I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

****Publishing May 14, 2024****
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sylvie, a school librarian, an introvert, has been widowed for ten years and now is about to get married to Simon, a wealthy British professional bird photographer, at his family’s castle in the English countryside. Sylvie’s sister’s: Emma, a failed entrepreneur who is hiding debt from her husband, and Cleo, a high-powered lawyer who is about protecting her sisters, reunite for her wedding. They haven’t seen each other in 10 years, since life is busy. All come bearing secrets even Cleo, who is suspicious of Simon. Is he who he says he is? Will the sisters hit it off from where they left off? This book will have you turning the pages to see what comes about everyone’s lies, including Simon’s secret? Will Sylvie still get married?

A fun light read that will have you shaking your head at times and laughing out loud! Between the characters and storyline, it makes for an entertaining read! A great book to take on vacation!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine (Ballantine Books), I was provided an ARC of Lovers and Liars by Amanda Eyre Ward via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #Netgalley . #LoversandLiars

This books reminded me some of Liane Moriarty’s books in a way, a family with secrets, that they are probably keep from each other, that if they actually talked about everything would be solved in two seconds, but alas, we need the conflict to have a book.
Sylvie definitely deserved so much better than the people she had around her and I am so glad she found her strength and that’s all I am going to say because spoilers.
Cleo and Emma were so frustrating, I understand they gad trauma and whatnot with that mother but really for ten years they hid the truth and themselves from her sister and well, messed everything else too.
Overall made me feel so much this book, specially frustration, hah, but that’s what I want in a book, to feel!
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This book was fun, but pretty silly and superficial - it skimmed over some pretty serious issues in a tonally odd way and the characters as a whole felt one-dimensional. As a librarian, the librarian parts were so silly and frustrating, but that may be a personal issue (it didn't help that I just finished the new Emily Henry book, which is also about a children's librarian but did a great job with library stuff). The premise was fun, I love stories about sisters and I did enjoy reading it, but overall not executed that well, unfortunately.

I'm really confused at the entire premise of this book, a premise that feels both stale and overdone, but previously done much better than I read here. This feels like a mess of a book and I don't understand what the point of it all was? The development of the characters and their fractured relationships is resolved way too easily and everything in the entire book felt rushed. I especially did not understand how despite Emma being at a castle where no money needed to be spent, why her debt kept going up every second?? A pyramid scheme about sex toys? If this book was funny maybe l'd appreciate that but I couldn't even understand what the tone was to be. This all just felt messy and confusing to me, really disappointing.
Thanks to Netgalley For this arc.

The Peacock sisters are reunited after a decade apart, but will their secrets and lies ruin their reunion?

I had previously read The Lifeguards by Ward which really impressed me. When I saw this story about sisters, I could not resist! I absolutely adore books that focus on sibling relationships, and I thought Ward did a stupendous job exploring the bond between the Peacock sisters.

I guess you can say these sisters trauma bonded. Each suffered lasting damage at the hands of their narcissistic mother, but they found comfort and safety in each other growing up. As adults, they had grown apart with one reason being a secret Emma and Cleo had been keeping from Sylvie for a decade.

While each sister's had their moment in the spotlight, the core of this tale was their shared sisterhood. There were some really beautiful and touching moments experienced between the women while they found their way back to one another.

All that sounds so serious when in reality, this was quite a fun book. The castle setting was well utilized to deliver some amusing moments with a sprinkling of interesting historical bits. There were outings that allowed me to get a sense of the flora and fauna in the area, too. And Sylvie and Simon were so bookish. How could I not root for the bookish couple?

A great setting, fleshed-out characters, and a focus on the relationship dynamics had me fully engaged in this story. I was wholly invested from beginning to end and was utterly delighted with how Ward chose to end the story. It was a perfect way to top off this tale of sisterhood and healing.

Oh my gosh, what a delightful read! I don’t have sisters (4 brothers!) so am always fascinated by the relationships between sisters we don’t get to choose (as opposed to those we do) and this was such an intimate look. I also loved the setting. A real pleasure to read!

Thank you Random House Ballantine for Lovers and Liars, I just love a book about family relationships and especially sibling stuff. While I often love family themed books that span time/years, this one works for the long weekend focus and gets points for a really creative setting with the castle/medieval wedding destination theme. Hints of childhood fairytale themes imbue this book in ways that work as the themes ask how we can accept the stories we held/were told and roles we played as children and yet acknowledge their limitations or that we can grow up, reframe the narratives, and tell our own story. I will say that the toxic mom was a lot but it was also needed to move the story into the self growth themes that were part of what I liked the most.

