Carly Foster has spent her twenties dating one mistake after another. When she meets Diana Cox, she thinks she finally chose a good one. Little does Carly know, Diana is hiding a big secret. When Diana admits to what she has been hiding, it’s Carly’s turn to decide whether the possibility of Diana being the one is enough to risk making another mistake.
Samantha Phillips is Carly’s best friend, and she has a secret of her own. For years, she has been in love with someone she shouldn’t be. Now she is trying to throw herself back into the dating world and struggling with losing her best friend to a woman who doesn’t seem to deserve her.
Hailey Smith should have it all. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and together they have a sweet little girl. Unfortunately, things aren’t always as perfect as they seem, and Hailey worries her wife may be cheating on her.
These three are about to find out that their lives are connected in ways they would have never imagined. All three have their own story and their own perspective of the life they are living. Every person they meet also does. That leaves one very important question - what is the truth?
Erica Lee finished writing her first book, Dear Santa: I’m Gay, in December 2016. Erica currently lives in Pennsylvania with her wife, dog, chinchilla, and bunny. She spends her days working as an optometrist and her nights snuggled up on the couch with her furry family, binging on netflix or youtube.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
I don't want to tie myself into knots avoiding revealing the central conflict of this story. It is blindingly obvious both from the blurb and from internal evidence from the start, though the author is careful to keep Carly believably clueless for a while. At any rate, I'm not going to spoiler tag this at all because coyly careful wording aside, the central conflict isn't that mysterious and it's important if you want to say literally anything about the plot... That said, stop now if you want to go in as clueless as possible.
This was a very odd sort of romance and includes things that often push me out of a story (chief among them when main characters are having sex with people they don't end up with). Also, I don't normally have any patience when a main character knows they're with someone cheating on another. And I even knew going in that this was going to be three PoVs and that's just strange.
But a friend review piqued my interest and I took the plunge and am glad that I did.
At the center of the story is a failing marriage. We pick up with Carly meeting, and becoming enchanted with, Diana, who seems like everything she ever wanted in a mate. We're all in Carly's head at this point, so it's a while before we learn that Diana is married and cheating. But Carly is really enchanted and after a bit of a step-back eventually plunges in. This is troubling behavior, but an illustration of Carly's central character trait of self-deception and avoidance. Lee did a good job drawing me in because I felt for her even though I could see her screwing up her life and making her best friend, Samantha miserable.
Seeing Samantha from Carly's viewpoint was engaging, but I liked it even more when we step back and relive those months from her perspective. Which, again, is something I normally have little patience with but that Lee made work very well. Seriously, Lee is an incredibly talented author to pull this all off. I particularly liked that Samantha was being proactive about her own needs, realizing that Carly might just be beyond her reach at this point. I hurt for her.
But I skipped a step-back, because we got Hailey's perspective on those months before Samantha's and got the full extent of Diana's lies and the pain they have brought home. And I was fully engaged and just felt so badly for her and hoped she would find her way clear. And I loved that we had seen enough of Caroline (her therapist and Samantha's friend) from other viewpoints so we could understand how conflicted Caroline was while being completely professional at the same time.
The stories converge for the last third and we trade off PoV back and forth more rapidly then and I think that was another interesting choice by the author. Lee's ability to weave a great story through three strong strands that weave individually first and then blend together with a lot of elements that really shouldn't have worked for me was outstanding.
The ending wasn't a complete win, however, though it's a bit hard for me to convey without over correcting. The thing is, the problem I have with the story in the end is that it is a little too simplistic. Samantha and Hailey are paragons and virtuous in every way. Caroline, too, though she isn't a PoV character. Which means that all of the conflict lies with the outright manipulative Diana and Carly's deep self-loathing that makes her self-sabotage in kind of obvious ways. It's even said outright that her self-loathing is why she was "unable" to perceive Samantha's love for her all these years (that was obvious to literally everyone else around them).
And if her self-loathing is so strong, why does nobody even suggest that she get some counseling for it (and the grief that lies behind it)? I mean, Caroline is a therapist for heaven's sake! And Hailey just got done getting some outstanding clarity and help through their sessions! I mean, I'm used to romance novels completely ignoring mental health professionals and the good they do but this story has an actual mental health professional in it!
