This is Hank Phillippi Ryan at her best! I was hooked on the first page and could not put this book down. So many twists and turns with characters you will never forget. I thought I had it figured out, but NOPE- just like her other books, you’ll never guess what’s coming. A must read!

BOOK REVIEW
HER PERFECT LIFE
Sandra Dethlefsen

Hank Phillippi Ryan never disappoints. Her Perfect Life has the makings of another one of her blockbuster stories. Lily Atwood has an idyllic life. Fame, fortune, shelves full of Emmys, and a beautiful seven-year-old daughter. Lily becomes terrified when she discovers that someone is digging into her past life, threatening to uncover things that will ruin her if made public.
Lily’s fight to keep her world from falling apart leads to a shocking, suspense novel that never stops. The characterization is phenomenal. The story is full of neverending twists and turns, and just when you might think you know what’s happening in the end, you’ll never guess. I know I didn’t. A fantastic, end of the summer read.

Although this book had a slow start, with building up with an emotional start with some family drama, missing family members, the end totally blew my mind. I hadn't anticipated the end, which made it all the more a worthwhile read.

I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters be it the too perfect Lily or her workaholic sneaky producer Greer.

The twist in the end was well done, with a powerful emotional factor.

Thanks to NetGalley and to MacMillan - Tor/Forge for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lily has the perfect life, at least according to social media and the hashtag perfect Lily. But is anyone perfect? Who is the father of her daughter? And what about Lily's family? When it looks like a secret that makes her appear less than perfect is about to be revealed what will Lily do to keep it from being revealed?

After enjoying Ms. Ryan’s other releases, I was really looking forward to Her Perfect Life. I found the premise intriguing. After a start that hooked me in, the middle seemed to have plot lines going in all directions which did have me suspicious of almost everyone. I found the characters unlikeable, even ‘perfect’ Lily, which always makes it tougher for me to become invested in a story. However, it did wrap up with a satisfying conclusion. It was a quick entertaining read, just not my favorite of Ms. Ryan’s.
I’d like to thank @netgalley snd @forgereads for the uncorrected advance reading e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first Hank Phillippi Ryan novel and it will definitely not be my last, I will now go in search of these books. I devoured this story, Well developed characters that play a part in an extremely good plot that one again had me turning the pages very quickly. There are twists and turns throughout and each of these lead to a very exciting story that takes you in from the start and doesn't let go until the fabulous end. Totally recommend this book to anyone who loves a fast paced read that will engage you the whole way through. Thank you to Netgalley , the author and publisher for allowing me to go on this ride. Five stars.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Her Perfect Life. As the title insists, the main character, Lily, lives what appears to be a perfect life. Because it was important to set up how perfect Lily's life is, the beginning of the book was a tad slow. Once the book picked up, and plot twists arose, the book became hard to put down. I enjoyed the different perspectives of the 3 main characters, and felt that I could relate to their struggles on a personal level. Overall, a great book that I would recommend to anyone who is into adult thrillers.

Who knew that Lily Atwood; famous reporter, winner of Emmys, and mother of an adorable daughter, harbors a secret? Her sister went missing 20 years ago, and was never found. But now, the same anonymous source providing her with information for leads, starts getting involved in Lily’s life. Who’s trying to get to her and what do they want?

This was a suspenseful read but I found myself wishing for something more to happen. I didn’t care too much for any of the characters so it was hard to get invested - but - I was taken by surprise a couple times so I loved that!

YES!! YES!! YES!!! Another ingenious read by the brilliant author of psychological thrillers!! Ms. Ryan is definitely in the top 5 on my "authors to read "list.

In my review of her previous book, <em><a href="http://cmashlovestoread.com/2020/08/25/review-the-first-to-lie-by-hank-phillippi-ryan/">The FIrst To Lie</a></em>, I recommended that the reader try not to figure the story out but just enjoy the ride. I went into reading <i>Her Perfect Life</i> thinking that's what I would do, well maybe I might try to figure it out just a little bit. That changed as soon as I was pulled in and became so engrossed that I was soon on a breakneck ride!!! Totally transported into the story!!!

The suspense was nonstop and palpable. At times I was breathless and other times holding on for dear life. Matter of fact, I was lucky that I had a waterproof Kindle case because I almost dropped it in the pool when the truth came out.

Talking about the pool, it seems that I have started a tradition. Every summer, I get on my pool float, grab my Hank Phillippi Ryan newest book, and get swept away. No pressure Ms. Ryan, but please allow me to keep the tradition going in 2022!!

Did I mention that she is one of my top 5 authors??!!

This book was an exceptional and thrilling read!!! Hated to see it end!!

Posted to GR 06/23/21 Will post to blog 09/15/21

This was well written with the perfect amount of characters. However, I could not STAND the main characters so it started to feel like a chore fo read this. The character that was off at college was super naive and very goody goody. That characters actions were not believable. The other character only cared about reputation which was very unbelievable as well. I think the story lime had amazing potential and I would definitely read this author again.

I wasn’t ready for this book. At times I was so irritated by the characters! I thought I had it all figured out and couldn’t understand why the characters were making the choices they were. Except I was wrong. The twists kept me guessing until the end. Great read!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Her Perfect Life is the first book by Hank Phillippi Ryan that I've read, but it won't be my last. Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lily Atwood, the beloved television reporter has it all--fame, fortune, Emmys, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: PerfectLily. To keep it all she has to do is protect her secret.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. The storyline drew me in quickly, and all I wanted to know was, what happened to Lily's sister Cassie? There were a lot of twists and turns, so I always felt like I knew what was going on, but could never quite figure it out. I appreciate when I can't guess the ending of a book, and this book did not disappoint! The only aspect I really didn't like was how naive the cast of characters were. I'm pretty cynical, so I'd like to think I wouldn't fall for the lies these ladies did, but then again, who's to say? While some of the dialogue lacked, I did really enjoy this book and look forward to checking out more books by this author.

