Lillian is there when her beloved father passes away. She is devastated by his loss and wonders how she’ll carry on. But just before he died, he told her to “look to Hemingway for answers.” What could that mean?

When their father’s will is read, Lillian and her estranged twin sister, Layla, learn that the Stoney family fortune has dwindled nearly to nothing. This sets up a war between the two sisters, familiar territory for the both of them.

Escaping to the family cottage, Lillian finds a thumb drive and a letter marked “for Lillian” inside a hollowed-out book by Ernest Hemingway. The thumb drive contains her father’s memoir of sorts, and it recounts the story of his relationship with the twins’ mercurial mother, Ivy. As Lillian reads the document, she finally begins to understand the root of her strained relationship with Layla.

But more importantly, the document sheds light on the events that occurred the night Ivy died, when the twins were six. Lillian has always blocked out the events of that night, and always has borne some guilt for what happened, even though she doesn’t know why.

Tangled in Ivy is by far, so far, my favorite Ashley Farley book!! I love every one I read better than the last!! I can't wait til the next!!  That being said - when people ask for my favorite book - this is a title I will mention!  

This has all the makings of my favorite kind of book with suspense and romance and 'you'll have to stay up all night-ability!'

It was suspenseful right to the end, and while I won't spoil it, there is one burning question that comes up towards the middle and you literally have no idea the answer until the very end - and there are NO clues that will sway your thinking! And there are several surprises along the way.

While it does flip back and forth in time, it is very easy to follow and you always know when you're in the past or present. That was not an issue at all so if you're one who does not like that - don't fear that with this book. My only problem is when it was in the present, I'd find I was anxious to get back to the past!

Ivy is a very, very complex person!! At first, you think she's a spoiled rich girl, but again, in the middle of the book, she does something so selfless and wonderful that honestly, it shocked me!! You felt for all the things she was going through and you pulled for her to be happy and fulfilled!

Having interacted with Ashley on both Facebook and Instagram, I can tell she loves meeting - and pleasing - her readers!! Since she and I are the same age, we relate to a lot of the same issues of that age and I can tell she's a loving mother, wife, and friend. She's US! I love also that she will chat with us about other books and authors. She's confident enough to know we love her and we love talking books with her!

Get Tangled in Ivy and be ready to stay up all night because you simply must know the answers!!!!!!!!! I pray there is a sequel!!!

TANGLED IN IVY by Ashley Farley is interesting and wonderful women's fiction filled with mystery and family conflict/drama. This emotional story about a dysfunctional family has skeletons in the closet, intrigue, drama, it has it all.

Ashley Farley's characters are real. My favorite characters were Trudy and Lillian. Trudy was the housekeeper for over forty years. I found Lillian to be sweet, and thoughtful. She took care of her father when he was dying of cancer.
This story had my attention from page one. I couldn't put it down.

This was a little bit different from what I normally read. I don’t usually read Southern fiction like this. It was pretty good. I really liked Lillian and I liked following her as she unraveled her family secrets. I recommend. 
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

This book was just okay for me. I didn't feel pulled in by the story or characters. I had high hopes that I would love it, but it fell flat.

this was a really good read, it was hard to get through due to similar stories. I really liked the characters and the story itself.

What a fantastic read! Ivy was a complicated character, insomuch that you could feel something about her made her who she was. I enjoyed the family legacy and history aspect of the story as my family has dealt with similar matters. The story was a quick read that flowed beautifully over the pages.

4.5 stars 
Lilian’s father is dying of pancreatic cancer. Her mother died when she was a child. Her twin sister Layla has yet to
Come to the house even though Lilian has called her yo
Let her know he is very sick. He keeps saying Hemingway knows. Hemingway has the answer. Hemingway is her father’s favorite Author. He passes away, and her sister arrives and hour later missing her chance to say goodbye. After the funeral, her old Fiancé contacts her to read the will. He was caught kissing her sister Layla
Right before their wedding, he broke her heart. Lilian didn’t even know he was back in town. At the will they are advised that there is no money left and that the do owe both houses but they share ownership. Layla immediately wants to sell it. Lilian wants to keep as it has been in the family for decades. Before she leaves the will she is given a key that her father left her for his desk at home.  The desk contains a letter from her father that sends her on a mission to uncover all the family secrets. They lead her to her fathers journal were she finds a history of lies and drama and love affairs. I would definitely recommend this book. It keeps you hooked all the way thru trying to determine what everyone was hiding.

