One Little Lie by Colleen Coble (Review)

Series: Pelican Harbor #1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: March 3, 2020
352 pages

About the Book:

When Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after her father retires, there's no time for an adjustment period. He is arrested for theft and then implicated in a recent murder, and Jane quickly realizes she's facing someone out to destroy her father.

They escaped from a cult fifteen years ago, and Jane has searched relentlessly for her mother—who refused to leave—ever since. Could someone from that horrible past have found them?

Reid Bechtol is a well-known journalist who makes documentaries, and his sights are currently set on covering Jane's career. Jane has little interest in the attention, but the committee who appointed her loves the idea of the publicity.

Jane finds herself depending on Reid's calm manner as he follows her around taping his documentary, and they begin working together to clear her father. But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross.

It started with one little lie. But Jane Hardy will do everything in her power to uncover the truth.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐

I loved the prologue and was immediately invested to find out where this story was going to take me, but then when the time jumped happened it felt like the writing style changed and I struggled to connect with the characters. Jane has just been appointed the interim police chief and now has two murders to solve along, a couple missing people and her dad being arrested. Jane is determined that someone is framing her father, but due to her role has to be careful how she handles the case. What is going on and does it all tie together and if so how? Meanwhile Jane has been ordered by the mayor to allow Reid, a journalist who is known for video documentaries, to follow her around with a video camera. Reid is keeping a pretty big secret and I found it a little hard to believe that Jane did not figure it out sooner. Explanations were provided to explain why Jane didn't figure out but it felt forced and a little unbelievable. There is so much happening in this story and quite a few characters introduced (some who have very little impact on the story) that at times I struggled to keep up. I appreciated that there was very little romance in this as I felt that with all the situations and emotions Jane was dealing with was enough. The main case of the story does conclude in this book, but the personal relationships of the main characters will be carried over into book two.

(I borrowed this book from the library; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

The View from Rainshadow Bay - Lavender Tides #1

The House at Saltwater Point - Lavender Tides #2

Secrets at Cedar Cabin - Lavender Tides #3

Lonestar Sanctuary - Lonestar #1