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.

Just finished this listen. It was a great listen. Several POVs and alternating timelines pull this whole story together. Most of the characters are unlikable, VERY unlikeable. There were several twists that rolled around, but still so many questions. The story pulls together for a nice neat ending. The narrator did a nice job. I listened to it at 2x the speed very comfortably. I enjoyed this story and will look into this author in the future. Thanks NetGalley and High Bridge Audio for the chance to listen.

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audio while I followed along reading, which is my favorite way to immerse myself in a book.

Scarlett has been keeping her best friend Pepper's secret for more than 20 years. Just after graduation, something terrible happened, and one lovely little lie was told. Pepper left for New York, and no one back home heard from her again. When Pepper's daughter shows up claiming her mother is dead and she is looking for her father, buried secrets begin to resurface.

If you are a thriller book reader, you should be able to predict the plot twist and where this book was going. However, the twist was not what made it so great, it was the character development and watching everything unfold. You know the girls told a lie after an accident, you have a general idea of what happened, but the depths of the lie are worse than you'd think.

I started out hating most characters and liking a couple. They were the kind of characters that you loved to hate and still wanted to read about. As the book progressed, all of my opinions flipped on almost every single character. As we began to see more depth, my opinion changed and by the end, I was left so unsettled by the whole thing.

This was not my first book by this author, but it has been my favorite so far. I highly recommend it to thriller readers.

A car accident in 1999 resulted in the death of two teenagers in a friendship group on the night of their senior picnic. Scarlett and Pepper, best friends, were involved in the car accident and lied to the police about what happened that night. Shortly after, Pepper left town and has not returned or contacted Scarlett since. Twenty-two years later, Scarlett has made a life for herself, working at a hotel and raising her teenage son with her husband Vince. In swoops Zoey, Pepper’s daughter with news of Pepper’s death and a cryptic note her mother wrote about that night of the senior picnic. Zoey is determined to find out what really happened that night as well as who her father is.

This was my first book by Jaime Lynn Hendricks. The story alternates between the night of the senior picnic in 1999 and the present time, twenty-two years later. I enjoyed the short chapters and the narration by Hillary Huber. I was immediately drawn into the story and interested to find out what did happen that night of the senior picnic. However, as the book continued, I didn’t connect to any of the characters. Also, there weren’t any jaw-dropping twists…many of them were predictable. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, quick listen that doesn’t mind somewhat predictable twists. I give this one 3/5 stars.

This book had me at 1999.

At their senior picnic, Scarlett & her best friend Pepper are involved in a car accident that leaves two of the their classmates dead.

They lied to the police about what really happened that night & soon after, Pepper left town & Scarlett never heard from her again. It's now 22 years later & the deadly secret has come back to haunt Scarlett.

I loved this book so freaking much! Not only was it dark & twisted but it was filled with drama & mystery. It goes from the present back to the past as it lays out for you what really went down that night. Just when you think you know exactly what happened, more information is presented & you're back to square one.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Jamie Lynn Hendricks, & RB Media for this audio book in exchange for an honest review!

Everyone is pretty much a monster in high school, but this thriller really takes it to the next level. A Lovely Lie is a solid popcorn thriller and binge-able audiobook. The story centers on Zoe, who travels to Florida in search of her birth father, and ends up uncovering more than a few long-buried secrets. Overall, this was fast paced and well plotted, which kept me engaged from start to finish.

There are quite a few horrible characters here and the narrator Hillary Huber did a great job bringing each of them to life. I found this to be a perfect distraction on a stressful day and recommend it to fans of domestic thrillers and mysteries.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.
We follow 2 timelines, the night of the senior picnic and the investigation and twenty years later where secrets come to the surface from that fateful senior time. There was a car accident back in the past and there’s so much to unfold between the lies that surface through this book. This is very juicy with tension throughout Scarlett and her family and even with all the lies and secrets from the past. Zoey shows up who is Pepper’s daughter who nobody knew about and now wants answers from her mother’s past. very good storytelling and there’s so many twists and turns I love it! It’s so entertaining.