An amazing thriller that I could not put down! I instantly related to Skye, and watching the story unfold was nerve wracking. Every time I thought I had figured it out, another twist proved me wrong! Definitely well written, with realistic characters and a gripping plot.

Carola Lovering’s first book, Tell Me Lies, was one of my favorite books of last year. When I saw this arc I snapped it up. While it didn’t floor me the way Tell Me Lies did, it was still excellent. This book as first glance seems like it will follow in a similar vein to Tell Me Lies. The presentation of the manipulative and scheming man at first is like that of her first novel. As the book continues, however, it becomes more of a thriller in the tradition of Gone Girl (not quite so twisty or dark) but it kept me on my toes. Unfortunately, I can’t really say more about the specifics of the plot without giving away the story and ruining it.

I was literally raging in the first 25% percent only to find myself doing an emotional 180 by the latter half of the book. There are a lot of threads in this book. The author handles multi points of view and timelines deftly. In fact, I would say that the points of view and timelines make the book.

This is another solid effort from Lovering. She’s made me a fan. I’ll pick up whatever she writes next.

This book was a great thriller that I really enjoyed reading. Skye comes from a wealthy family, but struggles with some OCD tendencies. Relationships have been a struggle, but Burke comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet. But, is Burke too good to be true? Is he living a double life? Who can you really believe? I enjoyed all of the twists and turns in this storyline.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
BY CAROLA LOVERING

This was marketed as suspense and mystery novel but struck me more of a contemporary fiction--domestic drama. The pacing was slow and except for two major plot twists that is why I disagree with the synopsis on Good Read's and if you read that description you will not get that expectation met in my humble opinion. The writing was well above average and the premise is fresh and original which I attribute to this author. It is told from the three main characters' point of view so you get a good idea of where each of them is coming from. There is one unreliable narrator who at first is unlikable but that changes deep into the novel with the first plot twist. I always recommend going into a story blind so often I choose not to read the synopsis before I begin a book. At some point before I have read a novel I have read once what it is about to decide whether or not I am interested. Usually by the time I get to reading the book I have forgotten what it is about. This is usually been the most rewarding experiences for me.

Skye Starling was by far my favorite character. She is trusting, She has a huge heart, She is generous and thoughtful and an all around a good person. She would be my best friend if I was her age. She is a loving daughter to her widowed father who has remarried. Skye and her best friend are enjoying having fancy drinks at an upscale location beside a pool on a bright summer day when she is approached by an older man in his late forties. Skye is blessed with beauty and my heart really went out to her because she suffers from a crippling case of obsessive compulsive disorder that manifested when she lost her mother at approximately aged twelve.

Skye has such unadulterated inner beauty but like some young women in their late twenties lacks confidence with forming stable lasting relationship's with the opposite sex. She has to count up and count down backwards and forwards the number's one through eight a couple of times when she passes through doorways. She also knocks on every wooden object and surface if a clock's time is for example 10:10. As I was reading I could only imagine the teasing she got in social situation's when she was a teenager. Now in her late twenties as this fairly attractive Burke Michael's a much more mature man who approaches Skye and hangs around her all day at the pool makes quite a good impression on Skye.

I was thinking as I read this how in my opinion it takes at least a year or two to really get to know someone especially a romantic partner that you are planning on marrying. How by not taking things slow and rushing into things too fast can be a red flag. Of course I didn't know anything about this when I was Skye's age but I know it now. I cringed when after only a few month's of meeting they talk about getting married. It is a whirlwind romance that has all of the hallmarks of perfection.

I found Heather to be my least favorite character and reading her backstory made for tedious and uninteresting that I dreaded. I do understand why the author included it as it makes for the second and equally compelling plot twist. Maybe if some of the details were edited and her sections are shortened would make for a more compelling read.

Still all in all this isn't a book that I would want to read again in the future I still highly recommend it.
I have purposefully given as little details as possible about Burke and Heather because I think I have always enjoyed a book more learning as I read. The more I discover for myself the greater the love of reading is for me. I really enjoyed this one and I would have enjoyed this one more if most of the book didn't go backwards in time for both Burke and Heather. This was a creatively well imagined story that I will be spreading the word about and I am so grateful I read it. I am excited I discovered a new author and will definitely read her first book or anything else she writes.

