Evie Porters life at present is everything she could have wanted, the boyfriend, the house, friends, she has come a long way from humble beginnings. The only problem is that Evie and her life is a lie.
Evies job entails her playing different roles in order to insert herself into the lives of others in order to gain information for her boss Mr. Smith. The pay is good, and Evie has no problem in changing roles once her current job is completed.
However, she is enjoying her present life, and not looking forward to the time she will need to give it up to change roles. Then, the unexpected happens. While out with her boyfriend, Ryan, they meet an old friend of Ryans and the woman he is with. Ryan introduces his friend, James, and James in turn introduces his date. Evie is shocked to hear that his date has Evies original name, comes from the same place as Evie originally came from, went to the same school as Evie did, in short, told details of Evies life as her own.
This ensures that Evie can never go back to her original life, someone else has claimed it, just as she claims others lives.
This book is full of suspense as Evie tries to find out who this woman is, and why she has claimed Evies life. There are secrets and lies galore, and a plot that twists and turns, until an explosive ending. A compelling read.

Good story with lots of twists and turns. Kept me gripped, maybe a bit far fetched at times but a good edge of ur seat thriller usually is. Enjoyed it and recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this early read.

This book was great, really different and an original storyline.
I really enjoyed all the different aliases that Lucca/Evie took on throughout the book and there were lots of twists that I wasn’t expecting.
Definitely got better as the book went on.

I enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns and it kept me turning the pages. Different to my usual choice of book but entertaining, with engaging characters.

Such an exciting book. Eve Porter seems to have everything you could want in life , house, garden, loving boyfriend etc but then the reader discovers that she has been placed in that life by her mysterious boss. She isn't sure why she was asked to inveigle herself into this person's life, there is always a reason. Getting information is the usual one or saving someone from blackmail, that kind of thing. Eventually she decides to find out her boss's identity to try to extricate herself from the situation. Too many people die once they have served their purpose and Eve doesn't want to be one of them. A tense game is played out with the reader unable to put the book down!! I loved it in case you can't tell :)

This book was far better than I expected. It was a real page turner and I read it in less than 24 hours and almost one sitting. Without giving any spoilers it is a great story of subterfuge, lies and lots of double crossing. The story kept a great pace throughout and was fairly difficult to work out who was a goody and who was a baddy.

A thoroughly well written thriller

This book really surprised me, was not expecting to like it as much as I did. Brilliant storyline which kept me guessing. Different from anything I have read before. The characters were brilliant and jumped out of the page. Definitely a page turner

Evie Porter is desperate to impress her new boyfriend's tight knit group of childhood friends. She's picked out the perfect outfit, planned a mouth-watering menu and rehearsed how she'll answer any awkward personal questions.

But the stakes are higher than usual at this dinner party. Because Evie Porter is not her real name, her relationship with local golden boy Ryan is not what it seems, and the consequences of anyone discovering the truth could be deadly.

Ashley Elston's first foray into adult fiction is a dynamic, riveting thriller which unfolds at an exhilarating pace and keeps the reader guessing till the very end.

The story plays out in one main timeline, with flashbacks to key moments in Evie's past filling in the gaps in the reader's knowledge in tantalisingly small pieces.

Evie is a delight of a protagonist - whip smart, resourceful and ruthless, yet with enough softness to her character that you are firmly in her corner. A tragic back story does a lot of the heavy lifting but it works because I was rooting for her even when she was at her most morally ambiguous. In contrast, her love interest Ryan is laughably bland, and this was the one element of the story I couldn't buy into.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

Lucca Marino was a loving daughter, she would do practically anything to buy the medication for her mother's cancer. Her skills as a small time thief brought her to the attention of a man who wanted to exploit and enhance her talents for his purposes. What follows next are a series of 'stings', very embedded and complex, entertaining too. Lucca is bright too and realises her worth but she is wise enough to know she could become a liability too. The 'man', a Mr Smith is clever too and seems to have eyes everywhere. It's almost a game of cat and mouse.
Will she get out alive?
First Lie Wins is a very cleverly conceived thriller. I cannot recall anything quite like it. I give it my thorough recommendation.

