Absolutely loved it! The twists, turns, betrayl and just insanity of it all. I knew this one was going to grab ahold of me from the very beginning. Character you will love and hate and sometimes both at the same time - I constantly found myself questioning everything! Great, fast paced story

I ended up DNFing at 50% so I am rating based on what I read. I know it may be difficult to assess since no twists had happened yet in the book but I was just so bored. I was losing interest quickly with a seemingly love triangle, a death, and the paternity of a child. Also the formatting was terrible just with how it broke up in chunks on my kindle, so it was a pain to follow

My mind is reeling after reading this book. You start reading and get a feel for all the characters and you think you know them and what’s going on. All of a sudden out of no where everything changes. I ended up really liking a character who I absolutely hated, another character pops up out of no where and twists come out of every direction.
What really happened at the senior picnic that left two teens dead? Was it a drunken car accident or is there more to the story? Between the flashbacks and getting different characters’ points of view, you really get involved in this story. I loved feeling all their emotions and the need to know what actually happened that deadly night was intense. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley for my copy!

This was an addictive, binge worthy thriller! From start to finish I was captivated with the twists and turns, well developed characters, and fast pace. I didn't expect this to be such a page turner, but the suspense, lies, and betrayal paired with unlikeable characters made this an entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I cannot wait to read another unputdownable thriller from Jaime Lynn Hendricks!

This was an excellent thriller with multiple points of view and dual timelines. Pepper and Scarlett share a secret about something that happened when they were teens. Scarlett has moved on with her life, leaving the past behind, until Pepper’s daughter shows up. Everyone in this book has secrets and the twists keep coming. I really enjoyed it and will look for other books by this author!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This is the definition of a popcorn thriller. Give me all the drama, the lies, and the secrets🙌🏻 this one had it all! There are a lot of characters, and alternating POVs throughout this book. A lot of characters, and all of them harboring some deep dark secrets from their pasts, only to be slowly brought up again and revealed. There were characters I liked, and characters I found myself hating, nonetheless that did not take away from my enjoyment of this enthralling roller coaster of a ride. The twists, the suspense, drama, lies, unlikeable characters, secrets, alternating POVs, and flashbacks from past to present all made for a banger of a read! JLH knows just how to grip her reader in and take them on a wild ride! I also really enjoyed the short chapters (always a plus in my book!) This one played out like a Lifetime movie in my head as I was reading it. BRAVO Hendricks on another stellar book!!!


𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Popcorn thriller
✦Characters you love to hate, or hate to love
✦Alternating POVs and timelines
✦All the drama, secrets, lies, twists and suspense🤫🫨


𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟5/5

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

Jaime Lynn Hendricks is the master of a slow, complicated reveal via multiple POVs and a dual timeline in “A Lovely Lie.” The story is one of teenage angst that morphs into a future late 30-something drama. A fatal “accident” had happened at a senior picnic in 1999 and the result was a coverup, a hidden pregnancy, and secrets that are finally about to be revealed. The instigator in the current timeline is Zoey, the daughter of head cheerleader Pepper, who was best friend’s with Scarlett. Zoey wants to know who her father is, and she’s zeroing in on mom’s besotted high school boyfriend, Vince. But Vince is now married to Scarlett (which really aggravates Zoey). Pepper fled after that night two decades ago and was never heard from again.

The POVs are sequential, not alternating, telling the current tale. Flashbacks are inserted here and there, and they are mostly the lead detective’s interrogation of the high school kids. The first person narrators are all a bit irritating, annoying and unreliable, and we get to see multiple sides of the current story — the one that’s about to blow up.

Hendricks creates a suspense thriller around seemingly otherwise boring and long ago high school shenanigans that should have been lost to drunk memories and it’s fabulous. I loved author Hendricks’ last novel “I Didn’t Do It” which seemed a bit more light-hearted and sarcastically funny at times, but the edgy tale she presents so well here is well-written and engrossing. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Although Zoey has some equally rare hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Only mud and western Florida humidity get mentions.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers/Scarlet and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

HOLY WOW! 🤩 This was a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller that jam packed full of twists and turns that left me wanting me more until the very end!

I’m a huge fan of the dual timelines, especially the flashbacks to the 90s (because 90’s baby over here!🙌🏼) plus the multiple POV’s from Scarlett and Zoey were done very nicely!

I also enjoyed the added touch of the mixed media interviews👌🏼

This was my first book by Hendricks but it definitely won’t be my last!

I always look forward to another book from JLH. This book is fast paced with lots of plot twists and at least one " didn't see that one coming" moment. The characters are well developed, and the storyline kept me intrigued to the final page.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy

I have been waiting to read this one for awhile and I finally got to thanks to Net Galley! This was a good quick mystery thriller read. I enjoyed the use of all the short chapters and being able to have a timeline that went from the present to the past and using the questions from the decetective or between the other characters through messages was a nice touch to the book. I wasnt a huge fan though of Zoey's character. She got on my nerves a lot through out the book and just felt like a very whiny stuck up girl. So I give this one a 3 stars.

"We'll never mention this again. Deal?"

So much fun! The absolute drama of it all. This book was honest and unapologetically messy and petty and I loved that.

