Verity by Colleen Hoover
Stacey • July 29, 2019
Release Date: December 10, 2018
The best nail biter of the year, has struggler writer Lowen accepting a job she doesn’t really want but desperately needs. A self confessed recluse and verging on bankruptcy, she has nowhere else to go. After a harrowing trip to her publishers leaves her with no alternative to take what’s being dangled in front of her, she travels to the impressive abode of the one and only Verity Crawford.
Verity is a highly successful and starlet of an author. Her book series, a hot commodity to her publishers has them reeling when Verity now unable to complete the last books in the series, leading them to do whatever it takes to see their hard work bought to fruition. After an accident leaves her without the ability to finish the last 3 novels in her series, it falls to Lowen to decipher her notes and ghostwrite in her stead…
With the gentle nudging from Verity’s husband Jeremy, Lowen starts the process of organizing the thoughts of a woman who scribbles everything down on any median she can find. The unexpected discovery of a self-written biography has Lowen gripped, appalled and unable to leave it alone, putting herself into a situation she can’t understand or seem to get out of. The heart-racing and deeply penetrating look into Verity’s very psyche and soul has Lowen questioning Verity’s own character while the eerie goings on in the Crawford household has her questioning her own sanity.
Will she reveal what she has discovered and take Verity’s husband, as well as her career or will she succumb and crumble under the weight of the confessions she did not expect to find….
Will the truth set any of them free? Or will it lead to something much more sinister??
Lowen is a struggling author and self confessed hermit, locked in her apartment, taking care of her ailing mother, who fears and loathes her only child. Putting herself into ruin to take care of her sick mother, with death came the release she needed. That is until she finds out that her mother lied about leaving her a nest egg after having Lowen spend all her money on taking care of her. Evicted from her apartment, now has Lowen accepting a job she doesn’t want. She not only feels she can’t fill the shoes of the author she will be ghostwriting for but also feels uncomfortable being around the handsome and charismatic Jeremy Crawford, Verity husband.
Verity is the exact opposite of Lowen. She loves the parties and the glitz that comes with the book tours and having her name in print. Lowen avoids any interactions with the public, which is essentially the reason why she doesn’t make the kind of money Verity makes from her own work. After being offered the kind of money she can’t refuse, she goes to the Crawford home to organize and find the inspiration to write the books the publishers are so desperate to have.
Lowen feels unsettled and fearful being in the house with the woman who’s life she has virtually invaded. Verity is basically brain-dead and has a room in the home set up as a hospital room. She has a nurse taking care of her, feed her and bathe her. She doesn’t move, or react to sounds or notice anything around her…. Or does she? Lowen has this feeling like Verity is watching her. Assessing her and making her feel like she is losing her mind. You can literally feel the intensity of the paranoia comes across loud and clear. It had me, a few times, turn around and check no one was behind me. Finding the biography penned in Verity’s own hand had me curious and fearful for Lowen on so many occasions. I never did feel like Lowen wasn’t reading the situation correctly so I always had a feeling what was happening really the truth.
Lowen’s feelings of inadequacy and jealousy ring authentically throughout the whole novel. The pace is well set and my jaw dropped so many times from the twists even I didn’t see coming!
My biggest grievances? There is never any real explanations about Jeremy. I have a million questions and this book has left me with nowhere to go for answers. This was the one pitfall for me, unless there is going to be a second book, which from my understanding, there will not be. I have an underlying feeling that he isn’t who he pretends to be but I also don’t think he’s the person that Verity wrote about either. They both lost 2 children, twin girls, it’s apparent he has a lot of suppressed angry and sadness that he has yet to deal with, especially after Verity’s accident. I felt his character could have had more built in. I really would have like to know if my theories on him were correct. The whole crux of the story, seems to hinge on what happened to their daughter at the lake. Having been presented with two scenarios and no actual conclusion, seems to invite more questions than it answered.
Lowen really had me sympathizing with her and rooting her until pretty much the very end. I felt she was well written and I felt certain camaraderie with her! She was relatable, quirky and not your usual protagonist. The ending was where I started to question who she was! She seemed content, armed with the new information she got, to just ignore the revelations in black and white and go on her merry way! That does not jibe with the woman, I felt I had gotten to know through the entire book. I didn’t feel she had any misgivings after her discovery and any woman, in her right mind, would have some.
Verity was a very interesting piece of a very complex pie for me. I thirsted to know more and yet, wouldn’t want to be left in a room alone with her. I began to fear her. Irrational fears too! Which version was the truth? That was the biggest crux for me and I’m guessing that is exactly what the author wanted but it left me feeling a little short changed. I get the concept of leaving it to the readers interpretation to decipher what was true and what wasn’t, as a place to get people discussing the book but it actually angered me a little. Clever trick by the author or an oversight? I don’t feel lead in any direction as each scenario is plausible but also neither can be the complete truth in my opinion.
