Tell Me Another Lie by K. T. Raine, came out recently. In this book, Belle is a massage therapist who has recently moved back to the small town of Huckleberry Ridge, Idaho. Early on in the book, she starts getting flowers and messages from a secret admirer. The messages and presents soon take on a stalker vibe. She tells her cousin, Josh, and while he thinks she’s being a bit dramatic, he has his friend, Woody, who’s a cop, check in on Belle.
Intro to the Main Characters
Belle is a young widow. I don’t think they ever give her exact age, but I’d say around 24-25. Her husband died in an accident soon after they got married. She blames herself for his death. Because of that, she doesn’t feel like she deserves love again.
Belle spent part of her childhood in Huckleberry Ridge, Idaho, but her family moved to Michigan several years ago. After her husband’s death, Belle moved back to Huckleberry Ridge, mostly it seems to escape the guilt and reminders of him.
Woody’s in his late 20s. Because of the information provided, I’d guess 28. He grew up in LA, but he wanted to get away from the big city and the pressures of his family’s expectations for him. Huckleberry Ridge seemed like the place to do that.
What You Should Know
The book is written in third-person, but it is told in alternating chapters for the most part, with one chapter following Belle and the next following Woody.
While this is the fourth book in the series, it was the first one that I’ve read. It did make sense on its own, but I think it would have been even more enjoyable if I’d read the previous books first. I will likely go back and read at least some of the previous books.
What I Didn’t Love
I wish that we’d seen more interaction between Belle and Woody. They don’t get together until fairly late in the book, but up to that point, we hadn’t had more than about three scenes with them together. In that sense, the relationship felt rushed even though it took a while for it to happen.
I would have also liked to have seen more of the secret admirer/stalker. By this, I mean I wish that there had been more gifts and messages left behind, and I wish that I’d had more of a chance to see Belle interacting with him before she knew that he was the one leaving the notes and stalking her.
One thing that felt a bit off in the book was the number of years since some events had happened. That’s about the best way that I can explain it. For example, from the best that I can tell, Woody’s about 28. He has a brother who’s 2 years older than him, and he has another brother who’s 2 years older than that. They’d be 30 and 32. Yet, Woody’s parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Considering this is a clean novel, I’m assuming the author didn’t mean to have the parents having two out of three of their children before they were even married.
Since this is a clean novel, you will not find any swearing or sexual content. The stalker leaves a message that’s a bit suggestive, and there’s one scene where he gets a bit suggestive with Belle. The violence is on the mild side, but there is some hitting/slapping as well as some characters who want to get a bit more violent. The violence is mild PG at most.
