Thankyou to Netgalley & the publisher for the Ebook.

Unpopular opinion

I have seen a lot of amazing reviews for First Lie Wins so i had high expectations. I wasnt hooked, it took me a while to read and i didnt really care about it. It was ok but didnt blow me away. I did enjoy the writing style and would try other books by this author but this one wasnt for me and didnt live up to the hype

I seem to be in the minority with this one, again! Maybe majorly hyped books just end up falling flat for me, maybe my expectations are too high.

Evie Porter has a new job. A new Job in Ryan Sumner. Her boss is a ball buster and after her last job was a bust, she has some making up to do. Her boss - Mr Smith, identity unknown, speaks through a voice changer and never meets with his employees in person. Evie Porter is his best asset and she knows it. But she doesn't anticipate the feelings that Ryan brings out in her. A man with his own secrets, his own lies. She moves into his home, a place she'd dreamt about as a child, a place her mum fantasised about. She knows Ryan, but he doesn't know a thing about her. Evie Porter is nothing more than an alias. One of many.

This is a job to her, again, one of many. She's done it so many times, she knows it like the back of her hand. That is until she hears a name she'd thought she'd never hear again. Her real name - Lucca. She's always fiercely protected the identity. The plan was to always go back to it when she got out, but clearly Mr Smith has no intentions of letting her go.

Going to be honest - this one intimidated me. Everywhere I've looked 5 star reviews seem to follow this book. But for me it isn't the perfect read I was expecting.

The book is slow for about 60% of the book.
I unfortunately worked out the twist way before the hints were revealed.
All the characters were unlikable to me.
It felt less about plot movement and more about Evie's internal conflict - Am I good or evil?
I also felt we were told the story and not shown.

What a great read! Absolutely absorbing. The story gripped me from the first chapter and the characters were very believable. It felt that there should be a second book as lots of presumptions at the end

Twisty and engaging, this story kept me guessing all the way to the end

Such a fast paced story with a plot as entangled as a spider's web. I kept trying to figure out what's the connection between characters but I kept being thrown from one side to another

I absolutely loved it

Totally bingeable

Brilliant book. Really enjoyed it. Kept me interested from start to finish. Look forward to more from this author

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Evie Porter is given a job by Mr Smith. Evie learns everything about Ryan Sumner her mark for job. Evie starts to enjoy her life with Ryan however, Evie Porter doesn’t actually exist. Can she stay one step ahead and make no mistakes so she can go back to her real identity?

Wow! I did not see that ending coming at all. I was way off with what I expected. I really loved this book - read it in no time and it was enjoyable start to finish. The storyline of these sorts of novels can get a little repetitive, but First Lie Wins was fresh and unique. I'll definitely be adding Ashley Elston to my autobuy list! The characters in First Lie Wins made me question everything and really helped me stay intrigued in the outcome.

I really enjoyed this pacy little thriller, it certainly isn't groundbreaking or would win any awards, but it was full of ideas and surprises.
The main character Evie/Lucca is ahead of everyone, including the reader, leaving clues and get out options for herself all over the place. Of course, her presence of mind and ability to think ten steps ahead would probably be unlikely in the dangerous situations she finds herself in - but it had the feel of a kind of James Bond type narrative so just about worked and hung together (if not wholly realistic)
I liked the idea of the first lie winning, and how Evie was able to implement that theory into her underground criminal lifestyle, plus the book had a satisfying end.
A good read.

I’ve recommended this to a couple of my friends who enjoy psychological thrillers. I thought the characters were believable and enjoyed seeing them develop as the story continued.

💙Twisty & full of suspense
💙A page turner
💙Dual timeline

📖Evie Porter has everything from a beautiful house to a doting boyfriend. But Evie Porter doesn’t exist. She is given an identity and a location by her employer and then the work of destroying her target begins.

I LOVED:

💙I’m not usually a thriller girl, but this had so many accolades I had to pick it up! What a page turner!

💙I love a dual time line in thrillers, it fascinates me to see how and why a character has turned out in a certain way!

💙A pacey and quick book with lively short chapters (a readers dream)! I don’t enjoy when thriller are too false but this has just enough thrill and suspense to keep the action fresh and believable.

