“THE PERFECT LIFE
Juliana Daniels finally has the life she’s always dreamed of. A loving husband, a career as an attorney, and a cozy apartment in Manhattan to call home.
But when she gets a message from an old college friend, her blood runs cold. Remember me?
ONE DEADLY LIE
Juliana drops her phone as though she’s been scalded. The name Jenny Teller shines out from the screen… but Jenny can’t have sent that message.
Because Jenny is dead.
Juliana’s other college friends have all received the same message. The four of them are the only ones who know the truth about the night Jenny died. It’s a secret they have kept buried for thirteen years.
WHO DO YOU TRUST?
With ‘Jenny’ now blackmailing them and threatening to expose their secret, only one thing is certain. Someone else knows the truth about that night… or one of them is lying.”

The book follows two time lines – ‘now’ and ‘then’ – the ‘then’ being when Juliana / Jules was back starting her life in college a decade ago. It’s quite ‘American’ in its settings – Manhattan and upstate New York – and the looking back element is very ‘college’ based – but I’ve watched enough US movies to be able to imagine what it was like.

The two timelines keep you on your toes and I thought helped keep the momentum of the book at a good pace. The ‘now’ timelines builds to a 10 year reunion back at college with all of the main characters meeting up again – well, all of the main characters that are still alive! It really does build to an exciting climax.

I found Jules a bit wet – and really wanted her to talk to her husband about what was going on!! Most of her ‘friends’ were pretty unlikeable initially – although I did warm to them in both storylines as they progressed! I have to say I did guess some of the twists – but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I particularly enjoyed the wrap up chapter at the end set a few months after ‘now’ – it tied up lots of loose ends cleverly.

A thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. It’s out NOW if you fancy reading it too!

Based on all the high ratings in readers’ reviews, I must have missed something here. I did like the story, but it took a long time to get there. For a good part of the book, there was a lot of ruminating and whining and I found myself doing a LOT of skimming. Yes, I didn’t want to put it down, but that was because I wanted to get over with it quickly…seems there were a lot of the same thoughts and activities over and over

After about half way through, the book moved along a little better and, for me, improved as it approached the ending. I didn’t really like or empathize or sympathize with the female characters.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and after seeing other reviews I had high hopes of doing so. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for me. I found the story too long and drawn out, some of the chapters added little to the storyline in my opinion. As a consequence i struggled to complete it in a timely manner. I do enjoy novels set in 2 timelines and the information that this style provides, this worked well in this case. The events which lead up to the now situation were revealed in a way that created interest and suspense.

I found nearly all the characters to be unlikeable and privileged. The hiding of secrets from partners and each other could only have one outcome. I did guess who was behind it but did not work out the specifics so the ending held a surprise

Four friends get together at a school reunion after all receiving a message from Jenny Teller. One thing is wrong with this Jenny died 13 years previously. This is a tale of remembering and re-visiting old childhood haunts. Psychedelic trips taken after ingesting mushrooms in the woods. Gripping and descriptive.

I received a early release ebook version for an honest review. This review is completely my own.

The story starts out with a woman named Jules a fenake who grew up in Ohio and attended college 13 years ago. She holds a secret with a group of women. A secret that 2 people's early departures, also 13 years ago. The college it took place in was an Ivy League - Westbridge University.

I love how the story differentiated between the past and the present. Back in college Jules had a roommate named Tori and Tori had a friend named Emily....she was very intimidated by both these women and Emily seems to have had a grasp on Jules (who had a obsession with fitting in).

All 4 of these women from an old college group receive a text from dead girl, Jenny Teller....but thats impossible isn't it?

Jules and Tori fight so hard to keep their past trauma from their husbands now because they fear if the truth came out the husband's would walk away and never look back.

This book Iiterally so good, a who dunnit of sorts. I loved it so much and gave ut 5 stars. Go read this book. You'll be glad you did.....did you guess the murderer correctly?

Deadly little lies is page turned from the very beginning. Juliana receives a message from Jenny Teller, but how can that be when Jenny is dead. Three other people receive the same text and the four of them are the only ones who know the truth about what happened the night Jenny Teller died. “Jenny” starts threatening to expose their secrets, could someone else possibly know what happened or is one of them lying?!

Thank you so much #netgalley for the advanced ARC

Absolutely fantastic book. The plot is excellent and the characters very well written. It was a plot that kept me guessing right till the end. Extremely engaging!

Fast paced and incredibly entertaining! I loved this book! I enjoyed the Mean Girls-esque characters and the dual timelines. I found the ending to be extremely satisfying and enjoyed the revenge trope in this story!

This story, told in two time lines - Then and Now - is definitely a compulsive read.
Jules is happily married to Jason and heading for a partnership in the legal firm she works for. She is not totally happy because she doesn't think she deserves to be. She has a secret from her time at University that she has never forgiven herself for and suddenly she hears from this person in her past reminding her of her guilt
Jules renews her relationship with other students who were involved as they all find themselves accused once again about the secret of their past. They all have new secrets which this person is privy to and their guilt slowly begins to drag them down. Can they trust themselves or each other? Eventually all is revealed in the climax.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Stephanie DeCarolis/HQ Digital for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Wow this was definitely a mystery I didn’t see coming! I liked how it starts basically in the middle of Julianna’s life - we know she has a secret but we don’t know what it is, and she is struggling with keeping it in. I related a lot to Julianna in the sense of being “the odd one out “ when she was younger; I think a lot of people can relate to just wanting to fit in. The dual timelines helped reveal what was happening in the past as Julianna and her friends struggled to cope in the present. Also there were several twists in this towards the end just blew me away!

A great read, thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the copy in exchange for my honest review! This will be posted to my Instagram blog (books_by_the_bottle) soon as well.

