3.5 stars rounded up

What would you do if you received a text message from someone who has been dead for five years?

There are so many things that I really loved about this book (LOVED the thriller aspect and trying to put together the pieces). One thing that I did not love was the dual timeline format. I really liked the present day storyline and perspective but could have done without the past timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley, publishers, and Sarina Bowen for the advanced copy!

The Five-Year Lie by Sarina Bowen is an intriguing suspense novel with a promising premise. The story unfolds with a decent pace, and the mystery surrounding Drew's disappearance keeps readers engaged. While the plot twists are decent, some elements of the storyline felt predictable. The characters are likable enough, but their development could have been deeper.

Overall, it's a solid read that provides an entertaining escape, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of a truly gripping thriller.

A tense story about how well you can really know the people in your lives and the people you thought were gone forever. Fast-paced and fun!

Might be in the minority but I was slightly underwhelmed! The author lost me with the romance part, but I enjoyed the characters and a couple of the twists had my jaw on the ground. Will absolutely give the author another chance and can't wait to see what she comes out with next! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ariel Cafferty, mother of four-year-old Buzz in Portland, Maine works part time as office manager for the family business (Chime Co.) and creates blown glass pieces.

An urgent text message from Buzz's dead father Drew Miller sets Ariel on a quest for answers.

The story moves back and forth in time to reveal very sinister uses of the company's technology, tied into police and judicial corruption

3.5!!!

I love everything Sarina Bowen does so her adding a thriller into the mix was super exciting.

This mostly takes place in Portland, Maine, so knowing all the places and streets mentioned added a layer of fun.

Overall this book kept me on my toes but I cannot get past how easily Ariel just found Drew/Jay and let him back into her life after 5 years of NOTHING and thinking he was dead. That transition was a little too seamless for me to get past, although I'm a sucker for a happy ending so will still recommend this book to everyone. 😂

Absolutely fantastic read! I love a good domestic thriller and this one did not disappoint! Can’t wait to read more by this author xx

A woman receives a mysterious text from the man she thought was dead, leading her on a quest to uncover the truth about his disappearance. As she digs deeper, she realizes that everything she knew was a lie, and someone is still hiding the truth. With her safety and her son's at risk, she must unravel the mystery before it's too late.

This book was somewhat understated for my taste. However, I did appreciate the intricate plot and the way everything unfolded. At times, it did feel a bit drawn out and overly explained, but the ending was swift and satisfying. I particularly enjoyed the clever storyline and the unexpected twists it offered. It could be described as a cozy romance mystery, with just the right amount of intrigue and charm.

The narrative seamlessly transitions between the present and events that occurred five years ago, providing a comprehensive understanding of the story. I highly recommend this book to fans of compelling mysteries and captivating romance suspense.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for my digital ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’ve enjoyed so many Bowen romances over the years – a number of college hockey books and then professional hockey books. (Hockey is my least favorite of the Big 4 of American sports, but somehow it’s 99% of of my sports-related romance reading. Go figure.) I’ve also read a couple that weren’t hockey-related. When I heard she had a new suspense book, I snapped it up.

I would say The Five-Year Lie is more of a romance/suspense hybrid, told in a split timeline and with most of the romance content taking place in the earlier timeline.

In the present day, Ariel Cafferty is in a Monday morning team meeting when her phone lights up with an incoming text. Her heart stops when she realizes it’s from a voice from the past – Drew, who she had a whirlwind romance with five years before. The message urges Ariel to come to their meeting spot in the park as soon as possible. There are a couple of issues with that though – number one, Drew disappeared abruptly from her life with no explanation and number two, he is dead.

It turns out that the message was part of a snafu on the part of a cell-phone provider – Ariel and many other people got messages that had been sent five years before and never received. Ariel is still intrigued by the message though – Drew disappeared out of her life without a word, and now she finds that *he* did try to contact her.

