I absolutely devoured this book! I flew through it, it’s fast paced and gets you hooked from the start.

I couldn’t read this quick enough to see how it was going to end.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderfully fast-paced thriller. I devoured this within 24 hours, with its many twists and turns, it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat.

Enjoyed this one, it's well worth the hype all over social media! It was full of twists that I didn't see coming and I was co vinced I had it sussed! If yiu've read it you'll know the part where you think you know, it changes and then flies back round! Nope....still wrong 😂 brilliant

I loved this book! I had no idea where it was going and felt like it flipped the script really early on so I wasn’t waiting for the action to start. Loved at the twists. Will read from this author again!

An intriguing and fast paced read with so many twists and turns it gave me whiplash.

Interesting plot developments that kept me guessing until the very last page.

Well done Ashley. I can't wait to see what else she's brings out next as I will definitely be picking up a copy.

Thanks to Headline books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

First Lie Wins is out now.

A twisty con-woman thriller that is equally gripping and different from everything else you’ve read. Believe the hype for this one! You’ll have to read it yourself to see what the hype is about and while I did find this slow at times, when the plot got moving, boy it got moving! It is pacy. It is unpredictable. It’s a thriller likes you’ve never read before.
In a nutshell this follows 27-year old Evie Porter who seems to have the perfect life and is about to move in with her boyfriend Ryan. Ryan comes from old money - he’s inherited his business from his grandparents. From the get go you know something isn’t quite right about Evie from the apartment she’s been “renting” for a few weeks as opposed to the months she’s been pretending. Later on at a party she meets an old friend of Ryan’s called James and his new girlfriend, Lucca Marino. But Evie’s actual name is Lucca Marino and their background details are identical.
We get flashback chapters too that explain how Evie (actually Lucca) became who she is and her job with the mysterious Mr Smith.
This was a pacy read where the characters are always one step ahead. I did find that at times the pacing does slow down a bit but the twists were unexpected. I had no idea where the story was going to go - completely riveted.

There has been a lot of chatter online about this book and suffering from acute FOMO, I had to have it to see if it is as good as everyone is saying.

First Lie Wins is a standalone psychological thriller featuring a FABULOUS female character Evie Porter, except that’s not her real name.

Evie is our main narrator and whilst she is definitely what we like to call “unreliable”, she’s fun, flawed and definitely fascinating. Evie has been working for “Mr Smith”, a mysterious boss who sends her on dangerous, undercover assignments for years. She knows she’s one of his best employees and her latest job (mark) is Ryan, a wealthy businessman and her assignment is to get “close” to him.

I’m not going to give away the plot, as I read this book without knowing ANYTHING about it, so all I would say to entice you is that First Lie Wins is an addictive, compelling, fast-paced, cat and mouse tale of people playing dangerous and deadly games with each other.

This book is absolutely full of twists and turns, fabulous characters, a clever plot, a devious boss and is highly entertaining. Soon to be made into a TV series, this is definitely one for thriller fans to pick up.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was not the one for me. The opening was very interesting and all the marketing surrounding it made it feel like a no brainier to read but then after that it just lost me. I like the ending, but aside from that I can’t really think of anything else I like about this one.

It was very confusing, felt very jumpy and I wasn’t a fan of any character really. There was also no really mystery in terms of what the book was working towards therefore I wouldn’t really call it a thriller.

Not awful but just not for me 😢

I really enjoyed this one, and so 4 stars!
I don’t think oh lives up to the 5 start hype but it was still good.

The book follows Evie, whose is moving in with her boyfriend Ryan. But all is not what it seems. Evie, is undercover, getting secret information for her boss, known as Mr Smith.

However, who can be trusted in this game of cat & mouse? Did you know….. the first lie wins.

I love how the book was full of twists, and was never dull.

The writing style was good, although I did think some of the chapters were too long. I like short snappy sentences rather than fewer bigger chapters.

I would definitely read something by this author again.

Very clever psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns along the way. Lies, lies and more lies. Brilliant read.

I found this confusing at first and it took me a while to get into the story and realise what was going on but the second half was a faster read, where the pace increased, the stakes were raised and ultimately it tied up nicely to a satisfying conclusion.

‘Evie’ isn’t really Evie and is on a job with deception….then she gets introduced to someone who is using her name! A book full of twists and turns and very readable !

Wow. This was an epic rollercoaster. Just when you think you know what’s going on, something changes my mind. This will make a perfect film or TV series. The story changes timeline a lot but this is necessary to tell the story.
I’ll definitely be reading more by this author.

This is not my usual read but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It will keep you awake at nights trying to figure out the next twist and turn. Very clever.

This was great fun - loads of twists and turns, fascinating characters and a super complex plot that was so well written that it was easy to follow nonetheless. I definitely fell for some of the red herrings along the way! Highly recommended.

This book is utterly brilliant. I could not put it down - easy to read and a fabulous original story with plenty of twists along the way. The best book I have read in a long time I would thoroughly recommend.

Absolutely loved this novel and will certainly keep an eye out for more books from Ashley Elston. I was drawn in by the main character and her life of grifting and found it a really different read to normal crime and thrillers. Highly recommend

This was a good, twisty read and something a bit different to lots of thrillers I've read recently. I liked the setting too, having visited lots of the locations on holiday recently.

Found this a good read. Wasn't sure how the title fitted in as there seems to be a few lies., and who started the first lies. A good story line and keeps you guessing.

Right from the beginning of this book, the reader is drawn into Evie’s life of deceit and lies. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on in the novel at first, but this added to my excitement and joy of reading it.
Evie is working for “Mr Smith”. She takes on an identity and works that life and identity to get the information that Mr Smith needs. Then it’s onto the next assignment for Evie
The book is a real cat and mouse game and the suspense and tension dominates throughout
This book would make a perfect tv adaptation!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a gifted copy