Many thanks to @NetGalley and Penzler Publishers, Source Books for the gifted eARC to read and review!

Hendricks has consistently made my annual top 5 lists with her prior releases, so it’s no surprise that 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗘 is one of my 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 books for 2024. I even abandoned my current read so I could dig into this beauty!

This was another solid one from Ms. Hendricks! These characters confused the heck out me; one minute I hated them, the next I sympathized with them. JLH is the queen of complex characters and it’s so fun getting into each of their heads through the dual POVs! 🙌

Read this if you:
✨live for dual POVs
✨love a good narcissist
✨grew up in the 90s
✨geek out over sarcastic inner monologues

Also, how about this cover? 😍 So gorgeous! Can’t wait to display my preordered copy next to the rest of my JLH collection when this one pubs in May!

𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦:
“You have no idea about the backstabbing that goes on when people pretend to be friends.”

The catch line for this story is : Is it better to believe a lovely lie or to know the horrible truth?

Scarlett Russo is living a modern life with her wayward husband and 17 year old son when a young woman approaches her in town. Zoey is Pepper's daughter - Scarlett's best friend from high school and someone she has not spoken to in 20 years. Pepper left town without a word. It turns out she was pregnant and Zoey is searching for her father.

Scarlett has a sense of dread around Zoey and Zoey can sense it. She will stop at nothing to identify her father and if that rubs people the wrong way, so be it!. With police interviews interspersed between the chapters, it doesn't take long to realize that Scarlett and many others in town have secrets that they need to keep.

This was a fun story. I didn't always buy into the conversations and depictions of the "bad" guys but I enjoyed it all the same. Jamie Lynn Hendricks can always bring me right into a thrilling plot where I can feel the goosebumps on my arms.

A great thriller and domestic story!
.#Penzler #alovelylie #jamielynnhendricks

This book has it all-unreliable narrator, flawed characters, fast pace, twists and surprise ending. This draws you in on the first page and keeps you engaged until the end. Scarlet and Pepper were best friends in high school but on the night of the senior picnic there was an accident that changed everything. Now decades later Zoey, Pepper's daughter shows up wanting answers as to who her father is and what happened that night.

Scarlet and Vince have never talked about that night. Now all the secrets are going to come out.

This goes back to high school where you are stupid enough to do anything for your best friend. Just loved this book so much!

The book is so messed up. If you are looking for a twisted thriller that will hook you from page one and will keep you guessing till the end, this is for you. The twists and turns were so unpredictable and the truth was twisted and hidden behind the layers of lies and betrayal. The characters have infinite facades and it’s hard to differentiate between truth and lie in this book.

Scarlett and Vince are married and they have a son called Luke. While Pepper Wilson was Scarlett’s best friend. Somehow they got involved in a car accident some years ago since then Pepper vanished from everyone’s lives, no one knows about her whereabouts. After twenty-two years, Pepper’s Daughter Zoey shows up at Scarlett’s door and says her that Pepper is dead. Zoey is trying to find out about her father. She is trying to find truth out of the buried past. The more you will read it, the more you will get tangled in the mystery and the buried past that has some sinister secrets, lies, deception and truth embedded in it.

The author has truly unveiled the true facade of each character and a layer of mystery with each chapter and revelation. I must say the author has masterfully crafted this twisted and gripping thriller that will keep you guessing till the end. This is the best thriller.

Thanks to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley.

Who remembers how vicious high school could be?
What are Scarlett and Vince hiding?
When will the author write another book?
Where in the world will she go next?
Why did I not guess how awful some of these characters would be?
How am I to survive until her next book?

What can I say about A Lovely Lie? Scarlett has been married to Vince for years and she lives for their son Luke. But when Zoey shows up, claiming to be Vince’s daughter with Pepper, Scarlett’s best friend from high school, well things get super Cray Cray, super-fast.
I’m not going to say a lot about what happens, but trust me,the twists just kept on coming.Holy high school and young bad decision-making brains. This story makes the mean girls and cool kids look like demons in training.
Oh, if I didn’t mention it, I loved this page flipper. I know I’ll be seeing it all over the beach this summer because it is just the perfect, perfect beach read. All the stars🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book was absolutely filled with twists and turns. I continued to be very surprised throughout. My only hold up was the fact that I felt a disconnect with the characters and their interpersonal relationships.

Ohh my gosh this book gripped me from the very beginning and refused to let go throughout the entire thing! I was totally hooked from beginning to end! My eyebrows were raised to my hairline, my mouth dropped open in shock or my hand had flown to my mouth as I yelled wtf so many times! It has all of my favorite bookish things: First person perspectives from multiple characters, nonlinear timelines, police interrogations, past conversations, nonstop things happening without a bunch of fluff, and Hendricks powerfully and effectively dropped clues and hints and got my theories going crazy! And I was still blown away by each revelation and unprepared for how it all played out! One of my favorite book endings EVER and at the end of the book, I just sat there with my jaw on the floor and a grin on my face! Plus the character development and character arcs are written so well that my opinions of each character morphed as details came to light throughout. And now I truly want there to be a sequel because I am so vested in each of the characters!
I will be recommending A Lovely Lie forever as it’s easily one of my favorite books ever!

This book is the anxiety you get before a big poop. I said it here, mark my words. Jaime Lynn Hendricks gives me the most exciting diarrhea

Pepper.Scarlett.Vince.Zoey.Chris.Luke

They all have secrets…

Some worth killing for.

A Lovely Lie : An arm-hair-raising, Mind bending, spine tingling, kind of thriller that will enable the ability to blink for 72 hours after concluding.

That’s how I’m feeling. The bags under my eyes have rolled in and this is a job even La Mer, can not handle.

I have loved and obsessed over Jaime Lynn, since Finding Tessa. I have waited for the fluttering in my tummy since the day I concluded that book and man, it’s been a struggle .

Why can’t I ever feel completely satisfied? Don’t get me wrong, I still love my thrillers but nothing has tickled my fancy quite like Finding Tessa.

That is until A Lovely Lie

Jaime speaks to my soul. I know that I got this book by being super duper annoying and I’m sure she just gave it to me so I would shut up but I was willing to do what it took

I won

I love you, boo bear. You speak my language and I’ll never stop annoying you to write. You are a magician, a beast, my spirit animal and I am addicted to you.

A Lovely Lie, is like nothing you have ever read before and I promise you I have read them all.

Teaser :

1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police, protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again…

Now: Twenty-two years later, Scarlett has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself, raising her teenage son with her husband Vince. Her peace is disrupted, however, when Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlett that alludes to the events of that fateful night and Pepper’s initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoey wants answers about her mother’s past.