Ariel works for the family business, a doorbell security company called Chime that sounded a bit like Ring. She has worked there for years and is comfortable with her office manager position being a perquisite of being the daughter and niece of the two founders. Ariel appreciates the easiness of the job, since it allows her to pursue her artistic passion – glassblowing, and also take care of her young son, Buzz. Yes, Drew left something behind when he left.

(I kind of groaned at the secret kid trope, though since it was Drew that took off and then died, he wasn’t really a secret kid. Also, Ariel has a sentimental reason for calling her son Buzz. I still HATED the name – apologies to any fans of it out there.)

In the earlier timeline Ariel meets Drew when he’s hired by the family company. She doesn’t know that he has an ulterior motive for working there, or that Drew is not his real name. Drew is ambivalent about getting involved with Ariel; he’s on a mission and he doesn’t want to be distracted, nor does he want to hurt Ariel. But their attraction is undeniable, and soon they’re in love.

On the day that Drew disappears, Ariel’s father dies suddenly. He isn’t exactly mourned; he was hyper-critical of Ariel and abusive to most of the people around him. Ariel’s uncle (her father’s brother; co-owner of the company) is much more likable and has been in a relationship with Ariel’s mother since shortly after her father’s passing.

Sometime after Drew disappears, Ariel finds an obituary detailing his death in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina. This leaves her as a single parent to Buzz, and until the wayward text, she doesn’t question any of the events that have lead up to the present day.

The suspense plot involves Chime possibly being involved in some shady things with their products – they apparently heavily market the cameras to police and there is evidence of corruption and surveillance misuse related to that. I thought this aspect of the story was fresh and interesting and realistically scary. The nitty-gritty of the tech stuff was sometimes a bit tedious, but not enough to detract from the story significantly.

One thing I liked was that Drew was not portrayed as uber-competent in his espionage – unbeknownst to him, he is actually caught in his sleuthing activities pretty quickly. It’s not that he’s incompetent, just that he’s in over his head a bit, which felt realistic to me. Drew is an Army veteran who lost part of his leg to an IED, and while he has something of a tech background (enough to get hired at Chime, anyway) he is more of an action type than a computer savant. He has personal reasons for trying to dig up information on Chime’s activities.

In the present day storyline, Ariel tries to understand what happened when Drew left, but her investigation, with the help of another Chime employee, leads to sinister happenings. There is a break-in at her house that leaves her terrified for the safety of her son. Ariel doesn’t know who to trust since her family and the police are both implicated in these events.

It’s hard to talk about one of my issues with this book without delving into a spoiler, so here goes:

Spoiler: Show

I was pretty engrossed in The Five-Year Lie when I was reading it but in retrospect my feelings are a little less enthusiastic. The writing was decent and the plot held my attention, but the melding of suspense and romance didn’t quite work. Ariel was a pretty strong heroine but the other characters – except perhaps Zain, Ariel’s computer geek co-worker – were kind of bland and superficial. My grade for this was a low B.

I love Sarina Bowen’s writing and you should too. I don’t usually read thrillers (real life is scary enough) but I was willing to try for her. This was a good read and I’m grateful for love story throughout.

This was marketed as a thriller, but this is a weird romance with a little bit of mystery? And very slow.

I previously have read 2 of this author's mm romances and very much enjoyed them so was suoer thankful to receive an ARC of this one for my honest reveiw. This one starts interestingly enough, and I liked the twists but it got a bit bogged down in the middle. Ultimately enjoyable read.

Ariel and Drew fall in love while working at ChimeCo--Ariels family business. Drew disappears and Ariel ends up with his obituary. Years later she receives a text messages from the day Drew went missing. There are multiple POV's and the story is pretty good however it took a bit to get into it. Ariel wasn't my fav FMC , she irritated me often.

