Evie Porter has just moved in with her handsome boyfriend, Ryan. They are happy, in love, but his friends are wary of her.
Evie has so many alias’ it feels hard to keep up, but the flash backs give the detail about her previous identities set under the stern direction of the mysterious and surely Mr Smith. An unpleasant man that enjoys controlling her.
Ryan, she finds has skeletons in his own cupboard, which Evie also manages to eventually uncover but their relationship is complex and curious to observe. There is an enjoyable friendship between Devon. I particularly liked Rachel, Ryan’s very sharp and direct friend, who is also a lawyer that helps to represent Evie, despite her reservations.
This is an enjoyable and quite light-hearted approach to a form of espionage. The characters are quite interesting. Evie is likeable, warm and fallible despite her measured and calculating approaching to fulfilling her jobs. It keeps you guessing, but with so many twists, turns and red herrings it is hard to fathom the correct denouement.

Clover plot with well written characters.
For some reason i struggled at the start but soon became engrossed.
Overall a fantastic read.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
A worthy four star thriller.

First Lie Wins is an absolutely amazing thriller that completely unique with incredible twists and turns. I loved that I was constantly second guessing myself whilst reading this with no cliches I got a completely new reading experience with a fantastic premise. Overall a really clever plot, great thriller with really well written characters - I highly recommend.

Is anyone really who you think they are? After reading this book I’m not entirely sure who I am anymore!
A thrilling novel of the sharpest wins the race, misplaced identity and dangerous games.
An insatiable page turner that will have you trying to untangle the story’s web before the final reveals.

Loved loved loved! This is absolutely not what you will be expecting and I'm promising it will be one of the most unique and original thrillers you'll have read this year. The characters are well written and were got such an flawed but incredibly intelligent female protagonist who it's impossible not to root for! There's suspense, drama, romance, and oh so many lies! Absolutely amazing

This was excellent - one of the best books I've read this year. A great plot and very very clever. I look forward to her future books.

I found this book a little hard to connect with initially, but as I persevered I became engrossed in the amazing way the author wove the storylines together. Such a cleverly written piece I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! The publication date is the 9th January 2024. I will also leave this review my Instagram blog- https://instagram.com/mcbookshelf?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg=

This is the first book I’ve read from this author and it was nothing short of amazing, it’s everything you want in a psychological thriller. The suspense within the book had me hooked dying to know what would happen next there were lots of twists and turns that kept me on my toes!

The characters were likeable and very well written my favourite character was a Evie as I would wonder what would happen next for her. After, I read this book I thought about it for a while after as really stuck in my head.

Overall, a fantastic read and if you read this book you definitely won’t be disappointed! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!

I enjoyed reading First Lie Wins. I love the intrigue of a mystery that pushes you to read on.
Evie is a likable character even though I had no idea her game until I read it. Snd i didnt quite guess the identity of the mysterious Mr Smith.

I'd definitely read more from this author.

What a superb book that I found captivating. I loved the whole approach by Ashley Easton that kept going backwards and forwards in the time frame and then to end with the present time. Each part so neatly folded into the other making it an easy read but still needed some concentration to understand the mind that was solving problems all the time. A premise of always taking on a new identity was so fluidly written and each person that was Lucca through into Evie were so clearly described that it was easy to believe they were real.
The characters, the scenery, all the events and emotions were all so clearly written that they could all be imagined.
I look forward to reading more by this incredible author.

I coukd not out this book doen, right from the first chapter I was desperate to find out who this character was and why she was undercover. What transpires is a really well planned back story and through a series of flashback chapters ,takes you through all the undercover jobs and aliases the main character had that lead her to this point along with the key players along the way.
The fact is that she has done some questionable things for her undercover jobs but is good at heart makes you really root for her happiness and a positive future.
Totally unputdownable!.

This is an intriguing thriller that I didn’t fully appreciate until I reached the end and then the story was stuck in my head for a time after! This has a highly unusual plot line as the main character is a bit of a grifter, working false identities to achieve different underhand challenges for her mysterious boss Mr Smith. This time the main character is ‘Evie’ and she’s under pressure to achieve her latest task due to her failure to complete the previous one, when a doppelgänger arrives in the neighbourhood who has her true identity she knows she’s in real trouble and whilst you think you can understand how deep she’s in it you’ve actually no idea what’s really happening. This is very much about the long game which is pulled together by chapters telling of jobs she’s undertaken in the past tier in with the dramatic time she’s currently experiencing. This is brilliantly woven together and the ending is fantastic due to this. 9/10

This is one of those books that keeps you guessing. There are twists and turns aplenty - and given the number of lies, red herrings and aliases involved, that's not surprising!

It's also a book that is better gone into without reading too much about it before hand. But the gist of it is:

Evie Porter appears to have the perfect life for any Southern girl, with a lovely home, boyfriend and lifestyle. However, the significance lies in the word "appears". Because not only is Evie not who she seems to be, her boyfriend Ryan isn't exactly as straightforward either. But given the new arrival in their lives, a reckoning may be at hand...

This is a suspenseful read, and highly enjoyable providing you can get past the slightly confusing beginning, where it feels like a lot of characters are jostling for space. Elston delivers on a fascinating narrative peopled with flawed but likable characters. Recommended.

First Lie Wins is addictive, each chapter unravels another part of the protagonist's past life and adds to her jigsaw.
Lucca is sent on an assignment by her boss Mr. Smith (Lucca does not know the identity of Mr. Smith) and she is currently in a relationship with Ryan. Lucca never knows where she will be sent or what her assginment is until she receives a message on a burner phone from Mr Smith.
The book opens with Lucca (going by the name of Evie) meeting Ryan's friends for the first time. Unbeknownst to Ryan and his friends - Evie is hiding lots of secrets - but so is Ryan.
The story is told from multiple perspectives but always from Lucca's where she is posing as an alias, completing an assignment for Mr Smith.
It's a pyschological thriller which keeps you on the edge of your seat. Elston knows how to write well, she has developed a really interesting plot with a fabulous (i didnt see it coming) twist at the end.

#FirstLieWins #NetGalley
Wowsome!!! 5 ⭐
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes--especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher--but then, Evie has always liked a challenge..
I can't believe what I've just finished. Loved it so so much.
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for giving me an advance copy.

I was so looking for a different genre of book than I usually read to share with our readers. I loved the aspect of creating a new life for herself, but f course that comes with consequences. I was so excited and interested to read how this story panned out and I certainly wasn’t disappointed! This would make a great book club read or a book to be optioned for film…Reese Witherspoon are you listening! Perfect suspense read