Wow! This was a great read! I was in the mood for a fast paced psychological thriller and that's exactly what I got! I could not put this one down. I will say that the first half was a bit more exciting than the second half, hence the loss of one star.

The first big twist in this one blew my mind! But after that things slowed down a bit and I was able to figure out what was going on. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story though, which I thought was great.

The characters were very interesting and I loved that it was told from multiple perspectives. So many lies in this one. It was so devious! I don't want to say too much about this one because I feel like it's good to go into it without too many details about what to expect. It's a wild ride and if you like psychological thrillers and want a good page turner, you need to check this one out!

Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering is a multiple POV thriller about “One love story. Two marriages. Three versions of the truth.” (Thanks Goodreads).

I went into this book excited for the tangled web of relationships and drama, which was definitely delivered. I expected to be flipping pages to uncover the truth and reasons behind the drama. Unfortunately, Too Good to be True fell a little short there. I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters and that resulted in less of a need to figure out how the story would end. This was more of a light thriller and not as fast paced as I would have liked.

The most interesting POV to me was Burke’s because he was the common thread that tied the whole story together. I enjoyed his chapters the most because this is where we experienced the most drama, mystery, and reveals. During his chapters I really debated what his true side was and what he really wanted. The reader was really taken on a ride and that’s why I found them the most enjoyable.

Lovering’s writing was very good and the story flowed seamlessly between the varying POVs. This made it easy to transition between the chapters without any confusion. I will definitely be checking out her other novel, Tell Me Lies.

Overall, I enjoyed Too Good to be True, but didn’t love it. It is a great read for those new to thrillers and readers who don’t like the darker side of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Too Good to Be True follows Skye, Heather and Burke all at different times in their lives. Skye has recently married Burke. Everything is perfect — and seems too good to be true — which she soon realizes it is. Burke isn’t exactly who he claims to be and the truth is accidentally revealed to Skye leaving her with many questions. We soon learn of the life Burke led 30 years prior and are introduced to Heather, who has her own tangled past. They’re all connected, but how? And where does the truth lie in this tangled web? review: If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is! And this book proves just that in the tangled web of Skye, Burke and Heather! This domestic drama has everything I was looking for in a book - a twisted love story, big secrets, and a lot to lose. The three perspectives in this book worked so well and really lent to telling this story in a fast paced way. I also really liked the addition of the journal entries, they always kept me guessing! The twists are well placed and quite surprising in this domestic suspense novel! If you were a fan of The Wife Between Us, I think you'll enjoy this one. rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐️

Hands down 5 fantastic stars. I think this will be my new measuring stick when rating books. Wow, just WOW. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review..

I think this would've felt more compelling if I didn't guess the big twist so early. Finally, the ending wrapped up a little too neatly and not overly satisfactorily in my opinion.

Skye Starling is young, beautiful, and rich. And she’s alone. She thought she’d have found someone special by the time she was in her late 20s. But she’s not entirely well. Ever since her mother died from cancer when she was young, she’d dealt with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that she is embarrassed by. She’s had lovers, but either she doesn’t want to let them into her world of knocks and counting, or they decided it was too much to handle.

And then she met Burke.

Burke is older, more sophisticated. He is compassionate and not bothered by Star’s OCD knocking on doors. Skye and Burke fall in love, and he asks her to marry him.

But Burke has secrets. He has financial problems. He has three kids. And he has a wife. Reading the electronic journal he’d been writing to his marriage therapist, the plan was to marry Skye, take a bunch of her money, and go back to his wife, to the woman he’d loved since he was a teenager.

Heather’s story starts back when she was a high school kid dating Burke and making some extra money babysitting. She starts to work for Libby, a young mother of two who moved to their small town with her husband who is an artist. He had spent a lot of time making his art, and his young wife was lonely. So when Libby wanted to spend time with Heather, Heather thought it was a great way for her to find out more about how the other half lived. And she drank it up.