Standouts
1. interesting female characters always work for me and I loved the way each sister has their own story, their own challenges, and yet also thinking about their relationships with each other and with others. They were interesting characters and I found myself liking them more and more.
2. self growth themes. I think it is hard at times to reconcile that perhaps things in childhood weren't really what we needed and that it takes time to understand that. I liked that this book examined the roles we play in families and how they might not be all that great.
3. fun setting, I do love wedding and relationship themed plots and this one has a fun setting that helps the book lean into the kind of adult fairytale vibe I think the author was trying to weave into the story.

A dysfunctional family of three sisters all hiding secrets and a narcissistic mother vie for attention in Amanda Eyre Ward's latest novel "Lovers and Liars." The family drama skips back and forth between the sisters: The oldest is a criminal defense attorney who digs up dirt on her youngest sister's fiancé, ready to spring it on the eve of her wedding. The youngest is still mourning her husband who died 10 years ago and questioning her commitment to her new fiancé. Meanwhile the middle sister is hiding her financial failures that will force her into bankruptcy from her husband and her sisters. Throw in a mysterious rich, handsome fiancé who comes with an ex-wife with a sketchy past, a wedding in a castle and a staged entrance by their narcissist mother who revives fashions worn by Princess Diana for a lively, fun beach read.

This is my first book by Amanda Eyre Ward, Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Ballantine and Ms. Ward for the advance reader copy. She will definitely be on my "watch for" list of authors going forward.

Absolutely delightful and funny and heartwarming and relatable! This story reads like a modern day fairytale; complete with a handsome prince or two, a narcissistic mother, and her three daughters who are lost in a big world looking for love. I loved every word of this book, it brought me so much joy! Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 14, 2024

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I've adored Amanda Eyre Ward's books although the last one was just ok but entertaining. With Lovers and Liars, we get 3 sisters and a wedding, and a narcissistic mother. It was an absolute handful by managed to be light as well. I just didn't really care for the characters or the wedding. It would have been better if maybe it wasn't triggering to me with dysfunctional sisterly / parent relationship.

I loved this story. I was worried it was going to feel anxiety provoking considering all three sisters have their own stuff going on but I actually felt the book was insanely comforting. Hated the mother aspect I really didn't find it was necessary.

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

Filled with family drama, Lovers and Liars is a fun story of three sisters as they meet at the beautiful Mumberton Castle for one of the sisters weddings. Sylvie is marrying Simon at his family estate in England. This will be the first time she has spent time with her two sisters since her first husband died. The three come into the weekend with a lot of baggage and quite a few secrets. Growing up the three were each others support against their toxic mother. Childhood trauma has affected them all differently and they have never gotten past the roles they assumed as children. The chapters are short and we alternate between the three sisters stories both in the past and in the present. Simon and his family added another layer to the madness of the weekend. I enjoyed the book all the way through and the ending was delightful

Thank you for the advanced copy to the publisher and NetGalley.

I really liked the three sisters in this book. It was short, quick, and cute. It was an easy no brain power kind of read. It gives me would be good to read on a beach vibe. It isn't the kind of book I will probably ever think of again BUT I enjoyed it while reading a lot.

I loved this book - the characters were great, the plot was interesting, and it was so well written. One thing I enjoy about books with multiple main characters is when the viewpoint changes with each chapter, and this book not only did that but each chapter was bite sized. This kept the pace of the book moving and readers engaged.
Amanda Eyre Ward seamlessly melded the redemption and healing arcs in a way that felt real. The Peacock sisters, Chloe, Emma, and Sylvie, had real flaws that were relatable. They are the type of flaws that we see in ourselves and it was amazing to see the sisters come full circle. The path there wasn't easy, but the view at the end was worth the trials and tribulations.
Bonus was that some of the book was set in Montana. It was nice seeing a novel set home state (plus New York, Miami, and England).
This was my first book from this author and I have added her others to my TBD list.

2.5 stars rounded up. The book is from the POV of three sisters (Sylvie, Cleo, and Emma) who reunite for Sylvie's destination wedding at an English castle. The sisters relationship is fractured and they each are dealing with their own demons.. And Sylvie's fiance may be too good to be true. I felt like the book was a but of a slog, and I didn't connect with any of the sisters. Thank you Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

Such a fun book! I loved the setting (what can beat an English castle!) and the way the story was told from all three sisters points of view. The secrets and lies between the sisters and their significant others are more entertaining-certainly not the type of book to keep you up at night! Overall, this was a great read and I look forward to reading more by this author.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thought I couldn't really relate to these characters, I did find them very entertaining and this was a quick read. I wanted to know if there would be a happy ending and I wanted to see how things would turn out for these wild sisters. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This was a cute story, I enjoyed reading a book about three sisters and the bond they have. I thought that the characters were unique and well-written. Overall, the story was enjoyable. While it wasn't my favorite book of 2024, it was still an enjoyable book. I would definitely read another book by Amanda Eyre Ward in the future!
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