okay this book was real sad. and i cried a lot. half truths is pretty gteat but just a real tear jerker. so keep that in mind if you want to read it anytime soon.

A lovely, easy to read, slow burn romance that had me hooked to the end.
The lead characters Harley and Alex are complete opposites, however they have one thing in common, they are both keeping secrets. This book flowed beautifully and I truly enjoyed following the couples romance as it blossomed throughout this book.
A wonderful, enjoyable read.




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4 STARS!

Alex and Harley's story is full of secrecy and lies — or should I say half-truths?! 😉 They’re both keeping certain things to themselves not realizing that the other may understand more than they think.
You’ll discover fairly early on that family plays a vital role in this story. They have a big impact on both the protagonists and how they go about in their daily lives. Their struggles are very relatable, which makes their entire story more realistic. You may not entirely relate with Alex or Harley’s lives, but you can connect with at least some of their struggles — like money worries, family issues, work troubles, and even moral beliefs.
Brownell included a range of secondary characters that really gives Alex and Harley’s world more depth, and to really shine a light on the different worlds they’ve come from, which I really appreciated.
I admit, there are things that were said and done that I didn’t necessarily agree with… and I didn’t always love Harley or Alex. But in the end, I was left feeling a sense of contentment with how things concluded. I was happy sighing.
It does contain sensitive subject matters that may trigger some readers — mostly drug and alcohol abuse. There’s also a minor mention of adultery (but not involving the main characters).
There’s lighthearted humor here and there. Just enough to keep the overall feel of the book on the lighter side.
Coming from completely different backgrounds, it has an opposite worlds type of romance trope. Whilst I’m normally not a fan of slow burn romances, this one was less cruel because well… Alex just can’t seem to stay away from Harley. 😄
Fairly-well paced storytelling. Told from dual points of view.
There’s a good chunk of character growth from both hero/ heroine. It was a relief to see that they managed to handle themselves as mature adults (ironically enough, with all the drama surrounding them).
All in all, this adult contemporary romance was a sweet, enjoyable love story, with moments even too cute for words.

**ARC was generously provided by the author and I'm voluntarily leaving my review.**
Reviewed by Rina | (booksofthemuggleborn)

I really loved this slow burn romance. It was such a sweet story with the perfect amount of angst. Harley and Alex were perfect for each other even though they were complete opposites.⁣
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What they do have in common? That they they are both living lives mired in secrets for the benefit of their siblings yet can’t help but be drawn to each other even though it could throw both of their lives into turmoil.⁣
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Despite their secrets, Harley and Alex build a lovely relationship that you will definitely root for.⁣
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I flew through this story and highly recommend it.⁣

This was so good!! The relationship between the characters and the development. It was fun and a great read!

Half Truths was okay for me. Alex was hard to connect to and his behavior and thoughts weren't great. The blurb is a bit misleading as well. This is a slow burn romance, and it was a bit lackluster in the end.

For me, this book was fine. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. A lot of the plot was really predictable, and I tend not to gravitate toward books centered around drugs, rehab, and lying. If you like those things, you’ll probably enjoy this book. The characters have layers and you get to know their personalities and why they do what they do.

Half-Truths was my first read by Rachael Brownell and I really enjoyed it. It was a super cute read. I adored the characters, some more than others. I loved how Alex and Harley developed a relationship first and that he and Phoenix also became great friends and not because Alex was interested in his mom.

Everything to do with Daphne, Alex's addict sister, had me feeling some type of way. She was so vindictive and calculated. Alex's whole family was pretty crappy. So the fact that he found an amazing little famil in Harley and Phoenix meant so much. These three were meant to meet and be in each other's lives.

The chemistry between these two was fire. They way they described each other and the moments where they almost caved to their attraction oof. But once they finally happened, things developed too fast. I kind of wish we had gotten to see them be in a relationship and enjoy it for a while before everything imploded when Alex's secret came out. After that moment, everything happened so fast and although I really enjoyed that bit of angst, I feel like there were moments in between these two big scenes that would have been nice to see play out.

I did think it was nice that Alex went and got his life sorted before he and Harley could have a real future. I love how he had a plan, made things happen and then came back to fight for his girl. He was pretty amazing. I'm happy that some of his family members also saw light and decided to do something about it.

This book was truly a sweet read and I enjoyed it a lot. Harley and Alex were both hiding behind lies to protect themselves and the ones they loved from bad home situations. They found each other in the wonderful twists of fate and from the getgo they both knew there was something special between them. Their story is fun, sexy, sweet and emotional here and there.

• Half Truths (by Rachael brownell)

I picked this book up knowing nothing about it. It was a wild guess from my part, but boy do I pick a great book.

Alex sends his sister to the rehab because she needs help with her addiction that is eating her alive, which is certainly a real big issue in a lot of house and teenage life now a days.

