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All The Pretty People

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Ten years ago, I was seventeen, spending summers with my wealthy family and friends on Hawk Island. One terrible night, I blacked out. The next morning, my best friend, Melanie, was gone—vanished without a trace.

Today, I go back. To the island. To my sister's wedding. To a group of privileged people with whom I've never belonged. To my best friend's brother, a man who hates us all. To secrets that someone will kill to keep.

A storm is coming. A storm that will cut off the island from all hope of help. A storm that could allow a kidnapper to escape or a killer to murder again. A storm that will wash away all the lies and deception and reveal the true faces of All the Pretty People.

Will I be the next one to disappear?

316 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2022

1041 people are currently reading
6307 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Freethy

156 books2,700 followers
Barbara's love of writing developed out of a love of reading. Growing up in an all-boy neighborhood, she spent quite a bit of time reading through her mother's large library, many of which were romantic novels. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara, she went into Public Relations, but soon discovered that writing was her true passion.

Barbara was traditionally published for many years, then formed her own publishing company FOG CITY PUBLISHING in 2011 and has since sold over 10 million books! She has published 75 novels ranging from mystery thrillers to romantic suspense and contemporary romance.

Her book SUMMER SECRETS was a #1 New York Times bestseller! And twenty-five other novels have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. She is currently writing two ongoing series, a contemporary romance series set in Whisper Lake and a romantic suspense series: Off The Grid: FBI Series. She is also known for her bestselling Callaway Family Series, which offers up fourteen books and two novellas.

When Barbara isn't writing or publishing, which isn't very often these days, she is playing tennis, hanging out with friends and family in beautiful Lake Tahoe or reading books!

For a complete list of her books, visit her website!

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5 stars
2,221 (39%)
4 stars
1,927 (33%)
3 stars
1,097 (19%)
2 stars
309 (5%)
1 star
123 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews
Profile Image for TXGAL1.
396 reviews40 followers
September 23, 2023
RATED: 3 🌟s

My first book by Barbara Freethy, ALL THE PRETTY PEOPLE had a promising storyline with a goodly number of suspects for a thriller. Unfortunately, for me the characters/conversations(there were MANY) read flat.
Profile Image for Natasha.
349 reviews617 followers
February 12, 2022
I think this book put me in a reading slump. I barely forced myself to read at least 30 pages a day.😴

so many plot holes and inconsistencies. Both mc's were very one dimensional, they had 0 chemistry together and the romance part was pretty lackluster. I'd prefered if this was only mistery/thriller.

The mystery part was very..boring. i feel like everything willow learned, every "secret" she overheard by accident. There were a lot of this situations where the story moved forward only bc of that or bc of her dreams aka memories. It felt really funny how she'll dream about some memory connected to the disappearance of her bff melanie and then they'll find out some clue based on that dream.🙄 and all of that 10 years later.. felt so absurd.

I feel like all of the characters were very undeveloped so by the end i didn't care about any of them and tbh willow wasn't great protagonist, she came up as very naive and doormaty.
Her family treated her awful expecially her sister. The things she said were pretty hurtful.
The villain reveal was so predictable, i guessed it from the beginning.
Profile Image for Tracy  P. .
1,173 reviews12 followers
December 3, 2022
All the Pretty People is my first Barbara Freethy novel, and it definitely will not be my last. The atmospheric plot centers around two families reuniting at their island summer homes for a wedding. One family has three daughters (Brooklyn, Willow, and Kelsey), and the other, three sons (Preston, Gaige, and Carter). Kelsey and Gaige are the engaged couple.
Even before the ferry delivers middle daughter Willow to the island she has a sense of foreboding and dread about return to the place which has haunted her since she last set foot on its sands 10-years prior -when her best friend went missing without a trace. She is also dreading running into her friend's brother, with she has a sordid past, and facing the fact that both families might be harboring the devastating truth as to what really happened.
There are many unrevealed secrets and unspoken resentments. Willow has always been the forgotten one - in the shadows of both of her sisters beauty and intelligence. However, everything shifts inside her when Kelsey goes missing as well. Now she is no longer wiling to be the timid mouse and both families are going to be in for the shock of their lives when they hear how loud and mighty she can roar.
I pegged the person responsible early on, but I could never have guessed the reasons and lengths they were willing to go to meet their goals. Twists and turns abound in this exciting mystery thriller. A great choice for an escapist and highly entertaining beach read.
311 reviews114 followers
January 24, 2022
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book this morning and just finished as I could not put this down. A Barbara Freethy story is so fast paced, and heart pumping.