Because of her relationship with Libby, Heather made changes to her life. She stopped partying and focused on school, working hard to get her grades up and to appeal to a good college. She broke it off with Burke, who spent too much time drinking and experimenting with drugs. Heather was motivated. She was focused. And then she was completely derailed by an unfortunate tragedy that changed everything.

When that happened, Heather turned her back on Libby and went back to the one person who had always been there for her. She went back to Burke. And Burke stepped up. He gave up the drugs and alcohol. He worked on his grades. He joined her in making a plan for their futures, a plan where they move to New York, get their college degrees, find well paying jobs, and carve out a far better life for themselves.

Now Heather is grown, a wife and mother of three, and she has plans too. She will not let the future she had always dreamed of be put into jeopardy just because her husband marries another woman. She deserves more than that, and she’s willing to fight to make it happen.

Carola Lovering’s Too Good to Be True is a crazy wild ride of a novel, with twists you will not see coming. This domestic thriller is a beautifully written tale of a man leaving his wife for a younger woman. Or is it? Just when you think you know what’s going on, Lovering pulls the rug right out from under you. And just as you’re getting settled back into the story, she does it again. Don’t try to figure this one out in advance—you’ll give yourself whiplash when you’re tossed 180 degrees.

I was so surprised by Too Good to Be True! It was lovely, twisty, crazy, entertaining ride through relationships, doubts, grief, love, money, friendship, and betrayal. This novel has it all, and makes it all so much fun to read. If you think you can see the end of a domestic thriller coming, then I challenge you to read this one and try to see how this one brings it all home!

Egalleys for Too Good to Be True were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

“Too Good to Be True” unfolds in three separate narratives in that shift back and forth in time. Readers observe how characters get to the current storyline and how the past influences the present. Events are told from several perspectives so readers know what characters do not, at least for a while. The characters are distinct with different personalities, different motivations, and very different goals. There are lots of red flags, but the problem with red flags is they have to be recognized to be of any help. Someone is not telling the truth, or perhaps none of them are.
Skye Starling has issues, a strand of OCD complete with compulsions to touch things and knock on doors in a specific pattern. People worry about Skye, her “problem,” her relationships, her coping ability. She, however, is quite satisfied with her personal sense of control in a world that is wildly uncontrollable. She also has a fiancé, Burke Michaels. Michaels says he is devoted to Sky, the woman he has searched for all his life, perhaps because she has a specific element that attracted him. He is seeing a therapist and keeping a journal filled with dramatic revelations. He has secrets, big secrets, but again, at least he has a last name that ends in a consonant. Heather’s narrative opens when she is sixteen; her then boyfriend, Burke, drops her off to babysit. She loves the job and the family, but it turns out to be the unluckiest occasion of her life. One event is the catalyst for continued pain and devastation.
Deception unfolds page after page; details are revealed, and lives come crashing down. Readers are left to wonder if doing a bad thing makes someone a bad person. I received a review copy of “Too Good to Be True” from Carol Lovering and St. Martin’s Press. It was a preposterous collision that one could see coming but could not believe. It is absorbing, compelling, and unreliable right to the end.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for unbiased review from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press.

Be prepared for a twisted, unexpected story when reading, Too Good to Be True. In March 2019, Skye Starling is a young, beautiful free lance editor of young adult fiction with a wedding to plan. She had never dreamed that she would ever find love due to her severe OCD condition which began after her mother died when she was 12 years old. It has been a source of constant stress and embarrassment for her preventing long term relationships due to her ritualistic behavior. Skye works from home which allows her to avoid people staring at her when she needs to knock on wood 8 times before exiting a room. Her father sold his profitable pharmaceutical company to J&J and so money has never been problem for the family.

She has some close, protective friends from college who understand her condition and help provide her with much needed socialization. It is on a girl's trip to Montauk Gurneys resort with her best friend, Andie that Skye meets Burke Michaels, a tall handsome, 47 year old. Despite her friends and family cautioning her not to move too fast, she falls head over heels in love with Burke after only dating 6 months. Meanwhile, there is another story being told via "Burke Michael's diary" beginning in September 2018 that proves to add a spin to the story. It seems that Burke Michaels is living two different lives in which he is also married to Heather his high school sweetheart. The question is which one is the "real" life Burke Michaels wants to live.

