Two Truths and a Lie, Little Secrets

 I am so behind on my reviews! Going to do some quick ones to get through them. In this post - books on secrets! Both got 5 stars from me!

Location - Beach town in Massachusetts

Players - The Squad, Rebecca, Sherri, and their daughters
Plot - no one is ever completely honest
My rating - 4.5 stars, rounded up

I enjoyed this novel. It was a bit heavier than a beach read rom-com, but I found it enjoyable. The novel bounced between Rebecca, Sherri, Alexa (Rebecca's 17 YO daughter), and The Squad. And they all have secrets. Some more benign and some that would be seriously life threatening if they were revealed. You are aware from almost the beginning that The Squad is the group of mothers in the town and that they gossip and share all the secrets they know. Sherri and her daughter are in witness protection and trying so hard to fit in. And someone dies before the end of summer.

The fast pace of the chapters and action kept the novel fresh and interesting. And yet there was still a bit of danger and wondering if Sherri will be found by those she is running from.

I will definitely be watching for more novels by Meg Mitchell Moore. It's nice to have a break from the dark and twisty thrillers that I tend to lean towards.

Marin's 4 year old son Sebastian was kidnapped 3 days before Christmas and she blames herself. Just over a year later, she is a borderline alcoholic who wishes death would come everyday. She discovers that her husband Derek is having an affair and it brings her back to life imagining revenge. Her best friend Sal sets up a meeting for her with a "fixer."

I enjoy Hillier novels because they are so twisty, but I can imagine having the same feelings and thoughts as the characters. Maybe I shouldn't admit that! But Marin's thought process after discovering the affair is very realistic and logical and believable.

In the first half of the novel, we learn about the players from Marin's perspective and feel her grief from the loss of her son. And when her focus turns from grief towards the mistress, things get very interesting!

Hillier writes real people in real life events and I feel like the characters are very relatable. Maybe not everyone drives around in a Maserati and has unlimited funds to have lavish mansions and a lot of disposable income to throw around, but that is sort of the point of reading novels, right? Thinking about how you would react in the same situations. This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel!