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It’s full of drama, backstabbing, lying, cheating, revenge and scandal 🔪
I loved it! 🙌

It definitely has a Big Little Lies vibe. You will love peeling back each juicy layer, assimilating the relationships of the characters and immersing yourself into the setting
__________________________________

You don’t want to miss this one!

Annie Ward is such a talented writer and this was a gem of a psychological thriller. There were three alternating narrators whose lives centered around the goings on at an elite Colorado private school where a crime is committed. The book deftly portrays the lives of these three women, revealing their deeply guarded secrets and the lengths that they will go through to keep them hidden and protect their families. Alternating time periods give us glimpses as to what happens but the big reveal is at the end and it definitely will not disappoint!

ⓉⒽⒺ ⓁⓎⒾⓃⒼ ⒸⓁⓊⒷ
By Annie Ward
Release Date 03/22/2022

I have to say, to all the authors that wrote books during the downtime last year when covid hit. All of you took it to another level. Seriously. I haven’t picked up a new book yet that hasn't had me 😳😳😲🤭🤭😱😱
This book is centered around a prestigious school called the Falcon 🦅Academy in Colorado. Also, around a gated community called Big Elk Estates 🦌and the super snobby people who attend and live in those places. There’s been a murder, and all are suspects.
There’s Natalie, the school office assistant, who dreams of being one of the bougie women surrounding her. Also, she pops pills like tic-tacs and maybe a Lil bit of a kleptomaniac.
Brooke, a gorgeous heiress, and loving mother - collects side pieces like stamps. Her daughter is a mess and a soccer star.
And Asha, a real estate agent with a cheating husband. A complete lie of a life. She is pregnant, and her daughter is also a soccer star. Nick is the school's coach, and he turns all the ladies ' heads. He’s front and center surrounding this thriller. And what a tangled web they’ve weaved.

This book goes from thriller/suspense to drama and back. I loved it.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟5 [̲̅S̲̅[̲̅T̲̅][̲̅A̲̅][̲̅R̲̅][̲̅S̲̅]

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Wow, this was one rollercoaster of a read! Definitely not the type of school I would want my kids to attend! An extremely cut throat world of school of athletics serves as a backdrop to this story of backstabbing mothers and conniving teachers. Loved every moment of it!

I loved Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward. I have put that book in the hands of SO many readers. I was SO excited to see a new book by Annie Ward. I was worried it wouldn't stand up, that it wouldn't give me the same feels, and I didn't...but in the very best way!!

To me, this book is less frenetic than Beautiful Bad. The Lying Club is like a slow burn that keeps you turning pages because you want to get to the end before the raging inferno takes over.

Set in an idyllic Colorado mountain community, the kids of the rich (or perceived rich) attend the private school where our Main Character is the administrative assistant in the main office. Natalie sees it all and has some opinions about it. When the handsome older soccer coach starts to notice Natalie in the main office - things get exciting for Natalie and the readers.
Along the story, Natalie makes friends (or are they enemies?) with some of the moms from the school.
Just when readers think all is resolved, you flip that last page. And there's Annie Ward's twist of the knife that I just live for.

This books feels very much like it could have come straight from the headlines.

I think readers that didn't enjoy the energy of Beautiful Bad may really enjoy the slower burn of this one.

Can't wait to put this book in readers hands!

4.75 stars

Thank you to #netgalley and @harlequinbooks for this #arc 👏🏻

I was completely unable to put this book down. It was full of twists and turns and suspense, characters you feel both loathing and pity for, multiple points of view with narrators who may or may not be unreliable, and a great ending. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I didn't think the title fit all that well 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here's the synopsis:
At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, Natalie, an office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke—a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater—and Asha, an overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by the handsome assistant athletic director Nicholas, whom Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.

But when two bodies are carried out of the school one morning, it seems the tension between mothers and daughters, rival lovers, and the haves and have-nots has shattered the surface of this isolated, affluent town—where people stop at nothing to get what they want.