Ariel and Drew work together at Ariel's family business, ChimeCo., where they fall in love. One day Drew up and ghosts Ariel without any explanation, followed by a very unexpected obituary. Fast forward five years and a glitch in a cell phone tower delivers a five year old text message to Ariel from Drew: Meet me ASAP. What happens next is a whirlwind exploration trying to find out just what happened to Drew. Ariel teams up with another ChimeCo. employee and together they piece together the guy Ariel knew as Drew. Told in both the past and the present, and from two POVs, this allows the reader to figure out what is going on long before Ariel does and I liked this aspect. This is my first book by Sarina Bowen, and this is Sarina's first mystery/thriller. I enjoyed this story a lot. It has a slower pace and not a lot of ups and downs, but it was what I needed at this time.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What would you do if you received a text message from your ex who’s been dead for years? Ariel, it turns out, will spiral and become intertwined with the mystery surrounding his disappearance and death while putting herself in danger.

This was a fun, quick book. It definitely took a little bit to pick up and get going but once it did, I didn’t want to put it down. I thought the storylines about the ethics of doorbell cameras and how they can be extremely dangerous when put in the hands of the wrong people.

I hate to say it but Ariel was an insufferable main character. She’s spoiled, selfish and just irritating. I also feel like they threw one twist out of left field with no lead up to that being a possibility.

But regardless, I had fun! And I really liked the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I enjoyed this book as it was well written, especially the main characters in this book. I loved the kid “Buzz” he was perfectly reflected in this book and how a child would act. The mystery was fun to figure out and see what was going to take place as you progressed through the story. I did enjoy the mixture of the Present and Past so you can see how the story evolves. It was definitely a good domestic thriller to read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and Sarina Bowen for the ARC of this book!

“It’s hard to live in a world where cameras are always watching “.

What a thrill ride! Really great original story that keeps you flipping pages until you find out what the truth is. Love this one!

I really thought this sounded like something I could love but, sadly, I just couldn’t get into it. I never connected with the main character. I didn’t particularly like the direction the plot was going. I ended up DNFing around 30%. Maybe someone who doesn’t read as many thrillers as I do would enjoy it more. I just didn’t feel like it was giving me anything new or fresh for the genre. And I really wasn’t feeling the suspense or excitement. It never made me care about anyone or anything that was happening, and I found myself just really not wanting to pick it back up again. It’s not that it was bad, but it left me completely apathetic about the story, which isn’t great either.

This is this author's debut thriller. This has twist and turns and is a mystery.

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

🔹 My take: 4/5

🔸 Ariel works as office admin in ChimeCo. which is owned by her dad and uncle. ChimeCo. is into camera surveillance and has grown leaps and bounds over last few years. Ariel is attracted to Drew who has recently joined company. The sparks flow instantly between them and they become inseparable. However, within few weeks after meeting; Drew goes absconding and days after Ariel reads his obituary in newspaper. Ariel grieves and moves on with great difficulty. Five years pass and suddenly one day, Ariel receives message from Drew to meet at their once regular meeting spot and not tell anyone about the meeting. Ariel is out of her wits and tries to contact the number again but to no avail. The entire book there after goes on a roller coaster ride containing revelations, betrayal, emotional baggage, escapades and much more. Was it really Drew who messaged Ariel or was it some twisted joke? Why did Drew go missing and what happened to him? What was he hiding?

💖 Wows - A twisted and edge of the seat thriller; this book does justice to its genre. The latter half of the book is particularly exciting since it contains lots of thrilling along with tender moments. The helplessness that Ariel felt at various junctures was very palpable. All the side characters embedded in the story were also well developed and meshed in the plot easily.

💔 Ows - What marred my overall rating was that the mystery aspect was missing and so it was clear from early on who could be the traitor. Few places where it got technical was also a minor irritant. Also, the book is huge. But full marks to thrill aspects, back story building and pacing.

💫 Sarina Bowen is known for her romance reads and this is her foray in thriller genre. It was a gripping read so job well done. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thanks to @sarina.bowen @harperperennial and @netgalley for sharing the DRC in exchange for honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.