Finally my first Jamie Hendricks book! This book was so fun! It had one of my favorite tropes where there are questions surrounding the death of someone. This plot was different because it focused on Pepper’s best friend Scarlett and her daughter Zoe. There was also the small matter of paternity because Zoe didn’t know who her father was and had questions only Scarlett could answer. Unraveling this tale was fun and satisfying!

Another *chef’s kiss* book by Hendricks! Back in 1999 at the senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident. They lied to the police about what they knew. Pepper fled town, and Scarlett never heard from her again. 22 years later, Scarlett is married to Vince, and has a son Luke. Scarlett works at a hotel and Vince owns a pool company with his best friend Chris. While at work, Scarlett gets a visit from Zoey, Pepper’s daughter, and informs her of Pepper’s death. Zoey is also on a mission, to figure out who her father is, and what secret her mother has been hiding. As Zoey digs into the past, secrets are revealed.

Hendricks writes thrillers like no other. She grabs your attention from the very start, with a great visual and interesting scene. Then she just lays out her plot, the secrets, the reveals, perfectly. The writing is easy to read because it just flows so well. She moves the story along with dialogue and action. And she included mixed media in this one in the form of police interviews – which I really love.

Now the secrets.. oh the secrets… This book is filled with them. One of them I figured out pretty early on, but the rest, I HAD NO IDEA! Hendricks is amazing with those secrets. They hit you in the face and you don’t even know what happened. And that’s exactly how I like my books!

I LOVED the ending – it was a twist and, again, it was utter perfection. I have never felt more satisfied with an ending of a thriller book than I did with this one.

I cannot wait for her next book!

3.75 solid stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Penzler Publishers for the E-ARC. I am not okay after reading this book I feel like I got played and got played hard, and Im here for it. This book goes back to Senior Year 1999 and the present and I thought I had it figured out and then bam nope it switched on me. The last half of the book I was just holding on for dear life trying to see if they could get it together and they did the ending was so good.

Penzler Publishers

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of a high school drunk driving accident that claims the lives of 2 students and the coverup that continues 20 years later. The relationship dynamics between the characters smacks of a Housewives episode. Told in alternating timelines of then, 1999, and now, this one kept me on my toes. I had to have a cheat sheet of who dated who and who was cheating on or married to who.

The pacing is fast and I did not like the majority of the characters. But I did think that the ending was good. My only complaint is that parts of the story had holes in it and other parts were unrealistic. Otherwise, this is a juicy, faced paced read.

3.5 rounded up

A Lovely Lie was a fantastic popcorn thriller. It was messy, with diabolical characters who you loved to hate. And a lot of them were just the worst. The literal depiction of a narcissist. I had a lot of fun with this one, alternating between reading and listening to it. It was easy to fall into the drama of it all, and I really think this one is worth all of the hype.

This is another solid written book by Jaime Lynn Hendricks!

Instead of a thriller this book was more of a suspense. It definitely keeps you wanting to know more and wanting to read to see what happens. It seems everytime i read a book these days it about high school and the twists, turns and secrets. It really reads like the rest of the High School trope books that i have picked up.

I will always read and recommend this authors books because they are quick reads and has me waiting for the next book by the author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful thriller that held my interest from start to finish. The ending is perfect and everyone gets their just rewards!

Fans who love Shari Lapena, Lisa Jewell and Michelle Campbell will deliciously devour this great read!

I am a big fan of Jaime Lynn Hendricks, and know whenever i pick up one of new novels, I am in for a twisty ride. A Lovely Lie was no different, so buckle up!

Something terrible happened at the senior picnic in 1999, a terrible accident, that Scarlett has spent her life trying to forget ever happened. Try to forget that she and her best friend Pepper were ever involved. And they’ll get away with it too, as long as they stick to their story - a lovely lie.

We cut to present day, where Scarlett’s marriage is on the rocks, so when Pepper’s daughter Zoey shows up at work, it really pulls the rug out from under Scarlett. We learned that pepper and Scarlett haven’t spoken since that night, pepper left to go to New York and was never seen or heard from again.