I'm sorry I can not give a this book a review as it did not download right.  I do plan to buy it as it looks like a very good book.

ARC received from the publishers in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

Can we all just take a moment to look at the book cover here. How gorgeous, is it? One of my favourite covers of 2020, for sure.

Ashley Farley has done it again! A great Southern read with a good mystery and a whole lot of twists of emotion. Well rounded characters with lots of gorgeous descriptions really dragged me into the family drama story.

We follow Lillian who's father has just passed away from cancer and now she has to deal with her twin sister, Layla in how to deal with her fathers estate. The only problem is that Layla and Lillian do not get along and Layla bullies Lillian - something which at times was hard to read as Layla was just very selfish and didn't seem to have much, if any care for her sister.

On a break to her fathers country estate, Lillian finds a flash drive which has a note stating it is for her found within a hollowed out book. This is where the true mystery really begins as it details so much about her mother, Ivy and fluctuates between the past and the present as the story unfolds which eventually gives some insight into why Layla has so many issues with Lillian.

I'd highly recommend this book to others who enjoy family drama reads with a good twist of emotion thrown in there.

Tangled in Ivy is about Lillian and the secrets she discovers about her father, Graham, after his death. Her relationship with her twin sister, what really happened when her mother died, and more are all revealed in the memoir Graham wrote and left for her.

This was a quick read and full of twists and turns. It's a story of one family and their secrets, and there are a lot of secrets to uncover. I liked that the book moved back and forth from Lillian's POV in the present and her reading Graham's memoir. It was interesting to see events through his eyes and then see Lillian either remember things or deal with the secrets she learned.

I did struggle a bit with Ivy, Lillian's mother and Graham's wife, as well as the relationship between Lillian and her sister, Layla. There were a lot of hurt feelings and moments of lashing out, and I didn't particularly like either woman. Even though I didn't love the book, it was still an interesting story, and I was hooked and wanted to know all the secrets.

I have always been a fan of Ashley Farley for her great writing, exceptional characters you will enjoy reading about that will stick with you, the lovely pacing, and just her brilliance in writing a great Southern Fiction overall.

When I had a chance to get an early review copy of this book Tangled in Ivy, I knew this was a must read for me. I tried not too read the synopsis as I wanted to slowly uncover the story of Ashley's words through the pages. And my goodness, did I love this book!

Set in Charleston, twin sisters Lillian and Lyla reeling from their father’s death just cannot get along. Lillian a struggling artist uncovers family secrets left behind by her father hidden tucked inside a Hemingway book. The story is full of twists that lead to a satisfying ending I really enjoyed.

This is Southern Fiction at its finest! Loved it!

Ashley Farley keeps amazing me with every book she writes. I think I’ve read her best and then she comes out with another truly wonderful book. The premise of this one grabbed me and when I started reading, I was completely wrapped up in it. Weaving between the present day of Lillian Alexander trying to figure out what happened in her past with something her father wrote and left behind that blows her world away. This book is just so completely surprising and I couldn’t put it down!

i really wanted to like this book but alas, it fell flat for me. i wish i could say more, but you should check it out if it sounds fun to you.

It was an okay read. It was a bit predictable and it was a bit slow at times. I didn't really care for any of the characters which made it harder to get through.

I love to read stories about sisters and this book was so good!! I loved it from page 1..... highly highly recommend

👯‍♀️

*Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

This book doesn’t seem like it was written in 2020, even though it doesn’t pass entirely in the present, the author makes word choices so old-fashioned that in various parts of the book I felt kind of bad for reading certain things while reading I had the feeling that I was reading a book from before 2010, in terms of how to refer to various subjects, such as marriage, sexuality, sexism, family, and cheating.
Aside from that, I didn't like any of the characters, they are all hateful and extremely unpleasant to read about.
But I read the book quite quickly because I really wanted to unravel the mystery and know what happened.
So I could say despite the author's terrible choices when dealing with the themes she proposed to bring in the book and the detestable characters, the plot of the story itself was very well constructed and well done making it a quick and addictive read, that why I am giving this 3 stars instead of 2.
But be careful when reading this book because you will find very unpleasant things in this story

I was instantly engaged when reading this book. The book begins with Graham Alexander’s dying words to his daughter Lillian, “Hemingway knows.” Just days later she is given the key to his desk drawer and discovers a letter from her father that leads to a quest for the tuth about her parents relationship, the death of her mother and shines some light on the antagonistic relationship with her twin sister Layla.

