This was such a fun and twisty thriller!! More forgettable than their last novel but still highly enjoyable.

This was a very slow read for me and not fast paced enough my preference of thrillers. I didn't love Simones character. I’d give this 3 Stars!

Her past with Hunter is disturbing. They have a four year gap but were supposed to be BFFs prior to Simone’s world falling apart. I can’t imagine a 5 and 9 year old being that close or a 12 and 16 year old. They’re at vastly different stages of life and yet it is written with crush undertones as kids that carries into sexual overtures when they reconnect as adults.

Simone keeps saying her dad is innocent and her neighbor murdered her mom, but for most of the book there is no proof other than she believes it was shoddy police work. She does the same thing she’s accusing everyone of doing to her dad: handing out a guilty verdict without doing due diligence or evidence. It would have been a more powerful statement of the injustice that happened to her dad if she would have kept her accusations to herself and done actual investigative work to find proof and the truth.

In the end, I felt the execution was too sloppy and the twist/reveal anticlimactic and a little predictable. Simone was an unlikable character and I felt her relationship drama with her boyfriend and the multiple sex scenes were unnecessary and added nothing to the story.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarelquinTradePublishing for the ARC #PerfectLittleLies by #AmberAndDanielleBrown. This book was dark and interesting following a 13 year ago murder of a mom/wife. Can Simone find the evidence to get her dad out of prison? Who killed her mom?

I wanted to love this book, it sounded so interesting when I saw it listed on Netgalley. I thought it would be the main character, Simone doing anything she can to try and prove that her father was wrongfully convicted for the murder of her mother. But this went in two different directions all at the same time which to me was too confusing and conflicting.

I don't think it helped either that Simone was not a favorite main character for me by the way she acted and responded to situations.


Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my copy of Perfect Little Lives.

This was an interesting follow up to their debut Someone Had to Do It. In this story Simone’s father has been convicted of killing her mother. But Simone’s family has secrets and she thinks someone else was the killer.
Simone wasn’t my favorite character. She was a little too reckless and way too accommodating of Reggie. I did like her relationship with Hunter. I figured out the twist about 1/3 in and I wasn’t at all surprised by the ending. This book was still a good suspense read.

Perfect Little Lives is fast paced thriller. The end got a bit predictable, but overall, it was a fun read.

Perfect Little Lives is a murder mystery/romance mash up that misses the mark. It would have been better as either a full on thriller or a romance but putting both together didn’t work in this case.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange, for an honest review! I so desperately really wanted to love this book, but sadly, I only liked it. I’m a huge fan of thriller/mystery novels so I had high hopes for this book. I especially enjoyed the scene setting and getting to know the characters, but I feel like the authors took way too long setting the scene to where I got bored. I also felt like it was super obvious that this book was written by two authors. For some reason, I feel like the tone of writing switched up a lot throughout this book which made it kind of hard to follow. I also think the killer was made to be super obvious too early on because there wasn’t enough suspects.

Also, while I understand the need to discuss the criminal justice system and the vast difference of treatment amongst different races, Simone’s internal dialogue about it all was very annoying to me. I know that she was upset that her dad was wrongfully convicted, and that the police didn’t care about her mom’s murder because she was a black woman, but as a book revealed more about Kate and her own personal affairs, it became super obvious that the police didn’t care because the cop himself was complicit. I don’t think it’s the author’s fault completely that I didn’t enjoy these parts per sex I think I’m just tired of reading about Black trauma. I love reading about my people, but sometimes reading about our struggles and what we have to deal with in reality sucks. Sometimes I want to get away from the reality of our society and not have to read about it in a book. Overall I gave this book 3 stars, I feel like I would’ve given it a 3.5/4 if the twist was not as anti-climatic. Lastly, I don’t understand how she could forgive Hunter for acting the way that he did towards her. While I understand that he was her childhood friend, the ultimatum that he gave her regarding ruining Reggie’s career was too much for me to overlook. There’s no way I would’ve gotten over something like that. I don’t care how best of friends we are; the racism behind basically outing Reggie to his law firm was just too much for me. I don’t see any romance in that at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. I feel like this book didn’t know if it wanted to be a thriller or romance. It also felt like it dragged on too long.

Thank you to Harlequin Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really pride myself on trying to power through books that I don’t enjoy, but I just couldn’t do it here. This was a DNF for me, the language, the frequent (but also random as hell) sex scenes, and the plot was all over the places.

