Thank you St. Martins Press for my copy of Too Good To Be True by Carola Lovering, in exchange for my honest review. This title published March 2, 2021.
All the stars for this brilliant book! I tore through this one in a few hours. A cleverly plotted and addictive plotline, Lovering will suck you right from the first page.
Told from alternating POV, the story follows Heather and Burke, who have been married for a long time – and have been through it all together. Burke then meets Skye, a beautiful and wealthy twenty-something living in NYC and suddenly there is a ground shift in his marriage. A love triangle ensues and all may not be what it seems, but who is telling the truth and who isn’t?
You’ll have to pick this one up to find out!
This was definitely a psychological thriller like no other, and the plot twist will knock your socks off. Lovering will pull the rug from under you so fast it will make your head spin!
A great cast of well-developed characters and a premise that will pique your interest and HOLD IT, this was such a fun and entertaining read. The level of deception in this story will have you turning pages faster than you think imaginable, not to mention keeping you up late to finish. Once I got started, I could not put this book down!
I had the pleasure of chatting with Carola about the book (spoiler-free) and managed to get a sneak peek into what she is working on next. Check out our chat here. This was such a fun read and I urge you to pick up a copy ASAP and add to the buzz I am certain it will create this Spring.

3.5 Stars

Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering is a revenge story that has a dynamic cast of characters. The thriller does have some twists that are easy to predict, but overall the writing and the concept is interesting. It is an engaging book that draws you in and makes you think about how well you really know the people in your life.

This story is told from three perspectives and there are some intriguing characters in the book. At first, it is hard to figure out which ones to trust. None of them are particularly relatable, but the change in point of view helps the reader to stay interested.

❀ A STORY OF REVENGE AND MANIPULATION

There are lots of themes in the novel that make a great thriller, including manipulation and revenge. It is definitely a book that will keep you guessing for the first part of the story. However, as things start rolling, it is obvious where the plot is going.

❀ TWISTY, BUT PREDICTABLE

Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering is a thriller that is twisty, but a bit too predictable. The characters and the story are interesting and it is an enjoyable read. This is one thriller that will likely be entertaining for many.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one! I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this one up but it turned out to be a really twisty and fun story. A mesh between contemporary romance and an element of mystery/thriller, this was the perfect laid back page turner I needed at the moment. Skye was a great character and seeing her character development over the length of the story was enjoyable. As for the other characters, I couldn't stand them. Burke was awful and Libby drove me nuts. It got a bit repetitive at parts, the same messages and storylines being drawn out. But if you're looking for a light read that will keep you flipping the pages, this is the book for you!

3.5 stars

Imagine allowing your grief, envy and hate to follow you into adulthood and cause you to seek revenge. Crazy twisted love story that will keep you turning the pages. Three interesting and flawed characters tell their own side of the story, sometimes you cringe sometimes you smile.
Quick read, because you can't put it down.

Thank you St Martin's Press for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.*

The first book I've ready by Carola Lovering, Too Good to Be True is a domestic thriller along the lines of Mary Kubica or Sarah Pekkanen and Grier Hendricks.

It is a story told by three narrators: Skye, Blake, and Heather. Skye is approaching thirty, single, and struggling with OCD that afflicted her at the death of her mother when she was just 12 years old. Blake's entries are mostly in the form of letters written to his marriage therapist, Dr. K. He is in his late 40's, the father of three and his life has decidedly not worked out the way he hoped. Heather is Blake's wife. Her chapters vary from first-person to letters to Dr, K.

As the story unfolds, we learn that Skye and Blake are in a relationship. But Blake is either a gold-digger trying to seduce Skye for her family money so that he can rebuild his marriage with Heather, or something even more bizarre is going on.

I found Skye and her friends a little one-dimensional. But Blake and Heather's relationship was intriguing and where Lovering could have made her entirely hateful, it is hard not to empathize and root for her to some degree.

I really enjoyed the twists, but hated the ending.

I'd recommend this one for your Summer TBRs!