The story mixes the past with the present in which the truth is hard to discern. When Burke proposes to Skye she feels blessed to have found the love of her life. The couple seem to have an idyllic life when reality is exposed and everyone is unprepared for the fall out. What follows is an unbelievable web of truths and lies which are more convoluted than originally shared. If you love twisted, psychological stories then this is for you.

This book is told between three POVs: Skye, a young wealthy woman with clinically diagnosed OCD and the compulsion behaviors that accompany her diagnosis. Burke, her love interest, whose POV is told from diary entrees. Lastly, Heather, whose POV takes place in the past when she was a teenager, which gives insight into her upbringing and her involvement in the storyline.

This was a fairly fast paced thriller with the alternating POV providing for an easy quick read. I felt a lot of the storyline was easy to figure out pretty early in the novel. I could tell within the first few chapters that I was not a huge fan of some of the characters. That being said, my feelings towards the characters did not necessarily impact my opinion of the book. The first half of the book was far more captivating than the second half of the book, which felt repetitive and dragged out. I was also disappointed with the ending of the book. I personally would have preferred a different outcome. Overall, I did enjoy this book, and I think psychological thriller lovers would appreciate the storyline.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! Told in three alternating perspectives, the story of Heather and Burke and Burke and Skye is told. Heather's story is in the past (about 30 years). Skye is in the present and Burke's is about a year in the past.

I don't want to spoil anything about this book other than nothing is exactly what it seems. All of the characters are flawed in their own way and it was really interesting how it all came together. I was able to predict part of this, but not all of it. I didn't see the first big twist coming, but after that I paid closer attention and was able to predict the rest, but it didn't change the way I read it and how I felt about the book. In fact, I think the way it ended was perfect.

I started "Too Good to Be True" with absolutely no expectations, which is how I think all readers should go into it. It's the love story between the handsome older guy, Burke and blond, beautiful Skye. Skye has it all: looks, money, great friends but she's missing her prince charming. It's hard for her to find because she's very insecure; she has crippling OCD that developed after the death of her mother. Most men can't handle Skye's OCD compulsions. But Burke is different; charismatic, mature, understanding and just PERFECT. A whirlwind romance leads to a quick engagement.
This book had me addicted to the pages early on. I couldn't tear myself away from the romance as it unfolded even when I knew something was up. The POVs bounced around a lot and we get perspectives from many different characters that are somehow connected. The big twist revealed halfway through the book changed everything for me as a reader. Suddenly, I had a hard time relating to the characters and I didn't trust them anymore. The 2nd half of the book felt a bit repetitive so it lost a star there. For a book I was madly in love with to take such a turn is unusual. It's definitely worth a read, I am giving it 3.5 stars rounded up. Check it out and thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Now available!

Too Good To Be True is a thriller told from three perspectives. Skye is a young woman in love and engaged to an older man named Burke after a whirlwind courtship. But unfortunately, Burke is not exactly who Skye thinks he is. You see Burke is also married to a woman named Heather. What exactly is Burke’s motive for marrying Skye and what exactly does Heather know?

What I liked: The three perspectives gave you insight into each character and their motivations. There was one twist I didn’t see coming, but I figured out the bigger twist of who Skye really was very early in the book.

What I didn’t like: There was a fair amount of foul language, which I am not a big fan of. It was definitely worse in some chapters than in others. As I said above, I guessed the big twist very early and then it kind of made the book drag a little bit for me. I also wished the ending had a little more closure for Skye.

Overall, this was a good thriller. Maybe a little predictable in some parts, but the ending was still a little bit of a surprise. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book!

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It’s told in 3 different perspectives which got a tiny bit confusing with all the dates but nothing too horrible that you couldn’t figure it out. The twist got me tho. I thought something was fishy but couldn’t quite connect it. Then bam...jaw drop lol. This is the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last. A liong read but definitely worth it!!! Thank you to #Netgalley and #CarolaLovering for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had not heard of this author before reading this book, but I will definitely be looking for more of her work! This is a great story with a twist I didn’t see coming... I was definitely hooked! It may not have been the most believable story, but I definitely wanted to find out the ending. My only complaint is that the major twist came fairly early in the book, and it took a while to explain how it made sense. Enjoyable marriage of a mystery and a romance.

Started out a bit annoyed with this book because I mistakenly thought I knew where it was headed,,, but boy was I wrong! Once the twists started coming, they never stopped, leaving me gleefully racing through the pages to get to the end. Truly, can you ask for anything more from a good thriller? Thoroughly enjoyed the story being told from three perspectives - never thought they would come crashing together in the way they did. My only complaint was that the ending was just a bit to neat for my taste, but maybe true love really isn’t too good to be true!

This book will definitely take readers on a convoluted journey. Told from the perspectives of Skye Starling, a young woman who suffers from OCD; Burke Michaels, her fiance, who proposes to her after a quick courtship; and Heather, who is married to Burke (although most of her story is set in her teen years).
Even though Skye doesn’t know it, their stories have been intertwining since she was born.
Wonderfully plotted, this book will keep you reading long after you should have gone to bed.

I am on a hot streak of NetGalley ARCs that really wow me. This book has so many twists to it. It's the perfect combination of drama, domestic suspense, multiple timelines and POVs, and more. It was very hard to put down and I thought it was well written. While it is somewhat predictable around the midway mark, it definitely makes up for it in the excellent plotting. I can't say too much without giving it away, so check it out!

Too Good to be True was also one of my Book of the Month picks, so I got two copies of this book. Of course, I read the ebook since that was a little easier, but it didn't really matter. I loved it!



We have three main characters. A wife, her husband, and the "mistress" he is trying to seduce and con so he can get her money. At least that's all how it appears at first glance. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes, but you'll have to read it to find out what. That being said.....



I did like this book a lot. There were some unexpected twists. Normally I don't try to guess what's going on, so I always try to be surprised. And I most certainly was! At one point I hated all three of the main characters and then it completely changed and I loved them and then I hated them. It was all over the place. To me, that's some good writing to have your reader not know how to feel. I would absolutely read more by Lovering, and look forward to more books from her in the future.



4.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the Publisher and Author for providing me an advanced ecopy of Too Good To Be True by Carola Lovering in exchange for an honest review. I will start by saying I really really really enjoyed the novel. The novel is told from three different characters' perspectives: Skye, Burke, and Heather. Skye is a beautiful, wealthy, twenty-something who has struggled with OCD since her mother died when she was twelve. Burke, an older man woo-ing Skye, but with selfish motives. Finally, Heather is Burke's wife and we meet her back in the early 1990's and follow her life and relationship with Burke until present day.

I was enthralled the whole novel. I was rooting for Skye from the start. I loved having a character to root for since so many novels these days have no characters worth rooting for. I was invested in Skye figuring out she was being conned, but I was also hoping for her to get a happy ending. Heather and Burke were the more common type of character in modern thrillers....to say more of what I mean would be spoilerish.

I liked that this novel made a person who deals with mental illness the main character and made her relatable. I loved that Skye had very strong, very realistic friendships with other females. The dynamics between Skye and Burke, Skye and her friend Andie, Skye and her stepmother, Burke and Heather, and Burke and Skye (to a bit of a lesser extent) were all engaging and realistic. Now the plot of the novel was not 100% believable, but it was good escapist thrills and would recommend it to any of my fellow thriller loving friends.

Carola Lovering, the author of TELL ME LIES, returns with TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, an enthralling thrill ride about one man, his two wives and the three versions of the truth that exist between them.

Skye Starling has never had it easy as far as romances go. Although she’s a total knockout with a glamorous job and a hefty inheritance, men are turned away by her OCD, a condition she has struggled with ever since the tragic death of her beloved mother. In her friend group of four --- all beautiful, ambitious young women living in New York City --- Skye is the only one who has never had a serious romance, and as her friends are starting to settle down, she has never felt more held back by her OCD.

