Snappy writing and plenty of action kept me flipping the pages in this long-buried secrets drama. Scarlett and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two kids dead in high school. Over twenty years later, Pepper's daughter shows up on Scarlett's doorstep asking uncomfortable questions. Who's her dad and what was her late-mom trying to hide? With everyone hiding something, there are plenty of deep dark secrets to uncover. With multiple POVs and dual timelines, you need to pay attention for this one.

YES, YES, YES!!!!! This is my first read from this author and all I have to say is I'm obsessed! Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a fast and fun read. Good characters and story. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

A Lovely Lie easily caught my attention and had me hooked from page one!

Back in 1999, best friends Scarlett and Pepper were involved in an accident that killed two of their classmates. They told a lie that night and got away with it. Now, Pepper’s daughter Zoey shows up to find out who her father is, dragging the case back into the daylight and stirring up trouble in Scarlett’s life.

This book had so many twists and turns, unreliable narrators, and scandalous moments. The main characters have so many connections to one another that all of their interactions feel wrought with history and tension. Some of the characters are downright unlikable, and you’d be only too happy to witness their downfall. The book feels gossipy at times, going back to high school and the party the night of the deaths. It all feels very salacious, dysfunction, and utterly compelling.

This was my first read by this author and will not be my last. I loved her writing style, found her characters and dialogue to feel authentic, and absolutely couldn’t put this book down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers- Scarlet for the ARC. All opinions are my own,

Every book requires suspension of belief but this took it to another level. Everything but the kitchen sink in here, and I kept reading because I could not see how these people could continue on. A ride for sure

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

🚘 T E N S E T U E S D A Y 🚘 featuring “A Lovely Lie” by Jaime Lynn Hendricks!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

It’s 1999 and besties Pepper and Scarlet have no idea that their high school Senior Picnic would change their lives forever. But with this group of classmates … there is always drama and they tip toe around everyone’s secrets and lies. Especially when two of their classmates end up DEAD … and Pepper and Scarlet know what happened. They make a pact to never tell their secret and to protect one another from the police. Once the investigation closes, Pepper picks up and leaves town … and the besties never speak again 🤐!

Now 22 years later, while Scarlet is at work, she gets approached by Zoey … who claims to be Pepper’s daughter. Pepper is DEAD and Zoey is determined to find out who her father is. She found a letter addressed to Scarlet that is cryptic and brings up things that happened THAT night. Zoey is hell bent on digging into the past, no matter how many hard truths she discovers. Will Zoey uncover the truth that Scarlet has tried to keep buried for over 20 years?? AND find out the identity of her father??

WOW 🤯!!! This is my first book by this author and I absolutely loved it!! The devious secrets, twisted lies, dysfunctional relationships and exceptionally written dual timelines make this book a MUST READ to everyone in their thriller/suspense era!

Thank you kindly to @jaimelynnhendricksauthor @penzlerpub @penguinrandomca @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on May 28th, 2024!

Ahh this one was unhinged in the most fun way! It seemed like one of those pretty straightforward thrillers where I assumed I knew where it was going but I was pleasantly surprised by several of the twists. Was it a little dramatic? Absolutely but it was wickedly fun too. This one is full of unlikable characters and you hear from most of them at some point, but I love to hate devious people and this group was wild. There’s a fairly small cast of characters and the ways they were entangled was complicated and messy but it just made this one that much more insane. This was like the very definition of a popcorn thriller, it’s light yet pretty gripping, it’s scandalous and shocking and I promise you will be entertained by the characters antics.

This was my first novel by this author and it didn’t disappoint!

I flew thru the chapters, this is definitely a fast paced novel. There is deception, friendship and the high school drama flashbacks. I enjoyed this thriller and would recommend it. Very good read!

If you’re looking for a “read it in one day and be entertained the entire time” kind of book then this one is for you!

I’ll be on the lookout for more by this author.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC

***Contains spoilers***

Zoey takes a trip to Florida to find out who is her father. She meets her mom's former best friend and ex-boyfriend and as she investigates, old secrets are turned up about a 20 year old accident. The story is told in multiple POV with the past time line revealed with detective Logan's interviews with the kids on the night of the accident.

All the characters are unlikeable and used each other. The characters all didn't really grow up from there when they were teenagers so this felt very YA to me. The story had some twists and Vince and Pepper were just horrible characters.

The epilogue really knocked it down forever because of Chris and Scarlett getting together. The whole story, they got together once in high school and Chris mentions she is too good for Vince and that's it. He dumped his fiance pretty quick to be with Scarlet and it was just one sentence.

Thank you @thrillerloverspromotions @penzlerpub for a copy of the book.

What a great story! I had things figured out pretty quickly (what can I say, I’m a cynic!), but it was still fun to watch it play out. In this story, I would say half the characters were great and half of them were awful people. Pepper especially is an absolute piece of work. Her and I would definitely not have been friends! And poor Scarlett and Luke! This is the kind of story you can picture playing out and I think picture specific people playing the characters’ roles. Definitely worth a read if you like books about old friends with horrific secrets!

Huge thanks to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

A Lovely Lie is the perfect title for this book. It is filled with lies, secrets, years of covering up the unthinkable, betrayal, deceit and DRAMA! I liked all the different point of views and flashback chapters. This is a short and quick read you can easily binge in one day! I don’t consider this book super twisty, nothing really shocked me but it was still fun to watch the secrets surface.

