Recent Reads ~ Books That Lie

As I looked over my recent reading list, I was struck by how many of them are about lies, liars, and secrets. Is this just something that I have been drawn to recently or is this a 'thing' now?

Here's what I mean. These are the books that I've read in just the first three months of 2018 that are about lying, in one way or another. 

Are there any titles that you could add to this list? 

Here We Lie

....betrayal can lead to disastrous, and deadly, consequences

My thoughts

Tess and Tattoos

....centered around psychological manipulation
My thoughts

No Time to Blink

....devises a plan to deceive him

My thoughts

The Marriage Lie

....what else has he lied about?

The Good Liar

All these women are guarding important secrets

My thoughts

Best Day Ever

....a gripping, tautly suspenseful tale of deception and betrayal

Let Me Lie

....nothing is as it seemed

My thoughts

The Broken Girls

....secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past

My thoughts

Sometimes I Lie

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 

1. I’m in a coma. 

2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 

3. Sometimes I lie.

My thoughts

Before I Let You Go

....long-buried secrets from the sisters’ childhood

My thoughts

Manipulated Lives

Manipulators are everywhere

My thoughts

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? January 29, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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Well, I seem to be over my post holiday reading slump and am forging ahead. I have some great books coming up on my TBR list and I can't wait to get to them. 

Temp-wise (because that's what we do here in the Midwest, we talk about the weather) we are experiencing ups and downs. It'll be in the mid thirties for a few days and then drop into the minus degrees. Ugh! I am so ready for spring—I'm ready to do my reading out on the patio. What's the weather like where you are?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

The Girl Who Lived
by Christopher Greyson 

Evanthia's Gift (The Gift Saga #1)
by Effie Kammenou 

(audio-book)

What I recently finished

Foretold (Ghost Gifts #2)

by Laura Spinella

(audio-book)

Tess and Tattoos

by H.A. Leuschel

Read my thoughts here.

Here We Lie

by Paula Treick DeBoard
My thoughts will be posted Tuesday.

What I am going to read next

The Summer of New Beginnings: A Magnolia Grove Novel
by Bette Lee Crosby
Love this author and her stories!

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Tess and Tattoos by H.A. Leuschel ~ My Thoughts

Tess and Tattoos

Tess and Tattoos by H.A. Leuschel 
Kindle Edition, 59 pages
Published May 30th 2017 by Helene Leuschel Publishing

A suspenseful and emotional novella exploring whether we can ever be free from our past mistakes.

In this story, the reader is taken on a compelling journey into the human mind where genuine friendship offers the key to inner peace.

Meet Tess, an elderly lady living in a care home apartment in the outskirts of Edinburgh, whose past is haunted by a wrong decision. She meets Nurse Sandra, a warm and bubbly single mother of three, who is instantly intrigued by Tess’s personality and the mystery that surrounds her.

Tess and Tattoos is one of five gripping stories in HA Leuschel’s story collection Manipulated Lives centered around psychological manipulation.

  

Tess and Tattoos is FREE on Amazon! 

My thoughts about Tess and Tattoos~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First lines—"From a distance, it looked like any ordinary big house, the roof tiled dark grey and casting the odd blinding shimmer when the sun shone brightly."

First of all, let me say that this cover is very eye catching. Isn't it beautiful? And then the synopsis intrigued me with words like suspenseful, emotional, friendship, inner peace, and psychological. Wow, those words pack quite a punch! 

It's always amazing to me how much of a story an author can fit into a 'short story'. There are only just so many pages and words to get the tale told. Helene has done it in Tess and Tattoos. She has created likeable characters and a plot that made me think, with a minimal amount of words. 

Tess and Sandra come together as unlikely friends, two people who need each other. And they learn so much about each other in the process. And as we learn, most people and the lives they have lived are not what we think they are. We have assumptions on how someone's life has played out and those assumptions could be wrong. 

Tess and Tattoos is just one of the five stories in Leuschel's collection, Manipulated Lives. I loved this one and plan to check out the rest.  

About the author

Helene grew up in Belgium where she gained a Licentiate in Journalism & Communication, which led to a career in radio and television in Brussels, London and Edinburgh. 

She now lives with her husband and two children in Portugal and recently acquired a Master of Philosophy with the OU, deepening her passion for the study of the mind. When she is not writing, Helene works as a freelance journalist and teaches Yoga.

Connect with Helene

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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