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

#TooGoodtoBeTrue #Carola Lovering #StMartin'sPublishing #NetGalley

Wow! Good one! This is one of those books that you have to gobble up fast. Good portrayal of different classes of people- have & have nots. Believable characters. You may have a hard time deciding which side to root for in the battle over vengeance and happiness. Heather’s drive, strength and motivation are unusual for someone with her background. And poor Skye with everything a young woman could want (well, not her OCD) except someone to really love. The one thing that nagged at me was how her dad didn’t do a background check on his daughter’s fiancée. People with money don’t really make mistakes like that. Especially when it was such a fast romance. I did like how it all turned out.

I loved Carola Lovering's debut, Tell Me Lies, so when I got approved for Too Good to Be True, I was so excited! I can't decide which book was better. This book was a crazy ride full of unlikeable and exasperating characters, and some unexpected twists. I couldn't put it down! The story was cleverly woven together and although it all made sense, I didn't see it coming - the best kind of plot.

I loved this book! I loved how it was told in different perspectives from the different characters. This was a nicely crafted, twisted story and was not what I expected. This exceeded all expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. The characters are well developed and I love the way the back story was told parallel with the current plot. You will not be disappointed!

This has got to be one of the most well executed thrillers I have read so far this year. Does that sound too good to be true? (See what I did there?) Yes, but I am being 100% honest!

Skye Starling is rich. Filthy rich. She has everything she could ever want in her life, but love has eluded her, seemingly due to a strong case of OCD. Then she meets Burke, an older man, and it’s love at first sight for both of them (or is it?). After a whirlwind romance, Burke proposes marriage. Skye has never been happier, but will soon find out that some things in her amazing life are just too good to be true.

Talk about plot twists! I had to be away from this book for hours after getting to a pivotal scene, and it was pure torture! The writing by Carola Lovering is so smooth. This is my introduction to her work, and she is an expert at crafting a HIGHLY UNPUTDOWNABLE, suspenseful piece of fiction. It’s a fun, gripping and 100% enjoyable journey with many unexpected moments. I can’t recommend it enough to fans of the genre.

My sincere thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Carola Lovering, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is the best suspense novel I've read in years. The story is so gripping and the character development is so strong that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I figured out the "connection" fairly early on, but that didn't impact my enjoyment of the book, as I was so anxious to see how everything came together and what ultimately happened with these characters. Even with having figured out that one point, there were still plenty of twists and turns. Without giving anything away, there's a bit of an unreliable narrator issue that bugs me a little because I don't like feeling "tricked." But overall, this is an extremely well-written story and I'm delighted to have been introduced to this author.

I love an unreliable narrator, and since this story is told from several points of view, it's a lot of fun to try to figure out what's what. It's also a complex story where most of the characters have both positive and negative traits, which is more true to life than having a pure villain. I particularly enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book; the pace of the last quarter or so began to drag a bit as things were wrapping up. Overall though, this is a solid, entertaining read.

I was given this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
My honest review...I could not put this book down!
It grabbed me right from the first page, I was hooked...no skimming either! Ha!
I love how the tail is told thru three voices and how you can love, hate then love a character again. And the nice little twist in the middle was a welcome change to the predictable end of the book twist. At least with this twist we get to actually see what happens to the characters.
There is not really anything I can say about the book since the twist is in the middle of book and I don't want to give spoilers away.
But if you like romance and a bit of a revengeful twist, you've got your summer read right here. It was a very easy book to fall into and great character writing.
I'm definitely going to recommend this book to my book clubs!!
Thanks for sharing this awesome story!

Wow! This was one exciting rollercoaster ride! I was surprised by every twist and turn in this gripping domestic thriller. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another twist shocked me! Highly recommended!

This one was a great read! First for me from this author. A very enjoyable book.
I will be looking for more from this author. So much happening in this one and easy to get into it.


Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for an early release of this book.

Sorry, I just could not get into this book. I did not like the characters or the plodding story. The OCD was of interest, but once I read the problem over and over It was just more than I could read.

Terrific a chilling page turner. First book for me by Carola Levering she weaves an amazing story,.Characters that come alive a story that had me gasping.Run grab this book.#netgalley #st.martinspress.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

This is a story about retribution and deceit between Skye, Burke and Heather. It’s a well crafted plot told by these three main characters. Each character is well developed but each character have their own burdens to contend with. I enjoyed this story however I thought it was overly long at the end . I recommend this book with 4 stars.