This was my first book by Jamie Lynn Hendricks and her writing style is deliciously addicting to read! Looking forward to reading more of her work!

A solid popcorn thriller that you definitely need to check out! Releases next month!

What would you do if your husband's ex-girlfriend aka your BFF from high school,
surprise daughter shows up looking for her father, just after her Mother dies?
22 years ago their lives changed forever.
A crazy wild ride in this domestic thriller of old high friends and their secrets.
I gobbled this right up and couldn’t put it down. The ending was so perfect it left me wanting more.
It's just soo good!!

I absolutely love this author but this was my least favorite book of hers. I thought it was a little drawn out. The characters were well written, and the dynamics were interesting, but it just left me feeling like it was pretty flat overall. I kept waiting for more twists and the only one that surprised me was the ending.

I feel like this plot has been done before and overdone. It would have been more enjoyable if the characters were likable. Some of the story was over the top nad repetitive. i think this would appeal to some people, but not to me.

A Lovely Lie is a fun popcorn read that is filled with many unlikeable characters who are hiding a multitude of sins and lies. The story centres around Scarlett Russo an unhappily married woman who must deal with her traumatic past when the daughter of her former best friend Pepper starts asking questions about a long buried tragedy on Senior Picnic night of 1999. The lives of all involved will forever change once the lies are uncovered and the truth is revealed.

Read this if you enjoy:
-multiple POVs
-unlikeable characters
-dual timelines
-police interviews that help the story unfold
-hints of high school nostalgia
-twists and turns
-satisfying ending
-gaslighting and manipulation
-complex and frustrating characters

My rating 4 out of 5

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for this eARC that will be published May 28 2024

It was well written and great story. However I found it to be very drawn out and could have used more twists to help the story.

This book was the epitome of a popcorn thriller. I flew through this, finishing it in less than a day. It hooked me immediately and between the short chapters and changing POVs, I honestly could not put it down. The twists kept coming and while I predicted a couple of them, there's no way I could have predicted all of them. There are just so many secrets and lies, it's hard to know what really happened that fateful night of the senior picnic. It starts with Zoey looking for her father and ends with everything coming down and unraveling for those still around, 22 years after 2 fellow classmates are found dead in a tragic accident. If you love quick paced, domestic thrillers full of twists and turns that will give you whiplash...definitely make sure you pick this book up when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishing/Scarlet Suspense for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6307037719

A Lovely Lie is a mind bender the secrets, lies and manipulation run deep in a small Florida town and it all revolves around a group of really morally grey teenagers who manage to hide most of the truth from each other while still managing to protect and manipulate whoever they needed too when necessary to hide the truth of a deadly wreck that took the lives of two fellow classmates.

The story has mostly unlikeable characters for a variety of reasons but that shifts back and forth as more and more remorseless acts are revealed, making you wonder if justice can ever really be served. With the lies of one manipulative woman at the center of it all. I would say I’m shocked at how it plays out because it’s fairly unbelievable in the true details of how the night plays out. Mostly the actual accident because nobody has legs long enough to do that with a seatbelt on and one other passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. But if you just look at it from the perspective of what happened it’s a sick twisted thriller with plenty of convoluted twists and turns. It was predictable but still a good read overall and I did enjoy it.

I never realized that there were so many homicidal high school seniors and killer college co-eds until I started reading ALL of the thrillers released over the past year or so! 😉

But, unfortunately-it has become an over used trope, and this is the latest.

1999: The night of their senior picnic (which is really the equivalent of a State Fair)

Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead.
(SEE the gorgeous book cover! )

When interviewed by Detective Logan, the day after the Picnic-they (and ALL of the other seniors) lied- protecting each other from the consequences.

Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again.

Those interview transcripts are peppered throughout the book (pun intended), giving the book a very YA feel.
I couldn’t believe how smug and disrespectful they all were toward the Police.

Now: Twenty-two years later

Scarlett is now working in a hotel on the west coast of Florida and raising her teenage son with her husband. Nobody is more surprised than she is when Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death.

Zoey is twenty-one and looking for answers after allegedly finding a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlett that alludes to the events of that fateful evening-events which have been kept secret all of this time.

Zoey wants answers about what REALLY happened that night and WHO her father might be.

There are also chapters that share with us the conversation between mother and daughter that happened SIX WEEKS before Zoey showed up-setting the stage for the confrontation to come.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, with Zoey’s impolite actions and conversations also contributing to the YA feel of the book-which is NOT something that I PERSONALLY enjoy.

These are not likable people.

The format was fun, BUT unfortunately- for the most part -the plot was pretty PREDICTABLE.

If you don’t mind a YA feel, or if you only read an occasional thriller-you might enjoy this one more.

3 ⭐️

Scheduled publication date: May 28, 2024

Thank You to Scarlet for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.

Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers/Scarlet for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've read all of Jaime's books and this one is my absolute favorite!! Move over "Finding Tessa," Pepper Wilson is here! I loved the alternating chapters between past/present Petter and Scarlett and also loved hearing from Zoey's POV. Their senior picnic brought back so many high school memories for me. I literally devoured this book in a day and a half--it's that good!! jaime really knows how to keep engaged and interested in what the characters are experiencing, and the suspense high. I HAD to know who Zoey's real father was. I had several theories going on in my head.
Thriller friends -- This book is a MUST READ!!