Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh. My. GOD. What in the actual hell did I just read?! 🤯

This thriller had my undivided attention from the first chapter. If a book has a decades-old mystery and someone sticking their nose in to finally uncover the truth, I’m always in. But this book did a fantastic job of piecing together the past and present timelines to create a cohesive plot that had my jaw dropped and eyes wide by the time it ended. None of the twists that popped up were on my bingo card for this book- and it turned out even better than I could have imagined.

The cast of characters- both likable and unlikeable- was excellent. They each played an integral role in this book and none of them felt like an afterthought. Even several side characters turned out to be important in the end, which I loved. Seeing how they all interacted when discussing this decades-old mystery (among other things) was thoroughly entertaining.

This audiobook was well made also, making this book even better. I seriously cannot recommend this thriller novel enough!

An absolute wild ride. Didn’t know who to believe or trust. Couldn’t tell who was telling the truth. Kept me on my toes the whole time.

I may be a little bias cause this mystery takes place in Tampa Bay, my hometown. It was so fun to listen to all the Florida references! But, regardless of how you feel about Florida, this mystery was really good! I listened to the audio book and I was hooked right away. I felt like the book moved fast enough to keep you. Interested, but not too fast to leave you questioning. The narrator was pleasant and did a really great job.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audio ARC.

This was an easy listen, excellent narrator, and great storyline. It kept me guessing until the very end.

Thank you #netgalley and #highbridgeaudio for the ARC.

A Lovely Lie by Jamie Lynn Hendricks
4.5/5 Stars

This book was so addicting! I loved mystery, twists, and turns this book had! It was such a quick and easy book. The only reason I didn't give this book the full five stars was that I was pretty easily able to predict the ending. I still loved it, though, and would definitely recommend this book to anyone. I loved the way it start with this mysterious Pepper character and how beloved she was by everyone who meets her and then as you get more into the story you get to know the real Pepper and it isn't as black and white as it initially seemed. I also always love when a book is told from multiple points of view, and this book has so many! For me, that always adds a lot to the story, especially in a psychological thriller/mystery like this one. All the different versions being told from so many different types of people add so much drama and constantly change your opinion on different characters. This book does a great job of this! From the beginning to the end, I was hooked! The author does a great job of making her characters feel relatable and the setting easy to imagine. She also does a great job of describing small towns and the dynamics of gossip and why who you know matters in a small town. I love this book! Definitely mark your calendars and read it when it releases! Thank you so much, NetGalley, for the ARC!

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: “𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐞” 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝-𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬), 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒥𝒶𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝐿𝓎𝓃𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓈, 𝐻𝒾𝑔𝒽𝐵𝓇𝒾𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Hillary Huber who does an ok job. I do not like it when the narration sounds automated and unfortunately, there is not a lot of emotion in this reading. This one should be read and not listened to.

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

I thought this was a really easy listen, in large part to the narrator. This book was listed in the thriller genre but I feel it was more of a mystery/suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley, HighBridge Audio, and Jaime Lynn Hendricks for a copy in exchange for a review.

I absolutely loved this audiobook. I was instantly drawn in, and wanted to know what was going to happen. There were many instances when I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong!! Highly recommend.

Please see link attached for the rest of my review on my social media.

I really enjoyed the book, it just felt a little rushed at the end. I didn't quite believe the relationship between Pepper and Julian.

One thing that bothered me as an RN: During Julian's murder, the narrator said: "His breathing is already anemic, just like the rest of him." ---This bothered me because anemic is the wrong medical term. It would be apneic; which is transient cessation of respirations. Anemic refers to having a lack of healthy red blood cells--which I understood the connection to be the fact that Julian had lost so much blood. However, it just didn't make sense. The word anemic cannot be used to describe respirations.

Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator was great, and the story was interesting. I recommend it to others, and I would read or listen to other books from this author.

