While you wait for First Lie Wins

First Lie Wins by by Ashley Elston

Evie Porter presents herself as a sweet Southern woman, a devoted girlfriend who is eager to make her new boyfriend happy and to be accepted by his wealthy friends. But you soon discover that's not at all who she is and her life is a lot more complicated. She's got a secret past and she'll go to extremes to keep that secret.

You soon realize Evie's not the only one with messy secrets. She's also not the only one who's tougher, smarter and more manipulative than anyone imagines. 

This book is full of devious twists and shocking turns. As soon as I thought I figured out a piece of the puzzle, a whole new mystery would appear. If you like a read that will keep you guessing and reading late into the night, check out these reads about hidden pasts and secret lives while you wait for First Lie Wins.

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Bree has a life of privilege with a wonderful husband, two high-achieving teens and a new baby. One morning she wakes to someone peering in her bedroom window, someone who looks like a crone. She shakes it off as a dream. Then Bree sees the old woman again in her daughter's school parking lot. What is going on? Just as she's convinced herself it's nothing to worry about, her baby is kidnapped.

Bree finds a note warning her she's being watched and not to go to the police. She needs her baby back. When the kidnapper contacts Bree she alludes to Bree's past as a poor girl in rural Georgia. Something happened when Bree was a teen, something that could jeopardize her life of wealth and connections, and worse tear her family apart.

I totally felt Bree's frustration and fear as she tries to figure out why she is a target and how to get her baby home safely. This book's full of suspense and mystery. 

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe

Nora is the daughter of a con artist who is taken hostage in a bank heist. She grew up as her mother's protégé helping con criminal men. With each con she took on a new idenity.

Nora escaped her mother and that life. She's been playing a normal teen for the past five years. Now she needs to dust off those con skills to help her friends escape the bank robbers. These criminals have no idea who they are messing with.

This is such an intense, twisty YA read. The premise is so unique and Nora is so believeable that I was drawn into the story right away. I could not put this book down!

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

While many of Jewell's books have characters with hidden pasts, in this one the past is hidden from even the character himself. Alice finds a man on the beach outside her house in the small British seaside village of Ridinghouse Bay. He has no name and no idea what he's doing there. Against her better judgment she invites him to her home.

Meanwhile in a London suburb, newlywed Lily is anxious when her husband doesn't come home from work. When she goes to the police they discover the man Lily married never existed.

Twenty three years earlier, Gray and Kristy are teenagers on their annual summer holiday with their parents to Ridinghouse Bay. A young man who makes Gray uncomfortable starts paying attention to Kristy.

What ties these three stories together? Who are the men? Can Alice enjoy her life with this new mystery man who fits in so well with her family?

This novel was filled with characters I was rooting for and wary of. Parts of the story felt like a romance, but the underlying mystery and surprising revalations kept me in suspense.

Exit by Belinda Bauer

Bauer does an amazing job of handling the serious subject of euthanasia with respect and compassion, while balancing the story with lots of humor. This is definitely a book that made me laugh and cry, and left a warm place in my heart.

Felix Pink is a pensioner who does secret volunteer work. He is an exiteer – someone who sits with the terminally ill who wish to exit their world of pain and suffering. The exiteers aren't allowed to assist the person to die and are very careful to stay within the law.

However, one of Felix's visits with a new exiteer goes very wrong. Now Felix is working even harder than usual to keep his exiteer role secret, espcially from the police. Which is very difficult because the police know he was at the scene, but think he's just a helpful neighbor. The police are charmed by Felix and treat him like their own grandfather.

I love this book and want everyone to read it! Felix is so loveable and relatable. The situations he finds himself in are awkward and amusing. As I dog parent, I totally relate to Felix's worry about his dog. While I don't have this specific worry, I understand his concern and planning for who will take care of the dog if he's sent to prison.