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

If you're looking for a book that mixes a love story, a psychological thriller, and story about friendship and family, this is the book for you. The book kept me interested throughout the whole story, and I loved how it showed the perspectives of the different characters. I cheered for each of the characters, even though, at times they were working against each other. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

I was given this book for my honest review.

Enjoyed this book up until the ending 😐 ugh! I look forward to reading more by this author though. I appreciated the character with OCD and how it was portrayed in the book; hopefully that can dispel some myths about OCD

There is not much that can be said about the premise of this story without giving too much away! Though, if you love big, plot shattering twists then definitely pick this one up!

This suspenseful, dark, domestic thriller is told through three points of view. Twenty-nine year old Skye Starling has finally met someone who is patient and accepting towards her OCD. Burke, her new fiance, seems enamored with Skye but is he "too good to be true"? And thirty years earlier, a teenage Heather takes on a new job as a nanny for a wealthy family in the neighbourhood. Of course the storylines are all connected, and it is impossible to know who can be trusted!

I really liked Skye and the care and detail that went into describing her personal struggles with OCD. She has had relationship issues in the past and feels that some of them are still haunting her today. Burke's perspective is often written in diary entries. These parts sometimes dragged a bit as they rehashed previous plot points. I think there were a lot of feelings or motives that were explained more than needed! Though I really enjoyed this, I wasn't quite hooked. I thought I had figured everything out until the big, shocking twist about halfway through!

This is definitely a fun read with unreliable, unlikeable characters! However, it also touches on difficult themes such as mental illness, abuse, sexual assault, and trauma. Overall I enjoyed this novel and became invested in the characters. I'm looking forward to reading more of Carola Lovering's work!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Raincoast Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book grabbed me right from the start. I kept assuming I knew what was going on and didn't. Domestic suspense at it's best!!

As always, a big thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me a free, advanced copy of Too Good to Be True!

After reading Lovering's last book, Tell Me Lies, I was SO excited to be able to dig into Too Good to Be True. Skye is a late 20s beautiful and rich New Yorker struggling to find and maintain a meaningful long term relationship. From the outside, she's got it all, but behind closed doors her OCD has pushed away men in the past.

That was at least the case until she met Burke Michaels in Hamptons. He was perfect in every way and saw past her OCD, as a recovering addict himself. While Skye was head over heels and falling fast, her best friend Andie started raising red flags. They were moving too fast, but Skye was full steam ahead!

Too Good to Be True was a gripping story that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The book jumps between time and perspective, so you really started to understand the how and why of the present. It makes you remind yourself, if something seems to good to be true, it's probably because it is.

The book gave a lot of context and I really enjoyed reading and diving more into the history of each pertinent character. At the end, it really closed all the loops and never left you wondering "how" or "why." Just like Tell Me Lies, I'm already excited and waiting for Carola Lovering's next book! It can't come soon enough.

This book was simply amazing. I loved the propulsiveness of it. Absolutely could not put it down. I loved the interjection of diary entries and how those tied in. I loved how everything came together in the end and even though some may not, I was very pleased with the ending.

Older man randomly meets beautiful young rich girl with debilitating OCD … too good to be true ?
It is a convoluted tale of love, betrayals, grudges, envy and jealousy spanning a lifetime and told through three POV.

More of a romantic/love story, mystery than a thriller, it is engaging with all loose ends tidily addressed ( which I personally like).
I found most characters to be be a little weak and generally naive about life. Unexpected twists and a compelling story make it worth your time.
I would advise to NOT read the synopsis nor the reviews before your open the book.

It is the perfect summer pool read : A wild story you wont be able to put down…. and then you will forget about it!

* Thank you to St Martin press and Carolina Lovering for the ARC *

This was such a fast read that twisted beautifully. I needed to know and I couldn't read fast enough and it's such a gift when that happens. The storyline was fun and there was such a wonderful balance of likeable vs repulsive characters. It ended on a note that made me frustrated. Don't get me wrong , it tied up perfectly, no guessing or cliff hanging , that is a relief, but dammit, I hate Heather! Haha, she got everything she wanted plus peace. To make me feel and make me feel this strongly... That deserves applause.

