3 stars

I didn’t love this book. It was supposed to be a thriller, but it felt more dramatic than anything, and there were only a few moments of true suspense/tension scattered throughout the drama and dysfunctional relationships. The protagonist was also kind of all over the place…I know she was dealing with a lot of serious issues, but she fluctuated with dizzying speed about who she was accusing of murder throughout the book, and it was all just a lot. I think, in general, the writing style of this one just wasn’t for me.

I really was looking forward to this book, but it ultimately fell flat for me. There are a lot of gaps and inconsistencies in the story. For a debut novel, it was okay and had a lot of potential!

Enjoyable but a little bit predictable. The overall story and storytelling was really well done. The plot was fairly easy to figure out pretty early on. There was a lot of wavering back and forth that possibly could distract from the predictability. I ultimately enjoyed the book and would read again from these authors.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC! I was looking so forward to this novel after loving "Someone Had To Do It", the author duo's previous book. Unfortunately, this book felt clunky and disorganized. The dialoque was distracting and odd, the plot was muddled, the book attempted to stride the genre line but to its detriment. I can't genuinely recommend this one, but Id give whatever is next a chance based on how much I enjoyed the prior novel.

This one was a little all over the place for me, I think it needed to pick a lane and stick with it instead of toeing the line. At times it felt like I was reading a romance book with toxic drama, and then other times it felt like I was reading a good case suspense novel. The failure to distinguish between what it was trying to do lost me unfortunately, but despite all that I did finish it. The suspense aspect fell flat for me as well as I found the twist to be predictable and easy to see coming. I did like the way the author discussed race in relation to criminal cases and found their observations and commentary to be sharp. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.

An enjoyable thriller that seemed to want to be a romance? It was confusing to see THAT much sex in the story when it didn't really serve a purpose.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Free ebook, review is my own.

I wanted to like this book. Good idea but poorly executed. This book didn’t nail any of it…

I flew through this book but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t just so the end would come faster. The premise was interesting but ultimately this book fell really flat in its execution and pacing. It seems like the authors couldn’t decide what lane this book would take and it left me dizzy with how often the tone and pace of the story would change. If I hadn’t been given a copy to review, I don’t know if I ever would’ve made it past the first few pages with how crude and off-putting the book starts out. I pushed through despite starting with a bad taste in my mouth and although the story did get slightly better after the opening chapters, it never really hit its stride. The ending felt totally unsatisfying and it felt like characters were going against everything we as readers had learned about them previously just to wrap up the story. Just pretty disappointing.

I should have known from reading the first chapter of this unhinged book that it was not going to be an enjoyable ride. When I first read the plot of this book, I thought I was genuinely going to enjoy it, but unfortunately this book was just not for me. I almost forgot that this was supposed to be promoted as a mystery/thriller because it sure didn’t feel like it. At times it felt like a straight up romance book with a mystery/thriller sub genre, and this book genuinely gave me whiplash from it switching through different genres.

In my opinion, the beginning of this book was just unbearable and hard to get through, and some of the scenes in this book just felt unnecessary and way too descriptive. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters and most of the dialogue was just super corny. There were certain topics in this book that just really took away from the plot and it just made it hard to get through, and I just felt that this book was just way too long when it didn’t need to be.

Overall, the book did get slightly better towards the middle with the thriller plot finally getting the light of day, but the ending just did not do it for me. I felt the ending was WAAAAY too predictable and just plain bad to the point where I skimmed through most of the last few pages just to get the book over with. It’s unfortunate that this book was not one of my favorites just because the plot sounded so good, but it just looks like this author duo is just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Simone's life was turned upside down when her mother was murdered and her father was found guilty of her murder. This resulted in a massive life change for Simone. She was uprooted from living with both parents in a wealthy neighborhood to barely making ends met. Amongst all of these tragic events she also lost her best friend Hunter. Hunter and Simone formed a strong bond over the years as neighbors and when they run into one another - they are giving a second chance to rekindle their friendship. A friendship that might lead to helping her free her father, who has maintaining his innocence.

Simone has a true crime documentarian breathing down her neck. The documentary is about her mothers murder and father's conviction. She's up against time as the release of it could hurt her fathers case. Simone is carrying a lot of her plate including her job and boyfriend.

Perfect Little Lives is a character driven book however it took me a bit to get past the initial start of the book as it was a bit more than I anticipated. This book has romance, true crime and triller all rolled into one however it wasn't executed very well and sometimes felt unreal.

Overall the read was decent and the story itself was very interesting. Simone is an unlikable character more often then not but you still cheer for her and want the best outcome for her.

Thank you author, Netgalley & Harlequin Publications for sharing the ARC.

The story synopsis drew me in thinking it will be an interesting domestic thriller unfortunately did not turn out like how thought it would be. It read more like Soapy over dramatic romantic drama that had a mystery plot line. A daughter who’s trying to get her Dad out of his prison sentence for killing his wife/her mother, but Simon is sure that it’s not her father but someone else who’s responsible and she’s going to get to the bottom of it forms the main story . With her romantic life & relationships being core part of the story (although I couldn’t understand why they needed to be there with such in depth & details) between her boyfriend & her childhood friend who she reconnects after long time. And we have sort of love triangle. There are chapters of what looks like her mother’s diary entry giving readers insight to what transpired before her murder, the authors even address issues that black women / people in general face in various facets of life including law enforcement, all of this plot line is supposed to hook you in.
Unfortunately none of this worked for me . If not for the ARC this book would definitely be a DNF for me .
The premise lured you in but once you start there’s nothing salvageable.

