The Lies I’ve Told (By The Bay #3)

From USA Today bestselling author J.L. Berg comes a brand new By the Bay stand-alone novel...

Everything was going according to plan...

After years of working my way up the corporate ladder, it was finally my time to shine. I was about to receive the promotion of a lifetime.

But just like that, my life was destroyed with a single career crushing email.

Now, I am headed back home to North Carolina, under the ruse of an extended vacation to help run the family inn while my sister is on maternity leave. After all, what is family for? Plus, a few days at the beach could definitely help uncomplicate this crazy life of mine.

Enter Aiden Fisher.

Aiden is a guest at my sister’s inn. He’s wicked hot, a huge flirt and has one of the sexiest British accents I’ve ever heard. But beyond all that, I see a darkness in his soul, as if he’s carrying a great weight upon his shoulders.

I find myself pushing back my trip home to Florida in hopes that maybe I’ll look into those hazel brown eyes and finally see truth shining back instead of lies. That maybe he’ll stop running and tell me the truth for once.

But you know what they say about liars? It takes one to know one and I’ve been telling the biggest lie of all – I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with Aiden.

And isn’t that the scariest truth of all?

Millie McIntyre's plans and career in Florida have just been ruined, so when her sister needs her back in Ocracoke, North Carolina, it is a good time to run home and lick her wounds. She is angry, hurt, lost, and not sure what she is going to do. 

Sculptor Aiden Fisher just got some bad news of his own, so when given the chance to escape New York and head to the small island for a job it seems like good timing as well. He's just had his biggest success, but then it was tempered by news that rocked his world and will impact his future.

They never expected each other, or the fact that the problems in their lives have sent them on a collision course that could change everything for them. 

Aiden is intuitive, flirty, charming, and charismatic. But he is also harboring secrets that make him run hot and cold. Their chemistry is undeniable, but they both have issues. Their previous worlds were far apart. They were both lonely and focused on careers instead of real, honest relationships. Then just when it looks like they might have a chance at more than a fling, the real world seems to intrude. And Aiden's behavior and trying to hide things from her feeds right into Millie's insecurities. 

My heart broke for Aiden even when I was not sure what the real issue was. He was so conflicted by what he wanted and needed, and what he thought she deserved. He had been through so much and circumstances seemed to keep taking away what he loved and causing him pain. He was patient and passionate, but stubborn and self sacrificing. And Millie was tenacious and sassy, but also more impatient and impulsive. And she was at a disadvantage by not knowing the whole story.

Aiden's secrets are gradually revealed so I was wondering and trying to guess the whole time and it was not what I had expected. This is a story about trust, truth, patience, love, and hope. They both needed to find ways to follow their dreams even during drastic life changes. And due to them unexpectedly finding each other, they became catalysts for further change. But there are so many secrets and lies standing between them. And they both have a tendency to run when things get hard. 

Are they destined to find a way to make a new life together or follow their own paths?

This is another sexy, emotional, heartfelt story in this series. I love the inhabitants and setting of this island town. We get more with her sister Molly and Jake(The Choices I've Made), the parents, and Dean and Cora(The Scars I Bare). Everyone knows everyone else and they are a tight knit group. But that also makes secrets harder to keep. 

Death is easy.

Surviving it? That’s the hard part. 

Dr. Jake Jameson knows this all too well. Losing his mother at the age of eighteen, he walks away from his small hometown and the painful memories it holds, vowing to never return again.

Twelve years later, he finds himself driving back down the coast of North Carolina. When his father leaves him a small medical practice, he has no choice but to heed the call until he can find someone else to take it off his hands. 

But coming back home means facing everything he left behind, including the one woman who might make it impossible to leave again.

Molly McIntyre has spent her entire life in one town. Taking over her parents’ small inn, she’s settled into a quiet, happy life. But all of that comes to an abrupt halt when Jake shows up at her door in need of a place to stay.

Molly loathes everything about this man, but she can’t find it in her heart to refuse his request.