And now that I've used up the last of this year's exclamation point quota, I'll wrap with this. I think this is a solid four stars and the author is extremely talented, though drawn to the kinds of stories that don't normally appeal to me. I mean, weaknesses aside, I really enjoyed spending time with these characters and was fully engaged throughout. This was so well-done, that I may dip into her other books despite them being outside of my norm.
A note about Steamy: There are a couple of explicit sex scenes, putting this in the middle of my steam tolerance, but only barely that high. The second was frankly gratuitous because the intimacy and connection between Samantha and Carly were already well-established. Still, it was nice as a coda on their relationship, even if unnecessary.
Carly has had a series of bad relationships but has always had her best friend, Sam, to stand by her side. Until she meets Diana. And as Carly, Sam, Diana and Hailey's world collide, things start to change.
This is a rather interesting book written in the first person narrative of three people - Carly, Sam and Hailey. Strangely, this book reminds me of the 1950 Japanese movie by Akira Kurosawa called Rushomon that examines the nature of truth. Everyone's perception of truth is different. And if we step away from our own tiny bubble and look at things from another perspective, sometimes we can see something else.
I understand that cheating is a sensitive topic for many. My personal opinion is that there should be no room for cheating in any relationship and I dont usually like to read about it in a romance novel. But this book does give me some perspective - that there is always two sides to a coin and maybe the other party is not the monster you always thought her out to be.
I think Carly is a very brave character despite her very broken image of herself, almost admirable. To be able to face her mistakes head on and apologise without hesitation is what makes her lovable.
But the character I liked the most is Sam. Sam is your typical girl who has held a torch for her best friend for years and did so silently. She was always there for Carly to offer a shoulder to cry on and to hug her to sleep in times of trouble. And she had to pick up pieces of Carly's broken heart every single time. I always find it frustrating that people choose to hide their true feelings like that and the wasted years just turn to bittersweet memories. At the same time, these people are the ones I love and admire for their rock solid loyalty.
Carly is a woman who has endured a lot. And despite everything, she always put others first. She is sweet, passionate and has a good heart. Carly is also a woman who makes wrong decisions or you can also call it, bad mistakes. Of course not intentionally. Her dating life is one disaster after another. Her girlfriends are losers. Sam is her best friend. She has been there for Carly through the best and the worst of times. But Sam keeps a secret hidden away from Carly and things are already complicated for them. Carly's latest relationship is a relationship that causes a lot of pain among those involved and this is the beginning of the rollercoaster of intense emotions. The Truth is an amazing tale, well written, with strong connections, chosen family and endearing characters. I loved all the characters, except Diana. I don't like how she treated women This story had me completely hooked from the first few pages. It gave me all the feelings, the bad and the good ones. I so hope that there will be a sequel. I highly recommend The Truth!
Any book that has cheating on it really makes me uncomfortable but I decided to give this one a go, and I’m glad that I did.
The individual characters were great, even the bloody cheat... ‘cause I loved to hate her. Hailey and Ava were just perfect, innocent characters that I wanted to give hugs to, and Samantha is what true friendship is about... plus she’s got the patience of a bloody saint.
It takes a lot of courage for someone to believe they’re worthy after denying themselves for so long... it’s so much easier to believe you don’t deserve something than to hope for more and lose it, but seeing a character like Carly Foster grow and change through all of her God-awful choices was a truly satisfying read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I knew this would be a tough subject for me. I felt it was explained very well. All the characters had reasons for things they did. I can’t condone Diana however and she really got what she deserved in the end. I believe Samantha would have waited a lifetime for Carly.
This book was interesting. If you would have told me beforehand that I would enjoy reading a story I which cheating is one of the main subjects I would have just shaken my head. Cheating is not something I enjoy reading about in any setting especially not my romances.
The story is told from the first person POV from Carly, her best friend Sam and Hailey. Carly is a likeable character, even with all her flaws and knowingly being the other woman. And this is what surprises me. Cheating is just both something that I tolerate in any type of relationship. But this book opens your eyes to see that cheating has two sides and they might not all be the monster they seem. But I still don’t like it. Sam has been in love with Carly forever and is always there to help her. Sam is the most likeable character in this book, but she is a bit too much maybe. She’s so supporting and willing to do anything and everything for Carly. Hailey is the character we see the least of, but she might be the most endearing and the one that needs a shoulder to cry on. My heart goes out to her.