The main story is what actually happened the night of the senior picnic, but the “who is Zoey’s dad” subplot was just as exciting!

I had several predictions while reading - but you’ll never see the ending coming!

I read 75% of A Lovely Lie in one sitting, and only stopped because I was so engulfed, I didn’t realize I was getting sunburned 😂🫣 worth it! A must read this summer!

I received an ARC via the author and #NetGalley for review

Dual timeline, multiple POV, fast-paced thriller with lots of twists, some more surprising than others and one biggie.
Twenty-two years ago, on the night of their senior picnic, best friends Scarlett and Pepper lost two classmates in a drunk driving accident. Pepper moved to NYC immediately after to pursue her acting dream, and Scarlett hasn't seen or heard from her since. Meanwhile, Scarlett ended up marrying Pepper's high school boyfriend, Vince, and they have a son who is soon to graduate from high school himself. Scarlett is shocked when Pepper's 21-year-old daughter, Zoey, shows up trying to find out the identity of her father. Scarlett is worried it is Vince, but even worse is the fact that Zoey is digging into what happened the night of the senior picnic and the accident, because Scarlett -and Pepper- never told the truth about what they knew. For most of the book, I didn't particularly like Scarlett or Zoey, they were almost too real and flawed, but the pacing of the story and the plot kept me engaged and by the end of the book I liked the main characters more.

Secrets and lies are the name of the game in this gripping and dramatic book! A Lovely Lie kept me on my toes and turning the pages. There is no love like first love, unless of course that first love is as toxic as they come! This book is told in two timelines and with the use of police interviews which made for a thrilling and addictive read.

1999- Scarlett and her best friend Pepper were in a car accident where two of the classmates did not survive. Upon questioning, they lied to the police and then Pepper left town.

Twenty years later, Zoey, Pepper's daughter comes to town looking for answers. Her appearance throws Scarlett who is married to Vince, Pepper's high school sweetheart into a tailspin. Zoey wants to know who her father is in addition to wanting to know about the letter addressed to Scarlett that she found in her dead mother's belongings.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave....

Was anyone in this book telling the truth? Secrets and lies swirled around these characters. You can't escape the past, and that is evident in this book. Zoey arriving in town is a catalyst for many of the characters. After they pick their jaws up off the floor, things get very interesting.

This was a captivating tale which made for fun reading. I loved the drama, the tension, the deception, the secrets, the lies, the twists, and the revelations. Jaime Lynn Hendricks delivered in this mystery thriller. Plus, the characters are quite an unlikeable bunch. There were characters that I liked such as Luke, Scarlett, and Vince's son. There was one that I felt somewhat sorry for but for the most part, they are a mess. I enjoyed booing and hissing at them. Just when I thought that they couldn't be more loathsome, they proved me wrong.

Gripping well thought out, well written, and dramatic.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PenzlerPublishers for the book #ALovelyLie by #JamieLynnHendricks. I absolutely love this book about an accident years ago that left two dead. There was way more to the story than anybody knew. Years later, a daughter of one of the remaining group, has come looking for who her dad is and why her mother has kept it a secret all these years. A lot of old and new wounds surface as the truth is finally told.

This was such a deliciously deceptive tale. I loved all of the drama between the friends and how all of the secrets just kept tumbling out. The writing was so good and made me hate some of these characters! There were a lot of characters which at first was tough to keep up with, but once I got that down it was full speed ahead. It was an easy listen and a totally bingeable psychological thriller. I really enjoyed this twisty story with a superb ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for my ARC of this story which publishes 5/28/24

Zoey turns Scarlett's life inside out when she shows up 22 years after Scarlett and Zoey's mom Pepper were in a car accident that killed their friends. Pepper has died and Zoey wants answers about what happened that night. This moves back and forth in time to tell the story, using transcripts of interviews between the police and the teens as well. There are a few good twists and surprises so no spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A well told tale.

solid thriller, more along the lines of a domestic suspense really - nothing super groundbreaking but kept me turning the pages. there seems to be a recent thriller trend of revisiting high school secrets, and i mostly enjoy that trope but they are starting to blend together a bit.
I always enjoy Hendricks’s writing, her books are always on the shorter side because she does a great job of moving the story along quickly without a bunch of unnecessary stuff, and I definitely recommend her books to anyone just looking for a quick read that will keep your attention!

