It was a good read , but way too of a slow burn for me. Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review! .

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review! The Five Year Lie started off a little slow for me however, I really enjoyed the story,

Great romantic suspense from Sarina Bowen. Loved the twists and turns. Lots of “hold your breath” moments in the last couple of chapters.

It has been ages since I've read a romantic suspense story, so this was a welcome change.
This one focuses on a single mom who one day receives a text from the father of her son. It should be a welcome surprise. But Drew Miller is supposed to be dead. Eep!
Is he alive?
Or is someone pretending he is to get information from her?
This launches Ariel Cafferty into a desperate search for answers.

With the help of a co-worker, Zain, she begins to uncover some shady business at her company, formerly run by her father (now dead), and currently run by her uncle, Ray. Is he or her father behind the shady business? Or is it an undisclosed person? As we get this mysterious person's POV occasionally, I had even more questions.

The book overall is more suspenseful than romance, but there is a love story between Ariel and Drew that is explored in flashbacks. Will Ariel ever recover from his disappearance/death? It didn't look hopeful. But she and Zain do a great job of uncovering a lot of secrets, which put both their lives at risk.

Some parts of the story are a bit far-fetched, but overall, the suspense was layered throughout the story, and I liked how the story wrapped up. Some justice and some closure. If you are interested in this genre, check this one out!

Unfortunately this one was just meh for me. Although, I am definitely willing to try it again- as I firmly believe Sarina Bowen to be a superior author.
This book was very difficult for me to get into.
The writing was great, plot was engaging, characters were fine.

Probably will revisit this book later this year.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Five years after Ariel's boyfriend dissappeared, leaving her pregnant, she receives a mysterious text from him.

Wow. This was such an addicting and twisty thriller! Here's what I loved:

The romance: Any time I can get a romance with my thriller, it automatically jumps up a notch for me.

The mystery: I was really satisfied with the mystery. I loved the jumping off point, what forces Ariel to look into Drew's disappearance. From there, the story is a slow burn as she tracks his last movements.

Past and present: Bowen gives you a glimpse into the past as she follows Drew and a mysterious character This really fills out the story.

This book was long, but I honestly didn't feel like it was as I was reading. Love this. One of my top reads of the year so far.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Well, I had no idea what to expect from Sarina’s first domestic thriller, but I absolutely loved this book. It kept me guessing and I was rooting for Ariel to find all the answers.

It’s written in two timelines. One five years ago and one in the present day with a prologue that will grab your attention. There were plenty of twists and turns. We really get to know the characters as, over the course of the book, they are well-developed. And the mystery draws you along.

It’s a book that’s well-paced, and I was engaged from start to finish. I was invested in Ariel and her journey following the clues that were being uncovered on her quest to find out more about the father of her son.

The story also has a little romance which felt fitting given Sarina’s writing roots.

I’m not going to talk about the plot because this is definitely a book you should go into blind. You’ll be, like me, saying just one more chapter every time you pick it up.

A great first book in this genre for Sarina. I’d definitely read another thriller from her.

I seriously loved this book! It is the perfect who dunnit with unreliable characters, characters that disappear, murders, crime, and secretive schemes. My only complaint, the ending was rushed. The suspense was fantastic. It kept me reading because I just had to know what was going to Happen. When I thought I had it figured out I was proven wrong. All in all it was great. I would give it a 4.5 star just because the ending was a little rushed.

This booked sucked me in so fast! I loved the mixture of thriller and romance and the story being told through two separate timelines. This was just great, hard to put down, fast paced story. Definitely 5 stars!

Holy sh!@tballs Sarina Bowen!

When you move away from your usual genre, you do it amazingly!

I love a good mystery/thriller, and The Five Year Lie is a great one. I spent the whole time thinking this one did it. No, it was this one. I was messaging a friend who had already read the book with a stream of what the hells and oh heck nos haha.

There are lots of curve balls along the way, and all the while I had that hope, that Drew was out there somewhere.

Also, if this doesn't give you the icks about where AI could go, then, well, yeah.

As much as I love Sarina's hockey books and True North world, I definitely would not mind reading more romantic suspense in the future.

This book was WILD! Imagine walking into work and receiving a text from an old lover who died 5 years ago, asking to meet you somewhere in one hour? How is that even real? Of course, she goes, not knowing what to expect. All the crazy things happen from there, making Ariel question everyone and everything. Once she starts down the path, she knows she cannot stop until she finds answers that have been covered up for the past 5 years.