✨This is also the @reesesbookclub book for January and Reese knows a good book when she reads one! I’d love to know your thoughts on this one if you’ve read it!

Thank you @headlinebooks for my gifted copy!

This book kept my interest until about halfway through and then I just completely lost it. I was expecting more of a thriller but it was more a secret agent story which has never really been my thing.

It flits back and forth between past and present and shows us the identities and jobs the main character has had and they really pulled me out of the story.

Going by the other reviews though this book is generally well loved so I think it's more that its just not my cup of tea.

I had been hearing about this book everywhere and I was so excited to read it,. It did not disappoint! Once I started it I could not stop and I finished it all over the course of a weekend.

I absolutely devoured this book! I flew through it, it’s fast paced and gets you hooked from the start.

I couldn’t read this quick enough to see how it was going to end.

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

A wonderfully fast-paced thriller. I devoured this within 24 hours, with its many twists and turns, it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat.

Enjoyed this one, it's well worth the hype all over social media! It was full of twists that I didn't see coming and I was co vinced I had it sussed! If yiu've read it you'll know the part where you think you know, it changes and then flies back round! Nope....still wrong 😂 brilliant

I loved this book! I had no idea where it was going and felt like it flipped the script really early on so I wasn’t waiting for the action to start. Loved at the twists. Will read from this author again!

An intriguing and fast paced read with so many twists and turns it gave me whiplash.

Interesting plot developments that kept me guessing until the very last page.

Well done Ashley. I can't wait to see what else she's brings out next as I will definitely be picking up a copy.

Thanks to Headline books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

First Lie Wins is out now.

A twisty con-woman thriller that is equally gripping and different from everything else you’ve read. Believe the hype for this one! You’ll have to read it yourself to see what the hype is about and while I did find this slow at times, when the plot got moving, boy it got moving! It is pacy. It is unpredictable. It’s a thriller likes you’ve never read before.
In a nutshell this follows 27-year old Evie Porter who seems to have the perfect life and is about to move in with her boyfriend Ryan. Ryan comes from old money - he’s inherited his business from his grandparents. From the get go you know something isn’t quite right about Evie from the apartment she’s been “renting” for a few weeks as opposed to the months she’s been pretending. Later on at a party she meets an old friend of Ryan’s called James and his new girlfriend, Lucca Marino. But Evie’s actual name is Lucca Marino and their background details are identical.
We get flashback chapters too that explain how Evie (actually Lucca) became who she is and her job with the mysterious Mr Smith.
This was a pacy read where the characters are always one step ahead. I did find that at times the pacing does slow down a bit but the twists were unexpected. I had no idea where the story was going to go - completely riveted.

There has been a lot of chatter online about this book and suffering from acute FOMO, I had to have it to see if it is as good as everyone is saying.

First Lie Wins is a standalone psychological thriller featuring a FABULOUS female character Evie Porter, except that’s not her real name.

Evie is our main narrator and whilst she is definitely what we like to call “unreliable”, she’s fun, flawed and definitely fascinating. Evie has been working for “Mr Smith”, a mysterious boss who sends her on dangerous, undercover assignments for years. She knows she’s one of his best employees and her latest job (mark) is Ryan, a wealthy businessman and her assignment is to get “close” to him.

I’m not going to give away the plot, as I read this book without knowing ANYTHING about it, so all I would say to entice you is that First Lie Wins is an addictive, compelling, fast-paced, cat and mouse tale of people playing dangerous and deadly games with each other.

This book is absolutely full of twists and turns, fabulous characters, a clever plot, a devious boss and is highly entertaining. Soon to be made into a TV series, this is definitely one for thriller fans to pick up.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was not the one for me. The opening was very interesting and all the marketing surrounding it made it feel like a no brainier to read but then after that it just lost me. I like the ending, but aside from that I can’t really think of anything else I like about this one.

It was very confusing, felt very jumpy and I wasn’t a fan of any character really. There was also no really mystery in terms of what the book was working towards therefore I wouldn’t really call it a thriller.

Not awful but just not for me 😢