Do you ever really know what goes on inside a marriage? Detective Rowan Velky's marriage is a tangled web of lies that have turned deadly. Rowan is investigating three gruesome murders with her partner Kellan, all the while trying to piece together her crumbling marriage. What was once an intense, inseparable bond, has turned into lies, deception, and a murder.
With multiple narrators, flashbacks, and complex and relatable characters, this one had me glued to the pages. The perfect back-and-forth between crime scene investigation and domestic drama with emotionally charged twists. I loved this dark and twisty thriller! This is my first @amadamckinney book but it will not be my last. I can't wait to check out her backlist!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and overall I really enjoyed the book. With that being said, the synopsis of the book says, “he thought I wouldn’t find out, I’m a detective” so I figured out the twist very early on. But I feel the writing is strong, the character development was great and really liked it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy!

This was one book I couldn't put down and finished in one day. The entire story is full of twists and suspense wondering what will happen next keeping you on your toes. Detective Rowan is in a loveless marriage to her husband Shep who she has known since they were kids in the foster care system. She throws herself in her work trying to solve the murders of three women each with the letter "X" portrayed on the victims somehow but what is the connection? You also meet Amber and her husband Mark who also seem to have issues in their marriage and dealing with news that their son could possibly have developmental issues. There does seem to be two main characters Detective Rowan and Amber, who is a therapist, with different stories and two POV but then further along in reading you figure out how they click and it makes sense. I thought the book was written well and makes you hold interest with asking questions, how are the characters related, who knows more then they are leading on, how far will some go to honor their past.

Thank you Amanda McKinney, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this digital ARC
Book release date March 29, 2024

Very mixed feelings on this book for me.
The pros:
Writing style
Some good twists I didn't see coming
I felt invested with most of the characters
Pacing of the book

The cons:
Several plot points were just a bit too much of a stretch to be believable at all
A lot of POVs got confusing

Giving this one 3 stars because it did keep my interest

This book hooked me from page one. Every single guess that I made as I was reading was completely WRONG! A great thriller that had me on the edge of my seat!

I devoured this in less than 24 hours! Definitely did not expect the plot twists that came with the ending but they were SO good. I hadn’t read anything by this author before and will definitely be adding more to my TBR. Thank you for the ARC!

OMG, OMG, OMG!! This book is one of the best that I’ve read so far this year. This book touches on a lot of sensitive subject matter. This book was undoubtedly a page turner and I couldn’t put it down because I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next. The twists and turns were excellently written. This is my first book by this author and she has a new fan. Highly recommended.

This book is so good! Suspenseful from the start. I never knew where the story was going to go, how the characters were inter-related, or what the twists would be, so it kept me reading and guessing.
Rowan is a detective investigating the murders of three women and it's not clear the murders are connected. Is her husband involved? What role does her therapist play? Is she going to end up with her hunky work partner? I highly recommend this fast-paced thriller.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this e-ARC.

I have three words for this book: fresh, fun and fantastic! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the synopsis, except for that it was about someone in a toxic marriage. Oh, but there is so much more…

Detective Rowan Velky works in a suburb outside of Houston, and she is the woman from the synopsis. Her husband, Shepherd, drinks too much, doesn’t work and emotionally neglects his wife - so she throws herself into her job. She has a crush on her coworker, Kellan, but doesn’t act on it. She and Shepherd may have an awful marriage, but they’ve been together since they were both children in foster care. Who else would want her and the baggage she carries?

Amber is our second main character, as she is Rowan’s therapist. Her best friend Emma is her child’s teacher, and she has a cold and distant husband named Mark who refuses to accept that their child has special needs, despite Emma sitting them both down for a serious talk about how to help him. Amber may be a therapist, but she’s dealing with some difficult issues of her own. She and Rowan are both good characters, and are both women struggling, with their marriages and life in general.

So you may be asking where is the mystery, the thrill? Oh, it’s there! Rowan gets news one night that a woman has been found murdered, rare for the area, and the killer left behind a very distinctive physical mark. She and Kellan are immediately on the case, but soon more women die, all with the same markings on their bodies, and the FBI kicks the local police to the side. Still, Rowan wants to know why these women were killed. What is the tying bond?

