By:  Paula Treick DeBoard

ISBN: 0778330265

Publisher: Park Row Books 

Publication Date:  1/30/2018 

Format: Paperback

My Rating: 5 Stars 

Buy the Book

From the critically acclaimed author, of The Drowning Girls, The Fragile World, and The Mourning Hours (all five glowing stars-review links below), Paula Treick DeBoard follows with her latest riveting suspense, coming Jan 2018— HERE WE LIE. 

Rich in character, a look inside the secret lives of two different unlikely friends from two different social classes. A world of privilege and secrets. The lies and secrets they tell themselves, and to one another —with devastating consequences. 

Ripped from today’s headlines: Scandal, power, cover-ups, and deadly secrets. Messy, complicated and imperfect lives. 

Told in alternating first-person perspectives, moving between past and present. Megan Mazeros and Lauren Mabrey. Each views the world differently— from diverse backgrounds.

As the book opens it is 2016. A press conference. Someone is about to spill a lie. Age thirty-five. Female. A lie kept silent for fourteen years is about to be exposed to the world. 

“Fourteen years was a long time. It was long enough to forget, forgive, move on.” A long time to keep a secret. 

Megan is from Kansas. She lived for years watching her dad die each day slowly from asbestos fibers (a poor man’s cancer) from the mesothelioma with his job. She holds a secret. Her father’s dying wish.

“Something had to die so something else could live.”

With the life insurance money, Megan can attend a college of choice in combination with a scholarship and her good grades. She wants nothing more than to escape this town and her past. Her mom has moved on to Gerry, her boss at the accounting firm. 

She decides on Keale College in Scofield, Connecticut— a unscale private girls-only school. She realizes that wealth lives here and people of privilege. People different than herself.

She meets a regular local boy named Joe on her first day. Soon after that, her roommates commits suicide, assigning her another roommate.

Lauren Mabrey is the wild child with continued reckless behavior from a wealthy family. From the elite, boarding schools, and old money pedigree. The cars, wealth, homes, status, power, and the best education. She is the daughter of a U.S. senator from Connecticut. Lauren has a poor GPA; however, with her parent’s money, she can pretty much do as she pleases. 

She also feels like an outsider in her only family and goes against the traditional values, causing disarray in her family. Often she wanted to be regular so as not to have to live up to the expectations. 

A bit rebellious, she encounters some problems with drugs before she goes off to college, which lands the guy in jail, and ultimately ended up dead in a prison yard. This event haunts her. However, her parents manage to keep this out of the news. Her mom warns her they cannot continue to bail her out. 

Lauren loves photography and takes her talent a little too far. Her family dismisses it. After an encounter with her current roommate, Erin she is assigned a new one.

Lauren and Megan become best friends in their freshman year 1999-2000. Lauren is everything Megan is not. Lauren sees Megan as normal. Due to her family environment, she finds herself attracted to Megan, Joe, Marcus, and others she meets, unlike her status.

However, Megan distorts her life offering shocking lies about her family. She exaggerated about how poor her family was and how many boyfriends she had. She wants to be someone else, someone different from the dull girl she is. To feel better about herself. Both girls are insecure in their ways. 

Lauren loves Megan’s wit, and the two develop a friendship based on lies. Telling each other their best and worst truths and lies. As time moves on, they also become jealous and angry with one another. 

Megan meets Lauren’s family and becomes exposed to a different way of life. Their home, a job, and a private summer island off the coast of Maine. This trip was to be their last vacation before senior year. 

However, one night something happens which changes the course of their lives. A house of money. To cover up the dirty deeds of its family members. 

Dreams of Harvard are no longer in view. Shattered by one night. Worse than her father dying. A choice to make. A decision. Who would believe her—a girl from nowhere? The Mabrey's had the kind of power that could buy justice—that could shape truth. 

The lies she had told. She could not put herself through it. She would remain silent. One girl all alone. Dreams shattered. Another one left clueless about the events unfolding around her. Where was the trust in one another?