However, that all changes when she meets Burke Michaels, a 46-year-old financial advisor who is tall, dark and movie-star handsome. They fall head over heels in love almost immediately, and when Burke proposes just six months later, Skye feels as if her life has finally begun. Her best friend, Andie, has qualms about the speed at which the two became serious, but Skye knows she has found her person. Burke has said and done all the right things, from accepting her OCD to formally requesting her hand from her father. If alarm bells aren’t ringing in your head right now, I’ll spell it out for you: Burke is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

In alternating chapters, Lovering cuts right to the chase by revealing Burke’s real motives. In diary entries to his marriage therapist (yes, you read that right), Burke explains his perfect plan. He and his wife, Heather, have three wonderful kids and a decent house in New Haven, Connecticut, but kids and houses come with serious bills attached. After being laid off for no good reason, he is seriously strapped for cash. His marriage has been on the rocks for months, and he knows the only way to fix it is to finally give his wife the life she deserves: financial security, a gorgeous forever-home and the freedom to live on their own terms, not held back by their credit card debt or empty wallets.

When Burke takes a weekend away from the stress and meets a gorgeous young girl for a little fun, he can’t believe his luck when he learns that she’s an heiress. Desperate to save his marriage, Burke comes up with a plan to tell his wife that he is on a contract gig, fully commit to Skye for a few months, marry her, and then flip the switch and push her toward a divorce. When the dust settles, he’ll have not only the cash that he slips from their joint account during the engagement, but hopefully a cushy divorce settlement.

But there’s another player involved in Skye and Burke’s whirlwind relationship: his wife. Jumping back 30 years, Lovering invites readers to the tiny upstate (very upstate) town of Langs Valley, New York. Low-income and drug-filled, Langs Valley is not the sort of place that fosters dreams, especially for its citizens who want nothing more than to get out, like teenager Heather Price. With two parents who are addicted to drugs, Heather has grown up fiercely independent and sharp, her street-smart traits balanced by her almost maternal love for her baby brother, Gus. Her devilishly handsome boyfriend, Burke, likes to party, but she knows he has her back and that the two of them are each other’s real family.

When Heather meets glamorous, wealthy Libby Fontaine, a Connecticut housewife with the perfect life, her complacency in Langs Valley starts to crack. Seeing how the wealthy live --- how their money gives them freedom in so many ways --- she realizes that she has to get out of there and starts planning for a life in New York City, even if it means leaving Burke behind.

Alternating between Skye’s wedding planning, Burke’s confessional diaries and Heather’s past, Lovering expertly blends these three perspectives so that the truth always seems just out of reach. All three characters are masterfully drawn --- Skye’s battle with OCD is heartbreaking and endearing; Burke’s motivations perfectly fiendish; and Heather’s ambitions utterly relatable --- and together their stories propel one another forward, always adding new details to the overarching narrative that make you question everything you thought you knew.

In terms of technique and character development, no single storyline is better than the other, but I found Heather’s the most compelling. As the character with whom we spend the most time, it was her growth and motivations that kept me absolutely riveted. Her desperate desire for more, simply more, was painfully relatable. Through her, Lovering touches on so many prevalent issues in today’s world, like the opioid crisis, financial inequality and the fight to live the American dream.

As a thriller, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is practically perfect. Lovering is a taut and clever writer, and even when you think you’ve spotted a plot hole, she quickly fills it --- usually with yet another shocking twist or revelation. There were so many times when I thought “Aha, I’ve got it!” while reading, only to be completely thrown off by the next chapter. This is a masterfully plotted, intricate book, and Lovering’s control of her narrative, characters and big reveals is spellbinding. I read it in one night for its unputdownable, fast-paced plot, and I already want to read it again to marvel at its mechanics.

Perfect for readers of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, Alex Michaelides and Paula Hawkins, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is a must-buy for thriller readers who want an ending they cannot predict and characters they cannot forget.