If you took all the place names and descriptions out of this text you would still know that it is a book set in the USA – especially down South. How is that? Because of all the double-barrelled names, oh and of course the hometown cosy feel, hospitality and the faith in the Lord.

That said, this was a simple, moral tale - the truth will out, the truth will set you free: a feel-good comfortable make you smile book – as good as Mama’s apple pie. Oh! Perhaps just a bit too sweet for me. For those of you with a sweet tooth. Enjoy this well written, well structured book.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Suzanna Duff's Mama died when she's ten years old. Suzannas dad manages his grief by drinking badly. She told little lies that they were okay. She wants to tell the truth for Annie.She lies Earl ,her fiance for a new life. Ida is saying goodbye to her husband bill and Suzanna is mistaken for someone else. She does not correct the mistake. It was a little hard to believe Suzanna could pretend to be someone else for so long but still really good ♥️

Really enjoyed this book, it was heart warming and i loved how the story enfolded with the 4 main characters. Brilliant writing style. Will be keeping an eye out for future books by this author

WOW! I love everything about Bette Lee Crosby's new book "A Million Little Lies". Especially in these times, Bette Lee Crosby has written a novel that is "Heart wrenching and Heartwarming, a novel to satisfy your soul and leave your heart feeling happier."

 Bette Lee Crosby has written a captivating, intriguing, emotional, and thought-provoking novel. The time-line for the story is set in the 1960's and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. This mostly takes place in Georgia. The author describes her colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex, and complicated. Some are good-natured and likable. The southern feel and atmosphere is delightful.

Bette Lee Crosby is quite a talented and natural storyteller.  I love the way she vividly describes her characters, events, scenery, and landscape.  I appreciate that Bette Lee Crosby discusses the importance of family, friends, forgiveness, second chances. love and hope.

"Darla Sue" has had a difficult life, no fault of her own, and to cope started telling little lies. She is now responsible for her daughter and wants to make sure that she has a job to support her daughter Annie, and can take care of her.  "Darla Sue" basically has a good heart and wants to make the people in her life happy. Her omissions of the truth and lies were her way of surviving, with really no bad intent.

According to Wikipedia, "a white lie" is a harmless or trivial lie, especially one in order to be polite or avoid hurting someone's feelings or stopping them from being upset from the truth."

Circumstances bring "Darla Sue" and Annie with an older woman Ida, and wonderful home. Yet circumstances might occur that take it away and reveal the secrets and lies.

I have recommended this amazing and memorable story to several friends to get from NetGalley since it is the perfect book to read during our quarantine. I also highly recommend this novel to all readers. Bette Lee Crosby has me laughing and crying at the same time. Happy Reading!!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 16, 2020
Susanna Duff is on the run. With her seven year old daughter in tow, Susanna escapes her abusive boyfriend, with nothing but the shirt on her back and the vague memory of an address in New Jersey where, long ago, a friend of hers used to live. After accepting a ride from a random truck driver, Susanna and her daughter, Annie, end up in a small town in Georgia. When they stop at a convention centre in hopes of finding free food and drink, they are befriended by Ida, a lonely widow who mistakes Susanna for her granddaughter, Darla. Soon, Susanna is living in Ida’s house, and Ida has developed a fast and friendly relationship with Annie. But Susanna knows that she will eventually be found out and she has to tell Ida the truth before someone else does.
Bette Lee Crosby is the epitome of Southern Charm, her novels are delightfully romantic and uplifting, and they provide the right amount of solace and positivity that you didn’t know you were looking for. In her new novel, “A Million Little Lies”, Crosby again shows us how the love and acceptance of others can change your life.
Susanna, Ida and, of course, Annie, are charming and endearing, and their relationship together defines the idea that “family is what you make it”. The characters are well-developed, and it is not hard to fall in love with the small Southern town that houses the story.
This novel could fit into a wide array of genres; women’s fiction, romance or Southern romance, Crosby’s novel would be comfortable in any of these. The writing is easy and flows well, and of course the novel ends happily, with all the positivity you’d expect. Of course a novel in this genre has a predictable ending, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be an enjoyable ride getting there.