This was an absolutely riveting book. It kept me wondering who the culprit was. Ms. DeCarolis has woven a fascinating story. If you like thrillers with surprise endings, you'll like this book. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.

After the author’s debut novel, I knew I had to read this book. This one was definitely different from her first book, but still had me captivated from the start. It has a Pretty Little Liars vibe, as many others have commented. I did correctly guess who the antagonist was, but the other piece of who they really were caught me by surprise, if that makes sense. I am looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ digital for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Ten years after graduating, Juliana Daniels and her college friends start receiving mysterious emails. The sender: Jenny Teller, their dormmate who died freshman year. The fake Jenny is threatening to expose them and their secrets, including the truth about how Jenny died all those years ago.

If you mixed In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Pretty Little Liars, this book would be the result. The story is told in dual timelines, now and then, Juliana's first year of college. We see how she becomes friends with the popular girls, how she will do anything to stay in the good graces of their queen bee, and how those friendships and the aftermath of Jenny's death affect her present day self. There are twists and secrets revealed along the way and DeCarolis does a great job of pulling both timelines together and delivering an ending that I was not expecting.

Overall, a solid book that I may have liked a little more if I hadn't read IMDIHAK first. You might like this book too if you're a fan of dark acadamia, secrets and lies, and mean girl cliques.

Juliana Daniels (Jules) won a scholarship to an exclusive university where she feels the deep divide between her middle class upbringing and that of her new monied classmates. Her new roommate Tori steers her into her clique. Emily is the obvious leader, taking Jules on as a “project.” With her new status, she feels important and looked up to.

The narrative settles into chapters alternating between “Now” and “Then.” The Now describes her role as a successful attorney, the Manhattan apartment, and her loving and supportive husband, Jason.

Then swings us back to her university years where she experiences something horrific that will haunt her until she gets the same taunting message as her friends, “Remember me?” But it can’t be her—because she’s dead. Their shared gruesome event brings them together again.

I liked Jason. Jules, Tori, and Nessa not so much. Emily was meant to be disliked and she was truly nasty. As they are all summoned together for a tenth year reunion, matters come to a head, the pace escalates into the conclusion. There were twists and turns, some expected, some not, and I had not anticipated the final reveal. 4.5 stars

In Deadly Little Lies, a gripping thriller, the reader follows Juliana Daniels and her former college friends who are forced to reunite because of actions from their pasts. In a tale that moves between past and present, it wasn't long before I was totally hooked. With the author cranking up the tension at periodic moments, and a few strategically placed twists, everything leads towards a final showdown that left me open-mouthed. Entertaining and suspenseful.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from HQ Digital via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Really enjoyed this domestic drama about choices and consequences. Great cast of characters that were easy to like and feel compassion towards and a good lesson in being young and vulnerable.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thanks to netgalley for the advanced ebook to review.
I enjoyed this one, the story being told between 'then' and 'now' kept a nice pace throughout. Although mostly unlikeable, the characters are well written.

Thanks to Stephanie DeCarolis, HQ Digital and NetGalley for the ARC of Deadly Little Lies.

Julie is a successful lawyer and married to the perfect man; desperately trying to smother the memories of her time at college.

When a text message arrives on her phone from her old friend Jenny - Julie is panic stricken. Not only because it's a reminder of what happened that night all those years ago, but because it can't be Jenny. Jenny is dead and Julie and her friends were responsible.

As the book alternates between past and present, Julie and her other college friends start to receive more and more messages and threats from 'Jenny' and one things become certain. The past is not buried. Whoever this anonymous texter is knows the truth of what happened that night and is determined that they wont get away with it.

This was an enjoyable thriller that built up over time, with crumbs being dropped throughout about the facts of the events back in college. At times this drip feeding was a little slow for me and I felt the book lost its way a little in the middle. before regaining the tension at the end. There are some really unlikeable (but sadly believable) characters in this book, but it's hard to really sympathise with any of them.

I didn't predict the ending however and it all came together quite cleanly. A good solid thriller but didn't blow me away sadly.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HQ for the electronic copy.

This is a really good psychological thriller - well-written and structured between two timelines, Then and Now. The narrative is told from the main character Jules' point of view She's now 32yrs-old and an Associate at a Manhattan law firm and expecting to make Partner soon. But, she has never been able to tell her husband Jason about her time at Westbridge University and the girl she was then, fearing that would be the end of her marriage. She should have told him but her secret is too big to tell.
One day she receives an email from Jenny - except that Jenny died 13 years ago. Jules contacts her friends Tori, and Nessa - they've received the same email and all agree that Emily, previously in the same group, must be instigating this. The emails from Jenny become darker as they threaten to destroy the friends' lives by revealing the secrets none of them could ever tell..........then they each receive an invitation to Westbridge Homecoming - not, as they all agree, an invitation, but more of a summons. They know they have to go to find out who is at the bottom of these threats.

Alternately the narrative relates Jules' beginnings at the university; how she is desperate to fit in and the group of girls she becomes a part of and how the power of whispers and lies can lead to devastating consequences.
Emily is the master manipulator - no-one says "no" to her - she's cruel to the extreme - until the girls begin to see through her games.

I loved the way the characters are drawn (even Emily) and the plot has twists and indeed surprises leading to an explosive, but satisfying, conclusion.

A really good read that will keep you turning the pages.

This is one amazing psychological thriller, it has great characters, a plot to die for and secrets that would prefer to stay buried. I raced through it and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, I needed to reach the end so I could find out the final secrets and OMG what an explosive ending!. The story is told in time jumps from the characters University days to the present and it's so easy to follow. It's written so well and the suspense and tension continues throughout, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in parts. LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT!. I can't wait to see what Stephanie writes next because this book was mind blowing. I would like to thank NetGalley and HQ digital for the ARC, I really appreciate it.