I'm sharing my review on Goodreads, and later today, on my Instagram account.

"Her Perfect Life," by Hank Phillippi Ryan didn't engage me as a reader. The plot wasn't creative and the story didn't intrigue me to finish the book. Multiple POV narration with two in the third person was not to my liking either. The characters were thin and not well developed as they should have been. I had hoped the book would get better as I went through the chapters but it didn't.

I want to thank the author, publisher, and Net Galley for the opportunity to review "Her Perfect Life."

Lily. the talent, and Greer, her producer, are at the top of their game. How can the panic that striving for perfection demands cause them to abandon the structure and processes that have supported their climb to the top of the Boston TV market. What challenges are more important: career, children, friends, family or self. Knowing how intensive my mind needed to keep track of the details in THE MURDER LIST, I actually kept notes on characters and issues to attempt to figure out the conclusion of this one. NOPE! Hank did it again with twists and turns that defied my own personal values! Bravo!

Hank Phillippi Ryan has an uncanny knack for writing thrillers that you just can’t stop reading until you reach the last page. I polished this one off in less than a day.

Lily Atwood seems to have a perfect life—never mind that she’s never told her 7-year-old daughter, Rowen, who or where her father is. Or that her own older sister, Cassie, disappeared at age 18 while attending college and has never been found. Lily is a well-respected TV investigative journalist in Boston with multiple Emmys to prove it. Her “producer-researcher-admin-fixer,” Greer, considers it her job to help Lily maintain her perfect image, although she doesn’t feel she gets nearly enough credit for it. And their careers are aided by the successful leads they receive from a mysterious man on the phone who identifies himself as “Mr. Smith.”

Things start to heat up when they both meet Mr. Smith in person and realize that his latest leads are related more to Lily’s life—and Cassie’s disappearance—than they ever anticipated. They get caught up in a tangled web of long-buried secrets, mistaken identity, avarice, intrigue, and—ultimately—personal danger.

There is no graphic violence here. The intricate plotting, twists and turns are enough to satisfy any lover of thrilling stories, masterfully written and delivered with finesse and flair.

Her Perfect Life grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go. A whodunit that has you scratching your head trying to figure out whoREALLYdunit until the end. Full of secrets, mystery, suspense, drama, and more. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. I received an ARC from NetGalley. The honest opinion given is my own.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review -
Lily leads the perfect life - or so it seems. She is a beautiful reporter, has a pretty seven year old.
But - if her past should surface secrets would be revealed.
When a secret source begins to reveal information on her past life - she must find out who it is and why they are determined to ruin her.
A thriller about secrets kept to lead a perfect image!

Her Perfect Life is the latest release by Hank Phillippi Ryan, a thriller mystery with dual time lines set about twenty-five years apart. I've previously read and enjoyed one of Ryan's books, so when this one became available, I grabbed a copy. Between the two, this novel wasn't as strong, but it still had an interesting storyline and offered several great, climactic scenes.

Cassie is 18-years-old and off to college for the first time. She has a much younger sister, Lily, and they are both being raised by just their mother. Their father is gone/dead, and Cassie's learning the ways of the world. Something strange happens while she's at college, and then she disappears. No one ever hears from her again. Lily grows up and becomes a famous journalist. Their mother passes away, the detective who searched for Cassie dies, and Cassie's roommate who knew a little bit but not enough to find the girl also dies. What really happened?

In present times, Lily's producer/director, Greer, is slightly jealous of her success, and while she does everything to support her, there is this fine line of attitude. Lily's got a young daughter and won't discuss the child's father. Soon, she receives secret info about her own life rather than other stars she's been tracking, and the past comes flooding back. A new detective is on the case and enlists Greer's help to get access to Lily. Readers know that Greer as well as several other women are about the same age Cassie should be, but we're not certain if one of them is actually Cassie. Meanwhile, Lily's ex returns and wants to meet his daughter.

Both stories have merit in their own right, and when they collide, it's fascinating to read between the lines. All the cards are pretty much on the table by 1/3 into the book, which ultimately made the plot too simple for me. I felt like I was missing something because I clearly saw what was going on (except the one pseudo-major reveal). As the pieces fell into place, and the truth about Cassie's disappearance became more apparent, I kinda went... well, definitely not what I expected but really? There were a few holes in terms of what happened in the last 25 years. Nothing major, and sometimes the little details aren't important. But I wanted more from this book.

All that said, I did enjoy it. Ryan has a balanced writing style despite some awkward dialog scenes where I felt like a couple of lines were missing or something got edited out. Questions repeated or answers not really answering the question. It didn't seem intentional either; another round of editing should've happened on this one. I rarely say things like this but it was noticeable here. None of this would stop me from picking up another book by the author. She has a fantastic way of building plot and characters so that readers keep analyzing the situation, investing in the outcome. Looking forward to more in the future.

Her Perfect Life is a satisfying combination of fast-moving plot developments and complex, yet realistic characters. Initially I had some doubts about the main character, Lily Atwood, and whether she was a little too egotistical to hold my interest, but her life behind the scenes held poignant secrets that made me more forgiving as a reader. If I didn’t require a solid night’s sleep I would have read this novel in one sitting.

Lily Atwood is a successful TV reporter. Her sister disappeared when she was 7 years old. She has been searching for her sister for years and may now be on the verge of finding out if she is dead or alive.

This is book is an exciting read. The reader will always be trying to figure out just what is going on and who is lying. The ending is a surprise because you will not guess just what is going on. If you like suspense and thrills then this book is for you.

Thank you to #netgalley, @HankPRyan, and @ForgeBooks for a copy of this book..