This might look like a romcom cover, but this book is actually a mystery/thriller. The problem with The Lifeguards is that it honestly feels like a knock off of way more successful books in this genre. Add to that the surplus of issues thrown in there; mental illness, drug addiction, emotional abuse, etc. and it's just a mess of storylines that are never explored.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the book.

This was an interesting premise with a murder mystery tied into multiple POV fiction. The characters were well developed. However, it did feel like a slow burn with the ending tying up a little too quickly.

I enjoyed this book overall and found it to be a quick and easy read. My biggest dislike was the ending, it just felt very rushed.

3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Liza, Whitney and Annette live in an upscale community near the greenbelt in Austin, TX. Friends since before their children were born, they have helped each other through raising their kids and are now preparing to relax a little and enjoy some "mom time" now that their sons (aka "The Three Musketeers") are getting ready to star their first job lifeguarding at a local pool. Everything unravels the night before their first day of work when the boys come back from a bike ride with the news they found a body. As the moms try to protect their sons, their carefully guarded secrets threaten to be revealed, and at the same time, the boys are not able to keep their secrets and their involvement with the murder victim.

This was a page-turner suspense book with a twist at the end I was not all the way prepared for. Good beach read or snow day read! Make sure you have a nice chunk of time because you will want to read it in one sitting.

Three pregnant moms meet in an affluent neighborhood and form a little group with their boys. Of course, kids grow up, and eventually get into some kind of trouble. But they're a solid group, so they'll always protect each other, right?

Narrated in multiple POVs throughout - some from the moms, some from the teen boys, and one from a detective who plays a central role in the book - I felt like the whole thing could've easily skewed darker. We were given glimpses of a few solidly creepy moments, but rather than go dark, everything gets more or less brushed aside in the larger narrative and stays more general fic. I do wish we had seen more expansion on some characters and their stories, hiding those thoughts behind a spoiler tag here: What was Whitney's sentence? How exactly did they get out of that bunker? What happens with Roma, is she a full on psychopath, or does her behavior change? And what about the whole gun in the glovebox moment that happened? That was such a blip and I wanted to know more. The epilogue did give a little bit of a wrap up, which I appreciated, but I did want a little bit more woven in - maybe from the perspective of a news story or the mom's group that had been posting throughout the story.

Solid 3.5, rounded up to 4, because I enjoyed the read and liked the overall story!

This book does a great job of exploring the unique friendships formed by mothers with children. They are fierce and complicated! I look forward to recommending this title.

I loved the multiple POVs and different ways of relaying info (group chat, texts, press conference notes). Great chick lit with a mystery piece.

Three best friends, an exclusive Austin enclave and three teenaged sons, should make for a fantastic summer. Get ready because The Lifeguards is one layer peeling back after another. Whitney, Liza and Annette are best of friends though each has a secret. When there sons are out the first night of summer break, they discover a woman’s body and come back to tell their parents. Each of the boys, Bobcat (Robert), Xavier and Charlie are lifeguards at the Barton Hills pool. Of course they have nothing to do with the death of the woman, As these three women try to protect their sons and their image you begin to wonder if anything is as it seems. Whitney’s son Xavier has a twin, Roma) who serves to add even more drama to the story. Told in small part with text messages from the neighborhood newsletter. How far would you go to protect your child, or yourself.

This was a tough book to get through. I didn't love the way that the story was written and really found nothing compelling with the characters. Maybe I will try to pick it up again in the future, but honestly, The Lifeguards was super boring. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.com in trade for my honest review.

The Lifeguards is a murder mystery set in the suburbs. Lifeguard moms will do anything to protect their sons apparently.
Thanks for the arc.

If you like sardonic novels that mix three self absorbed mothers in an elitist neighborhood, their three privileged teenage lifeguard sons, their pretentious husbands, one crazy daughter, and a recently widowed cop on the edge, then this one is for you. For me it was as if the author could not decide if she wanted this to be a parody, a coming-of -age, or crime thriller. Combined they missed the mark. I literally stopped reading the sections from the mothers view point, skipped right over them. I read the sections about the boys, the sections about the cop, and then the final couple of chapters. The boys and the cop were the best characters, though all were underdeveloped. If this would have been a straight crime thriller without the sardonic “wit” it would have been much better, and the author had the chops to achieve that.

