A fast paced thriller, but something different from the norm, so an intriguing book that had me hooked. The writing was superb and I found the emotional pull of the mother a great thread running through the story.

A super read full of suspense and intrigue. I totally loved it and found it hard to put down. Cannot wait to read more from this author .

When I read the synopsis for this I thought it sounded like a really great read, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I thought the plot was a really fantastic premise. If your child had been taken and you couldn’t prove it who do you trust? How do you get someone to believe you when you aren’t even sure yourself? I found parts of the plot a little unrealistic, but overall it was an exciting plot that was well paced.

One of the things about this book was that I guessed the ending almost immediately. This put me off a little bit, as I was pretty much just waiting for a reveal I already knew was coming. I thought the book was written well, but I didn’t enjoy the story as much when I knew exactly what was going to happen. The one other thing that kind of put me off this book was that most of the characters are really unlikeable. I didn’t like Holly at all, or connect with her in any way. Her husband is horrible and the on again off again boyfriend Jowan didn’t click for me either. I did really like the settings, and the comparison between beautiful freeing Cornwall – where Holly wants to be, and foggy and restrictive London where she has to be.

I think this book definitely has lots of potential, and I know a lot of psychological thriller fans will absolutely adore this. I don’t want to say too much about the story line because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone , but the plot is well devised and there are a few twists along the way that I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy. Overall however, this one just wasn’t for me.

This book was a gripping read for me from the start, even though I figured out the plot ending quite early on in the book. Regardless I just had to finish it to make sure I was right (which I was!) and to see how everything worked out at the end. Brilliant read, worth your time and effort!

Well what a book, I do admit to falling for the synopsis, and it did it’s job and did not disappoint. We meet Holly and Simon West, husband and wife and expecting twins. But they only take their daughter Iona home, their son, who was to be called Ruan, didn’t survive. Holly has had a troubled past, and when she starts to think and then believe Ruan is actually alive her husband and her best friend Demi start to believe her past is not quite her past and believe she is suffering from depression, well some people try to be supportive.

There are a quite a few characters in the story that have known Holly and Simon before they were married, and they have different opinions that are expressed throughout, this gives a really good background to the characters and the dynamics between them. The plot was good, but I do admit to being correct on a few thoughts as I was reading, but to be perfectly honest that really didn’t matter as I was more interested in how Holly dealt with the situations as they arose. It was Holly on her journey that was intriguing me as well as my being a witness as she transformed from a self doubting, beholden to her husband type of woman, to a strong, resilient woman who is willing to put her family first regardless of the risk. There were also a few things I didn’t expect and and a couple of great twists. It was all told at a good pace that kept me frantically reading until the last page.

This is a book that would appeal to readers of contemporary fiction as well as general fiction, who like an element of mystery and thriller with a little dash of romance. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I would like to thank Mandy James for accepting my request via NetGalley to read and share my thoughts on her book. My thoughts are my own and are unbiased.

BEHIND THE LIE by Amanda James is a fast-paced, gripping psychological thriller that will make your pulse quicken and your breath hitch as you become completely immersed in Holly's desperate search for her little boy.

After Holly's heart was shattered years ago, she found herself in the bright lights of London where she becomes an overnight success. Lost and hurt, she throws herself into the model lifestyle of drugs and parties, when she is unexpectedly saved by Simon, a wealthy consultant, who whisks her away to rehab and then marries her shortly after her recovery. Now Holly is married, pregnant with twins, and wants for nothing. She even has a beach home in her beloved Cornwall to escape to when London becomes too much. But when her birth plan goes wrong and only her little girl survives, Holly aches for her son whom she never got to hold. As her friends and family try to help her move on she just cannot seem to find a way through her grief. And then she finds something that makes her think her precious boy didn't die at all. He was taken from her and she will do whatever it takes to get him back...

