I loved this book so much!!! Tons of suspense ! I couldn’t wait to keep reading! The narrator were great too!

OH MY GOSH! What a mess!! But In the best way!! Ahh -- such an addicting story!

Thank you #netgalley and #highbridgeaudio for the arc approval loved this audiobook sooo much only took me 2 days to finish, I couldn’t put it down!

When Scarlett and her husband are haunted by something that happened in high school, a drama fest develops lol!

This story took me by surprise, I wasn’t expecting to love it so much!
So much drama and secrets unfolded from present to past and my floor was constantly dropping in surprise.

So many different twists I never saw coming.🤯

A Lovely Lie had me from the start because I LOVE dual timelines and past/present storytelling. This one features two deaths in high school (once again, I feel pretty lucky my high school wasn't that murder-y), a cover-up and consequences. Oh, so many consequences 22 years after graduation.

As an audiobook this one was perfection. Hillary Huber is a talented narrator who knows how to move a story along without ever getting in the way. She voices young, old, man and woman with great believability.

Author Jaime Lynn Hendricks only has about half a dozen books in her catalogue, but this is my third of hers and she is becoming an auto buy writer.

Highly recommend A Lovely Lie, especially as a beach read which will keep you reading.

I liked this book, although most of the characters sucked, at least initially. It felt like the author stuck to her outline, which isn’t bad, because the main plot got wrapped up without outlandish twists or things just half done. There were some minor things mentioned in the book that I wished the author had explored more.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks was a masterful tale of never escaping your past and toxic friendships. 5/5 stars!!

After an accident the night of their senior picnic leaves two of their classmates dead, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper vow to never tell anyone what really happened that night. Now, twenty-two years later, Scarlett’s world is thrown on its axis when Pepper’s daughter Zoey arrives on her doorstep, wanting answers.

I love a bingy fast-paced thriller and this one was definitely that. I found myself drawn into the story almost immediately, as the author slowly unravels both the secrets of the past and those of the present. And while I struggled to connect to the characters at times, mainly because they are all pretty awful, I felt invested enough in the story to want to push ahead. This would make a fantastic summer/poolside read.

🎧 I read this one primarily with my ears and have to say, I think audio is the way to go. Hillary Huber did a magnificent job of voicing this very large cast of characters while keeping each one unique. There was never a moment I found myself unable to discern which character was speaking, a truly remarkable feat.

Read if you like:
•domestic suspense
•psychological thrillers
•ensemble casts
•dual timelines
•unlikeable characters
•bingeable reads

Thank you Highbridge Audio for the gifted copy.

Scarlett and Pepper are best friends and they are graduating in 1999 and attending their senior picnic. A serious of events occur, leading to the death of classmates and the end of life as they know it. Pepper leaves for NYC never to be seen again. Fast forward to present day where Scarlett has married her former friend (Pepper’s) boyfriend Vince and has a son named Luke. Suddenly, Pepper’s daughter Zoey arrives in town demanded to know who her dad is. Apparently, Pepper was pregnant and kept the baby after highschool. but who is the father? So many secrets and so many lies. It’s hard to trust anyone in this novel. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed listening to the audio. I gave this novel 4 stars.

A Lovely Lie is an intriguing thriller with multiple twists delivered by multiple POVs. I enjoy stories centered on the lies created surrounding a single event, and understanding why each person is compelled to keep their secrets and maintain their lies.

I listened to the audiobook which was performed by a single narrator. The narrator did a great job with this story. I am partial to different narrators for different POVs, but this book was done well. I listened at 1.75x speed (with 1.75x - 2x speed being my normal audiobook listening speed).

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this advanced audiobook copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book officially publishes on 5/28/24!

I really enjoyed this book! Written in multiple POVs with dual timelines, the author kept the plot interesting throughout. In the last third of the book, there were several twists, most of which I didn’t see coming. Giving this one 4 stars because I did guess one of the twists, and at times a couple of the main characters were absolutely infuriating. This was a fun listen though and I definitely will be checking out more from this author. I would recommend giving this one, but please check any relevant trigger warnings before picking it up!

This was just ok. Multiple POVs and multiple timelines usually are not difficult for me to follow, but in this case, the writing made them all sound the same which took away from the enjoyment of the story.
First timeline: 1999: high school seniors party hard and two of them die in a tragic car accident. Local police interviews the students and none of them are truthful. One of the seniors, Pepper, left the town, and her best friend Scarlett never heard from her again.
Current timeline: 20+ years later, Pepper's daughter shows up to find out about her father. Apparently her mother, Pepper, is dead and she never told her who her father was. Scarlet is married now, with a child on her own, to Pepper's high school boyfriend.
Each of these people act and talk so immaturely, and frankly rude and stupid.
Ending was rather predictable.
Easy read - perfect for a summer.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early access to this audiobook.

*3.5 stars* In 1999 there was a terrible "accident" on the night of a senior party. Two people are dead. No one is blamed, but bff's Pepper and Scarlet know the truth (do they though?). Fast forward 22 years later and Pepper's daughter shows up at Scarlett's work, looking for answers. 1) who is her father? 2) what really happened that night?

This book starts with Scarlett's POV, and Scarlett is an idiot. She worshipped Piper as a kid, and even after radio silence for 22 years, she is still protecting her. It is interspersed with police interviews following the accident (do 18 year old's really admit how much they drink to the cops when being questioned about people's death? you'd think these kids would be terrified, but they are really just disrespectful jerks.) The book at time's also gives us the POV of Vince, Pepper's high school ex and Scarlett's husband (you read that right). We also get the POV of Pepper's daughter, who is vindictive, and Pepper herself, who is just out right delusional.

