Title: Tell Me To Lie
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 2/11/20
Length:  166 Pages
Series: Tell Me #6

Overview

There was a time when my debt was the only link we had. 
There was a time when I couldn’t tell him how much I loved him and he couldn’t tell me. There was a time when I thought I could never have enough money. 
Now, everything is different. 

Nicholas Crawford is a stranger who is becoming more strange with every moment. 
I used to think I could make a life with him, but now I’m not so sure. 
We have been through too much. 
But then he takes a step closer. 
Then he whispers something into my ear. 
Then presses his lips to my mouth. 
Suddenly, everything that was wrong starts to feel so right…

My Thoughts

How painful was it to see how book five ended – right? there were so many moments that things could turn out differently in that story and the POOF – the rug is ripped from under us and Nicholas has been nabbed. We don’t know if Olive was working with the FBI and brought them to him or if it was an accident (part of me things that Solly the cat was a plant by the FBI and that’s how they found him) but regardless, we end up with Nicholas behind bars, and quite a case against him.

Nicholas knows what he is innocent of and what crimes he’s committed and he knows that in this instance, he shouldn’t be behind bars. There’s too much against him and his case is so high profile that literally nothing will change his trajectory. We watch him suffer and get beat up, we watch him get transferred and we watch no one listen to him.

Olive wants to hold onto hope that she can get to the bottom of all of this. She believes that Nicholas didn’t kill anyone and she sets out on a fact finding mission to see who knows what about his ex girlfriend and his best friend. She’s naive to think that she’s taking the right precautions and frankly if this weren’t a book, she’d likely end up dead.

What she does find though uncovers a lot more than she bargained for. She finds people from Nicholas’s past that really know the truth but they have their own lives at stake and won’t stick their neck out on this one. When she does find a person in the DA’s office who helps, that’s a saving grace, yet there’s a challenge to get their findings known. What they did was illegal and no one wants to see Nicholas off the hook.

We find out who the real killer was for each of the murders, and we want justice to be served.

The other story line here is that of Sydney and James. The man that Syd’s mother adores and the man who broke Sydney’s heart. He cheated on her, and yet if she walks away from him, her mother will cut her off. We also learn that……she’s pregnant. So even though she hates what James did to her, she can’t walk away because she wants her family to be intact. Throughout this story we watch how that plays out and we want James to change and realize that she’s a great girl – but will he? who knows.

Then there’s Owen – no one likes him and because of his attack on Olive, he’s back in jail. where he should rot forever. She tries to put him out of her mind and life but of course she’s forced to cross paths with him again, and nothing goes as she hopes. Maybe she’ll be able to stay away from him for the rest of time since he’s in CA in jail.

A roller coaster of angst is in this last installment of the story again, and we wonder which end is up most of the time. There are relationships that are rekindled (Olive and her mom) and relationships that die (Olive and Owen). Relationships in Limbo (Olive and Nicholas and Syndey and James) and relationships that haven’t even begun yet. (Syd and her baby). I”m happy with how this story ends, we get closure even if it’s not in the way that we expected based on how the story progressed. At least it’s wrapped up and there’s no more questions to be asked. On that note – I have to find another series – so enjoy!