A deeply woven web of suspense and secrets unravel when Zoey turns up at Scarlett’s workplace. Zoey’s mother, Pepper, was Scarlett’s best friend in high school until a night when two of their classmates wound up dead. Told in a now and then format from different characters’ point-of-view that is full of drama and secrets and high school nostalgia, I enjoyed face paced suspense/thriller as well listening to the female narrator of the audiobook.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

Hilary Huber does a great job with the narration on the this book! She was clear and concise and after you learn all the main characters names and backgrounds, it makes it easier to keep everything straight. I kinda saw some of the twists coming but there were other large ones that I didn’t. It’s basically about a group of friends in a town trapped by its past secrets. I would definitely recommend if you like psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators and lots of drama!

Wow! This thriller had me hooked from the minute I started it! Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for this audio ARC. A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks follows the unraveling of a high school "accident" and the lies that followed. Zoey shows up on Scarlett and Vince's doorstep claiming to be the daughter of Vince and Scarlett's ex best friend Pepper. Soon the web of tangled lives starts to unravel and more questions than answers pop up about who Zoey's dad is and what really happened the night of the Senior Picnic. I loved this audiobook. The main character was sarcastic at times and I was really getting "Listen For The Lie" vibes. My jaw definitely dropped a few times at the end of chapters when new details were revealed. I highly recommend this thriller!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. Loved the narrator’s flow and expression.

When a girl, Zoey, looking for her father returns to a small town, a tragic accident from the past comes back to light. The accident may not have been what it seemed, and the secrets of Scarlett, Vince, and Pepper come to light.

Zoey is an aspiring investigative journalist and decides to dig into the accident when she finds a letter from her mom, Pepper, to her old best friend, Scarlett that makes her question her mom’s past.

A fun past to present perspective, I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would after reading the plot and feeling like I’ve read about 20 similar books. I guessed most of the twists, but it was still a fun read.

The characters were engaging . I loved how dedicated their son was with the support he gave the family. I always wonder how people can actually get away with the mistakes they commit. There were surprising twists. A few characters were not likable, but toward the end became more likable. It was a fast read. This author does not let down the readers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scandalous
Suspenseful
Thriller

This book is written with multiple first person perspectives.
Zoey the daughter of sultry fiery Pepper is back in town to find out who her father is . Is she the product of young love or is she the product of a long forgotten secret?
Zoey, currently facing difficulties of her own will stop at nothing to get answers but around every corner she only finds more question.
Zoey knows she must find her mother’s childhood best friend Scarlett to address a suspicious letter she found in her mother’s belongings 💌 but Scarlett seems to have secrets of her Own. Something big happened the night of the senior picnic and she is determined to uncover it. Scarlet is hiding something and Zoey will stop at nothing to figure it out even if that means making scarlets life a living hell.

This book will have you analyzing every detail to help Zoey uncover pepper’s secrets 👀. Small town vibes and tight knit friends, they all know a little something but only one of them truly knows what happened that night. Who’s to blame and who has fallen victim to love?


This book will keep you on the edge of your seat, slamming your fist at the scandal as it unfolds!
Plot twist, tension, unsolved murder all make for the perfect thriller.

I enjoyed this audiobook so much! It was just twisty enough to keep me guessing! I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for the ARC.

I devoured this audiobook!!! It was really good! I found myself sucked into the wild drama right away. It really makes you hate certain characters and so frustrated with others. But I liked how it kept me invested and wanting more. I liked that we got several different character povs with out being too overwhelming! This was a fast, addictive one that I really enjoyed the audio format! If you're looking for an addictive thriller this is a good one although I will say the twists aren't too wild and I saw some coming, I still really enjoyed it! I liked how it ended too! Although, it felt a touch fast!

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.

LOVED THIS AUDIOBOOK!

Talk about drama, lies, and deception. I loved everything about this story. Yes, the trope has been done before, many times. Friends in high school do something stupid and deal with the repercussions in their adulthood in someway. HOWEVER this was so well done, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

All of the characters in this are horrible in some way. They all make you hate them that at some point in the book. However, some eventually have redeeming qualities that make you end up rooting for them!

This narrator is always one of my favorites! I love her voice. I listened to this at 1.75x and it was perfect.

Such an entertaining listen after listening to a bunch of duds! 10/10 recommend