Definitely recommend this one, the storyline, very relatable characters (Ariel!) along with the shocking twists left me staying up late to find out what happened!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Even though this was a slower read i thoroughly enjoyed it! It kept my attention the whole way thru and i enjoyed trying to figure out the ending! It had a lot of twists and I only saw some of them coming which is a plus. I highly recommend and I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the copy of The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen. This turned out to be an emotional read for me that I wasn’t expecting. Bowen is a new author for me so I didn’t know what to expect and I got worried when I learned she mainly writes romance books. Thank goodness the romance was low key and a lot of it was Ariel pining for the memory of Drew. I was totally drawn into the story and the characters right from the start, and it got more and more intriguing. The big reveal and the end were underwhelming, but the story before it was great. If you’re looking for a well-paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you should check it out!

The beginning premise pulled me in right away. Ariel gets a text message from her dead boyfriend who ghosted her 5 years prior. She later reads his obituary—- so her world is rocked. How did this text happen? Is it a prank? Something sinister? Is he REALLY dead? Ariel puts on her investigators hat and with some techie friends is able to determine some facts.
It is written in a then-and-now viewpoint. The back story is told in a layer at a time and each reveal of new information elevates the tension. I was frequently questioning which character was good or corrupt but there were too many characters and it made the plot completely convoluted. The “surprise” at the very end was what made this book go down in rating.
Some of the plot was a little hard to buy especially the tech stuff and what happened towards the end of the book. This just wasn’t for me.
Thank you to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, NetGalley and the author, Sarina Bowen, for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

A single text that changed everything….

Let me start by saying this was my first Sarina Bowen novel & it will not be my last. I loved this start to finish. Thrilling, emotional, twisty. It gave me “The Last Thing He Told Me” vibes. Underlying crimes that leave lasting mysteries and consequences for everyone in their wake. This will definitely be one of my top reads of the year!

arc review

The Five Year Lie is an entertaining read! It has the tension and unknowns of a thriller without being too dark. I appreciate Ariel, the main character, is a fierce mama bear while maintaining her own identity with strong friendships and passions like glass blowing.

This could be a good fit if you like:
- strong female characters
- thought provoking reads (technology & privacy)
- some romance in your thrillers

Overall, I had an enjoyable reading experience! This one does clock in on the longer side around 430+ pages. I think it could have been a bit shorter, but there was a lot going on that deserved attention. I have seen comparisons to The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, and they fit in my opinion. Like with Dave's book, this could be recommended to readers who enjoy a variety of genres.

Rating: I liked it! (3.5 rounded to 4)

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @harperperennial for an early copy of The Five Year Lie by @sarina.bowen. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Release date: May 14th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195853534-the-five-year-lie?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=GIm7q4RoxY&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

The Five Year Lie is the most beautiful romance mystery thriller I have ever read to date! It tells the story of Drew, a spy seeking justice and revenge for his foster father and siblings’ unfortunate fate from the cops and their misuse of the camera surveillance technology commercialized by Ariel’s family. While carrying out his mission disguised as an employee of Chime Co., Drew falls in love with one of the co-founder’s daughter, Ariel. Their whirlwind romance ends abruptly when Drew uncovers a dark secret that threatens his life.

Five years later, Ariel receives a text message from Drew, who has reportedly already passed away several years ago. The text message triggers Ariel to dive deeper into Drew’s disappearance, and with her co-worker Zain’s help, they uncover her family’s company’s secrets that she never cared about before.

I enjoyed Ariel and Zain’s unlikely partnership in uncovering the truth and the friendship they shared in such a short time. I also enjoyed Ariel and Buzz’s mother-and-son relationship, not to mention I found Buzz adorable! Most of all, I loved Ariel and Drew’s blossoming romance, however they briefly loved and enjoyed each other’s company. Ariel’s character development really shined in this novel, with Drew and Buzz’s presence having a huge impact on her life.

The Five Year Lie is a suspenseful thriller that kept me wanting more as the story progressed. The pacing kept me at the edge of my seat, wanting to know what came next. I’m happy with how the ending came about but I wish there were more of Ariel, Buzz, and Drew because their happy ending just ended abruptly for me!

The Five Year Lie is a must read! I could not put it down. I have recommended it to so many friends already. I love a book that keeps me intrigued from start to finish! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the advanced copy. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Publication date May 7, 2024.

Having been a big fan of this author for a long time now, I was very excited to give this domestic thriller a read. Honestly, I would read anything this author writes. I went in to The Five Year Lie completely blind and was intrigued from the start having no idea where the story was going to go. The story alternates between the past and the present and tells a tale of Ariel and her relationship with Drew, the father of her child, who she believes died five years earlier....but then she gets a text from him, and it causes her to question everything she ever really knew about him, their relationship and him leaving.

The Five Year Lie has mystery, suspense, corruption, friendship and romance...a little bit of everything. I enjoyed the story overall, though I did find it a little slow at times, moreso at the beginning. I think there were some parts that could have been developed further. I enjoyed the main characters for the most part. I did find the story predictable, but I don't feel like that took away any enjoyment from the book for me. Overall it was a solid engaging read and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.