The murder mystery was great, the characters were written well, and the ending was fantastic with a huge twist that I didn’t see coming. This was also a thoughtful look at marriage, motherhood, infidelity and the criminal justice system. I definitely give this one my recommendation, and 4.5 stars.

(Thank you to Storm Publishing, Amanda McKinney and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on March 29, 2024.)

3.5 ☆ my first book by this author and It won’t be my last. it was a little slow in the beginning and confusing due to there being a few more different pov’s than I was expecting but once everything started adding up, it was pieced together so well. there’s a lot of unexpected twist and turns. I’d definitely recommend if looking for a fast paced and bingeable thriller!

thank you NetGalley for the arc - releasing March 29th

tws: mentions of child abuse, foster care, depression, dementia, attempted suicide, infertility and infidelity.

A Marriage of Lies is a thriller alright. When three bodies of women have turned up it is up to Detective Rowan Velky to try to figure out if this is a serial killer. Detective Velky is a detective in a small town in Texas. Solving this case is adding to her list of being overworked and trying to save her marriage to Shep. Things have not been going great for Rowan and Shep you might say its been going downhill really fast and the way Rowan copes is by working. Only now her partner Kellan has shown her the attraction she as not been getting from Shep and he is a hunk that is hard to resist.

Rowan is also seeing a therapist who is trying to get her to confront her horrible family life to move on from it and to settle things with her husband. Only Rowan now finds out that Shep is possibly having an affair with someone. How will she protect what little is left of her family? How can she move on to really linking these murders to one another and catch this serial killer?

I liked the twists and turns in this book. The characters were very complex which made the story very interesting. The intertwining of the characters lives and their movements through out the story gave it a very dark and thrilling aspect. One that I truly enjoy. I didn't always agree with the character Rowan. I found her sometimes very dismissive when it came to Kellan when he tried to help her and his help was always needed. Finding out why X marks were made on these women had me going. Trying to figure out these puzzle parts kept me glued to each page. That's the kind of read I like. It kept me on my toes and wanted to know more. Especially what Rowan did to solve this case.

Thank you Storm ad Net Galley for the ARC. I truly enjoyed this book and hope to ream more by Ms. McKinney 4.5 stars

This may be my favorite book that I’ve read in quite some time. I was hooked from the very beginning, and although I semi figured out the big twist, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading to figure it all out.

The way the book bounces from Rowan and Amber’s perspectives, to little tidbits of backstory, was very enjoyable to read and kept my attention. I felt that the character development was superb.

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers or well written murder mysteries.

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing and the Author for the advanced copy!

I read an advance copy of A Marriage of Lies from NetGalley.

I was totally impressed with this book, and had a really hard time putting it down. We bounced between the perspective of detective Rowan and therapist Amber for most of the book, with a few other POV’s thrown in occasionally. I thought Rowan was extremely likable as a lead character, and the development with her backstory was well articulated.

I wasn’t expecting the twists and turns in this one either, it went a totally different direction than I was expecting but it was written so well.

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers or murder mysteries.

Detective Rowan Velky is going through a rough patch in her marriage. Every marriage has secrets but she’s afraid that she and her husband Shepherd have one too many that they keep from each other. Having recently started therapy, Rowan and her therapist work on her own issues, while Rowan works diligently at her job. Her marriage struggles take a back seat as Rowan encounters the most disturbing case of her career: a young woman strangled to death with an “x” carved on her body. Rowan and her colleagues begin to investigate but then another body is found in a similar manner, then a third as well. Soon it becomes apparent that there is a serial killer at work in her small town.

“A Marriage of Lies” is one of those books that grabbed my attention from the first few sentences and did not let up AT ALL. In fact, when I was done reading, I sat for a minute wondering what exactly did I just read?! Told from multiple viewpoints, I was equally invested in every aspect of this story, with my favorite character being Banjo (because, if there is a dog, it will always be my favorite character)! Rowan was very relatable, working through some heavy stuff while balancing a stressful career and a marriage that was falling apart. She was very intelligent and strong, all while being flawed and so realistic.