Many years later when the girls have their separate lives and families of their own, someone comes forward with rape and sexual assault. A political scandal. If someone had come forward earlier, could it have saved others down the road? 

The silence broken, shattering lives and the ugly truth revealed. Allegations, investigation, and a trial. The what ifs.

What a fabulous story— highly relatable to the events which surround us today. Even though fictional, unfortunately, it is all too real for many women who experience sexual assault at the hands of famous figures such as politicians and celebrities. The victims often are viewed in a negative light; therefore they remain silent. 

An avid fan of the author, for years—her books continually land on my top books of the year. Unique and compelling, her stories possess a common thread. Thought-provoking, she writes of powerful bonds of friendships, family, and betrayal. 

Paula’s writing is superb! The dual timelines and alternating perspectives keep the reader engrossed in the lives of the two young women at different ages. From college years to the present, the author gives a glimpse of the gap and how words and actions have consequences resulting in hurt and resentment. A convincing look at lies and how they come back to haunt (no matter the age). 

From teenagers to young women with families of their own to their true selves. In addition to the topic of friendship, a strong focus on daughter/father and daughter/mother relationships. 

Highly charged topics: enjoyed how she tied female friendship, sexual assault, political scandal and moral complexities together in one dynamic story. HERE WE LIE is an ideal choice for book clubs and further discussions (Reader’s Guide Included).

An added bonus—a insightful Q&A with the author! Highly recommend. A "read-in-one-sitting" kind of book. 

JDCMustReadBooks 

A special thank you to the author for the lovely print copy and Park Row and NetGalley for the digital advanced reading copy. 

The Drowning Girls 
Top Books of 2016 

The Fragile World 
Top Books of 2014 

The Mourning Hours

Praise

"With this story of two very different young women, DeBoard portrays the lies that people tell to find acceptance and the terrible acts that powerful people casually commit... While the rape looms in the future as a foregone conclusion, DeBoard only slowly reveals the details, so the final revelations are all the more powerful." –Publishers Weekly

"With each chapter shifting perspective between Lauren and Megan, DeBoard lets each woman's story reflect and distort the other's, deftly angling the mirror of truth... A wrenching tale of broken friendship and shattered dreams." –Kirkus Reviews

"A nuanced and complex look at the long-standing consequences of privilege and toxic masculinity. At its heart, Here We Lie examines the seemingly unbreakable bonds of both friendship and family, and the lengths one will go to take care of their own. Compulsively readable!"-Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year

"With Here We Lie, Paula Treick de Board spins a mesmerizing tale of two former best friends and one shocking secret. Suspenseful and evocative, with pitch-perfect prose and pacing, Here We Lie is a story that resonates long after the last word. An engrossing read." -Kimberly Belle, bestselling author of The Marriage Lie

From her riveting first chapter, DeBoard casts a line back in time and reels an unlikely college friendship ever closer to the novel's inevitable conclusion. An absorbing exploration of how we attain personal power and the consequences of wielding it." -Kathryn Craft, award-winning author of The Far End of Happy and The Art of Falling

"Set against a backdrop of college life, politics, and sexual assault, Paul Treick DeBoard explores the exquisite joy of discovering the perfect friendship--then the acute pain of disentangling when that friendship sours. Here We Lie takes you a remarkable journey of two girls who learn, together and alone, to decide who they will ultimately be-it is at once observant, devastating, and thoroughly satisfying."-Emily Carpenter, author of The Weight of Lies and Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

About the Author 

 

Paula is a reader, writer, drinker of strong coffee and an all-around slave to public education. She wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, in the back seat of an orange 1977 Chevy Caprice station wagon with wood paneling. It was exactly as good as you might expect a novel written by a nine-year-old to be.
 
In the intervening years, Paula majored in English, taught junior high and high school English and earned an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Southern Maine.
 
These days, she splits her time between teaching (at the University of California, Merced), chatting about writing whenever she has a chance, and staring at a laptop screen for uninterrupted hours. Her novels include The Drowning Girls, The Fragile World and The Mourning Hours. 
 