This story is so unique and fresh, and the writing really carries a frantic energy which worked wonderfully for this plot. As a mother, it broke my heart to watch what Holly was going through and I ached alongside her for what she had lost. But as the tension mounts and unusual occurrences start to slide into place, I was absolutely terrified at what was truly happening. The characters are well-developed and relatable (except for one or two which you will recognise when you read it yourself!) and I was easily caught up in the drama of this novel. BEHIND THE LIE by Amanda James is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

This story was to me, very unbelievable and the plot was very shaky, could have been so much better.

A fast paced and gripping read.
Hooked from page one to the very last.

Thank you for allowing me to read this early release so I can review. This book was worth the time and also first read by this author. I Certainly will be reading more. Highly recommend.

Ex-model Holly is happily married to Simon. He prides himself on having "saved" her from a world of addiction - and now she's giving birth to their twins. Unfortunately, while her female twin survives, her male twin does not. Holly is devastated, and goes to their beach house in Cornwall for a break. She can't shake the feeling that something is wrong - that her son is still alive. When she receives a letter stating just that, she's determined to find out what happened and get her baby back.

This was good, it was a quick read, and nicely paced. A little predictable, but that's always a risk when you've read a lot of thrillers. I'm also the type of reader who is immediately suspicious of everyone - bus driver appears for a second? He did it! Receptionist? She did it! Little old lady? She did it! It does become tiring, because I can't switch it off, so it meant that I didn't fully appreciate a couple of the characters here because I thought they were involved (my fault entirely, not the author's). I liked the setting, any book that includes Cornwall is enjoyable for me, it's a beautiful place and so atmospheric.

I love Amanda Jame's books. This one will keep you on the end of your seat hoping that good will prevail over evil. One of Holly's much long for twins has died. Her husband,a surgeon had already told her that one of them was so small that this might happen. She never saw her son,she was given a photograph of him instead. Holly feels her baby is alive,call it a mother's instinct but who will believe her?

This story definitely took me on a journey. I believed Holly completely, but how would she get from where she was to finding her son without the people close to her thinking she was going mad.

Who can Holly trust? Who is telling the truth and who is lying?
The final 15% of this book was so fast paced I couldn't put it down. At times I thought Holly would never survive to the end and there was no chance of her finding and re-claiming her son. Did she? You'll have to read it to find out.
Another great read from Amanda James.

I’m so delighted to be launching the blog tour for Amanda James’ Behind the Lie. I’ve always loved her writing – yes, I enjoyed the time travelling books, and Summer in Tintagel was a great marriage between her quirky style and the thriller writer I’d glimpsed behind my personal favourite (up to now…), Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I was quite worried when I started this one – an out-and-out psychological thriller – her first book for HQ Digital, released today. What if I didn’t like it? But I really didn’t need to worry at all…

Do you know, I really don’t like reviewing psychological thrillers – but only because I find it so difficult to do. I want to say “what about that bit when…”, and know I just can’t because it would give the entire story away. The story behind this one is quite mind-blowing – cruelty, deception, lies, arrogance – and so magnificently done. But I’m not going to tell you anything more about it. No, nothing.

Instead, I’ll talk about the characters. And, do you know, I’ll admit that Holly left me a bit cold at first. I haven’t come across many beautiful five foot nine ex-models with a resolved drug addiction, married to a millionaire. I far preferred her dippy friend Demi – I even tried to find common ground with her mother. But she won me over. As she grows in strength throughout the book, I like her more and more. By the end, I was ready to cheer and fist-pump on her behalf.

Her husband Simon? I liked getting inside his head, behind the smiling face. Well no, I didn’t like… but you draw your own conclusions. Other characters worked really well for me too – but I can’t tell you about them… but their motivations rang true for me.

OK, so let’s look at the story telling. Do you know, at times this book is actually quite slow? People navel-gazing, reflecting, talking about what’s going on. But it works – it really works. Every time the action starts, you’re glad to have had a bit of a respite – a bit like the flat parts of a fairground ride. The action is explosive, edgy, exciting, non-stop – and, thank goodness, slows down again before the next peak.