If you enjoy thrillers with romance, deceit and jaw dropping twists then I highly recommend Verity. My heart still palpitates when I see the cover of the book and while I loathed the open ended conclusion, I still give this book a star rating of 5/5.
Sincerely, The Lioness
I just finished Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft and here are my thoughts. Nola is a late night call in radio host that has its callers ringing in with ghost stories. That is until one night, a caller describes what is happening… It’s eerily similar to a serial killer’s MO. A killer who murdered Nola’s babysitter all those years ago. One thing is sure, Nola is being watched again and the hiding man is coming for this time This is just what I needed!! I loved the thrum of underlying fear that this book built up in spades. It is exactly the kind of tension I needed and the pacing was brilliant! I loved the narration as well, it was absolutely creepy AF! I liked Nola. I think the author did an awesome job of showing that she was the potential victim of the serial killer but also strong and fierce. It was nice to see the balance of this in the FMC. She also wasn’t annoying haha. I have been on a run of annoying MC’s so this broke the streak. THANK YOUUUUU. It was all perfection until the end. That was a total bummer! It just kinda fell flat. I was expecting some big crescendo…. Alas… This was not meant to be. All in all I was entertained though. 4 stars Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteaudio my gifted copy. You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A All book merch at Bookaloriandesigns.com and bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com #nightwatcher #thriller #bookalorian #booktok #booklover #bookloversunite #bookreview #audiobookreview #audiobooklover #alc #audioreader #audiobookstagram
I just finished The Liar I Married by D.K. Hood and here are my musings. How do you cope when you find that your husband wasn’t the man you thought he was.. You cannot remember things and he won’t let you see your children and you are the reason you had a bad accident? Oh man I didn’t see any of this stuff coming! I love books that keep you on the edge of your seat.. That keeps you unbalanced…. You never know who’s telling the truth… Where is the danger… This book had that in spades. I didn’t trust anyone. I was questioning everything. The story was so well done with the best of the best pacing. The narration was excellent. I was hooked. I could not put it down and that ending…. YAHOOOOOO I was shocked I tell ya… SHOOK TO MY CORE!!! If you read psychological thrillers, you have to add this page turner to your TBR! 4 stars Thank you @bookouture #theliarimarried #dkhood #thriller #thrillerreader #thrillerbook #bookreview #booksbooksbooks #bookcommunity #bookalorian #litdulterous #bookblog #bookinfluencer #bookrecs
I just finished You Must Be New Here by Katie Sise and here are my musings. Sloane and her ex co-parent well with their daughter Daisy but something is missing from Sloane’s life… Then Harper and Ben move in next door. Harper is vibrant and different and they become friends. Things are looking up until Daisy’s babysitter goes missing, everyone is on edge and secrets come out of the wood work. I did the audio of this one and it was solid. I enjoyed the narrator and they did a good job of bringing the tension. So many horrible things happen in this book and a lot of it seemed to be more about shocking you than being believable but that matters very little to me because I suspend my disbelief when I read fiction so for me, this was awesome. I think the gold in this story was Harper and Ben’s backstories. It was intriguing and different. Not what I was expecting at all. I thought the writing was solid and the pacing was on point but that ending? It kinda fell apart there for me which was a bit of a let down but all in all an enjoyable and entertaining thriller. 3.75 stars Thank you to @netgalley and @brilliancepublishing for my gifted ALC You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A All book merch at Bookaloriandesigns.com and bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com #youmustbenewhere #katiesise #thriller #bookreview #bookalorian #litdulterous #readersofig #igbooks #bookishpodcast #bookishbusiness
I just finished The Haunting of Emily Grace by Elena Taylor and here are my musings. You can find her author interview here on Tuesday - https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Grief is a funny thing and Emily Grace understands that and with only one person left in her life that has thrown her a life line, she finds herself tasked with doing carpentry work on a mansion.. On a secluded island after the wife mysteriously disappears.. Is the house cursed like locals seem to believe? Strange things are happening and the longer she stays, the more sinister it all becomes. I actually enjoyed the heck out of this book. As you all know, I like my books to be faster paced but this book brings a certain ethereal magic to the story with its slow build and creepy energy and you won’t be able to help being sucked right into the chilling undertones of this gothic novel. Emily Grace has this unreliable edge and you never know what is driving what she is seeing, hearing or feeling. I was uneasy right from the ferry until the very end. Kind of like someone was standing behind me… Cold fear just brushing over me… The atmosphere was harrowing and I was on the edge of my seat towards the end of the book. I never knew for sure what was what and I did not see the ending coming. The imagery of the writing was so original and felt authentic! I could see what the author was portraying in my mindseye with such ease. I enjoyed the dialogue, it was precise and clean! If you are looking for a gothic mystery to get under your skin, add this one to your tbr! Due out on November 4th, I cannot recommend this book more! 4.5 stars https://amzn.to/4hp6epB Thank you @elenataylorauthor and @partnersincrimevbt for this opportunity to get to know this gifted book on a more connected level! #elenataylor #partnersincrimevbt #thehauntingofemilygrace #bookreview #bookalorian #booktok #litdulterous #bookinfluencer #literaryinfluencer #suspense #gothicnovel #gothicreader #mysterythriller