I was honestly really excited to read this book. The hook of the "not knowing which story is true" really pulled me in. I read a good 20% and kept getting very confused because there were three different characters and different time periods as well. It was a deterrent and I almost decided to DNF. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, child death, cancer, drugs, alcohol, addiction, insider trading, prison, probation, stalking, harassment.

However I stuck with it and I did guess some twists very early on with Heather and Libby, which would not be confirmed until much later in the story. There were multiple twists, in the story, that added to the different characters and their relationships with one another. I think the twists enhanced the plot line and none seemed to deter from the suspense.

The one part of the story that I really did not feel meshed well, was the Max storyline. It did make sense, in theory to create that divide between Skye and Burke, but the story would be able to stand, keep the suspense, and have the same reactions without that part.

I thought the ending came together nicely and the twists were all tied up in a great concluding way. I liked how the story left off with Heather's future and also Burke and Skye's individual futures to really paint a picture for what may come next.

Carola is one of my absolute favorite writers, I love that she writes about mental health and mental illness in a way that is so relatable and through characters that we see into throughout the novel. I personally have generalized anxiety disorder and have always had OCD tendencies, they come and go with stress and different situations, so seeing this book and how it covers OCD, induced by stress and grief, is very poignant to me. Thank you, Carola, for your honest writing.

Too Good To Be True was such an exciting and addictive story! That twist at the end! I did not see that coming, which makes this story amazing! Definitely will recommend!

This book was a great domestic suspense novel that kept throwing twists at me. As things began to unravel about halfway through the book, I was concerned that I was losing grasp over what was true and what wasn't, and the surprises just kept coming. Once I had a more firm understanding of what was truly going on, I was able to sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride. I will say that the ending was a little too "happily ever after" for my liking, which brought me to about a 3.5 with regards to the star rating. I did find it enjoyable, though, and would recommend it to others. I also appreciated the complexity of the story enough to feel as though I'd like to seek out other books by this author.

Thank you St Martin's Press for sharing a digital copy with me to review.

I thought the plot of this twisty thriller was good, what I did not love was how it was executed. The characters never really felt to me to have enough of a reason to do the things we did. Lots of things happened, and it was shocking and twisty, but it none of those things seemed like something the character as they were written would do. The more I thought about it and talked about it with friends, the less well conceived it felt and the more written for shock value alone came out. I did however really enjoy the OCD representation of one of the main characters and how it was handled with care and compassion.

I was enjoying this book at first and thought that the journal entries tied in really well with the story. I made the mistake of reading reviews while still reading this and I saw a review that compared this to a certain book. I won't say which book but suddenly everything clicked into place and I realized I knew how this was going to end. This didn't mean it was bad at all even though it was predictable and I will most likely forget about it. I liked the mental illness and OCD representation too. Once we got to the second half it dragged on a little.

Thank you to Netgalley and to St Martins Press for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this one - all opinions are my own.

This book is MAGNIFICENT......which is the first thing I want to say, as I loved Carola's first book and I was worried this wouldn't be as good. I was wrong. It's even better.

This is the kind of highly delicious, twisting, trust no one, character drama/psychological thriller that I adore. I was sucked in from the very start of this one, and I really had no idea how it would come together, but I loved when it all fell into place.

I love that Carola can write these characters that you simultaneously love and then sometimes loathe. Characters where you can't decide if you want to see them win or lose. Characters that are so layered and flawed and deviously human. It is incredibly compelling reading and I literally could not set this book down.

I always enjoy a book that moves perspectives, and I also loved that this moved from the past of some characters to the present. The way that the story unravels bit by bit - and even when you realize where the plot is headed you still just don't know where it will land.

100% a must read this year - this is the exact kind of absorbing and addicting story that is the perfect companion for wasting away an afternoon.