May 18, 2026 - fundinmentalfundinmental

MY REVIEW

Lies To Forever by Marlene M Bell is dark and dangerous for April Manning. Marlene writes some fabulous mysteries, but she has upped her game with this convoluted thriller, filled with obsession and betrayal.

April’s life is moving along and she’s feeling good about herself and her situation…until she’s finds her savings has been siphoned from her bank account. Her generous nature leads to her downfall when she is served an eviction notice and the landlord of her dream home is missing. Her boss at the architecture firm she works for comes up dead. Everything revolves around April, but she has no clue why she is in someone’s crosshairs.

She is being stalked and set up to take the fall. Mysterious packages appear on her doorstep, wind chimes appear out of nowhere, bringing her past to mind, a past she thought she had left behind.

She’s lucky that her exboyfriend, Hunter, willingly steps up to the plate to help her out. It made me very suspicious. Her friend and coworker, Kelly, offers her some money and a place to stay. There are plenty of suspects as the investigation develops. Do they want her dead?

My spidey senses were tingling and my suspicions grew as the story moved along at a steady clip. The book has short chapters that make for easy reading. As the suspense grew, my need to know the answers increased. I love that there are those ‘don’t go in the basement’ moments.

My thanks go out to Marlene M Bell and Ewephoric for the opportunity to review Lies To Forever.

GOODREADS BLURB

First they stole her trust. Now they want her life.

April Manning’s generous nature has always been a gift, and her greatest weakness. After being scammed out of her life savings by a trusted friend, April is left with an eviction notice and one last hope: reclaiming her position as an interior designer at her old architectural firm, even if it means a showdown with head architect Hunter Ellis, her cheating ex.

But that’s not the only hitch. When the owner of the firm turns up dead, the last thing April expects to find is the bloody murder weapon on her doorstep.

Now the killer sets a plan for April and suspicion flares at every turn…from the mysterious new handyman, to an estranged family member she’s tried to forget. Chased from her dream home and cornered like prey, April is hemmed by the wintry forests of Tennessee with few options. As chilling memories of childhood abandonment haunt her, it seems everyone has a hidden agenda to take April down.

Only one thing is certain. A monster is stalking Smoky Creek, and April must unmask them before they land the fatal blow.

Genre: Fiction, Kidnapping, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2026 by Ewephoric

ABOUT MARLENE M BELL

Marlene M. Bell has never met a sheep she didn’t like. As a personal touch for her readers, they often find these wooly creatures visiting her international romantic mysteries and children’s books as characters or subject matter. Marlene is an accomplished artist and photographer who takes pride in entertaining fans on multiple levels of her creativity.

Marlene’s award-winning Annalisse series boasts Best Mystery honors for all installments including these: IP Best Regional Australia/New Zealand, Global Award Best Mystery, and Chanticleer’s International Mystery and Mayhem shortlist for Copper Waters, the fourth mystery in the series.

She offers her children’s picture book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! written primarily for younger kids based on true events from the Bell’s East Texas sheep ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of belonging and unconditional love between a little girl and her lamb.

Catch Up With Marlene M. Bell:
www.MarleneMBell.com
Goodreads – @dorsetghal
BookBub – @dorsetgalwrites
Instagram – @marlenemysteries
Twitter/X – @ewephoric
Facebook
Facebook – @marlenembell
Amazon Author Page

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. S.T. Ashman will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Nicole gets the call at 4 a.m. Her daughter Lacey was found in the woods beside her friend’s dead husband. He was stabbed forty-four times. Lacey is barely alive. Covered in his blood. And completely mute.

She hasn’t said a word since. Not to the police. Not to her husband. Not even to Nicole.

Nicole had Lacey at seventeen and swore her daughter would have a good life. Now Lacey is sitting in a cell, and Nicole’s three grandchildren are left behind with a father who is losing it.

But Nicole knows her daughter. She isn’t a cold-blooded murderer. Guilt didn’t silence her. Fear did. Whatever happened in those woods scared Lacey more than prison.

So Nicole starts digging. But some secrets don’t save people. They destroy them.

Read an Excerpt

“I heard a noise.” Dylan’s voice came from behind me.

I turned, still holding the bottle. He noticed it before I could hide it.

“What’s the date on it?” he asked, unfazed.

It took me a second to catch up. “Oh. Umm. Let me see.” I squinted at the label. “The stamp says the bottle is ten years old.”

He nodded. “Then it’s an old one.”

I looked at Dylan in a mix of admiration and sadness.

Admiration for how mature he was. Standing there like that. Calm and composed.

Sadness because that bottle was a reminder of darker times. When Brian’s parents died in their sleep from a carbon monoxide leak, it shattered the family. Brian fell into drinking, unable to cope with the loss.

It was Lacey, as always, who held everyone together and helped him through it.

“I’ll throw it away,” I said.

Dylan nodded again. “I better get back to Ethan and Lila.”

He turned and headed back upstairs. I followed on his heels and tossed the bottle into the kitchen trash just as the phone rang.

Brian.

As if he knew we’d just been talking about him.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, it’s me. Did you talk to Lacey?”

“Yes, she called me when she was finishing up her shift to check in on the kids. Is everything all right up there?”

“Yeah … just … just wanted to see how you guys are doing.”

His tone wasn’t alarming or overly sweet. Just neutral.

“We’re good. Let me get the kids on the phone—”

“No, no. I’ll talk to them later. Amanda … she needs my help with something.”

About the Author: S. T. Ashman is an American-German author who calls the beautiful U.S. Seacoast home. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she spent years working as a psychotherapist in the criminal justice system. The work gave her a rare window into the human mind, both the beautiful and the deeply shadowed. It’s no wonder readers often say her characters feel real enough to step off the page.

When she’s not crafting her next twisty tale, you’ll find her chasing after her kids, nose-deep in a book, or curled up late at night with a horror movie and a husband who always falls asleep on the couch before the scary parts.

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashmanbooks
Instagrm: https://www.instagram.com/booksbyashman/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094353614873
Website: http://www.ashmanbooks.com
Link to ARC on Netgalley: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/830451
Goodreads giveaway: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250496134-her-silence

Amazon preorder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX371KS8
Apple Preorder: http://books.apple.com/us/book/id6762005159
Barnes and Noble Preorder: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-silence-s-t-ashman/1149881409