Then there’s the writing – and the setting. I’m happy to group those two together. When writing about Cornwall, the happy place, some of the descriptions are quite beautiful – and a far cry from the London scenes that are all spiky and hard-edged. The emotional content is great too – the joy and pain of motherhood, the acute sense of loss and betrayal, the tearing in half between what you want to do and what you must do.

Now, I haven’t told you the story, have I? Let me just check… no, we’re ok! 100% a winner for me – go on, please try it, see if you agree… but just wait until you get that bit when…

My thanks to HQ Digital and netgalley for my advance reading e-copy – and to Mandy for trusting me with launching her blog tour. And you will follow the other stops, won’t you?

The book sounded great. But it didnt live up to my expectation. i enjoed it but it had no omph to it to keep my interest all through

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from Behind the Lie. I haven’t read any of Amanda James’ books before and most of her books seem to be romance books, which is not a genre that I read. This book, however, is not a romance!

Holly has had a troubled past but she’s happily married to the man that saved her and she’s pregnant with twins she’s excited about her future. But when her obstetrician husband tells her that one twin is small and may not survive her seemingly perfect life starts to come apart at the seams.

I have to say that Behind The Lie is fairly predictable, something that I normally hate in a book, but for some reason, this book pulled me in and even though I was sure that I knew where the book was going from very early on, I still really enjoyed reading it and wanted to find out what was going to happen.

I grew to like Holly, and I was definitely rooting for her by the end. Perhaps, as a mother of twins, I felt a stronger connection with the book and character than others, but I do think that Behind the Lie is a good, solid, psychological thriller that many will enjoy reading. I also loved the description of Holly’s beach house in Cornwall, it made me want to escape London!

Overall, Behind The Lie is a solid psychological thriller, the storyline is interesting and engaging and it is well written, I hope that Amanda James writes more psychological thrillers in the future.

Thank you to the author and publishers, HQDigital, for a copy of Behind The Lie via Netgalley.

4☆ Intriguing Mystery of a Mothers journey to uncover the truth!

The story starts off with Holly.
She is pregnant with Twins. Life seems pretty near on perfect for her.... well that is until things start to go horribly wrong.

Holly met Simon her husband when she was a model. Things wasn't so glamourous for her as she was an addict and Simon made it he's mission to save her.

She gave up her life in Cornwall to move in with him. He bought her a beach home so when she needed time out she could go home to Cornwall.

Simon seems the perfect husband.
However he's hiding a secret.... he's got mixed up in gambling. Holly is pregnant and spending all her time at the beach house. He's lonely and finds comfort in gambling.....however he's lost EVERYTHING!!!

Holly goes into labour but tragedy strikes when she loses her baby boy at birth. Her husband is a successful doctor and he won't let Holly see her baby boy.
She is devastated with grief. But she has her baby girl and needs to bond with her.

As the story progresses Holly receives a mysterious letter saying her son is still alive. She is apprehensive at first. She is unsure whether it is some sick joke or really the truth.

Holly always knew in her heart something wasn't right. She never got to see her son so she could not say the letter wasnt true.
She knows no one will believe her but she must find her son.

She connects with her old flame Jowan. He is everything Simon isn't.
He still loves Holly and will do everything to help her. So he sets out to help Holly to uncover the truth behind her Son's so called death.

Right from the start I didn't like Simon. There was just something about he's demeanour. The way he commanded Holly. He's disregard to money.
Both had addictions except Holly didn't hide her's from Simon.

I enjoyed Behind the Lie. It was intriguing if not a little predictable at times.
However this did not stop me from enjoying the story as I wanted to see if my predictions were right.
It was fairly fast paced but it certainly held my attention.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy an intriguing mystery at time gripping read.