Her heart—and her remaining spare time—belongs to Will and their four-legged brood. Read More  

Don’t plan on having a life once you pick up this novel because once you start reading it, it will consume your life. The author started with a firm foundation of a story and led me on a wild, intense emotional journey. An account for which I loved every minute I was a part of. The emotions I felt were intense and deep, I was all in. I became a part of the storyline with characters whose identities felt authentic and passionate. They knew not their destination but only that they wanted to survive.   How one person can destroy the lives of many is shown inside the pages of this novel, for she manipulated others, as that is what she knew best.

All Phil wanted was a better life for his family, a paradise, a life of leisure. Moving into The Psalms, Phil is now the community’s relations specialist, making him in charge of the community’s needs while giving his family a free house to live in. He is the go-to man for this elite subdivision, and for this, he must bend over backwards to make them happy.   Phil and Liz realize it will take them a while to adjust to this lavish lifestyle but Liz knows she would never be one of them. Liz laughs at their way of life, how they handle their everyday situations, for they can never handle anything on their own. Liz wants Danielle to fit in, for this was important for their success in this new situation. Danielle did not want to move; it is hard being a teen and trying to fit into a new social scene. When Danielle meets Kelsey, Kelsey begins to be the best friend that Danielle has never had. Kelsey begins to spend a lot of time with the family and she begins to influence Danielle. Liz knows she was not going to change but Danielle is another story and Danielle welcomes the chance to be a part of something.   Phil starts to see there is more to Kelsey than just a privileged teenage girl amongst them.   She has started to visit Phil at work, her comments suggesting activities Phil is uncomfortable with. Phil begins to see that Kelsey is trouble but how can he communicate his feelings to others without the blame coming back to him. Phil is working within a close community with elite players and he’s an outsider.   Kelsey is not backing down and things are escalating.   More individuals are becoming involved and the stakes are getting higher yet Phil has no one to turn to.   I’m beginning to wonder who is the winner in all of this and when does it end when the players become more bold in their attempts and I am sitting on the edge of my seat and the curtain falls. It was fabulous, remarkable and the ending of all ending but then I think, is it really over?

Yes, you should definitely pick up a copy of this novel and enjoy!

I won a copy of this novel on Goodreads.

By:  Paula Treick DeBoard

ISBN: 978-0778318378

Publisher: MIRA

Publication Date:  4/26/2016 

Format: Other

My Rating: 5 Stars + 

A special thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Put Gone Girl & The Girl on the Train in your "rear view" mirror:Paula Treick DeBoard's THE DROWNING GIRLS is mind-blowing; The new 2016 fatal attraction psycho-suspense domestic thriller with a modern twist!" Top Books of 2016.

Following sensational The Fragile World landing on my Top 30 Books of 2014, the “Queen” of domestic suspense, once again delivers her “third in a row *5 Star* winner” HER BEST YET!

An emotional edge-of-your-seat gripping and deeply unsettling psychological tale of chilling dark secrets and obsession. An ordinary family. A wealthy idyllic California neighborhood. What lies below a perfectly manicured gated community’s seemingly flawless surface? It is not pretty. The Palms may not be as it appears.

Liz has not had an easy life. Now, her "only dreamed of" fairy tale may be becoming a reality (or a nightmare). Liz and her husband Phil are moving to The Palms, with Liz’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Danielle.

The Palms. A gated golf country club. Exclusive. Tightly knit. The rich. Entitled. High Maintenance. Mini-mansions, golf yoga, walking trails, and all the amenities of a luxury resort. On the surface, Liz was mesmerized. Picture perfect.

Phil’s job was to soothe the residents. Kiss ass, deal with them, and make them feel important. Keep them happy. The house had come with Phil’s job, a package deal. Parker-Lane, the real estate developer covered their lease, and the hefty monthly HOA fees, with a salary that left them house rich, cash poor. Phil was their new community relations specialist. No money for furniture, but the bare essentials. A prestigious address.

However, once inside its gates, reality sets in. What lies and secrets lie beneath the façade? A forgone conclusion. They do not belong. Her family is not “their kind” of people. It was a mistake.