Welcome to the Lit-indie Files. Where I take a chance on small/indie published books and bring you the inside scoop!! I just finished The Lady and the Unicorn by Ophelie and here are my musings. Running to a life not away should be the mantra of any young woman looking to reinvent themselves. The trouble is when you run head first into a man who brings the heat but keeps you at arms length. Not knowing what is real and what is in her head, who do you run to? Who can protect you from the dangers real or imagined? Loads to unpack here. It feels like reading a book a step away from it. There was nothing to connect to. A lack of use of names kinda keeps you at arms length. It was an interesting way to tell a story and kinda worked in some spots but others… I wondered why I kept reading. You need to connect. You have to feel something to keep the pages turning and the only thing that kept me reading was finding out what was real and what was not. As a woman who has people in her life with BP… the Psychosis parts were wild. I don’t know if this is drawn from experience or whether she researched bipolar but in my experience this isn’t the norm and the catalyst didn’t really seem like something that would set a BP person on this trajectory so that was a little unsettling for me. The writing definitely went waywire towards the end. It felt erratic and not well reasoned but still I kept turning those pages. There was a great underlying story here. I can see it. It just needs some editing. It needs someone else to work the kinks out and smooth the story a bit. I could have used more being in psychosis, maybe her doing things that seemed normal as she is narrating it and people were acting like she was doing something out of this world crazy and then another POV to give us the reality. Maybe her living and not knowing what is real and what is not in an unreliable narrator way rather than the way it was done here. It was unique and different but it still needs a bit of work. 3.5 stars #theladyandtheunicorn #ophelie #indiebook #indiereader #bookreview #readersofig #igbooks
Copy, Kill, Repeat by Steve Cornwell Something sinister is happening in London. Someone is recreating famous murders and staging them for the police. He isn’t even doing it himself… He finds others to do it for him. The police bring in criminologist Ethan Marshall to help bring the killer to justice.. But the clock is ticking. It was interesting.. The gruesome parts were absolutely brilliant but the pacing and tone everywhere else was a tad bland. It felt like 2 different people were writing this one. I think it was done on purpose to bring maximum effect to the parts that mattered but it didn’t work so well for me on audio. I think had the author quickened the pace, it would have been the best book of the year for me but it just missed the mark. I liked Ethan but again, he came across boring in spots and that really was a bummer. 3.5 stars #bookalorian #bookrecs #spookyrecs #bookish #copykillrepeat #booksbooksbooks #reading #booklover #bookworm #booktok #litdulterous #bookreview #bookcommunity
Welcome to the Lit-indie Files. Where I take a chance on small/indie published books and bring you the inside scoop!! I just finished On the Edge of After by Britt Wolfe and here are my musings. A chance encounter on new years eve has Merritt Clark feeling something she hasn’t felt in years… Not since the loss of her husband. Her quiet life was enough until Beau… The chemistry is undeniable but Beau is much more than meets the eye. His career in politics puts his life in a harsh spotlight and when Merritt’s career comes under public scrutiny… Is love enough to sacrifice everything else? I was really lucky to see Britt’s giveaway on FB. She is a local author and I was grateful she decided to drop a book off for me. I liked the romance in the book. It felt realistic and raw. The writing was absolutely stunning. The prose was really beautiful and I was fully absorbed into Merritt and the bumpy journey she was on. It had this wonderful mashup of feeling cozy but tension driven which I found quite delightful. Anyone who spends time reading my reviews… They know I am not a fan of dual POV. This didn’t work for me here because it was the same thing that happened before, written the same way, just from the other person’s POV and it didn’t add value to the book for me. Each chapter went back rather than carrying the story forward and while I know what the author was attempting to do… It didn’t work in my opinion. I know! That sounded harsh but honestly that was the only con I had and that’s a reader preference rather than anything against the book. I loved that the characters weren’t young, I felt represented in this book. The tone was gentle throughout the book and never hit peak crescendo in the spicy parts or in the violent moments which I think was very clever because none of those parts were off putting and added to the story without detracting with shock value. A lot of authors make the mistake of thinking they need to smack you in the face but this book nailed it in my opinion. The pacing was decent and all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the book. After reading this book I did a bit of internet stalking and found Britt’s poetry. GAWWWW! Beautiful poetry too so this local author ticks all the boxes! 4 stars Thank you @brittwolfe for trusting me with your literary masterpiece! Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #brittwolfe #litdulterous #bookaddict #bookalorian #ontheedgeofafter #bookreview #bookreviewer #tbr #bookrecs #calgaryauthor #indieauthor #booktok #bookrecommendations #litindiefile #litindie #bookpost #bookpodcast