The chapters are either from Layla’s present of from her father’s memoir which reveals the truth about his marriage to Ivy Stoney.

There is an element of Southern Gothic to the Stoney family – decaying mansions, lost fortunes and generations of death and dysfunction behind the prestige of the name.

As twin sisters. Lillian and Layla are chalk and cheese. Lillian is quiet thoughtful and artistic and Layla is ambitious, selfish and materialistic. The death of their father and the revelations of the past highlight the gulf between them.

The story of Ivy and Graham is gripping and the book is well paced – as you know that Ivy died when the girls were young from the beginning there is a great slow and shocking reveal.

I really enjoyed this book and the different dynamics between the characters. Lillian’s relationships with her father and housekeeper/surrogate mother, Trudy are so warm and loving and completely juxtaposed to scenes with Ivy and Layla. The title is so apt as even after death Ivy continues to have so much power over the lives of the characters.

Overall, this was a really great read and Charleston has definitely been added to my future places to visit list. I was part of the Blog Tour for this book

Tangled in Ivy is hands-down one of my top reads of ALL-TIME!!!

The book opens with Lillian saying good-bye to her beloved father after his battle with cancer.   Her twin sister arrives but too late even though she had been calling her for days. This is just one more thing to add more animosity and friction between the two of them. It’s funny that Lillian has never felt the twin bond she has always heard about. Not long after her father’s funeral and learning that their entire fortune is gone, Lillian goes searching for answers, especially when she finds a letter left to her from her father. She never expects the answers she finally finds. 

This was such a unique read. It was a story within a story. It’s Lillian’s story, but for her to be able to discover things about herself, she has to read the story of her father and mother. And, my what a story that is!!!! The plot twists wouldn’t stop! It was exciting to see where the story was going to go next. 

It is also a complex story of family and what it really means to be family. Lillian comes to learn a great deal about herself and the reason why she has the complicated relationship she has with her sister. 

Farley is a wonderful writer, but she is also a storyteller. She definitely knows how to tell a story. I am always a fan of fiction based in Charleston because I was raised there, and she captures the special essence that is the South Carolina Lowcountry. I live elsewhere now, but I will always be a South Carolina girl at heart! This was indeed a love letter to the Lowcountry! She took me back home even if just for a little while. 


I highly recommend reading this gem of a book! It took me longer than usual to read this book, but not because it was a slow-moving book that didn’t hold my interest….it was because it WAS SO GOOD!!!! I didn’t want to rush it because I was so immersed in the storyline, the characters, and the setting. I wanted to savor it until the very end!!!! Excellent, excellent read!!!!

Wow, what a ride! I read this book in a single sitting, hooked from the very beginning...Farley never fails to pull me in, her writing somewhat like wizardry. Magical in its delivery, the scenery, characters, and prose are unlike any author I’ve read.

So, with this story...

Generations of southerners, set in Charleston, South Carolina...starting with the present but moving into a story of the past, Lillian is our main gal, caring for her father, Graham, who takes us back to his own love story, unlocking secrets surrounding their family, his sins, and how generations of love can be toxic when not treated properly.

My favorite part to this, being a deep southern rooted story, is Trudy. Her life working with and for the Stoney family, how she and her family lived good lives and the love she had for her girls...all of them. 

I found myself turning pages faster and faster to find out what secrets would be revealed next....I wasn’t disappointed. Farley gave me everything I was hoping to find in her very real, relatable story of sisters, family ties, and learning selflessness through years of pain and turmoil. Growth from every character in this story and while we may never know the motives of some...I was satisfied to understand sometimes we aren’t meant to.

<b>**5 Southern Charm, Stars**</b>