A Dream Within A Dream: Tell Me Lies Blog Tour: Review

Tell Me Lies
Author: Carola Lovering
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Atria Books

Description:

A thrilling, sexy coming-of-age story exploring toxic love, ruthless ambition, and shocking betrayal, Tell Me Lies is about that one person who still haunts you—the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget.

Lucy Albright is far from her Long Island upbringing when she arrives on the campus of her small California college, and happy to be hundreds of miles from her mother, whom she’s never forgiven for an act of betrayal in her early teen years. Quickly grasping at her fresh start, Lucy embraces college life and all it has to offer—new friends, wild parties, stimulating classes. And then she meets Stephen DeMarco. Charming. Attractive. Complicated. Devastating.

Confident and cocksure, Stephen sees something in Lucy that no one else has, and she’s quickly seduced by this vision of herself, and the sense of possibility that his attention brings her. Meanwhile, Stephen is determined to forget an incident buried in his past that, if exposed, could ruin him, and his single-minded drive for success extends to winning, and keeping, Lucy’s heart.

Alternating between Lucy’s and Stephen’s voices, Tell Me Lies follows their connection through college and post-college life in New York City. Deep down, Lucy knows she has to acknowledge the truth about Stephen. But before she can free herself from this addicting entanglement, she must confront and heal her relationship with her mother—or risk losing herself in a delusion about what it truly means to love.

With the psychological insight and biting wit of Luckiest Girl Alive, and the yearning ambitions and desires of Sweetbitter, this keenly intelligent and staggeringly resonant novel chronicles the exhilaration and dilemmas of young adulthood, and the difficulty of letting go, even when you know you should.

Advance Praise for Tell Me Lies:

“Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut… a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine, and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension… There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Tell Me Lies is as dark and daring as it is absorbing. I found myself immediately drawn into the desperation and misguided obsession of young love. Who hasn't, at one point, fallen this hard and gotten this lost? Carola Lovering has created something unexpected and original, yet deeply familiar.”

—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

“Riveting. With Tell Me Lies, Carola Lovering has given us a keenly observed, no-holds-barred examination of the mistakes we make under the guise of love. If you've ever fallen for the wrong person—and let's be honest, you probably have—this book is for you.”

—Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

“Tell Me Lies is a daring coming of age tale from a fresh new voice. This unvarnished look at both sides of a toxic romance is as resonant as it is harrowing, with characters so finely drawn they’ll linger in the imaginations of readers long after the final page. This book is unflinching, unforgettable, and unputdownable.”

—Andrea Dunlop, author of She Regrets Nothing

“Ever wondered what that bad boyfriend was really thinking? You’ll find out in Carola Lovering’s addictive debut. For fans of Jessica Knoll and Caroline Kepnes, Tell Me Lies is a devastatingly accurate portrayal of a toxic relationship. Once its hooks are in, you'll have no choice but to tear through every page.”

—Georgia Clark, author of The Regulars

Tell Me Lies is a mesmerizing debut novel that blends a coming of age story with contemporary fiction dealing with loads of relevant topics like friendship, love, trust, forgiveness, truth, and so many others. Once I started reading, I was immediately hooked and had to see how this layered story would play out. The setting was a great backdrop for everything that happens in the book and made it all seem natural and easy to imagine in my mind's eye. The characters were all very realistic and well rounded, including some of the secondary characters like Lucy's friends and family.

I felt this was mostly a character study mixed with a deep look inside a toxic relationship that has the ability to change a person's entire life if given the power. Lucy and Stephen were both very well written characters with tons of facets in their personalities that are slowly revealed throughout the story. One aspect of the novel that really sets it apart from others in the genre is the writing style. It's told in both the past and the present, alternating between Lucy and Stephen's viewpoints. It gives the reader the opportunity to get to know both of the characters on a very personal level during the story, both for the good and the bad. I loved getting to know each of them and how their lives became entangled and what happens after that fateful day. Seeing the story told from each of their viewpoints made the novel feel more whole to me because as we all know - every story has two sides. You might not want to know the other side of some stories, but with this addictive debut, the author gives us no choice but to see the darker side of relationships and people themselves and to take a long look inside ourselves. Definitely recommended for fans of thrillers, contemporary fiction, and character-driven novels.

Carola Lovering attended Colorado College, and her work has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. Tell Me Lies is her first novel. She currently lives in Brooklyn.

Find Carola Lovering Online:

Website: www.carolalovering.com

Twitter: @carolatlovering

Instagram: @carolatlovering

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