I don’t know how Amanda McKinney does it, but she shocks me every single time! This book is a twisty thriller and domestic suspense AND a serial killer police procedural with not one but TWO marriages filled with secrets and lies. Two compelling female protagonists, one a detective and the other a therapist, who are both a little shifty and morally grey. It doesn’t get better than that for this thriller lover! The plotting is tight and the pacing is great, with short chapters and alternating perspectives that had me racing through the pages! I really thought I had it all figured out, but this is Amanda McKinney and I should have known that she had another twist up her sleeve!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for providing me an advance copy of this book.

A Marriage Of Lies surprised me in a great way. I started reading, thinking it would be a typical mystery/thriller.
Instead it had me trying to figure out the twists and turns and what was happening.
I loved the characters, and they were so well done.
Once I got to the end, I was so surprised in a good way!
I loved this book.
Thank you to @netgalley & @amandamckinney for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this and had a hard time putting it down. It was so good!! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC!

A Marriage Of Lies was a fantastically addictive popcorn thriller. I loved every single second and was hooked from the start. From the snappy short chapters with multiple POV’s, to the non stop guessing game, it made for a truly fun ride.

The cast of characters in this one is amazing, they were just so flawed in their own way, mischievous and deranged, I loved them. They were very entertained and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This book was just the perfect blend of domestic drama, psychological thriller and police procedural. It was all done perfectly to bring you a dark and twisty read. I thought I had some stuff figured out but wow was I wrong. She steered my one way and then jerked me on the complete opposite.

McKinney always shocks and surprises me, from book to book she just gets better. I am a forever fan ! I loved how the plot was intricately woven, with everything just connecting in a shocking way.

✨️Thank you to @thrillerbookloverspromotions, @netgalley & @amandamckinney for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 2023 I cam across a book by Amanda McKinney, The Widow of Weeping Pines, that a few of my friends were giving their thumbs up to. I gave it a try and I found it delightfully disturbing. When I saw that Ms. McKinney had a new standalone available on NetGalley I couldn't resist grabbing a copy.

I'm please to report that she has delivered another read in one sitting twisty little book.

In this story we have Rowan Velkey, a police detective, looking into the mysterious murders of some wealthy women in their small Texas town. What sets these murders apart are that the letter "X" is carved into their bodies. One in their eyes, one in the palm of their hand, and another in their mouth. What is the message the murderer is trying to send to them?

With the help of her partner, Kellan, they are about to find out.

I don't want to say much more plot-wise in fear of spilling any secrets. There are definitely some unexpected twists in this one. The pacing was on point with short and sweet chapters which I always appreciate. Rowan was a likeable protagonist that I was rooting for. Where this book faltered a bit, for me anyways, is with the ending. I expected a little more. The final denouement seemed so obvious from the beginning that I was sure I had to be wrong. Especially since she had already taken me by surprise a few times with her cleverly played misdirection that I thought this can't be it. Not possible. However it was and it is and that was a bit of a let down. Still, I had a heck of a time reading this book and gobbled it up in nearly one sitting. 4 stars!

TW: Please be aware that child abuse and neglect are a prevalent theme throughout the story for those that are sensitive to those subject matters.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my complimentary copy.

This was a great read, I loved the multi points of view which added another dimension as unreliable narrators! A solid thriller, full of the usual traits and turns, but still engaging enough that I enjoyed it.

This story grabbed me right from the beginning and didn’t let go! I do love with as many thrillers as I read, a talented author can still manage to get me with a plot twist. I enjoyed how well written the characters were and how so many times when I got new information about them or read it from a different perspective, I kept changing my mind how I felt about them. This was a fun and dark twisty read!

Thank you to @NetGalley @ThrillersBookLoversPromotions @amandamckinneyauthor for a digital copy to read/review before publication date.

Thank you Netgalley, Storm Publishing and Amanda McKinney for the advance ebook of this novel.

This was a good read.! The characters were well written. I liked the pace of the book. I'm not a big fan of books told from multiple viewpoints , so this was one negative . Satisfying ending. 3 out of 5 ⭐️

I enjoyed this quick read -- nothing earth-shattering, just a solid, suspenseful drama with several twists. The interactions seemed realistic, and I invested in the characters. I would read more from the author.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

A FABLOUS read. Everything i want in a murder/mystery, well written characters, a real who done it and enough twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I longed for things to be put right and the ending was wonderful. A powerful and believable story. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 STARS!!!

What a book! This was a fast-paced mind bending not what I expected OMG 😱 thriller. I had doubts that the author would be able to pull it off but SHE DID! A MARRIAGE OF LIES aaa my favorite type of thriller. A tale of suspense with a marriage at the center of it.