The pacing was perfect and there were several twists that I didn't see coming even in the slightest. But McKinney executed them all perfectly, and when they occurred, they made perfect sense in the story. The ending was haunting and stayed with me for a long time afterwards - I don’t usually encounter psychological thrillers that really make me think as much as this one did. To put it simply: this book was everything I absolutely love in a psychological thriller. “A Marriage of Lies” was the first book I read by this author but it will not be the last!

Thank you to Thriller Book Lover Promotions, Amanda McKinney and Storm Publishing for the ARC! “A Marriage of Lies” releases March 29, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

✨Spoiler Free Review✨

Title- A marriage of lies by @amandamckinneyauthor
Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first book by Amanda McKinney and I was not disappointed one bit. This was a fast read for me and every word had me hooked until the end.

The introductions of Rowan, a married detective, and Amber, her married therapist, reveal troubled home lives for each woman. In their small town, murders of women occur with eerie similarities: X marks on the victims signify an ominous message. Who’s killing and what do these messages mean?

This book kept me engaged and guessing, even when I thought I had some aspects figured out. There was twist in there I was not expecting at an all.

Very well done @amandamckinneyauthor ❤️😮‍💨

This book is available on kindle unlimited and purchase March 29,2024✨📚

Thank you to @thrillerbookloverspromotions @netgalley and Storm Publishing for the copy.✨

A Marriage of Lies is a fast pace, multiview point thriller that will have you hooked from page 1. I couldn’t put this one down. Rowan is a small town detective who’s world starts to fall apart when the person she loves the most lies to her. I don’t think I can share too many details without spoilers. I enjoyed the short chapters, multiple points of conflict and guessing how everything would tie together at the end. McKinney brings the characters to life and is excellent at writing relationship conflict. Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read.

This is a psychological suspense novel involving murders which Detective Rowan is trying to solve.

The story unfolds with a decent pace. The chapters are short and told from multiple POVs.

Sadly the characters weren't likable and I struggled to connect with them. I also found the twists extremely obvious.

That said overall its a decent read, definitely an easy one for when you want something to grab your interest and be over quickly.

3.5 stars.

Book review 📚 ARC

Marriage of lies

Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This book didn’t take long for the drama to start unfolding. It is told in multiple POV’s but first focusing on the two main characters who have their own stories but of course there’s a link to them. The twists soon start being revealed and it’s a web of lies and secrets, some you won’t see coming. The characters are written really well, so well that some will annoy you 😂 I thought that the addition of the characters friends/partners were good to keep you guessing what lies they are hiding. The main character is a detective and the detail in the plot was really good. I don’t want to ruin any of the book but the ending was slightly disappointing compared to the build up from the rest of the book.

Overall, it was a good read. It is fast paced with short chapters and it didn’t take me long to get through it at all.


This one is definitely worth the read, will you be adding it to your TBR?


Thank you to the author, net galley and storm publishing for my advanced copy.

Amanda McKinney always manages to keep me glued to the page. This book was no exception. You can just feel the secrets in the air and I love that in my thrillers.

Told in the POV of 2 women, Detective Rowan Velky and her therapist Amber. Both dealing with intense jobs and crumbling marriages. Not to mention women are being murdered and the detective said she did it. The ending kind of slaps you in the face with how fast the pacing suddenly went but I have to say that I enjoyed that. It heightened it more for me, especially since I couldn't look away already. The one thing I wish was a bit more developed was Rowan's (work) partner, Kellan. He does play a role in the book and I would have liked just a tiny bit more of a backstory on him.

It's not secret that I am a big McKinney fan and books like this are why.

This domestic thriller delivers on what it promises. I flew through this one in two days! I really liked that one of the POVs was the cop so I got my police procedural fix. The serial killer part of the story was the perfect amount of creepy without being over the top. I was on pins and needles at the very end because I did not see the twists coming! If you like domestic suspense novels and police procedurals, I think you will enjoy this rollercoaster ride!