4.5 stars, rounded up

Have you ever thought about how drastically your life could change if you had just made a few different decisions?

Lila Bennett is a successful defense attorney in LA who finds herself forced to face the decisions of her past. One evening her life splits after one particular decision and the reader sees both stories played out in alternating chapters.

This was unlike anything else I’ve read in terms of the concept. It was well-executes and was quite the page turner! There were a few areas that felt could have been developed better, but overall I definitely recommend this book and I’m planning to go back and read some of their past novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me
a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was a huge fan of other Fenton/Steinke books but for some reason I could not get into this book. After trying several times, I have unfortunately given up. Our library will still purchase the title as may partons liked the previous books. Thank you for the advanced copy.

This was a great beach/pool read but it’s best to have a glass of wine with you while reading as it’s pretty intense. I was worried that I had figured out the ending way too early but am pleased to report that I never saw it coming. I have been a long time fan of these two authors and will read anything they write. That being said, I miss their “lighter” books. The ones that made me laugh and smile. This is the second or third book in a row that’s been pretty dark. I’m hoping to go back to the light.
I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank You Net Galley/ Lake Union Publishing and the authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke for a chance to review this book.

I understand from the author's comments in Goodreads that there's a movie with a similar concept as the book. But as I have not watched the movie, I had no idea what it was about but The Two Lila Bennetts made me think about Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. It is one of the literary classics but sadly never felt right for my small brain. Don't get me wrong, the Two Lila Bennetts is a real winner, a story of choices and regrets and retribution, there's something deliciously dark about making a choice and knowing that there is possibly an extremely different outcome that may occur due to those decisions. Lila Bennett is not totally good or totally bad but the grey shades of her character makes us feel for her. Each and every fork in the road transforms her and it was easy to see the changes that can happen otherwise. Both halves of Lila Bennett were rich in detail and the suspense takes the story to a totally different level. Even though the tormentor could be guessed at, the pages kept flying for me to know how it all wraps up in the end.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have done it again - this pair of writers has teamed up for another book that you simple cannot put down.

Lila Bennett is not a good person - and her bad choices are about to catch up to her. Lila is a criminal defense attorney who has just gotten her client acquitted of murder, even though she is internally questioning his innocence. She's also engaged in an affair with her best friend's husband, who also happens to be her boss. When Lila makes a simple choice - go to dinner with her married boyfriend or go home to her husband - her life diverges on two separate courses following the consequences of each decision.

In one timeline, Lila is kidnapped and held by a captor who knows all about her destructive choices and internal doubts - and makes her relive them one by one, calling into question everyone she trusts and has confided in - because Lila's bad choices have given plenty of people the motive to destroy her. In the alternate timeline, Lila narrowly avoids a kidnapping but has someone pulling at the threads of her life, trying to dismantle it all however they can. In both timelines, Lila is left to wonder who is behind the destruction of her life and how she can turn it all around to be a different person that she can be proud of.

Will Lila survive either timeline? Will her marriage or friendships make it through? Is it possible to redeem yourself after years of selfish mistakes?

This book is a perfect lazy day beach read with a flawed main character that you still manage to root for and a look at the compelling question of how much small decisions can impact our lives.

Loved this book. Loved this author. Parallel story about a flawed woman, Lila Bennett, and what happens once she begins to see the errors she has made and how she tries to redeem herself.

I was excited to read this book and was unfortunately disappointed. I found it hard to follow. I gave up a third of the way through.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity.

This was a twist turny edge of your seat book! It kept me guessing to the end. Another great book by these two authors! Just might be their best book yet!! Thank you for the early copy!!

I really enjoyed this book: my favorite of these authors so far! I wasn’t sure how it was going to end until, well, the end. (That’s not always the case for me when I am reading!) Unexpected twists, excellent development of Lila’s characters, a struggle between good and evil...what more can you ask for?