I am a new Bette Lee Crosby fan. I recently read her Wyattsville series and immediately fell in love with her writing. Her books contain southern charm, a bit of romance, a sprinkle of mystery and a touch of class. Every one of her books I have read in a day. I instantly connected to Bette Lee Crosby's writing style, her storytelling, her characters. It doesn’t hurt that I’m a fan of books that take place in the south. I’m at a loss for words to convey how much I loved this book, how sad I was to finish it. When you feel as though you’re losing friends, well that says something. An emotional roller coaster of a story, secrets are revealed right to the end. The book is filled with secrets, betrayal, loss, death, forgiveness, redemption, with love shining through. A stunning achievement. This is poignant, happy, yet always amazing.

I received an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. I chose this book based on the description as I had never heard of this author. I enjoyed this book and was glad to have read it. A young mother, Suzanne and her daughter, Annie flee an abusive relationship in Florida. They get as far as Georgia when they stop at a bus station and see an obituary stating there is a funeral luncheon that day. Suzanne and Annie are hungry and have very little money so they think they’ll sneak in and get a free lunch. Little did they know that Suzanne would be mistaken for the long lost granddaughter of the deceased by the wife of the deceased, Ida. Ida insists they come home with her. Suzanne only plans to stay a couple days to help Ida out around the house, but days turn into months. Suzanne, now going by Darla Jean, has a job and a boyfriend and worries every day about being discovered or the real Darla Jean appearing. Suzanne reunites with Annie’s father and finally addresses her infatuation with him and the circumstances around Annie’s conception. Ultimately, Suzanne, comes clean with everyone and begins her new life honestly. Ida comes to love Suzanne and Annie as if they were her own and Suzanne, now Darla Sue gets the life she’s always dreamed of.

This was a light easy read and I read it in just 2 days. I enjoyed this story by Bette Lee Crosby. Should lies be told to get a better life? It sure worked here ... Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

One little lie can get you in a lot of trouble but in A Million Little Lies, more than one person suffers. This is actually a nice, feel good story but there is a bit of angst for the main character. As in real life, one lie leads to another which... well, you know. Can't we all just be happy? This is a quick read and will leave you with a good feeling. 4 stars

It should have not taken a month to read. Life and chores happens unfortunately. So here it goes ...

A million little lies... this book and author is absolutely amazing . This was the first story by this author that I have read. I want to thank author Bette Lee Crosby and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC page turning novel!

Soon she finds herself pregnant and neither her own father nor the father of her child want anything to do with her any longer. Heartbroken and alone, Suzanna turns to an older man that offers her a place to stay. As time passes, this relationship turn abusive and Suzanna knows she must leave so she make a fresh start with her now eight-year-old daughter, Annie. On the run with her child and almost no money, a chance encounter leads Suzanne and Annie to a safe refuge with Ida Parker, a grieving widow who has mistaken Suzanna for her long lost granddaughter. One little lie leads to another and another and soon,
the truth will always find you no matter how far or quick you run

I thought right after the start of this book, how long before she’s caught and who will it be. Highly recommended!

I do love Bette Lee Crosby’s books and this one didn’t disappoint. As someone whose very life growing up, had a life that I wanted to tell lies about, I understood this character very much. I’m honest to a fault but I was able to find some things I connected with in the character of Suzanna Duff. She starts telling lies after her Mother died when she was ten years old, and her Daddy starting coming home very drunk and out of control. Suzanna was very lonely and she started lying to cover for her life when she is young and that grew out of control as she grew older. Her lies threaten to destroy her life and she has to come to terms with it. The book was a good read, with well fleshed out characters and a storyline that kept me going as Betty Lee Crosby’s books do.

I received this book free in the kindle format from Netgalley.com. My comments and thoughts on this book are my own and I was not required to write a review in exchange for the book. #AMillionLittleLies #NetGalley.com

Description as found on NetGalley.com:
A lifetime of lies, and a truth too painful to tell.
When Suzanna Duff was ten years old, she lost her mama, and that’s when the lies began. At first, they were just harmless little fibs, a way to hide her unbearable loneliness and the truth about a daddy who came home rip-roaring drunk every night. But in time, the lies grew bigger and now, when she is a grown woman with a daughter of her own, they threaten to destroy everything she loves.
The irony of this situation is that Suzanna never planned to stay in Georgia, she was simply passing through, looking for a fresh start in New Jersey. Attending that wake with her daughter Annie, was a fluke. An opportunity to enjoy a free meal. It should have entailed nothing more than a solemn nod and a brief expression of sympathy but, Ida Parker, the grieving widow mistook her for her the granddaughter who was carried off as an infant. Too embarrassed to do anything else, Suzanna played along. What harm was there in pretending to be someone else for a few hours? Hours turned into days and days into weeks; strangers became friends, love happened, and before long a year had flown by.
Now the past is standing on her doorstep and Suzanna must decide to leave here and disappear as she has done before, or tell the truth and break the hearts of those she loves most.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bent Pine Publishing for this ARC !!