What a rollercoaster of a read! It became pretty predictable towards the end but I still really enjoyed this thriller.

I was grateful to receive the ARC of this novel and I definitely enjoyed the read! It was quick, but gripping! Very interesting and full of plot lines and characters I don’t see in many books. Was it a twist I didn’t see coming? Not necessarily, but it still kept me interested and wanting to figure it out for sure. There was just something missing that I couldn’t put my finger on that kept it from being a five star read for me. Definitely suggest giving it a read!

Perfect Little Lives was marketed as a thriller and I wanted so much to love it but there was just too much going on.

We meet Simone, a writer whose mother was murdered & her father was wrongfully convicted. On page one she was already complaining about the patriarchy & her boyfriend. I found her super unlikeable from the very beginning.

Then, there’s her boyfriend, Reggie. He works at a huge law firm and barely has time for her anymore. She gets very upset about this even though she has totally lied to him about her family’s past and her upbringing.

Enter her childhood best friend, Hunter, who we find out his dad was having an affair with her mom before she was murdered.

Oh, and let’s not forget Pia, who is trying to get in contact with her because she’s doing a true. time documentary about her Mother’s case.

There was a love triangle, an old murder to solve and plenty of random sex scenes - which normally I love. They just felt very out of place in a book about solving your mother’s murder. I was ready for a good thriller, but this was not that.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

I honestly wasn't a fan of this book. It focused on the lead s sex life for way longer than needed, and I got bored..
I honestly didn't know what the story was about until chapter until page 32.
.

Perfect Little Lives is a great idea for a book that just doesn't get off the ground. The story lags quite a bit, and the mystery aspect to it is lacking. The spicy element hedges on crude and just wasn't my cup of tea.

I'm giving this book 3.5 stars. Initially I wasn't sure whether this book wanted to be a smutty romance or a murder mystery. It's not so much of a thriller to me, and I guessed the twists/killer pretty early on in the book.
While this book had some fun elements, I did not like that the relationship between Simone and Hunter had such an age gap when they were hunger. It felt predatory to me and while I know as adults that age gap doesn't matter, when they were kids it does.
Simone was also kind of unlikable at times. and I'm honestly surprised she didn't figure out the murderer faster.
I did however enjoy the commentary about the justice/legal system in regards to POC and how differently situations, investigations, etc. are handled when it's some of color vs. a whit individual.
Overall, it was a good experience. just not an all time favorite. I want to thank Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing Company, and Smber and Danielle Brown for the ARC of this book.

This was a little disappointing. Pace moved slowly and it took a while for me to get into. I wasn’t a big fan of the main character. The suspense wasn’t really there for me, and I didn’t really find the plot compelling. Things started to pick up a bit about a quarter in, but I sadly was no longer invested. I just don’t think I vibed with this book and it’s no fault of the authors.

I read and LOVED "Someone Had To Do It" last year so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read "Perfect Little LIves" early. We follow Simone, as she tries to uncover the truth of the fateful night her mother was murdered. With a deep exploration of how Black men are treated by the criminal justice system and how the authorities go above and beyond when a white woman goes missing or is murdered, this book had depth as well as thrills.



Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my copy of Perfect Little Lives!

🥳 Happy Pub Day to the Authors ! 🥳

Ok so I rounded this review up from a 2 1/2 to a 3 ⭐ because I did like #PerfectLittleLives more than I did not but it also bothered me . Having a hard time writing an honest review that makes sense & isn't completely scatter brained .

Ok so i did like the character of Simone & her boyfriend Reggie . Their relationship seemed real , anyone can relate to that .
I loved both the characters of her parents.
I loved she's a bookworm .
& Is a strong independent woman dedicated to helping her dad . No consequences.
The rekindling of an old friendship is always nice as well .

Things I didn't like :
The overtones of racism . White people are so annoying ... White people do this ... White people lie ... White privilege . White devils blah blah 🙄
Why in 2023 am I reading a book about black/white racism being shoved down my throat pretty much the whole book.
If we as a society want to be equal & all get along all that "their all the same" bs needs to stop . Authors pushing that narrative definitely is not going to help .

I also didn't like the romantic thriller with a touch smut this book was giving . Pick a theme & let's roll with it.
I could tell this book was written by 2 people .

Thank u #NetGalley for the Arc .