3/5 ⭐️’s

Three picture-perfect mothers/best friends living in an affluent Austin neighborhood will do whatever it takes to protect their group of close-knit sons who fall into a spot of trouble one summer night. The boys come home one night scared claiming they found a dead body on the greenbelt, and the story unfolds from there.

If you judged this book by its cover and thought you were getting a fun beach read (like me, ha!) think again - it’s a contemporary mystery (the author calls it a thriller) that very effectively uses multiple points of view and a non-linear timeline, interspersed with neighborhood listservs, secret text messages, and police reports to m draw the reader in.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be an easy read, but the characters were wholly unlikeable and the ending felt very rushed. Also, I’m not sure if this is because I was reading an ARC, or if it’s just the author’s style of writing, but I found myself having to reread sentences multiple times - almost as if the words were out of place or critical punctuation was missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me hooked from page one. Such a fun read, it only took me one day! I loved previous work from this author and this one was no exception. Have already recommended to friends!

The Lifeguards is set in an affluent neighborhood in Austin, TX. Three mom best friends are forced to deal with their sons finding a dead body near their homes. This novel was interesting and hard to figure out. I feel like there were still some unanswered questions at the end. It also ended a bit too neatly. But still a fun read that I would recommend.

This is a murder mystery that takes place in Austin, TX amongst a group of mothers (who are extremely close) and their children (also extremely close). Every character seems to have something to hide which keeps the anticipation building. I was full of anxiety in the best way while reading. This would be an excellent book to read on vacation somewhere.
I give this book four out of five stars. I really, really enjoyed it. I loved all the different perspectives that the story was told in. I was able to engage with the characters easier this way. The character descriptions in the first chapter really set the tone for the novel and I liked all of the characters (even when I hated them too). I appreciated the short chapters and thought that broke the story down easier. I was hooked from the prologue and thought the whole story flowed nicely within the different perspectives.

A big thank you to Amanda Eyre Ward, Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC.

The Lifeguards is very different from what I am used to! That being said, it was such a good book. Compelling and flawed characters, terrific writing and a storyline I found hard to put down. Thank you so much!

Mystery, friendships, relationships, mother/sons and more! I really enjoyed the multiple POVs in this latest from Ward. I absolutely loved The Jetsetters, so I knew that this book wouldn't disappoint. Generally, I'll be honest, I do not enjoy mystery/thriller plots BUT this BOOK. HAD. ME. HOOKED. I read it in about 2 sittings.... it starts off a bit slow, and I had to keep flipping back to keep some of the character's straight but holy moly, then I could not put it down!

Three best friends in Austin TX are stuck in the middle of a murder mystery when their sons (all friends, and all lifeguards) suddenly 'find' a dead body. Chaos and suspense follow.... each mother seems to unpack her inner-struggles and immediately think how it cannot be her own son, and how they will each protect their own flesh before anything else; even if that means avoiding the truth and getting caught in lies. This book read a lot like The Last Thing He Told Me, with each chapter being fast-paced and moving the plot. Ward drops the smallest of little hints and clues that were perfect breadcrumbs, but I didn't pick up on them until the very end (as I shouldn't have!) so bravo. The affluent life of two of the moms reminded me of a lot The Hunting Wives by May Cobb.... the lies, the looking picture perfect on the outside, all trying to impress each other. I also really enjoyed the side plot of romance with the Detective.... and his overall struggle as a human being and Dad and just trying to balance his life. It made him more real and so much more dynamic than just 'guy who solves murders.' Loved the book!

I was interested and pulled in to the mystery; however, it got a little strange at the end and left me unable to give it a good recommendation.

The neighborhood moms FB group messages were the best part! I only wish there had been more of those to add levity.

I thought this book was well written and i felt the characters were developed well. Lots of different characters, but easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this book.

The Lifeguards as a title is misleading because this is a story about the mothers of three teenage boys who find themselves in over their heads after they find the dead body of young women.

As we get to know the women we learn that each has a secret that they are keeping from each other. However, they all are working to protect the facades they adopted to keep the friendship intact.

What is most disappointing is that none of the mothers listened to their sons. Instead they are preoccupied with how the events will impact those facades even as they pull away from each other the more they feel threatened.

The plot twist and ending were satisfying but the epilogue left too many unanswered questions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.