I have mixed feelings about this book. It was a little predictable, a little cliched, but it was an interesting way to pass a few hours. I would probably try this author again.

This was a very mind stretching story., twists,twists and more twists. Lots of hidden things going on with various false relationships and undercurrents. Fantastic conclusion.

EXCERPT: 'Mrs Velky,' Agent Briggs says, 'as I'm sure you're aware, this is pretty much a slam dunk case. By denying legal counsel, and by your continued silence on the matter, you are basically admitting guilt. Do you understand that?'
'Yes.'
'So, you are admitting guilt?' Zeal asks. 'Did you kill Cora Granger? Would you like to make a confession right now?'
'Yes.'
A moment of shocked silence fills the room.
I look up, my teary eyes as cold as ice.
'I killed Cora Granger.'

ABOUT 'A MARRIAGE OF LIES': Beneath the surface of every marriage there are secrets. This one is deadly.

My husband is lying. The minute he came home with alcohol on his breath and unable to look me in the eyes I knew it.

We used to be in love – the intense ‘I can’t be without you for a second’ kind. Where it hurts deep to be apart.

But now, we’re the couple that keep secrets from each other.

We hide the truth.

He thought I wouldn’t find out. I’m a detective – it’s literally my job to uncover clues and solve mysteries. I know what he did.

And now I’m sitting here, in a police interview, being asked the question ‘did you kill her?’ to which I utter one life-shattering ‘yes.’

MY THOUGHTS: This is my third book by this author and, while I loved the other two I have read, A Marriage of Lies fell short for me. I didn't feel clever solving this mystery early on; I felt disappointed that between the book blurb and the first few chapters, the solution jumped out at me. The clues are all there in flashing neon. The only thing that kept me reading was the 'why?' and trying to figure out how all these people were connected.

The author doles out that information very sparingly initially, kind of like giving someone on a diet a little chocolate to keep them invested. It works.

The story is told mainly from the POV of Detective Rowan Velky and her therapist, Amber. There are occasional chapters presented by various other people. Rowan is a complicated character - she has had a bleak upbringing, one which brought her into contact with her husband, Shep. She cares for her aunt Jenny who has Alzheimers. Her marriage isn't great, yet Rowan feels indebted to Shep and is reluctant to end it despite her suspicions that Shep is playing away. This is only one of the reason's she is seeing a therapist.

The story moves along at a good pace, there is a great sense of place, and the mutilation of the bodies adds a certain frisson of tension. I really liked the why of it all, but the ending lets the whole book down. It was all too easy, too quick and quite deflated my balloon. There's also quite a bit of 'telling' rather than experiencing at the end.

I had another major niggle - the medical aspects of Connor's condition. Authors, please, if you are going to throw in a complicated medical condition - do your research. You need to get these things right.

I didn't think the sexually explicit scene between Rowan and Shep was necessary - in fact I found it quite gross. I don't normally mind sexually explicit scenes, but this felt like it had been inserted just to provide the obligatory sex scene.

Although this is a decent read (except for that one scene - pun intended), quick and easy, it could have been better.

⭐⭐.5

#AMarriageofLies #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Set in small, Southern towns, Amanda’s books are page-turning murder mysteries peppered with steamy romance She lives in Arkansas with her handsome husband, two beautiful boys, and three obnoxious dogs.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Storm Publishing vis NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of A Marriage of Lies by Amanda McKinney for review. All opinions expressed in his review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This book was so good! Kept me engaged from the beginning and had a hard time putting it down! Mystery, drama, twists and turns throughout! I will certainly be checking out more of Amanda McKinney's books!

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

**4.5-stars rounded up**

A Marriage of Lies is a tense Psychological Thriller from Amanda McKinney. I was seeing a lot of early buzz for this release and needed to find out what it was all about. After reading it, in a day (!!!), I am so happy that I took a chance on a new-to-me author and have officially joined the Hype Train. I was left with whiplash after finishing this twisted tale of love, devious deception and lies.

I don't want to say anything about the plot. I knew nothing going in and that's what I would recommend. I will say that I loved one of the main characters, Rowan, and her trusty companion, Banjo. Rowan is a Detective and I was pleasantly surprised to have an MC with that career leading the show here.

This also went pretty dark, as far as the crimes are concerned, and I definitely wasn't expecting that either!

As mentioned above, this is the first time I have read from Amanda McKinney, but I'm absolutely ready to pick up some more of her Thrillers. If they're anything like this, I know I'm in for a good time. While I did find some aspects slightly predictable, particularly towards the end, that didn't diminish my enjoyment. Overall, I found it to be extremely engaging, as well as highly-readable and incredibly entertaining!

Thank you to the publisher, Storm Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a delightful surprise!

As I read through this book, I found that it was more predictable than I was hoping for. Overall, it was a good read, but most of the characters felt flat. I wasn't as thrilled with some of them, and even shook my head several times at the "I can't believe this cliche just happened" feeling.

Decent suspense read, with characters you will grow to despise.