Prior to moving, Liz had never given much thought to her neighbors, until now. Bringing out her feelings of insecurity. She wants to fit into this fictional world. She cannot dress like them. She does not run in their circles. They share no interests. Nor can they afford this lifestyle, or fit in.

In practical terms, this meant that the people who were fawning over them were paying dearly for the right to hit tennis balls, play golf, and jog along the community trail, while they could participate for free.

Liz was a single mom, raising her daughter alone; until, she met the charming Phil, from Melbourne. Men and women alike were drawn to the sexy Australian accent from the outback. They have a solid marriage.

As Liz settles in she wants more than anything for her daughter to fit in and establish friends. At a wine tasting/fund raiser (which they could not afford to attend), she meets some neighbors. Danielle spends most of her days with a nose in a book, a nerd; and this other girl sounds as though she would be years ahead of her daughter socially. They arrange for the girls to meet. Not sure what they would have in common. Maybe this girl can take Danielle under her wing, and accept her.

A high school counselor Liz feels inferior around these well dressed, made up women. She had left the old Liz Haney behind, pregnant in college, dependent on financial aid and a half dozen part time jobs and section 8 housing until she landed her counseling position. She was still struggling with the rent, when she met Phil. Now here she was hobnobbing with the rich and trying to blend in. She wants desperately for her daughter to fit in—she knows firsthand the peer pressure can be tough especially for teens.

Soon Liz sees the kids at school are miniature reflections of their parents—designer clothes and disposable income. From wealth and privilege—a high cost of admission. The pretty girls—getting everything they want. Social media frenzy. Texting. Sexting. Cyber bullying. Superficial.

Her daughter soon meets Hannah (a chubby insecure girl) and Kelsey (a femme fatale goddess). Kelsey could have been a model in a men’s magazine, with her black bikini, using her sexy manipulative goods, to seduce her husband, plus use her daughter in the process, like a black widow spider filtrating their lives.

Kelsey Jorgensen, a bored, disturbed, deeply troubled, (two faces) evil and malicious femme fatale has now entered their household, their lives, corrupting their daughter, and now obsessed with her husband. How can this family escape the madness before it destroys their lives?

Phil, a thirty-seven-year-old community relations specialist, who loves his wife; however, not opposed to a little flirting or using his charm, to help him out with his job. The women have nothing better to do than to stop by with a problem, expecting him to feed their ego. Is he a helpless victim of circumstances?

From dropping in Phil's office to his home--Kelsey with her short skirts, and indecent proposals, seduction, to stalking and obsession—what is he going to do? She could ruin his job and family. Should be retain an attorney? Everything she does is calculating--designed for attention. She is sick. Indecent photos. Can he tell his wife? Would she understand?

What has this girl done to this family? Repulsive. Obsession. Calculating. When will she strike again?Liz has to protect her family. Phil has to protect his family. However, neither communicate their thoughts. They keep this disaster to themselves. Afraid of the consequences.

With alternating chapters, we hear from Liz and Phil--from past to present— (several months) the pool scene, a drowning---a crime scene---keeping the reader in breathtaking suspense as to how they arrived at this point. Impending tragedy is lurking. Darkness. We know it is coming, but how?

Despite everything, Danielle seemed happy with her friendship with Kelsey—who has taken over their lives. What has happened to the old Danielle? She is not the same girl. Liz and Danielle are no longer close. Liz and Phil are not communicating. Their house, the job, their lives are in jeopardy.

Twisted. Lies. Secrets, a dangerous fixation, stalking. When would Danielle realize Kelsey wasn’t her ticket to cool? Taking over their lives like a deadly disease they could not get rid of.

Living at the Palms is far from the idyllic life Liz and Phil had expected. Maybe there was no normal at The Palms. The entitled and over-privileged. Unhinged. An attempted suicide? An accident. What is the truth?

A strained marriage, and a life spiraling out of control. Things were going to end badly. A place that represented happiness and security, had only been a mirage, evaporating quickly. Suspicions. Trust. Will this life slip away as quickly as it came?