When Suzanna Duff was ten years old, she started telling little lies to hide her loneliness and avoid the sympathy from neighbors and well wishers on the death of her mother and the drunkenness of her father. A she grew up the lies became bigger. Now she is a grown up woman and mother to a daughter.

As she goes on her way to New Jersey with her daughter looking for a fresh start, she meets Ida Parker, a grieving widow who mistakes her for her granddaughter. Too embarrassed to do anything else, Suzanna plays along and experiences some of the best moments of her life. But how long will Suzanna live with this lie? Will she finally be able to tell the truth with the danger of breaking the hearts and trust of those who love her?

I absolutely loved this book. It is a heart touching novel that will leave you with a smile as you finish it.

Bette Lee Crosby is one of those authors who writes books that you know you're going to love even before you read the first page. Her characters are always well written and they all change and grow throughout the story. The plot is a feel-good story but there is always some laughter and tears - not sad tears but happy tears. I've read most of her books and A Million Little Lies is my new favorite.

This story is lovely - the relationship between Ida and Suzanna and Annie is so sweet and they really depend on each other. There is a lot of tension around whether Suzanna will tell the truth or continue her lie - whether she will disappear as she has in the past or tell the truth and accept the consequences. Both Ida and Suzanna are well written characters and I was hoping for the best in their relationship. They will tug at your heart and I promise, there will be happy tears as they both learn that family isn't just what you've been born into but more importantly, it is made up of people you love that you want to spend time with. Thank you Better Lee Crosby for another book with characters that I won't soon forget.

Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

A Million Little Lies by Bette Lee Crosby Reviewed on May 13, 2020 ~ 4 Stars
Women’s fiction
In 1944 when Suzanna Duff was only ten years old she loses her mother and that is when the little white lies start. She pretends all is well with her home life when in truth her father is constantly drunk.

Her senior year in high school she and her boyfriend “Mr. Football” Bobby Doherty are super popular. However, he dumps her when she gets pregnant and refused to abort the baby. Her nasty father kicks her out of the house; he isn't willing to raise another child. Suzanna leaves only to end up with abusive Earl Fagan. He was willing to take in pregnant Suzanna. She stays for seven years, stays for seven years, finally one night packs her things and takes daughter 7-year old Annie while Earl is passed out drunk and leaves Sun Grove, Florida.
Her plan is to head to a friend’s home in New Jersey. She gets a ride from a truck driver who is only going as far as Cousins, Georgia. He gives Suzanna $20 to take a bus as he feels sorry for Annie and is fearful the next ride won’t be good.
While at the bus station she find the next bus to NJ isn’t until the next morning. She is torn what to do, hungry with no money for food, she notices an announcement in the local paper “Memorial Luncheon” for William C. Parker. She figures she can sneak in get some food and leave.
However, when the Ida Parker, the grieving wife sees Suzanna, she believes she is her long lost granddaughter Darla Jean. Ida is so happy believes she is a gift from her dead husband as they both loved Darla Jean and haven’t seen her since she was a very little girl. She invites Suzanna to stay a bit to catch up.
Suzanna knows this is another lie but her daughter Annie loves her “new” great grandma.
She begs her mom to please stay a while.
Suzanna knows the truth is going to come out but is also enjoying this new life.

My first author, Bette Lee Crosby novel. I guarantee I will read another!!!! She is a great storyteller!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bent Pine Publishers for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 16, 2020

This was a book I will always remember. It's the story of a young woman who will do anything to give her child a good like, much unlike her own. It requires some lies, which turns into a path of acquiring friends, an elderly lady who is thankful to have them enter her life. It's a story of trust but also of forgiveness, a gentleman who enters the picture to become the one Susanna needs, and helps her forget her childhood and the abuse of the guy she ran away from. I hoped through out that she'd succeed with her plans. I feel you'll be wishing for the same. Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this book.

It is a very cute cover. And the flap text is very heart broken, but the story was amazing. I felt so much, when I was reading it.