The "accident" itself was kind of interesting, but all the perspectives and overlapping dramas and the fact that everyone still acted like high school was yesterday not 22 years ago made this book read very young adult. It was a fairly entertaining read, but literally none of the characters were likeable. Overall, if you want a fun quick thriller for summer, why not give this a read? Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher's for the ARC!

I received a complimentary audiobook from RB Media and all opinions expressed are mine.

Firstly Vince is such a loser oh mayn if I ever married such a man I would have made a huge mistake.

It all began at a senior picnic in 1999 with two classmates dying and the only witnesses Scarlett and Pepper lied to the cops. But dead men tell some tales and twenty years later Pepper’s daughter shows up with questions about the accident and news about her mother’s death. All the characters in this story were messy and the wickedness of human beings well I enjoyed the read it was filled with vile characters. It’s a perfect read for fans of messy thrillers. I absolutely loved the narrator's-they kept me engaged and I just loved them.

Thank you Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A fun, twisted thriller that follows two friends whose past catches up to them. Scarlett and Pepper were seniors in high school when their lives changed forever. Now, Scarlett has buried the incident deep until Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death. It turns out Pepper wrote a cryptic letter and now the secret may come out.

This was a fun one and an easy listen. Very twisty with unlikeable characters that you can’t look away from. Overall, an entertaining popcorn thriller.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely a must read or listen! I listened to the audiobook of A Lovely Lie narrated Hillary Huber. I definitely enjoyed the audiobook! It made for a fast and intriguing read. The narrator did a great job grabbing your attention! This book had dual timelines between when one main character was in high school and current. Along with another time line with a different character that went between past conversations with her mom and current. At times with the narration, I became confused not hearing a clear difference between characters and had to piece together who's POV I was listening too. Overall, this book had a great plot and was engaging! I would highly recommend this book!
Quick Summary: Scarlett and Pepper were best friends in high school. One night during their senior year was a terrible accident, that they lied to the police about. After that night Pepper left town, never returning, and never having contact with Scarlett again. Scarlett moved on with her life, got married, had a kid, and forgot all about the accident until Zoey shows up. Scarlett comes to find out that Zoey is Peppers daughter and she was on a mission. Who is telling the truth? Who is lying?

I loved this book!
I am a big thriller reader, but I have not read anything by Jamie Lynn Hendricks. This was an amazing introduction to her writing!
The twists and turns all came at the right time and the pace was great. I will definitely be recommending this to others! Excuse me while I go find my next Jamie Lynn Hendricks book! :)

*4.5 stars

I'm not a fan of when nearly everyone in a book knows something that the reader doesn't. Little clues are dropped for quite a while until it's revealed what happened at the senior picnic 22 years before, and I couldn't quite figure out why the reader is kept in the dark for so long. It's obvious from the beginning that people lied about what happened, but I couldn't figure out why the original story that was told to the police was kept from the reader.

This made me dislike the first part of the book, until we finally learn what happened and the characters begin to reveal what really happened that night. Basically, best friends Scarlet and Pepper covered up what happened during a car accident at the senior picnic that left two of their classmates dead. Pepper disappeared off to New York, and Scarlet eventually met and married Vince, who used to be Pepper's high school boyfriend. They have a now teenage son and a horrible marriage. But who should show up on the doorstep but 21-year-old Zoey, daughter of the recently deceased Pepper, who has some questions about the identity of her father and about what exactly happened at the senior picnic.

I know we are supposed to be shocked about what happened, but overall I was underwhelmed. I pretty much saw everything coming. I listened to this as an audiobook and if anything, it made the characters seem more annoying. Scarlet calls her son "my boy" every few pages and it was annoying and then just got weird. I felt like an editor should have cut a few of those out. Maybe I wouldn't have noticed it as much had I read the book on the page, but it was silly in the audio.

Overall I found the book predictable and kind of forgettable. There are lots of people who loved this one so read their reviews to balance mine as I'm a bit of an outlier here.

Audio!

So this audiobook was just released and truthfully for the most part, I enjoyed it! I thought that the back and forth of trying to figure out who did it and what the crap actually happened!

The narrator did a great job with most of the characters!! The one that I could not stand was Zoe's though. I am not sure if it was the accent she was trying to do or what but I could not stand hearing Zoe talk.

I loved that there were varying timelines and varying POVs and almost formats! It was super helpful and added to the story so much! I feel like this story highlighted how teens brains really don't develop until later on in life because they were insufferable.

I feel like this book showed love vs perceived responsibility. Vince marrying Scarlett because she was pregnant was that perceived responsibility. All of these secrets just destroy a marriage so epically. It was a pretty good story!

I enjoyed this novel very much. Jaime L Hendricks has a gift for creating multidimensional characters that the reader loves to hate. Scarlett and Vince's rocky marriage hits a speed bump when Zoey, Scarlett's "deceased" long-lost friend from school, shows up on their doorstep, claiming to be Vince's daughter. Zoey then goes on to reopen interest in a car wreck that happened during that time.. The narrator deserves an A+.

I was really invested in these characters, it was a good book. I did not want to put it down. Great read.

This story caught me by surprise. At first I wasn’t sure if I would like Zoey but listening how she navigates searching for the answers to the secrets that her mother kept from her..
The ending surprised me.