Review: Lies and Other Acts of Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Title:Lies and Other Acts of Love

Author:Kristy Woodson Harvey

Published:April 2016, Berkley

Format:ARC Paperback, 352 pages

Source:Author

Dear Carolina was
praised as “Southern fiction at its best.” Now author Kristy Woodson
Harvey presents a new novel about what it really means to tell the truth
. . .

After sixty years of marriage and five
daughters, Lynn “Lovey” White knows that all of us, from time to time,
need to use our little white lies.

Her granddaughter,
Annabelle, on the other hand, is as truthful as they come. She always
does the right thing—that is, until she dumps her hedge fund manager
fiancé and marries a musician she has known for three days. After all,
her grandparents, who fell in love at first sight, have shared a
lifetime of happiness, even through her grandfather’s declining health.

But when Annabelle’s world starts to collapse around her, she discovers
that nothing about her picture-perfect family is as it seems. And Lovey
has to decide whether one more lie will make or break the ones she
loves . . .

My thoughts:I absolutely adored Kristy Woodson Harvey’s debut novel, Dear Carolina, so when Kristy herself reached out to me to read her next novel, of course I jumped at the opportunity to read and review it. I devoured it and now I am left wanting more from this amazing author!!!

Once again, Kristy has managed to create characters that you will fall in love with. Told from the alternating points of view of Lovey and Annabelle, we get a family saga that pulls you in from the very first page and doesn’t let up. Both women seem to be at a crossroads of sorts – Lovey is dealing with an aging husband and Annabelle is realizing her marriage isn’t quite what she expected. Along the way, each relates their story, filling in with an equally amazing set of secondary characters – some easily loveable, while others are just as dislikeable, but all endearing nonetheless.

Just how blind do we become to the little white lies that we end up telling those we love as well as to ourselves? What happens when those we’ve basically put up on pedestals show that they are only human after all and were doing what they thought would cause the least harm? These are just some of the compelling questions that surface during this book.

I loved the way each chapter started – usually with a reference to something Lovey told Annabelle for Annabelle’s chapters or something Lovey’s mama told her for Lovey’s chapters. I would look forward to these little bits of wisdom that seemed to be passed down through the generations. And let me just say…Love in the Time of Cholera…that’s one of the first presents I ever got from my husband! [You definitely need to read the book to find out why I’m including this bit!] Yet another Lovey bit of wisdom!

This was a book that I did not want to end – as soon as I started reading it, I was captivated and had a hard time putting the book down. I didn’t want to end my time with Lovey and Annabelle and yet, I found the ending to be just right for this book. Kristy Woodson Harvey is definitely not an author to be missed!

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Don’t forget…

Order Lies and Other Acts of Love and send a picture of the receipt to kristy@kristywoodsonharvey.com between now and April 10 to be entered to win a $1,000 Shop Design Chic
gift card. Everyone will receive copies of four gorgeous printable
quotes from the book! Order or pre-order from an independent bookstore
or Indiebound for two contest entries!

Buy Links:

IndieBound | Amazon |
Barnes &
Noble | Books A Million |
Powell’s | Google Play |
Walmart | Hudson
Booksellers | Kobo