I would have liked Carly to come to her senses sooner and for Sam to be a bit more forward sooner as well. But we cant have it all of course.
I think for me, for a cheating storyline to work, this is the only way I am ok with it. Not the cheating, but how this story is told.
This is the kid of book that sucks you into it. I few times that I sat it down, because I thought I knew what was coming, I couldn’t help myself and I had to pick it back up and continue reading. This for me was an emotional ride. I was choked up several times. If you’ve ever been cheated on you will relate to this story. If you’ve loved someone more than they loved you you’ll relate to this story. If you long for someone that you think is out of your reach, you’ll relate to this story. It is wonderfully written and you won’t want to put it down.
Great story! I think this is my favourite book by this author so far. What a wonderful web of women woven together!! I laughed, cried and fell in love with them all. It’s amazing how people’s perspectives are so different, confirming that cliche ‘there are 3 sides to a problem: your side, their side and the truth’!!
3.75⭐️ this book feels like fanfiction. And it’s fine because it was an easy read, straight to the point, no unnecessary description. The story was very predictable and not a lot of spice, Would have love maybe to have more details and background of the characters but despite all of this, i read it in just a few hours.
Starting out with Carly’s point of view, we get to know her and her craziness and to me what felt like loneliness. She jumps from relationship to relationship and really only has one constant in her life, her best friend Samantha. We get Sam’s pov as well about halfway through the book. Then there’s Hailey, the wife of Diana (tw:cheater) and mother to Ava. Would definitely like to see more of Hailey’s story and her hea. Carly and Hailey have amazing growth and so much strength that neither believes they had. They both became open to the ‘truth’ and their lives really started blossoming (hence wanting more hailey lol). Sam grows too but she is just sweet and supportive and so brave eventually. Great read!
I really like this story and all the characters in it. The way they all were interweaving was written very well. I can honestly say I was feeling this one. The emotional pull for Carly and Sam. The heat between Diana and Carly. The loss with Hailey and Ava and the connection with Caroline. I rooted for Sam, Caroline, Hailey and Carly. I also was pissed off with Carly and Diana and happy that Hailey realized it was over. I loved how the ending everyone got what they deserved. A very grown up story from Erica Lee. Well Done!
The story was clever and unique, and the characters were good too, but this book just seemed badly in need of editing. For instance, it started right off telling me how much chemistry one character had with another. Well, chemistry isn’t something you can inform me of, it has to actually be there. Also, it’s maybe dumb that it bothers me, but there were also a number of grammar errors like “Part IV: World’s Collide”. All in all, it felt like something rough that could easily be polished into a gem.
I don’t get this, because I’ve read a number of other books by the same author and haven’t had these issues. I feel bad for not rating this book higher, but there it is.
Bottom line, the characters and the story had me staying up to finish the book, but if this was the first of her books I’d read I’m not sure I’d have been so keen on a second. Except that would really be doing us both a disservice!
So… I’d start with a different Erica Lee book. My favorites so far are Falling For Who and And Then I Met You but many of them are outstanding. Circle back to this when it won’t give you the wrong impression. :)
P.S. I should also say, I was kind of shocked when Carly learned something fairly significant and pressed on in spite of it. Later, the reasons were made more clear, though I’m still not super comfortable with it. Yet, it was something rarely explored from that perspective that I think did contribute to the story. It’s hard to object to a story that makes you put more thought into your gut reactions.
I have blazed through all of Erica Lee's works on Kindle Unlimited over the last two weeks. This one is an odd one to end up on. Told from three people's POV when and includes intimacy with a person the main character doesn't end up with (usually a big negative for me). But I still enjoyed this book. Carly has been floundering for years since her parents threw her out and the death of her sister. She has gone threw many bad relationships and her one constant is best friend Sam. They've both crushed on each other at times but never moved from the friend zone.