This book had multiple POV’s and the author did this seamlessly. There weren’t too many characters so you’re really able to focus on the plot.

The murders in this book totally unnerved me so high five 🖐🏾 to the author for that!

This was well written, a great plot that the author followed through on with a satisfying ending!

Thank you to Netgalley, Storm Publishing, Amanda McKinney and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for this ARC!

“I look up, my teary eyes as cold as ice. “I killed Cora Granger.”

Not one troubled marriage, but two, a serial killer, and a FMC with a traumatic past? Yes please! Rowan is a no nonsense detective who is loyal and dedicated annnndd she just confessed to murder. Umm What?!

A week prior, Rowan is investigating a brutal murder where the killer has carved an X over the victim’s eyes. What does it mean? Meanwhile she’s also reevaluating her marriage via flashbacks of the beginning the relationship and how it progressed; it’s eye opening. They had a deep all encompassing life altering connection. Rowan still loves her husband Shepherd deeply but can’t stand to be touched by him; secrets have caused a rift. She unhappily suspects he’s having an affair, yet she also has feelings for her partner Kellan.

Amber is a caring psychologist who is concerned about her developmentally challenged son. She too, can’t connect with her husband anymore and is contemplating divorce. She finds the diary of a patient with troubling entries and worried about the anonymous author, Amber is determined to identify and help her.

A Marriage of Lies is the perfect blend of domestic drama, police procedural, and psychological thriller. Rowan and Amber are both compelling narrators with cringy behaviors and questionable motives, yet still completely relatable. After all, who can say they’ve NEVER done something for a less than stellar reason?

This is my first Amanda McKinney novel and I devoured it! The intense pacing, plot intricacies and psychological depth of characters is why I read this in one day. I grumbled a bit near the end. I was unhappy with some character decisions, while at the same time understanding them. Thought provoking morally grey complexities gave me book hangover AND made this a five star read. Do we really know the people we love; what would we do for them?

Thank you Amanda McKinney, Storm Publishing, NetGalley and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for my gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Scroll down for potential spoiler trigger warnings.




























⚠️Trigger warnings: Depression, eating disorder, attempted suicide, sexual situation, mention of child abuse, CSA, drug addiction & infidelity

I loved “The Stone Secret” and was hoping this would be as good. It’s even better!! I read this in on sitting, flying through the pages having to see what happened. This book has an intriguing plot, interesting characters, and was totally unpredictable. So many times domestic dramas are all the same; it was refreshing to read something with more unique plot points. I’ll be recommending closer to pub day. Thanks for the opportunity to read!

A Marriage of Lies
By: Amanda McKinney
4 🏡 🏡🏡🏡

Detective Rowan Velky and her husband Shepard have been together for years. They met in foster care and shared experiences no one can fathom. After fifteen years of marriage they have become two ships passing in the night and they are both struggling.
🏡
One night Detective Rowan gets the case of a lifetime. A woman is found alone in her upscale home apparently murdered and with distinctive markings on her body.
🏡
Detective Rowan works along side a younger partner and their chemistry is evident as they start unraveling not only this murder but more.
🏡
I really enjoyed all the twists in this novel with some dark content. There are a couple POV, but I felt it missed one POV which I would like to have heard from. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Triggers: Suicide, Mutilation, foster care, dementia, child abuse, eating disorder

I really enjoyed this,
I loved how even though it was a detective sort of book It was still full of mystery and twists.
I loved the characters They all had so much background it brought them to life.
I loved the fast paced and completely gripped I was I really couldn’t put it down.
It was a brilliant thriller full of twist and turns

Some wounds never heal, especially the psychological ones. This story is about two people who had horrific childhoods, grew up in foster care, and only had each other to depend on. But it’s those same psychological wounds that cause one of them to retaliate.

Rowan and Shepherd are now married but their marriage has become stagnant. Rowan is a detective who has been assigned to a gruesome murder. As she is investigating this crime, two more murders occur. Shepherd is growing more and more distant but her loyalty to him is unwavering. Solve the crimes, save the marriage, balance life/work schedules - it’s all becoming too much for Rowan.

This book is fast-paced, gripping and so creatively plotted. I was not expecting the twist at the end, which only made the book better. I rate this book 4 stars and highly recommend it. Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

I could not put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
Amanda McKinney was an author new to me and I was hooked from the very first chapter. Detective Rowan Velky is called to the scene of a disturbing murder. While dealing with this investigation, Rowan must also deal with the troubles in her marriage and in her own life. Told from different characters and point of views, the story seems to be going in one direction, until twists and turns give you whiplash in the best possible ways. I can’t wait to dive into Amanda McKinney’s other books!

