I Love It When You Lie

Tara, Clementine, June and their brother, Walker have had a tragic life. At the death of their parents, they were placed in foster care until their grandmother showed up to rescue them. They had never met Gran but she took them all in and raised them. Now, on the death of Gran, they have all returned back home. Each of their lives are different and they had no idea how much they needed each other until everything starts to fall apart.

This is a story in which you know someone or know a family very similar to this. I love when the characters are relatable. I knew everyone in this novel and they all live down the road. 😂. And for the life of me, I cannot tell you which character I liked the most. They are all flawed and have made show more terrible decisions. But, they are there for each other through it all!

Now, I don’t want to give away a spoiler, but the ending is so dang good. I swear I wanted to laugh, cry and tell them not to do it! But they did it anyway! Y’all need to read this to find out!

Need a good family drama…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less

This was an engrossing and unique family drama/mystery/suspense set in the Appalachian woods of Alabama. The story is told from the POVs of three sisters and their sister-in-law. As the family gathers for their grandmother’s funeral, buried secrets, both past and present, threaten to come to the surface. I enjoyed how the author hid the identity of the missing person until later in the book, which definitely added to the suspense.

I loved these sisters, and I was quickly pulled in by their dilemmas. Each one had her flaws, but all were complex and compelling. Overall, this was an entertaining story about the strength of sisterly bonds, with some Southern Gothic atmosphere and revenge mixed in.

I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird is a highly recommended domestic drama which is strong on character development and Southern small town ethos.

The three William sisters are gathering together in Willow Gap, Alabama, in the Appalachian foothills, to bury their grandmother, Pearl Williams. Tara, the oldest is married to the local Southern Baptist pastor. June is a nurse and has married a doctor. Clementine, the youngest, is still in college and is having an affair with her professor. Stephanie, a Northerner, is married to Walker, their brother, and Willow Gap’s mayor. The three sisters have learned some lessons from their grandmother. Stephanie has learned there family secrets and where the dirt is buried. They are all attending show more the funeral, but one of the men attending will also go missing before the funeral is over.

This is more of a character driven novel and study of the four women, secrets they have, and one man who will disappear before the weekend is through. Readers know right at the start that someone is dead, beyond their grandmother. Chapters alternate between the voices of the four women and each of them have a very unique voice and personality. The narrative is told in reverse chronology and each chapter provides more information about and development of the sisters.

These four women are portrayed as fully realized, singular individuals with their own concerns, secrets, and lives. They are all rooted in the customs and traditions, as well as revenge, of Southern women all handed down through the generations. As Stephanie says, "Justice would be great, but revenge is so much sweeter." The real question is which man deserves justice, because a case for revenge by the women can be made for each of them.

The writing is quite good and will hold your attention throughout. The enjoyment is found in the strong, well-developed characters and the tension found in the gradual revelation of what is really going on in this atmospheric character-driven thriller.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.
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Women in general shouldn’t be messed with, but Southern women have their own brand of “shouldn’t”. If they’re sisters, the strength they have only multiplies. And if it goes inter-generational, someone’s in deep doo-doo, and better get down on their knees and start praying’.

Kristen Bird’s intriguing novel I Love It When You Lie begins with Stephanie Williams, wife of the town mayor, answering questions in the sheriff’s office. Her three sisters-in-law- Tara, June and Clementine, along with Stephanie, are thought to be responsible for the disappearance of one of four men: “a preacher, a doctor, a professor and a mayor.”

The question to be answered is which one has disappeared and why. Tara is the oldest sister, the one who took care of her younger siblings when they spent a short time in foster care after the death of their parents. Their grandmother took the children in and lovingly raised them, and they are preparing for her funeral as the story begins.

Tara’s husband is the the town preacher, show more who spends most of his time tending to the needs of his parishioners rather than his wife and teenage daughter Lottie, who is rebellious. She is hiding a big secret from her husband and if it comes out, it could destroy their all their lives.

June is a nurse at the local hospital, married to a doctor from Peru. It took time for the townspeople to accept her husband, but he is well-respected now. June has had several miscarriages, and is despondent that they don’t have a baby. A tragedy with a patient becomes compounded when June does something desperate, something that her husband can never support.

Clementine is dating a much older married professor at her college, a man who is accused of sexual misconduct with his students. While she becomes wary of all of the signs that he is not the man she hopes he is, she knows that if she leaves him, he can destroy her career as a writer. When he accompanies her back home to her grandmother’s funeral, secrets are outed.

Stephanie catches her cheating husband during his grandmother’s funeral wake and decides she has had enough. Besides, she is the one who should be mayor of this small town, she has the brains and the drive to do it better than her husband.

The sisterly relationships are the core of this story. They protect each other, even if they are not always in agreement with the decisions each one makes. I liked the Alabama setting, and learning about the small town rituals, especially Decoration Day, when everyone gathers to honor those they lost with shared food, songs, and psalms.

So who disappears and who made him disappear? You’ll have to read to find out.

If you are a fan of the fantastic Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, (as I am), put I Love It When You Lie on your TBR list.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Winter 2023 Mystery/Thrillers Blog Tours. show less

This is one that you will benefit from going in totally blind so you can just let yourself sink into the story. But should be on readers lists for this winter/spring, as it is one that will totally satisfy. All together, the sisters can each point to a man in their lives they’d like to get rid of. When they bury Gran, someone else will be buried with her. The author’s approach in bringing in Stephanie’s perspective works incredibly well. The book starts in the present and then shifts to the past to provide valuable context. Along the way, the characters evolve as their stories are developed. Gran’s past and the missing person could have been left out. any character who has an affair, that’s a personal thing. I’m not going to show more like that character but sometimes regardless of the circumstances i will change my view of them. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel of 3 sisters from Alabama who find themselves in some interesting circumstances. The story begins with a dead body, but we don't find out whose it is until towards the end of the book. I laughed out loud in so many places, especially since I'm Southern through and through and know so many people like these characters.