I just finished Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings and here are my musings. Eva’s life goals did not include eating crappy hot dogs while she interviews b-list celebs on her show but that’s the hand she has been dealt. She also never expected her public call out of her ex online to go viral… Her ex happens to be podcaster Rylie…. A man deconstructing toxic masculinity…. Using the opportunity to push their careers forward they meet again and Rylie pitches an idea that she doesn’t want any part in. Do you like faking dating? I don’t but I LOVED THIS BOOK!! There was a fuckton of depth in this novel and the narration was so well done I couldn’t help connecting and binging my way through it. I really enjoyed the banter between Eva and Rylie. I also hate miscommunication as a trope but this one did the second chance thing really well. I like when men admit they were wrong and they want to fix it but I hate that Rylie says he wanted to make amends but never went looking for her… she was active on socials so that felt disingenuous to me and I couldn’t shake it haha. I know I over think shit but I couldn’t help it. Oh and it was wayyyyy spicer than I was anticipating so be warned!! He likes to eatttttttt. 4 stars Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for my gifted copy Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #wellactually #macmillan #bookalorian #bookish #bookstagram #reading #bookcommunity #readersofig #bookpodcast #bookishpodcast #litdulterous #bookreview #bookblog #bookishreview #bookinfluencer
I just finished The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst and here are my musings. Terlu wakes up on an almost deserted island in the dead of winter… After spending 5 years as a stone statue, it was disorientating but not as disorientating as when the gardener demands that she does magic to fix his magical greenhouses. Knowing she doesn’t have magical powers, she promises to try, even though it is against the law and the reason she was a statue in the first place and in return Yarrow feeds and clothes her. She works with Yarrow to fix the greenhouses and the magical plants they house. The only way she can save them is to uncover the secrets of the man who cast the spells in the first place. Yes it’s pretty much a standalone book which upset me when I found out it wasn’t a continuation of the Spell shop… I did start out bummed but honestly, I started to really connect with Terlu and how misunderstood and lonely she was. I loved Caz from the Spell shop and we learn how he came to be and why in this book which was quite beautiful and touching and we do get an update on him at the end of this book which was perfectamondo for me. I love the magical plants and how they interact with Yarrow and Terlu. I thought the characters were charming and the story was so sweet and charming… You have to sit down with a hot chocolate and just let the magic wash over you. Brilliant cozy fantasy! 4.5 stars Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for my gifted ALC! Out now You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A #thespellshop #theenchantedgreenhouse #sarahbethdurst #cozyfantasy #bookrecs #bookishrecs #bookinfluencer #bookalorian #booklover #bookreview #bookcommunity
I just finished The Girl Without a Voice by Sandra J. Paul and here are my musings. Alice has never been outside of her family home. At 22 and born mute, she has been kept out of the public eye but her cruel mother and overbearing dad. When her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she never expects her life to implode the way it does… For her mother to be accused of killing her dad… For her father’s delirious confession or for the neighbor to help her find the truth of what her dad dropped upon her. Did her father murder multiple women? Is this really something she wants to dig up? WHOAAA There was sooooo much going on in this book! Layer upon layer of whiplash!! This is my kind of thriller. Alice is amazing! She found a way to communicate when her parents wouldn’t get her help. She self taught herself sign language which was cool. I also loved that she was a big reader! She never really let it all get to her. She was interesting and I really enjoyed getting to know her. The story did spend too much time building up to the death of the father. I think a lot of that could have been cut out. It was unnecessary for me. I enjoyed everything after she left home and the tension just kept building and building. I was really entertained. I enjoyed the narration and all in all, a solid thriller. 4 stars Thank you @tantoraudio and @netgalley for my gifted copy #agirlwithoutavoice #sandrajpaul #suspence #suspencethriller #mysterybook #mysteryread #bookreview #bookpodcast #booksbooksbooks #bokreviewer #booksarelife #litdulterous #bookalorian #bookishblog