It’s a 1/5 star ⭐️ read for me .

I love the author duo that is Amber and Danielle Brown and just when I was starting to wonder how much I was actually going to like Perfect Little Lives, they threw me for a loop, and I was sold. I thought I had this entire plot figured out and then it turned out I was dead wrong. I think it did move a little slowly, but I was still invested enough in the story to keep going, and I loved the way the authors kept me guessing. Simone was a very strong and motivated FMC, and I was happy to follow along on her journey to figure out who *actually* killed her mother. There are a handful of spicy scenes, but in general, they fit with the storyline, and I would just keep in mind that there is some sexy time mixed in with this thriller.

I think the best way to read this book is through the audio, and despite it being slower for the majority of the time, Sandra Okuboyejo & Allyson Ryan knew how to me going. The way they narrated the story drew me in and kept me listening, and I thought they were both just right for the book itself and their characters. I listened to the majority of this between a 2.3-3x speed, and it goes by so fast that way. Through Perfect Little Lives the authors also cover some very significant topics such as race and class, which was done in a way I have come to love and appreciate from them. The end was surprising, and let's face it, this has a gorgeous cover! I am already excited to see what this duo will do next, and this was a great, timely read for me.

“𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.”

I loved Amber and Danielle’s debut, Someone Had to Do It, which was a fun soapy thrill ride and so was looking forward to their newest.

Protagonist Simone is sure of her convictions, especially that her father is innocent of murdering her mother; throughout the book, I kept wondering if it was misplaced or not; the authors did a great job at planting red herrings to have you guessing (despite me seeing most of the ending coming). Simone is a hard character to like in ways; her loyalty to finding out what happened to her mother causes her to make poor decisions, treat people unfairly and go back and forth from accusation to accusation without real reason, which got old at times. The writing has a lot of strong commentary on race, in relation to criminal cases and in terms of everyday microaggressions (like Reggie having to work harder to prove himself as a the only Black lawyer at his firm). The story is a mystery-romance hybrid (there are many sex scenes), yet I felt a lot of conflict with the male relationships in Simone’s life - Reggie seemed like a good boyfriend, but was he an ass for not giving her the focus she deserves? When Simone rekindles her relationship with childhood best friend, Hunter, I couldn’t decide if I wanted them to get together or rebuild their strong friendship. Simone’s complaining got a bit grating after a while, and the overall story lacked the fun and tension of their debut.

Perfect Little Lies is a story of presumed guilt, justice, loyalty, and closure. It mixes between a romance with toxic drama and a mystery-suspense that won’t work for everyone, but Amber and Danielle’s overall writing will keep me coming back for their next book. Thank you to Graydon House & NetGalley for the ARC!

I really struggled to get into this novel from page 1. Sadly the writing style wasn’t for me, and quickly turned me off from reading further.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of this novel.

Perfect Little Lives was a fun read that I devoured in two sittings.

Simone’s mom was brutally murdered and rather than conducting a thorough investigation, her father was sentenced to life in prison. Being the only black family in Asher Lane, a wealthy neighborhood on a cul de sac, Simone believes the case was open and shut to protect the white families in the neighborhood, and possibly her mom’s real killer. 13 years later, Simone is dating a successful man and visits her father every sunday while trying to prove his innocence. She runs into her childhood best friend/neighbor Hunter, and as they reconnect, Simone decides to use his lust towards her to get to the truth behind her mother’s murder.

This book flipped between murder mystery and romance/smut. The romance parts were a bit too toxic for my taste, and I felt like I was reading two separate books. 3 solid stars!

‘Perfect Little Lives’ was not as exciting as the title makes it out to be. I would give it only a 2 out of 5 stars because it did not lure me in. I had to force myself to finish it. Simon’s past haunts her when she re connects with her neighbor hunter from growing up. Is there something more sinister going on? Unfortunately, no.

This read was slow at first and a little bit disconnected as to what was the main story, the love life of the main character or the mystery of who really killed her mother. I still liked the detail in characters and scenes. and dialogue.

I would definitely recommend this read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an eARC of Perfect Little Lives in exchange for my honest review!

Perfect Little Lives doesn't handle all its material as smoothly as it could have, but it remains an enthralling time that takes a probing look at suburbia and racism. Sometimes, it's aiming to be a mystery-thriller, while other times, it focuses on romance. And this is the aspect of the book that doesn't gel together completely well. But even with that, even with the plot becoming somewhat predictable (particularly if you're a seasoned thriller fan), it pulls me into Simone's determined mission to prove her imprisoned father's innocence and uncover the grim secrets festering behind the picturesque image that her childhood home has been painting over itself. The bigotry that Black people endure from white individuals and this society they have to live in comprise a convincingly executed part of this narrative and how effectively it gets me invested in the characters and their stories.

Overall, I'm officially rating Perfect Little Lives 3.5 out of 5 stars, which I'll round down to 3 stars on Goodreads. I'd be interested in checking out more of Amber and Danielle Brown's work in the future.

This one is a slow burn that at first I thought was a romance where Simone had a past and it affected her current relationship. Then it evolved to her wanting to find her mother’s killer and get her dad out of prison as he was the one convicted. It takes us a while from here to get to the resolution, I was vested though and wanted to see how it would end. I really liked the ending and overall enjoyed this one.

Thank you to Grayson House for the digital copy to review.

This book was decent and I enjoyed the read but it felt confused on if it was supposed to be a tense romance or a thriller novel. I also found the thriller aspect of things to be a little predictable. At times, Simone very much got on my nerves, which I always find to be a good thing if a main character causes a strong feeling for me during my reading.