Suzanna Duff hasn’t had the easiest starts in life. Dead mother, abusive father, dumped by her high school football star boyfriend when she falls pregnant, Suzanna leaves school a few weeks shy of graduation and moves in with loser Earl and spends the next eight years in an abusive relationship in which alcohol abuse is rife. One day she realises that its never going to get better for her and her young daughter Annie and packing up almost nothing, with less than $30 in her pocket, she runs away with the plan to cross the country and start again. A sudden end to a hitchhiked ride leaves her in small-town Georgia with a hungry child, no bus until the next day and nowhere to shelter. As luck would have it, she sees a general invitation to a wake offering an open smorgasbord and decides it’s the perfect way to feed Annie and help eke out her money. But at the wake widow, Ida Parker mistakes Suzanna for her husband’s long lost grand-daughter Darla Jean. What harm could come from placating the old woman and pretending to be who she thinks she is? Suzanna thinks it’s the kindest thing to do and the way to ensure her daughter is fed, so she plays along. Except that Ida wants her to stay overnight, then for a few days, which leads to weeks and then months. Suzanna is playing the role of a lifetime and finding herself being suckered into a life that doesn’t belong to her and falling in love with Ida and the life Darla Jean would have found. But then her past catches up with her in the shape of the footballer boyfriend and behind the scenes, Earl is looking to bring Suzanna back home and there is Gregg, the boarder who has just captured her heart. Will her make-believe life fall apart or is there a way that she can make it truly her own?

Being labelled literary fiction or women’s fiction this novel is a fun ride into what happens when you lie, even if you think it’s a white lie and no one is going to get hurt by it. It explores the life of a woman who just needs life to cut her some slack and a little girl whose whole world depends on her mother and the lies a mother tells to the people she loves without reservation to extend her deceit. This isn’t a book exploring the deep psychological reasons behind the choices, but it does search the decisions why and the resulting guilt that living a lie creates. The reader cannot help but follow Suzanna as she struggles with the desire to come clean and the fears that doing so would take away the only good life she has ever known and the love she feels for the people in her new life is real.

This is a wonderful rendition of a ‘what if’ book. And who amongst us hasn’t wondered what if I pretended to be someone else? What if I went along with the crowd and didn’t take a stand for the truth? Throughout the course of the book, the reader is privy to the struggles Suzanna experiences and feels an affinity with her wanting the best for those around her and wanting to tell the truth. We fully understand the anguish that she feels and the reasons she makes the choices she does: the very human desire for love. The characters are well-drawn and it's easy to love or hate them according to the role assigned to them. The story is both compelling and entertaining and is well-paced. It's an entertaining read.

4 stars! This was my first novel by Bette Lee Crosby and I really enjoyed it. A Million Little Lies is a beautifully written novel that was very easy and quick to read. Bette did a wonderful job of creating characters that were easy to root for, even when they are making decisions you do not agree with. Her heartfelt characters and writing create a great atmosphere and great character development. In this book, we meet a mother, who spins a web of lies in order to give her daughter a better life. But what happens when these lies catch up to her? While the back of the book made this seem a little more of a thriller/suspense than it was, I did think adding the perspective of Bobby and Earl helped create a little "suspense". In the end, this book is a beautiful tale of biological family vs. love you can have for others, and how the truth will always reveal itself. I do recommend this book to others.

Thank you to Bette Lee Crosby and NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars! This was my first novel by Bette Lee Crosby. This was a nice change of pace for me after reading several thrillers, and was a nice escape during this time. This novel was set back in 1960, and follows Suzanna and her daughter Annie. Suzanna is not exactly in the most perfect living situation, so they decide to take a bus to New Jersey to escape and start a new life. Midway through their journey at a quick stop in a small town, they meet Ida, an older woman whose overwhelming kindness gives them an opportunity to start over in a way Suzanna had never dreamed would be possible. But, will the lies that they have to tell to grab this dream opportunity be worth it? This book was beautifully written, and I like I said, was the perfect escape. It has elements of romance as well, which I enjoyed. I will definitely be adding more books by Bette Lee Crosby to my TBR!

Thank you to Bette, the pub, NetGalley,and Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to netgalley for the advance copy. A sweet read, great characters.....what happens when you’ve got nothing to lose and a mistake changes your life for the better? Nice escapism, worth the time.