I was really intrigued by the premise, but think it could have been done a little better. You spend the entire book waiting for Holly to catch up to you and figure out what's right in front of her face. I also had a lot of difficulty really connecting with the characters because they often didn't speak or act in a natural manner. I did enjoy the book, but that's a couple of the reasons it gets a good and not great rating from me. I'm seeing mostly four and five star reviews, so I'm confident many others will enjoy this one a lot.

Holly's life couldn't be more different than it was just a couple short years ago. She's gone from a drug addict model to the pregnant (and thankfully, clean) wife of a rich doctor. Her husband Simon spotted her on the catwalk and had to have her. He helped her get clean and turn her life around. Now she's pregnant with twins!

She should be incredibly happy, but her best friend notices that something is holding her back. Soon after, she gives birth and is told one of her twins, the little boy, didn't make it. She never gets to say goodbye, as her husband tells her it would be too traumatic for her. As time goes on, she bonds with her beautiful little girl but longs for the boy that never made it into her arms. She can't accept the idea that he's gone, even though everyone is starting to think she's losing it. Then she gets an anonymous tip that her son really is alive. Now she's hell-bent on finding him, ignoring her increasingly distant husband and enlisting the help of her ex-boyfriend.

Recommended to: fans of domestic thrillers, those who like their thrillers with a touch of romance and a lot of drama.

I received an ARC of this novel from Net Galley and HarperCollins UK, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Behind the Lie takes you on a rollercoaster with each turn of the page. It follows the story of Holly who is pregnant with twins and has found a successful and loving husband. She's turned her life around from what she had before. The only problem is when she gives birth only one twin survives. But Holly is certain that her son is still alive only no one believes her.

The story follows Holly as she seeks to find the truth. It's tense and edgy and a fabulous read that kept me hooked to the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK and Amanda James for the chance to review.

Superb! This is the first book I’ve read by Amanda James but it certainly won’t be my last. I was hooked from the first chapter. The main character Holly is likeable and believable. Her situation felt very real and her decisions are logical. The story builds gradually as she battles to get to the truth until it reaches an explosive end.

The cesarean scene in the prologue is poignant, hooking in my emotions and getting me 100% behind Holly before getting to know anything about her past or her relationship with Simon.

5 weeks before the birth, best friend Demi visits. They haven’t seen each other for a while as Demi has been travelling. The atmosphere between them vibrates with things left unsaid and gave me a distinctly uneasy feeling! Simon is lonely in London while Holly is staying at their house on the beach in Cornwall. Things might not be as bright and lovely as Holly thinks they are …

3 weeks after the birth and Holly’s emotional pain became mine. Nobody is talking about the death of Ruan but she can’t talk about her own feelings either. Inside she’s screaming. She can feel Ruan close to her and dreams that he’s still alive. Simon collects her and baby Iona to take them back to London and while Simon is at work, Holly is given an anonymous letter which changes everything. She’s determined to investigate herself having told only Demi what her plans are. What follows is so tense and nail biting with images that will take me a long time to forget!

Holly’s narration is in the first person and Simon’s the third. I find when that when I know something that the other main character/characters don’t, it makes for a tense read. In Behind the Lie I was urging the other person to see what I could and shouting at them when I knew that what they were about to do was the wrong thing!

Demi, Simon and her mum think Holly is losing her mind so she is ALWAYS questioning her own sanity, especially reflecting on her past life before she met Simon. I loved the analogies between the coastal environment and Holly’s own mental wellbeing. There is one person who believes in her though and that’s Jowan. Jowan brings an interesting mix to the conflict and I have to say I loved how Amanda James ends the story (before the epilogue).

Although I did guess, there are some fabulous red herrings thrown at us. It made me question what I believed! Such fabulous characterisations. Mark Jenson scared the life out of me, so cold and calculating … There are more than a couple of scenes that had my stomach churning in apprehension and fear. The final crises is spectacular. So tense!

Behind the Lie is a keeper for me. Highly recommended.

My first book by Amanda James and what a good read.. It is a gripping psychological thriller that I could not put down. Many twists and turns in the well written plot. I highly recommend to those who enjoy thrillers.