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓.

This book was so much more than what I thought I was getting. I thought I was getting a domestic suspense with the focus being on the unraveling of a marriage; however, I also got a richly layered police procedural that was damn near perfect.

Rowan is a homicide detective who is called to the scene of a brutal crime at the unlikeliest of settings, the wealthy neighborhood of Mirror Lakes. She is horrified to find a young woman strangled to death with jagged X’s carved over her eyes. Before she can even get her bearings, two more similar murders are uncovered.

The book's book switches seamlessly back and forth from Rowan's investigation of these crimes to her dealing with her crumbling marriage. After reading several books with a huge cast of characters, I appreciated the limited characters so that I could really focus on them and get to know them. I really appreciated the detailed and insightful exploration of children who grow up in "the system" that is known as foster care and how it can shape what kind of adult those children grow up to be.

Betrayal, secrets, suffering, and jealousy all collide in this tense thriller. Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for this early read. This book will publish March 29, 2024.

An experienced detective ninety minutes outside of Houston, Rowan Velky has just been presented with one of the most disturbing cases of her career. Called to the wealthy neighborhood of Mirror Lakes, she is startled to find a young woman strangled to death and with X’s carved over her eyes. Just as Rowan and her team are getting down to business, however, a second body is found. And then a third. All with the same mark, just in a different location. Who is perpetrating these chilling crimes? And why were they killed?

Meanwhile, Rowan’s life isn’t all roses and sunbeams at home. In a loveless marriage, she and her husband, Shepherd, barely speak, let alone connect. After fifteen years together, though, she can’t imagine her life without him in it. Perhaps due to this or some internal battle, Rowan has begun to attend therapy on her own. Not that it seems to be doing much good. And as her work life becomes more complicated with the appearance of the FBI on the scene, Rowan starts to wonder: can she hold it together? Or is it all about to come horribly undone?

Oh. My. God. Give me a second while I wipe this s*** eating grin off of my face. From the shocking twists and turns to the dynamite cast, A Marriage of Lies took all of my expectations and threw them aside. Not once as the plot unfolded before me was I able to guess where it was all headed. Even better, the deliciously dark topics and blindingly fast pace meant that all I could do was hold on for what was a neck-snapping ride of suspense.

The plot itself initially felt somewhat like a bait and switch. Not exactly lining up with what I had expected, I was prepared to be let down in the end. Boy, was I wrong. Instead, this was one utterly thrilling storyline that could easily rival The Wife Between Us or The Last Mrs. Parrish. Not for the topic matter, but because of the earth-shattering twist that took a normal plot and turned it completely on its head. Trust me when I say, there’s NO WAY you’re going to see through this about face. Brilliant and perfectly plotted, I was totally in awe.

As for the characters, they too were simply sublime. Engaging and realistic, I connected with most of them from the very first word. Granted, I had my favorites, but between the two primary POVs, they directed the plot in just the right direction to keep me blind to the truth. I particularly liked Rowan who was loyal to a fault as well as smart and intelligent. Well, for the most part… Just the same, her flaws made her come across as genuine as well as fully fleshed out.

The only piece to this dynamite novel that wasn’t pure perfection had to do with the ending. Not that it wasn’t superbly timed and smartly written. I just wish there had been a bit more of an exploration of what happened AFTER the fact. Especially to the villain. At the same time, everything was wrapped up with one of those glorious neat, little bows that I love, so all in all, it wasn’t that big of a flaw.

Done and dusted, I’m now an ardent admirer of Ms. Amanda McKinney. The first of her books that I’ve read, she’s easily edged her way onto my auto-buy author list. After all, with ever ratcheting suspense, palpable tension, and an intricate plot, this psychologically acute thriller struck quite the perfect balance. In all honesty, McKinney just might be my new favorite queen of misdirection. Now I can’t wait for her next book to come out. Until then, I’ll have to settle for exploring her backlist ASAP. Rating of 5 stars.

Thank you to Amanda McKinney, Storm Publishing, NetGalley, and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions. All opinions are my own.

I read this book in one sitting! The main characters are Rowan and Shep, a married couple with a very sad and difficult past. Rowan is a detective and her husband has not been pulling his weight holding down a job and has been going out drinking. So much drama, twists and turns in this story! Rowan works long hours and is helping to solve a string of murders. Or is she the murderer?
This book will keep you on your toes trying to solve this tangled web of lies and betrayal!

Thank you netgalley and Storm publishing for this eArc to read in exchange for my review !