Carly gets into another bad relationship situation with someone who is still married. Sam doesn't approve and backs away. Then interestingly enough we go back in time to get some perspective from the wronged spouse. I think Carly could benefit from some counseling for her mental health. But I liked how things work out. The ending seems a little easy after everything that has gone on. Now I'll have to find some new authors for my Kindle Unlimited reading.
How long does it take to see your true love in front of you!
1-800-273-8255 Suicide prevention line or 911 Carly's sister died, Cassie self indulge, when she didn't think any one is the cared. Carly has suffered inside herself that day and never thought to bring her thoughts out to someone. Carly always thought she was unworthy to make a move on her best friend, Samantha. After several mishaps with other women, Carly hears from two different people to open her eyes and see who is standing in front of her. Does she? Who does she see? Many things happen along the way and each time a certain person is always there to pick Carly up. Read and enjoy! Remember you are not alone.
This story going through 3 pov’s was great! You feel like you are reading a day time television show. I wanted to like Carly but she definitely made the list for top 5 least favorite characters. She always had the “why does this happen to me” mentality after she did something clearly wrong even after she herself acknowledged it was wrong! I have to say even though she has the least amount of chapters Hailey was probably my favorite character. She worked hard to keep her family together even though it was obvious it wouldn’t work out.
This was definitely a story with plenty of familial strife ! Carly's tumultuous years particularly those following the suicidal death of her sister . Samantha being their for her plus sam's family as a support group she didn't even realize that she had . To me probably kept her grounded enough to assert herself ! Positively a eye opening life lesson for all that are mature enough to read it !
I am finding that Erica Lee will never disappoint, and it is a wonderful feeling. For me this was a slow burn and man wasn't the burn good. Loved it. I thought at one point that I didn't like the beginning but the end made it more than worth it. This author was indeed an awesome find and I have no intention of giving her up. I just hope she continues to write and, write, and write and write. I am so happy right now 😊😊
I thought Carly's arc felt a bit rushed; after thinking about it more, though, I've come to accept that the first part typically does suffer from having to work with an abbreviated telling of events when structured like this book. The others have context to build upon. Elongating that first arc probably would've helped, but overall, I enjoyed this a lot, and I'm hoping for more with *spoiler* and *spoiler*
OMG. I wish I could give it a thousand stars. I loved how the book chronicled Sam and Carly's relationship. The story was believable and the characters were relatable. It was a page Turner that I couldn't put down until I finished it at 4 am this morning. True love really does conquer all and friends make the best lovers....
This is an engaging story. It is well written. I enjoyed the various characters as well as the relationships issues it raised. I think we have all dealt with a self-absorbed Diana in our lives. I was glad to see hailey give her the boot. Thank God Sam and Carly got together. I would recommend the book.
Finally! (it'll makes sense when you read the book)
When I pick up an Erica Lee book, I know I'm in for an enjoyable ride. Vivid characters spring to life, grab you by the hand, and take you along on their emotional journey. It's easy to lose yourself for a while when you jump into a world of Erica Lee's imagination. I highly recommend it!
I like stories like this that put you inside of each character’s psychology. About one third of the way in I wanted to shout the obvious, which you will discover if you read it. You will find some conventional tropes, it is perhaps a bit too long, but I found myself engrossed in the character’s inner lives.
Very happy with this book! The author did an amazing job in her writing, making the reader feel engaged in the storyboard. I originally was taken in by Diana as was Carly, but, after the truth came out, I didn't care for her at all! I do hope that the author continues on with the other characters, Hailey, Caroline, & Molly.
I really enjoyed this book. Getting the different viewpoints of all the women was intriguing. I haven't read this author before I will definitely be looking for more of her stories!
I can't say enough about how many of these story lines mirrored my own life. I couldn't stop reading! Thank you for this story. I laughed, cried and remembered the feeling of falling in love.
I can relate to Carly Foster. Since high school I had a crush on my best friend,but I never told her that she was more than a friend.So yes I was also blind in our relationship. To this day I never told her. Thank You again Erica for another great adventure.
As a rule I usually really like Erica's books and this one was ok as well.. Key being ok . I thought as it went along pretty much everything I thought was going to happen, well it did. Still worth the time though even if I am the oddball low rater on this one. 3 stars is all from me