What a great story. Told with such complexity and compassion. So insightful to the everyday choices we make and consequences that follow. Such a fresh and interesting perspective into the human heart and soul.
Highly recommend!!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review


This was just ok. Passed the time but not much in the way of craft.

I was super excited to start reading THE TWO LILA BENNETTS because I have been meaning to read one of Liz and Lisa’s books for a while now!

The story was inspired by the film ‘Sliding Doors’ starring Gwyneth Paltrow (I now feel as though I MUST go and watch this film too!). I haven’t seen the film but my guess is when the main character misses her train and her life is split into two, the story goes on to follow what her life would have been like if she had got on the train and what it was like having missed the train. I LOVE THIS. Exactly like Lila Bennett, we get to go back and forth between two chapters labelled ‘Captured’ and ‘Free’. Jumping from what her life was like while captured and what it would have been like if she had dodged the capturing.

Isla started off as a confident, independent and strong Lawyer who loved the chase of winning a case. I whizzed through the start of this book because I loved getting to know Isla and understanding her choices as a Lawyer. But as those cases became more and more damaging to the people’s lives she was representing her conscious began to kick in. She has made many selfish mistakes in her life but is it too late to correct them all?

Her husband Ethan is a writer. Ethan was a best selling author six years ago but since then had been suffering severe WRITER’S BLOCK. Which I think as someone writing a book myself, I can totally relate to! Lila on the other hand, a non-writer, couldn’t relate. I loved how the mention of writer’s block was written from a non-writer’s perspective because it reminds us that sometimes people don’t understand the term. As a result of the writer’s block, Ethan had been suffering depression over the years, unable to write anything. So what I have taken from this is that if you are a writer suffering writer’s block and no one in your life understand’s… communication is the key to help them understand! You’re not the only one. Every writer suffers from writers' block so find a fellow writer in the bookstagram community to spill your difficulties too! I bet you they can relate:)

The story was filled with suspense and fear which I loved! The kind of book that makes you think ‘What on earth is going on?’ but the more you read the more the dots connect. I really enjoyed reading about Lila’s journey and her want to change and to be a better person! Let’s face it, none of us are perfect and we all screw up…but it’s how we then react to that and the efforts we make to right our wrongs that make us who we are:)

Thank you so much to the Authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke for an advanced copy of The Two Lila Bennetts. The release date is the 23rd July 2019 so if you want to pre-order your copy today click the image above! Also many thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers Lake Union Publishing

Lila Bennett is living two different lives - one in which her life continues seemingly as normal, and one where she is taken hostage. Lila is a prosecutor who defends those that have done the worst, and when she is taken hostage, she assumes it is an angry family member of someone who's murderer she defended. Lila is just coming to the realization as this book begins, that she has been living her life wrong, and she wants to be a more righteous, caring person, but it is too late.

This book follows both of the ways Lila's life could have gone, but both felt pretty similar and lots of really similar threads strung through it. At times, the book felt like it didn't have enough action and we were just adding a little more confusion to the mix. The concept was really cool, and I generally really enjoy Liz & Lisa - this just one of my favs.

That being said, Lila is a very relatable character who is trying to right her wrongs, and in doing so, she finds herself in a love triangle many book characters, and even real life individuals, find themselves in. And she is trying to get her old life back.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I really liked how there were two storylines and the ending was thought-provoking for sure. The main problem was I did not like Lila at all so it made it hard to be engaged in what happened to her. I finished it because I wanted to know how it ended, but I probably would not read it again or recommend it.

What would you do if faced with the opportunity to right all the wrongs of your life? What if you had the chance to go back and make amends? Would you? Would you risk your own happiness and way of life just to say “I’m sorry?”
Now, imagine your life actually depends on it! Imagine having to remember every single person you’ve ever wronged in both your personal and professional lives! Time is of the essence for Lila Bennett. Add this book to your summer reading list for a thrill ride that will leave you wondering “what if.”
Thank you, NetGalley, for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Thank you @netgalley for an ARC of this book. I just this very second finished it and I am still shaking! I hadn’t intended to read all afternoon, but I could not put this book down. It is a thriller told in two parts! I am glad it is early evening right now so I will be able to hopefully sleep tonight! Great read and page turner. I just love this writing duo!

"Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate" ~ Sarah Jessica Parker

Lila Bennett is not a bad person, she's just a person who has made a lot of bad choices.  Lila is a smart, confident, highly sought after criminal defense lawyer.  A rising star, she knows what to do to get the job done even if it means hurting others.  This reputation has made her a lot of enemies.  When Lila gets her latest client acquitted from murdering his wife, it does not feel like a victory.  Defending the rich and ruthless has taken a toll on her conscience.  Feeling the need to be better after wronging so many people, Lila makes a life altering decision that splits her life in two.
The chapters begin alternating between captured and free.  In captured, Lila has been kidnapped by Q, a man who seems to know everything about her.  He begins to force her to right all her wrongs.  Soon discovering that Q is not working alone, Lila is left alone for hours at a time in a cell block trying to survive and figure out who Q's boss is.  Is it someone she has wronged in her past?  Will she live through this or die trying?  One thing is for certain, life as Lila Bennett knew is over.
In free, Lila feels like she is being followed, but is she just paranoid?  An unknown stranger is also leaking her secrets one by one forcing Lila to come face to face with the choices she has made.  With everything out in the open, Lila begins to right her wrongs.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  It reminded me of the choose your own adventure books I read as a kid, but way more suspenseful and full of twists and turns!  I've read other reviews comparing this story line to the movie Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow, so I may need to check it out!  If you have seen it, and enjoyed it , you're in for a treat with this fast paced read! This is my first book by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, and it will not be my last!

Book Rating: 4/5

What I loved most about this book was the different perspectives of the two Lila Bennetts. It was refreshing to see if this had happened instead of that, would we still get to the same outcome, eventually? There was so much to love about this book. Which perspective really happened? Can Lila stop lying and straighten out her life? You got to see how some people know you better than you know yourself. Can you really trust your friends, husband, co-workers, ex-clients, etc.? Who would want to hurt you and make you pain for your sins?

It seems that Lila is a very easy character to dislike. She has made some bad choices in her life and her job helps make her seem heartless. After all criminal lawyers are setting murderers free, right? I enjoyed seeing Lila start to battle the "bad" voice in her head and try to make a change. I loved the mystery and the ending.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. Thank you to both for allowing me to read this fantastic book!!

This is my first book by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinbeck’s,a d I really enjoyed their collaborative writing style. The Two Lila Bennetts reminds some readers of Sliding Doors; I got vibes of Dark Matter. Either way, this book takes readers into the psychological thriller world with a twist.

Lila Bennett is no humanitarian. She’s convinced herself that defending wealthy (and potentially guilty) clients is all part of her job, but she leaves scorched earth in her wake. After an abduction, Lila shares her story from parallel tracks: trapped Lila and free Lila. These alternating viewpoints leave readers wondering 1) will she survive and 2) will it matter to the quality of her life if she does?

Many thanks to the authors, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

#NetGalley #TheTwoLilaBennetts

Lila Bennett is an ambitious, successful criminal defense attorney, who will stop at nothing to win. She just won a high profile case for her client, which calls for celebration, but for once, Lila's victory seems bittersweet. After work, Lila is presented with two options: 1) head home to her husband, who appears to finally be working his way out of his depression; or 2) head out and celebrate with her mentor, who toes the line professionally. The Two Lila Bennetts shows Lila's life depending on what choice she makes.

In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.

Liz and Lisa absolutely nail this one! Told in alternating perspective between the hostage Lila and the free Lila, The Two Lila Bennetts examine how far a person is willing to go to get what they want -- and at what cost. The narrators (albeit the "same" person) had different perspectives on similar situations, which made it all the more enjoyable to read. I simply could not put this book down!