Wow! You cannot miss this one. No one can tell a complex twisted tale like DeBoard! The scary part – this could happen to anyone. Everyday, ordinary people finding themselves caught in the middle of a living nightmare. Characters under enormous amounts of pressure from extenuating circumstances.

With all her books, she writes of families, facing pressures, from tight knit communities to others facing scrutiny of their neighbors, and those concerned with reputations, and the personal secrets of marriage and family.

Everything about the tale was spot on, perfectly paced, complex, emotional, gritty, and dark. "OMG... The Palms is more scandalous than Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane, Fatal Attraction, and the Boy Next Door! YUM." This gal is pure evil! Readers will be glued to this one—reserve the time—you will not be able to put it down.

The Mourning Hours
"...a gripping portrayal of a family straining against extraordinary pressure, and a powerful tale of loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness."
​Published June 2013
​
The Fragile World
"...a journey through America's heartland and a family's brightest and darkest moments, exploring the devastating pain of losing a child and the beauty of finding healing in unexpected ways."
Published October 2014

The Drowning Girls
"...a tale of dark secrets, shocking lies and a dangerous obsession that will change one neighborhood forever."
Coming April 2016

​​

On a personal note:
When I was married we lived in a very upscale gated country club and the residents were similar to fictional characters referenced. In addition, for years, I worked as a Regional Sales and Marketing Manager for a large real estate developer--overseeing upscale luxury multi-million-dollar golf communities, and waterfront mansions on the east coast of Florida, as well as the design centers. The entitled residents were a bit like the ones described. I attended a few HOA meetings and found myself reliving some of the book. Scary.

Plus, Paula is one kick ass talented writer, and anything with her name attached – you know you are in for a treat! The pool scene with the slip of the bikini top was priceless, combined with Paula’s wit and humor—Highly Entertaining.

Movie Worthy! I want a front row seat at the premier. Has to be the top domestic suspense of the year. Fans of Mary Kubica will enjoy the slow burning intensity.

(2013) The Mourning Hours
(2014) The Fragile World

By Paula Treick Deboard

ISBN: 1501201336
Publisher: Brillance Audio
Publication Date: 10/28/2014
Format: Audio
My Rating: 5 Stars

The Mourning Hours, another winner by Paula Treick DeBoard! Set aside the time, as this is a powerful book to read without interruptions. Coming in audio format 10/28/14. Be sure and check out DeBoard's upcoming novel The Fragile World! 5 Stars, 10/28/14. Two "must read" books, you will not want to miss!  

Will leave you pondering, “If this is a debut, what is yet to come?”  After reading this gripping page-turner filled with metaphors, and an advanced reading copy of her upcoming, The Fragile World, readers are in for a rare treat! 

A talented author to follow for years to come; her unique writing style captures you from page one, and never lets go, even after the book ends. What a master storyteller! Both novels, as well as the characters, are so realistic; the slow unraveling of families, caused by grief and tragedy . . . the same could happen to you.How would you react?

The book opens with Kirsten Hammarstrom, who resides in California and is on her way home to Wisconsin to her family home, with a lifetime of memories, both good and bad. Before the tragic event and after, when their world as she cherished, comes crumbling down. Somewhere deep inside she has been clutching her childhood in a tight fist, attempting to release and let it go.

One night so long ago, when everything changed for one small town rural family with deep history and roots. A mother, father, son, and daughters, and an entire community. What could have changed the course of the events to follow?

Told from Kirsten’s point of view, flashing back from present to 1994-1995 when she was nine years old. An intuitive and observant little girl, daughter of dairy farmers, loving parents, where life was pretty normal on the farm, from great-great parents passed down. Things were always being born on farms, and always dying. And as for how they came to be in the first place, that was no great mystery.

Kirsten’s brother, Johnny began dating a girl named Stacy in high school. Kirsten thought she was the most beautiful creature. As most teens, they fall in love with hormones raging, and stealing away for private time alone. However, beautiful Stacy, became obsessed with Johnny, the hero at the local high school, a star athlete and wrestling champion, with a bright future ahead of him with scholarships to colleges.