Scarlett and Pepper were 90's besties until an unfortunate event following senior picnic night. A fatal accident happened and we know the girls had a bigger hand in it than anyone knows. Between chapters, we're treated to tidbits from interviews done back then, between the teens and police.

Pepper left soon after night, and in their loneliness, her loyal best friend Scarlett and starry-eyed ex-boyfriend Vince get hitched down the road. Scarlett is living her "second best" life. Second to Pepper in every way in Vince's eyes. She's just in it for their son Luke. If you believe anything, believe that Scarlett loves her boy and he loves her.

Now in the 2020's, Pepper's surprise daughter Zoey is back in Florida asking questions. Pepper died, taking her secrets with her. Zoey has her mother's charm, and she's back in town to find out what really happened that night and no one's life will be the same after.

Pepper may have wanted to be an actress but Zoey wants to be an investigative journalist, so she knows how to dig..

This is such a messy marriage we're witnessing. Scarlett and Vince live the mundane married life in suburbia. Two incomes, one kid. There's at least some comfort in the middle-class mediocrity until Zoey comes along, stirring up the past. It portrays that life well, down to the ashtray we all made our moms in school. The dialogue was exceptional and the pace was satisfying. The evolution of the characters and relationships was somewhat moving. This was a great domestic drama!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

3 Outlier Island Stars

I really wanted to love this one, I liked two earlier books by this author. Unfortunately, this plot seems to be the trope of the moment and feels very predictable.

Scarlett and Pepper (ok, these are great names) were best friends in high school. A terrible accident left two of their classmates dead and Pepper left town shortly after. They haven’t spoken for years.

Twenty years later, Scarlett is working at a hotel when a young woman walks in, claiming to be Pepper’s daughter. Are all the lies from twenty years ago about to be unspooled? Pepper’s daughter, Zoey, is determined to find out the truth. Was the high school event really an accident? How were Scarlett and Pepper involved? Is it all one big lie? Or just a lovely lie?

There are flashbacks from high school, where the police interviewed everyone about the accident. which dragged this one into YA territory. And the big question remains: Who is Zoey’s father?

Lie after lie…after lie. Such a fast paced fun read. It was really hard to like many of the characters but the ones I liked I liked a lot. The story goes from past to present timelines with multiple different POV’s. The past is based around an end of the year senior picnic 22 years ago in which 2 classmates of the main character (Scarlett) dies. The daughter (Zoey) of her best high school friend (Pepper) shows up asking questions about her mom who has recently died, the night of the party and about her father who she never knew. The story also flashes back to the police interrogations following the party.

It had me guessing for sure! It had some twists but some of it was predictable, which didn’t bother me. It’s hard to know who to believe as the story goes on. I recommend this if you want a fun easy read. I enjoyed the writing style so will definitely read more books by her.

Thank you @JaimeLynnHendricks, @PenzlerPublishers and @NetGalley for a free e-ARC. The opinions are mine alone and not biased in any way.

This was my first Jamie Lynn Hendricks book, but it won’t be my last. This book was totally binge worthy, and I am not kidding when I say that it was the first thing I woke up thinking about in the morning, and I just had to finish it. Told from multiple character points of view, some of them are easy to love, and some are so easy to hate. There was one little twist I predicted, but there are so many more to look forward to sprinkled throughout the story. Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC.

An accident on senior picnic night 1999 leaves two of Scarlett and Pepper's friends dead. So many lies were told about that night were told it's hard to believe even they remember the actual truth. When Pepper's daughter, Zoey, disrupts the peace 22 years later while looking for her biological father, she unearths much more information than she bargained for.. This book is so good! It has so many twists and turns along the way. Thanks to @NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

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

There were some jaw-dropping moments & it’s something I would probably recommend someone new to the thriller genre which is how we landed on the 3 star review. The premise is strong & the pieces are there but unfortunately I found this book to be mostly predictable.

The book starts in Florida with Scarlett, a hotel concierge, when an unwanted visitor appears and up-ends her entire life.

The story follows a case of characters, each as unlikeable as the last. Which isn’t something that’s a problem for me, I can stomach unlikeable narrators. I also enjoyed the flashbacks to police interviews and past conversations.

Thanks for allowing me to read this Arc!

What’s that old saying? Secrets don’t make friends? Well in this case the drive friends apart and then bring them back together years later to fade the consequences of their actions. I loved this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! The story alternates between the past and the present and weaves a suspenseful tale. On the night of their senior picnic, Scarlet and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident resulting in two dead classmates. They try to cover their tracks and eradicate any involvement they had with the accident, despite Scarlett wanting to be honest and tell the police what she believes to be the truth.

After that night, Pepper disappears and Scarlett and Pepper's boyfriend at the time have to navigate life without her. Flashforward to the present and Pepper's unknown daughter arrives in town stirring up the past and the secrets everyone tried to hide that fateful night.

This story was well-developed and the plot has some great twists and turns. I definitely recommend this book to all the suspense and thriller lovers!

Every book requires suspension of belief but this took it to another level. Everything but the kitchen sink in here, and I kept reading because I could not see how these people could continue on. A ride for sure

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review