In this twisty, compelling thriller, a young woman quickly embarks on what she thinks is the relationship and love of a lifetime, and she’s thrilled when her new husband insists they follow one rule: they don’t talk about the past, but it’s a rule that has dangerous consequences—perfect for fans of A Simple Favor and The Kiss Quotient. Is her new husband hiding something? Caught up in a … new husband hiding something?
Caught up in a whirlwind romance that starts in sunny Ibiza and leads to the cool corridors of a luxurious English country estate, Poppy barely has time to catch her breath, let alone seriously question if all this is too good to be true. Drew is enamored, devoted, and, okay, a little mysterious—but that’s part of the thrill. What’s the harm in letting his past remain private?
Maybe he’s not the only one…
Fortunately, Drew never seems to wonder why his young wife has so readily agreed to their unusual pact to live only in the here and now and not probe their personal histories. Perhaps he assumes, as others do, that she is simply swept up in the intoxication of infatuation and sudden wealth. What’s the harm in letting them believe that?
How far will they go to keep the past buried?
Isolated in Drew’s sprawling mansion, Poppy starts to have time to doubt the man she’s married, to wonder what in his past might be so terrible that it can’t be spoken of, to imagine what harm he might be capable of. She doesn’t want this dream to shatter. But Poppy may soon be forced to confront the dark truth that there are sins far more dangerous than the sin of omission…
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I haven’t read many “thriller” books, so this one caught my attention as I was looking for a book to meet a Popsugar prompt. It’s one of those books that starts with the ending so you know something went wrong but you’ve got to read to know exactly how it got to that. The story flip flops between 2 time frames and I felt intrigued to figure out how they connect and why the past matters. Both Drew & Poppy are keeping secrets and one becomes more predictable than the other. Poppy & Drew are both superficial and unrealistic. Like many other reviewers, I felt the ending was rushed. There could have been more explanation of the revealed secrets or exploration of their resulting feelings. Instead, it seems to end abruptly and really wasn’t as shocking as I expected. I gave it 3.5 stars because it kept me interested, I finished it in 2 nights because I kept trying to figure out both pieces of the puzzle, but it probably wouldn’t be the first book I recommend to a friend looking for a suspenseful read.
The Truth Hurts by Rebecca Reid may be a slow burn, but it was one that I just did not want to put down. The entire time I was reading I was just waiting for a bombshell, because really, who gets a rich, handsome older man that quickly when there isn’t something shady going on? And of course I had to wait the whole book for it, but the end was definitely worth it, and even more than I had bargained for! I also loved the switches between the past and present day, although I thought the past was a tiny bit predictable. Not all of it, don’t get me wrong, but a small part was.
I thought that Reid did a great job of building suspense in The Truth Hurts, and it was definitely engrossing. I could see this easily being a one sitting read for a lot of people and if I would have had the time it would have been for me as well. The burn was slow, but the pacing was excellent, and it kept me interested the entire time. Also, the setting for a lot of the book was positively creepy!! Thursday House gave me all the weird, spooky vibes which I love so much.
The Truth Hurts is definitely on the lighter side of thrillers and would be perfect for someone who doesn’t want all the gore and heavy topics most thrillers include (although there is still a warning here for abuse and suicide). I am definitely going to be reading more books from Reid and this book does raise the question – would you be willing to marry someone that doesn’t want to talk about the past?
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
What if two people who have janky, shady pasts fall in Insta-love and decide never to talk about what happened before they met?
And what if each has secrets worse than the other?
This was more twisted romance than psychological thriller but it was tight and compelling and a fun, easy read.
This story was definitely something very different from what I was expecting. Nothing is at it seems and nothing will happen as you may think, at least the final chapters for sure. It’s told in short chapters from then and now in Poppy’s life, it has a very good pace and interesting characters. Yes, it’s a bit predictable and maybe steamy for the first half but it’s so much more in the second half of the book. Everyone has a secret or more than one and are not always ready or willing to share them. But step by step they are revealed and it really shows how one truth can hurt. Give it a try and maybe you’ll like it as much as I did