A mystery with a little bit of everything from drama, to twists! Wow! Loved this one more than I expected to! This was my first with this author and I’m happy to read more

This book was so good! Kept me gripped from
Page 1 and did not let go!!! Such good tiwsts and turns!! And loved the main character!! Five star read for sure!!

This is my first time reading from this author and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The book grabs you in and keeps you intrigued the entire time. There are multiple POV's but most of the story is told from the perspective of Rowan, a homicide detective, and her therapist Amber. The bodies of three women have been discovered with mutilated markings and Rowan and her partner are working to solve the case and catch a serial killer. Both Rowan and Amber are trying to maneuver through their day to day lives and strained marriages. There are secrets, lies and jealousy in both of their lives and you feel like you are working two different puzzles and trying to fit all the pieces together. All of the characters are well written, and the plot comes together nicely with a twist at the end. This is a great psychological thriller and I will definitely pick up more books like this from this author.

Thank you NetGalley & Amanda McKinney for an ARC of this book. #Amarriageoflies #NetGalley

I enjoyed this book so much. It was my first book by this author and I can’t wait to read more by her. I love the plot twists and the character development and I especially Loved Rowena’s repeated to her in so many ways. Thank you so much for the advance opportunity to read this book.

AMAZING!! Such a wild ride! What a different take on a domestic thriller! I loved the premise of this book. I felt it brought a fresh idea to the genre of domestic thrillers.

This book was so intense and twisted. It was full of drama, suspense, lies, betrayal, murder, mystery, and great twists. Emotions ran high while reading this one. This was my first book by this author, and I LOVED it. The author writes the main character, Detective rowan Velky, in a way that we get to really know her. She's relatable and likeable. There was so much depth given to her character. There are multiple POVs in this story, but they are all easy to follow and provide depth that helps pull the story all together. I found myself invested in all of the characters and how this story would play out.

This story was fast paced. It grabbed you from the beginning and kept you engrossed until the end. It started with a bang and just kept on banging until the last word! The ending was NOT what I was thinking or expecting at all! many reviews say they wanted more in the ending, but I thought it wrapped up perfectly for everything that happened up to the ending. I truly enjoyed this book, and will be exploring her other books.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Marriage of Lies by Amanda McKinney
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

A psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes. Amanda is a master as twists and turns and keeping you guessing. She left lots of little clues from the very beginning in this one that I picked up on quite early - but had many red herrings thrown in along the way. The way she writes and her characters just really pull you in to the story and make you feel like you are living it. I picked this book up and read it in two sittings, as with every book I’ve read of Amanda’s they grip you and I have to be forced to put them down.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves thrillers, detective crimes, domestic storyline’s & murder mysteries.

So many twists and lies in this story that I found it confusing to keep up with them all . But I had to race to finish it to see how it all played out.
Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC

There are actually a multitude of lies within multiple marriages. This was an enjoyable, twisty thriller that kept my attention from start to finish. Characters are well-developed and I liked the different viewpoints throughout. I thought it all came together well, and like many reviewers, I was invested and by midway I had to know what was going happen...immediately! I'll be visiting more of McKinney's books in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of A Marriage of Lies by Amanda McKinney. This book was jumping all over the place for me. Trying to keep everything sorted out in my mind. Too many secrets and twists here. It was entertaining but I didn't love it. Shocking at times and it kept you guessing. It just didn't grab me. I am not the norm because most rave about this book. So I would still recommend it to others to give it a go. I gave it a 3 star rating.

Rowan Velky is a homicide detective in a small suburb Texas town. After hiring the town heartthrob, Kellan to her team the two detectives suddenly have to solve three women being murdered and their bodies mutilated!

I enjoyed how the story went between the different perspectives. This is a fast-paced book that I did enjoy, but i just didn't love!

Decent read but a little predictable. I think if the prologue had not been included I would have actually liked the book better, because it made me on the edge and looking for clues that I definitely wouldn't have been looking for otherwise.

Detective Rowan Velky is in a troubled marriage. But the two share a very tumultuous past so they are more bonded than it seems on the surface. Rowan is seeing Amber, a therapist who has her own marriage issues and other problems at home. Rowan begins work on a series of grisly murders, with women who are found with large X's over parts of their bodies. How are all of these people connected to the crimes?

This is a compulsively readable thriller, and the storyline is decent. Like I mentioned, I think the prologue does the book a bit of disservice because rather than making the book more intriguing, it actually acted as a spoiler so I was looking for twists throughout. And the last portion of the book with the reveals was not good for me, it was really outlandish and beyond my ability to believe.

Still, if you're looking for an entertaining read, this is a fast paced book that will hit the spot.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way it was told through alternating points of view. I loved how the two storylines came together in an unexpected way. Great read!

A 3.5 - I've quickly come to rely on Amanda McKinney to deliver a book I want to read in one sitting and that was the case here. Since it was Easter, it made it two sittings. Still glued to the pages.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot - the writing, the characters, the plot, and the pacing were all great. I think it was a perfect blend between domestic suspense and police procedural.