Three POVs, a struggling couple in mid-forties who has insufferable financial problems and a nearly thirty years old young woman who can be a great solution to fix everything goes wrong in their lives :

Heather, longing to perfectly balanced, wealthy life since the beginning of their marriage and her husband Burke is the reason they lost everything with his tremendous mistake and now he thinks they have a chance to way out. He’s going to seduce trust fund baby: Skye who is getting closer to be 30, suffering from OCD, cannot build a real relationship because of her mental illness.

The plan is simple: Burke will marry with the girl without prenup and when they get divorce, he’ll also get his share of money which will help him to compensate the financial loss and provide a better life for his family. That’s what written on Burke’s diary. But the plans can change or the narrators can be inaccurate so be wise and careful when you decide who is telling the truth, who is keeping big secrets for conducting his/ her dangerous plan to serve his/ her hidden agenda.

This book is so smart, addictive and entertaining with too many jaw dropping, WTF moments and shocking twists. Especially two biggest twists are perfectly crafted. Thanks to my spider senses I found out one of them from the beginning but the other one caught me off guard. I still nod my head in disbelief and tell myself how I didn’t see it coming.

I’m not gonna give more spoilers but I have to admit: this book is brilliant and all those flawed characters’ narration parts may be too long but you cannot stop reading and you want to learn more about their dark secrets and how their minds work. You dislike those characters but you start to understand what they’ve been through clearly and begin to question yourself what you would do if you were exactly at the same situation.

The romance parts are a little exaggerated and I just rolled my eyes when I read some parts but it also help me to empathize with the characters.

Overall: If some pages have been discarded, shortened, this would have been more fast paced and intriguing read. So I’m cutting one star and giving four mind bending, entertaining, whirlwind, exciting stars!

I’m looking forward to read the other works of the author.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this unputdownable ARC with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Wow, Carola Lovering has truly knocked it out of the park with Too Good to Be True! I devoured Carola’s first novel (Tell Me Lies) so I was going into Too Good to Be True with high expectations—those expectations were met and exceeded!!!! I enjoyed how the storyline had many layers that were brilliantly unveiled one layer at a time! I was 100% on the hook the entire way through and the well placed twists and turns made this book unputdownable! Too Good to Be True is a 5 star read that I think would make a fantastic book club selection! Carola Lovering has officially become an automatic 1-click for me and I am so excited to see what she comes out with next!

Delicious fun!

This exceptionally well-crafted thriller takes the "unreliable narrator" theme to new heights. I was completely tricked by some of the very clever twists and turns in the beginning of this book.

This story is probably best to go into blind, but I will tell you it is told in part by a man, Burke, who may or may not be too good to be true. It also features two women, Skye and Heather, who have significant obstacles in their pasts. Reading these narrators allows you to pick your favorite, and then maybe have the rug pulled out from under you.

While I loved the tone and the characters, what I am really most impressed with in this book is the mystery and the construction of the plot. In the very beginning of the book I was rolling my eyes and yelling at the book (internally, MOSTLY) about what I thought were plot holes. Somehow as if by magic (and using several very clever twists and devices), the plot totally filled those holes and everything came together. I was extremely impressed with how it was all executed. My one complaint, which is a serious nitpick of an otherwise awesome book, is that at some point at the very end I kept waiting for another shoe to drop or another twist that never came. Maybe I am the victim of too many overly twisty thrillers that I have gobbled up this year. But this book was pretty much perfectly plotted, deliciously told, entertaining AF, and just very fun and addictive reading. The ending was also great, even though it was different from what I expected. This is my first book by Carola Lovering, but it is so good (almost "Too Good To Be True") that I will purchase her next book plot unseen. It is a very, very well-written, smart, well-plotted thriller. More than that though, it is just deliciously fun, and a great quarantine escape.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Carola Lovering for the ARC of this book. This review is my own. This book gets an almost perfect 4..75 stars from me! (Because nobody in the book is quite perfect, and they all have their own flaws that make them interesting, this seems to fit.) Great book that is a cut above the rest of the summer thriller crop.

A book about relationships, heartache, revenge and mental health. Although I finished this book-it was challenging to do so. Long, without a lot of content. The reader gets to experience all characters’ point of view and that was a plus. I found the “mystery” an easy one to solve.