I was already pleased with the drug addiction issue the book was handling with. But then the fun part comes, where Alex got attracted to the drug counselor and vice versa, then circumstances hit them and it was clear from the start that they are supposed to be together till the end of the book

I was excited about the journey, they will go through knowing they are connected through Alex's sister drug addiction cure which is not just a very fortunate way to hit it off, but on the other side a very good way to know each other from real and emotional levels.

That was what the book was holding on. The main thread and plot of the story and damn did it hit some nerves.

Both of them had their own past and present baggages which have some ugly faces to be honest and blunt, but again isnt that life.

I loved how I flew through the book and the page count disnt hurt me as much as I thought it would. It does have some good character developments.

• Character development- 4.2☆
• Story Plot- 3.8☆
• Side characters- 3.5☆
• Flow of the story- 4☆
• Overall - 4☆

Half truths is a book which reflects the human nature of protection toward our loved ones, through the lie... well “half truths”.

Alex is dealing with her sister who is in drugs so she needs profesional help. He intern her into a rehabilitation center, while he’s dealing with some personal issues. But he does not expect to have a crush with his sister’s counselor, Harley. She’s a young woman who has secrets too, all she’s doing in her life is to protect the little man in her life, Phoenix. First time she met Alex, doesn’t expect to find him again. However, surprise! He is her new handsome neighbor and she has to interact with him several times. Being her neighbor, the counselor of his sister and the rising chemistry between them forces her to say half truths and she suspects he hides something too... and the feeling is mutual.

I enjoyed the book since the start, all the secrets they were hiding intrigued me. Also the chemistry between Alex and Harley is so intense, but I wanted a slower and deeper development. However I really liked the plot, the characters and the story in general.

I give it 4.5 stars. Thanks to The Next PR and Netgalley for the ARC, the opinions and thoughts I write here are on my own.

Brownell consistently brings great characters and passionate romance to life. As a big fan of Brownell's, her name provokes an automatic one-click from me. I am always entertained. Highly recommend.

I was really enjoying this book however I started running into page after page missing from it. I was advised since the book was archived that I would just need to add why cannot give feedback however this counts against me for my feedback due to NetGalley app issue.
I reached out to the author on the side (What they uploaded was completely showing the pages the NetGalley app was missing) and she sent me some of the pages I started missing but as I continued to read more and more was missing that huge chunks of it. I didn’t feel it fair to the author to keep having to reach out to the ask for more pages. That’s a lot of their precious time wasted. So I stopped reading. It was upsetting because I would have loved to find out what happened in the book but this was not able to be the case. Hopefully in the future I’ll Buy/ pick up this book To finish. At this time I will no longer use the NetGalley app but will make sure everything is sent to Kindle going forward so this does not happen and I can continue to read/properly review books.

4⭐️

This is my first ARC from the author. I've read the blurb and signed-up.

The story started slow for me. I expected it to be angsty, and it was. For a second there, I almost gave up on reading because the dynamic between Alex and Harley was frustrating and it wasn't relatable. But it picked around the middle and I eventually warmed up.

It was definitely a unique, heart-wrenching and heartwarming tale of giving people second chances and rising up to the occasion... that sometimes in life, we only need one person to believe in us to have a different outcome.

The first book I’ve read by this author and I loved every page! I binged this book in two days, such a heart warming story. Whilst the storyline was predictable it didn’t make it any less interesting! Would highly reccomend

This was a new author for me, but the blurb sucked me and the story was simply amazing! I couldn't put it down!

This one will definitely tug at your heartstrings - more for the secondary characters than the main most of the time. It's a bit hot, a bit emotional, and a bit dramatic. Everything pulls together nicely from start to finish.

When a young man tells the lie that his parents were deceased in order to get his sister into treatment, is it really hurting anyone? When a young woman lets people believe that she’s a single mom to a little boy when in actuality she’s his sister trying to do everything she can to keep him safe from a drug abusing mother; is it really wrong? And when this young man and woman meet at the treatment facility, and then later find themselves living in the same apartment complex, is it wrong for their half truths to become omissions as their interest grows in each other? I was intrigued with this story and was happy to see how things all came together in the end.

This is the first book I have read from Rachael Brownell and it won't be the last. I really enjoyed this book even though it was angstier than I typically read. Harley and Alex were both well-developed characters. This book centers on the half-truths they tell each other. It was super well-written and I definitely recommend it if you like angsty romance!

This book had all the feels. Was a slow burn romance that is written in both characters POV’s which I think for this type of story was a good way to go with it.
This book was intriguing to me because it tells the story of telling the truth and telling lies.
Harley is a strong woman for all the things that she went through, I have no idea how she did it.
Alex is such a teddy bear; I mean he welcomed two strangers into his life and wanted to take care of them. (I mean come on!)
The ending was beautiful, and I loved how they got there HEA in the end.

I liked the concept, but there was a lot I didn’t like. You want to like Alex but he’s kind of a creepy. At times he is less romantic and more creepier next door. Also it doesn’t matter that Alex isn’t her patient, his sister is which as a therapist myself is completely not ok!