Really entertaining, kept me engaged in the mystery right through to the end. This is a very clever unique story line and written with good pace. Would be a fabulous beach read!

Loved it! This is just such a good entertaining read! There is a cleverly constructed plot to keep you turning the pages to find out more. I empathised with the main character and the air of mystery about her regardless of whether crimes were committed. I will be looking for more books by this author and I am certain they will be outstanding too.

The "baddie" was so well put together. Much different from other books. In fact, I thought to myself that the author brilliantly displayed so many layers of creativity throughout. Much to her credit.

I really enjoyed this book. It had me hooked immediately and kept my attention throughout. Full of suspense and thrills!

This is a once started you can not stop
Very cleverly written
Full of suspense
A completely different read

WOW WOW WOW

Thank you netgalley, Headline & Ashley Elston

No aspersions cast on the author or book, I just couldn't gel with it. It was more of a spy novel in my estimation than the thriller of a more psychological nature I was expecting.

Thank you to Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have been desperate for a good and interesting Mystery Thriller and I legit got that with this one! This is the type of story that I enjoy in my mystery thrillers. I honestly just found it so intriguing from the start and all of the twists and turns along the way.

I do have to say that I think I guessed all of the twists but that doesn't take away my enjoyment. I just don't think I've read a Mystery/Thriller where I just don't guess the things (I blame myself being a True Crime Enthusiast).

Honestly I had a great time with all of the unravelling and everything coming together and finding the ins and outs. I had a great time going between past and present.

Overall a great read!

There is a lot of potential here, but I feel it needs some polishing up. The storyline is great, I loved the twists and figuring out who Mr Smith was, and I enjoyed the final ending too.

My problem was the formatting (or lack thereof) bugged me. I hope this was a mistake on the ARC which will be fixed before publication, because I was surprised to find this was not a self-published book with such inconsistent formatting. Majority of the book has no indents, which makes for a less enjoyable reading experience, and chapters start anywhere on the page.

I have not let this detract from my rating because the writing itself was good, but please fix the formatting before January!!

I hadn’t read any of Ashley Elston’s books prior to reading First Lie Wins and I have to say it’s an intricately woven piece of writing. With all the elements of a typical thriller, it delivers a heady mix of espionage and technological know how in marking this novel as one that I willingly stayed up late reading.

A great well planned novel full of suspense, tension & mystery with twists and turns.... a real page turner, with just the right amount of pace.
The chapters alternate between present day and the past which works perfectly. The reader can't help being drawn into this great, intricate storyline supporting Evie, the central character.
This book was a very pleasant surprise, I couldn't put it down &shall be recommending this to everyone!

Thanks to NetGalley for a brilliant Arc in return for an honest review

This was a fabulous book. Quirky and different, it was a fresh change from other thrillers. The plot certainly kept me thinking. I look forward to more from this author. Highly recommended. Thanks to Author, Publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Evie and Ryan make a picture-perfect couple in their Louisiana town. It's a charmed life where Evie soon discovers she’s not the only one getting in the first lie. Cue tailspin when Evie meets a woman at a party who is literally her double, name and all. When tragedy strikes, Evie must make some gut-wrenching decisions to save her life and her existence.

The rest of the book gives us insight into Evie’s mysterious past (is she a con artist? a spy? a disruptor?) and confusing present, laid out jigsaw-wise for the reader to consider and fit together. Into the mix we have the ubiquitous and mysterious Mr Smith who uses voice-changing technology to issue orders, and the brooding George who delivers bits and pieces to make it all work. The reason for Mr Smith’s existence and his motivation is murky until the thrilling end. But Evie’s no fool, she’s got a side hustle with bestie Devon who can crack a code or a CCTV feed without popping a sweat.

It was refreshing to read a novel about a hard-boiled woman grifter, and Ashley Elston has created a largely believable world for her to work in. I admit to playing catch-up with the plot points, but they were all there, and so the story pulled together in the end. I liked the Killing Eve vibe with a touch of Mission Impossible. The author stayed true to her main character as well, who grew a lot over the course of the book but never lost heart. This is my first Ashley Elston book and it was clever and gutsy and I will definitely look for more.

Thanks to NetGalleyUK and Headline for the eARC.