The Book:
No More Lies by Kerry Lonsdale (No More series, #2)
Published July 6th 2021 by Lake Union Publishing
Date read: July 30, 2021
The Characters:
Jenna = Lily
Her son Josh
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The “No More” Series by Kerry Lonsdale books in order:
No More Words
No More Lies
No More Secrets
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Jenna Mason’s life seems perfect: a successful career as an animator, a townhouse near the beach, and an adoring son, Josh, whose artistic talent looks as promising as his mother’s. But there’s something nobody realizes about Jenna. She used to be Lily Carson, a young mother on the run from a secret no one must ever know.
After years of constantly relocating, Jenna concedes to her son’s request to settle down. He wants to make friends. He wants some stability. He wants to feel normal. She convinces herself they’re safe. Until a reporter discovers who Jenna really is, bringing her estranged father to her doorstep. When he threatens to expose her carefully fabricated life for the lie that it is, Jenna has no choice but to run again.
But just as she’s about to go off the grid, Josh disappears, forcing Jenna to seek out the one person she never thought she’d see again: Josh’s father.
The Twist:
Lily wasn’t Dwight’s biological daughter; her mother had had an affair with their neighbor, Benton St. John. Charlotte then murdered Benton, and Dwight aided and abetted. Dwight was accused of the murder but not found guilty.
When Lily got pregnant, Dwight was planning to kill the father and was going to force Lily to get an abortion. He assumed it was Lily’s friend Wes, but it was actually Tyler. Lily was about to run away with Tyler, but needed to go back to help Wes. He was still alive when she got to him, but in his disorientation he tried to strangle Lily. She pushed him away and he hit his head on a railing and died. Dwight was there and recorded it.
As Lily ran away from the scene, Ryder saw her.
Ryder pushed Josh down the stairs and caused his TBI.
The Ending:
Josh goes to Olivia’s and Olivia helps him find Lily as we heard about in the first book. While the group is reuniting at the lake house, Ryder attacks Lily in the woods and ties her up. Kavan, Lily’s boyfriend, is able to rescue her. He almost kills Ryder, but Lily stops him. Lily confesses everything to the police, and Ryder is arrested. Lily’s manslaughter was ruled self-defense.
Josh’s speech begins to improve, and Lily and Kavan end up together.
Charlotte and Lucas both disappeared. The epilogue is Lucas somewhere with a one-night stand, thinking of his sisters. (Since we know that Lucas’s book will be next.)
The Review:
Thank you to Kerry Lonsdale for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
The No More series follows estranged siblings Lily, Olivia, and Lucas. Once close as children, the actions of their parents drove them apart as teens. Check out my review of the first book, No More Words, to see how the series is set up.
No More Words followed the oldest sibling, Olivia. In No More Lies we get to know Lily, now going by the name Jenna Mason, and her son Josh. The majority of the story is told through Jenna’s present-day POV, but some flashbacks to her childhood tell the story of the secret she’s running from.
Having read the first book in the series, I loved how this continuation was told. It fills in some of the gaps introduced in No More Words, and I was so excited for the timelines to converge. I thought the flashbacks were just enough to keep the reader interested in Jenna’s past without overtaking the present-day story. The plot was well-paced and engaging throughout.
I’m normally not the biggest fan of the “I’m unlovable because of my past” trope, but in this case it was well done. Jenna worked through her residual trauma from her past and realized she was still seeing things through the view of a twelve-year-old girl. She eventually explained everything to her fiance and made up for her mistakes.
This was a great continuation of the series, and I’m looking forward to book three which follows Lucas’s point of view. If you haven’t read this series before, I would definitely recommend starting with No More Words to gain some necessary background. No More Lies would work as a standalone, but the first book is definitely worth the read and the background makes the story even better.
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