His parents and family are so proud of him and his efforts, attending all the games, encouraging him and his efforts. However, Kirsten is intuitive and begins noticing Stacy’s obsession, powerful first love emotions, possessiveness, desperation, and hears their conversations and fights. She is worried, yet she cannot say anything, in order to respect their privacy. She senses something bad will happen, after overhearing the pressure Stacy is putting on her brother. She is innocent and naïve and unsure about all the grown up things of love, relationships, having babies plus more. She wants to tell someone and express her concern; however, at the same time she does not want her brother to think she is spying on him and tattling.

Things gets serious when the parents uncover notes to Johnny from Stacy and other events leading them to be concerned about this relationship. They do not want their son to become distracted by this young woman, as he has a bright future ahead of him.

One night, changes everything. Johnny and Stacy set out on a date in a terrible snow storm. When Johnny returns, after the car slides into a ditch, Stacy goes missing. Johnny says she was mad the truck got stuck and decided to walk home and he does the same. As days pass with no new leads, suspicion quickly falls on Johnny, as supportive friends and members of their small community quickly fades.

The Hammarstrom family is caught in the fallout of this ill-fated night, as they support Johnny, but their own doubts about his innocence increase, which divides the family and marriage. What comes next is a full long intense investigation with police, search parties, and a community which believes Johnny is guilty, with no proof. The harassment never lets up, until a teen’s future is destroyed, and family is unraveled piece by piece. Nothing will ever be the same.

However, when the siblings return home due to their father’s death, they stumble on answers to the long ago tragedy and the fate of the girl who went missing. Family loyalty is a strong theme in the book, with conflicting feelings of innocence or guilt. A family having spent many lost years apart, before learning the truth.

DeBoard writes from the heart, with flawed characters, vivid settings, real families, emotional subjects, and riveting suspense family drama, grabbing you by the heart strings, as this could be your neighbor, or even you. A powerful account of loyalty, betrayal, and forgiveness.

When you begin reading her novel, make sure to set aside the time, as once you begin, you cannot put this story down, until learning the fate of her well-developed lovable characters. As noted at the end in the conversation with the author, she mentions her love of observing things, as reflective throughout the book with Kirstin’s keen observations of her family.

An ideal book for book clubs and discussions with some profound questions included and thoughts regarding the book versus real life situations. How would you react if your child was in a similar relationship? Also small town cultures and how their judgmental views contribute to responses (similar to social media today) and how it can impact lives. What could have changed the events leading up to the ill-fated night? Each of the characters reacts differently to Stacy’s disappearance and Johnny’s alleged guilt.

At the end of the novel, Kirsten puts “an imaginary ear to the ground, listening for the roots of the corn to spread downward” referring to something her grandfather used to do. A great metaphor-profound! You will want to go back to the beginning and read more (as I did), into the dad and grandfather’s wise words in relation to the meaning of tragedies and growing in the soil, while waiting to come to harvest.

“All he could do was tell me to prepare myself, to buck up, to be ready-because the way the world worked, you never could see what was coming."

Or can you, if you listen close enough? Or do we choose to ignore the warning signs? When reading the first time you may not realize this impact until your finish the book as how they are related.

I loved the innocence of the nine year old voice of Kirsten(brilliant). How she wanted to capture her own family and keep them safe in a jar, like so many parents. Similar to fireflies she captured on summer nights in a jar, which had to be set free – giving profound meaning and depth to the story.

DeBoard’s writing style is unique and powerful and hard to compare to similar authors. However, fans of Diane Chamberlain, Donna Ball and Emilie Richards with the suspense and thrill of Paul Cleave, will appreciate her theme of family, as they are tested and tried through life’s messiness. One of my new favorite authors!

Paula's books are not meant to be just read; Reflective, thought-provoking--characters you will not soon forget, as they live on in your thoughts, long after the book ends! Highly Recommend!