This was my first Jamie Lynn Hendricks book, and I was excited to read it as I had heard such great things about it. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗲 immerses the reader into a world of deceit, deadly secrets,and murder. The plot is fast-paced and intense, while Hendricks intermittently drops hints and clues to ponder on.

Police investigations from the past, conversations, and phone calls all add to the intensity of this thriller. The characters are ALL unlikable, and each has their own agenda.

Read if you enjoy:
♥︎ Popcorn thrillers
♥︎duel timelines
♥︎multiple POV
♥︎ drama
♥︎domestic suspense

This was definitely a wild ride ride with toxic teenage dynamics in the past to the dysfunctional adults in the present. I loved all the twists, and it kept me engaged from start to finish. This will be a perfect summer read for the beach.



𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 , 𝙿𝚎𝚗𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢. 𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢.

I read A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks a while ago, but I still think about it. This author’s books are all so incredible, I am impressed at how she continues to write such excellent suspense. In this book, we know something horrible happened in 1999. It was an accident on the night of a senior picnic. An accident that Scarlett and her friend Pepper were involved in. But the details are kind of murky.

When Pepper’s daughter twenty years after the accident, arrives on Scarlett’s doorstep, old secrets are brought to the surface. Of course, everything that was buried is going to come up…

Everything about this book was just A+!

Synopsis:

Is it better to believe a lovely lie or to know the horrible truth?

1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police, protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again…

Now: Twenty-two years later, Scarlett has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself, working in a hotel on the west coast of Florida and raising her teenage son with her husband Vince. Her peace is disrupted, however, when Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death. Zoey is twenty-one and studying to be an investigative journalist. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlett that alludes to the events of that fateful night and Pepper’s initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoey wants answers about her mother’s past. Who is Zoey’s father? And what really happened after the senior picnic? As Zoey continues to dig into the past, all of Scarlett’s buried secrets threaten to rise to the surface.

Out on May 28

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks is a slow burn psychological thriller with a « I Know What You Did Last Summer » vibe. Scarlett was a witness to something she could never talk about. After her senior class picnic, two classmates were killed. All the kids in the senior class were suspects but only Scarlett knew what really happened but was sworn to secrecy. What she didn’t know, was that she was not the only one with a secret. This one had me guessing all the way through and the few twists that were thrown in made the outcome even harder to predict. Overall, a good story that I would recommend to others.

At the foundation, this is a pretty solid suspense. Two deaths twenty two years ago (say that five times fast!) leave behind a myriad of secrets. Now Zoey, daughter of one of the seniors, has come to town to find her father and gets nosey about the accident. Scarlett, best friend of Zoey's mom back in the day, spends way to much time stressing herself out and getting mad about something that possibly happened 20+ years ago. Probably the entire book could have been preempted had she just told Zoey who she thought the father was. But yes, then we either wouldn't have a book or it would have needed to move differently. Still, it seemed rather ridiculous to try and keep that fact hidden when it wasn't going to be difficult for Zoey to uncover for herself. And looked a whole lot suspicious! Needless to say, as Zoey is blocked from information it only makes her want to investigate more. Of course there is resolution, a somewhat improbable one, but my biggest disappointment was the author's need to tie the ending up in a pretty bow. Life isn't that pretty! Despite that, the read was a good one and gave me lots to wonder about while reading it.

This book definitely delivered on the suspense. There were some great twists and turns and secrets galore. Oh and did I mention a murder or two? We flash back and forth from Scarlett and Vince’s high school days to present day where they are now married and parents of a teenage son. Their calm world is disrupted when the unknown daughter of their high school friend shows up. They have had no contact with her mother since graduation and are shocked to hear she has passed away. The arrival of this girl unleashes secrets long buried. This book was fast paced and the characters were interesting and complex. Definitely pick this up for a great suspense read!

A Lovely Lie by Jamie Hendricks. I LOVED this book. It had me on the edge of my seat. I had no idea which way this was going to go. This book has everything I love in a thriller. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.