Willow is forced to return to the island she grew up in after leaving 10 years earlier to attend her sister's wedding. She thought she would never return because her best friend, Melanie, went missing and her disappearance has been a mystery that she is fearful to learn the truth. The wedding has brought back the friends who abandoned the island shortly after Melanie's disappearance and while it seems their lives have moved on, hers has not. When she arrives on the island, she runs into Melanie's brother, Drake. His feelings about his sister's disappearance is not a secret as he believes someone in the group knows the truth and he will do anything to make sure Melanie is vindicated.

The wedding festivities begin to parallel the events that occurred 10 years ago and then someone else is suddenly missing. Willow believes the two events are linked together and agrees to work with Drake to find out what happened before it's too late. The author introduces a wide net of characters from the beginning and soon there are motives to the dual storylines, but the ending has a twist and it's unexpected.

I enjoyed this story and this author is one of my favorites as you are transported immediately into a wild ride of storytelling that you do not want to end.
Profile Image for Aditi.
140 reviews3 followers
March 11, 2022
Plot was good but I couldn't get over the awkward dialogue style. People just don't talk like that....like they're narrating themselves. Lots of eye rolls while reading the dialogue. Also very corny at a lot of parts. But still fairly entertaining story.
Profile Image for Anne OK.
4,118 reviews555 followers
February 20, 2022
I haven’t read a book by Barbara Freethy in ages. I was a little apprehensive to give it a go. But that blurb just continued to plague me with intrigue. I one-clicked and never regretted my decision. An enticing and exciting cloak-and-dagger with a second chance love-laced romance to boot and I loved this couple.

Everyone in this book seems to have a secret. But no secret stays buried forever and when the past catches up with the present, the results can be deadly. Strong plot and great character development in a fast-paced storyline that never drags. Freethy keeps you guessing until the spine-tingling and twisty ending. Just how I like best!

One tiny negative comment -- at the beginning, the large cast of characters may become a bit difficult to keep track of, but that works itself out soon enough and the mystery resolves itself in a satisfactory manner.

Suffice to say, this is an emotionally deep and haunting thriller that kept my stomach tied in knots. I don’t want to ruin anything for others, so I’ll just say Kapow! It’s a stunner and a case best left for each reader to solve for themself.

If you’re looking for a great escape, look no further.
Profile Image for Brandy.
1,264 reviews56 followers
January 26, 2022
Woah. Let me preface this by saying I was wrong literally every single time I thought I had a handle on what was happening. A brilliant book with so many twists and turns, and whose characters are full of life and depth. Willow is finally heading back to the island where her best friend disappeared almost ten years ago. Willow has never been able to get over the pain and heartache of that trauma but it seems like everyone else has…except her best friend’s brother, who is determined to figure out what happened once and for all. However, the stakes are raised when Willow’s sister goes missing. Is it happening all over again?? Can Willow and Drake work together to figure out what happened ten years ago and what is happening now?? When I say on the edge of your seat….
Profile Image for Brooke.
51 reviews1 follower
June 20, 2022
I struggled through this book. It seemed more like a young adult book & was rather cheesy. I finally skipped to the end. A disappointment for me.
Profile Image for Megan Anne.
6 reviews1 follower
April 21, 2022
This book had a lot of potential! I liked the actual plot, however the characters missed the mark for me. I didn’t like their dialogue- it always sounded too fake? Also, when I find grammatical and spelling errors in a book it really puts me off. In one paragraph, two different names were used for one character- Drake and Drew?
Profile Image for Alisa Mairone.
19 reviews3 followers
August 29, 2022
There’s no way this book should have such a high Goodreads rating. The characters were super one-dimensional and the writing was annoying and unrealistic.

Each character said the others’ names in conversation too much and don’t ask me why, but I couldn’t get over it. Can you imagine, , if every time someone spoke to you, they used your name over and over. Well, , I’m here to tell you that it’s overwhelmingly annoying, . Perhaps the author did it to minimize confusion, but the effect is unrealistic.

Overall, the book, characters, and plot were half-baked and unimaginative. Then there’s some weird moral/familial lessons that come into play at the end. Just…bleh.
Profile Image for Mary.
2,267 reviews613 followers
May 26, 2024
I came across All The Pretty People by Barbara Freethy in my library's Hoopla catalog and I'm so glad I did! While it was a little slow for my liking and could have been a bit shorter, it had a very engaging mystery and plenty of twists and turns. I was completely surprised by both 'whodunnits' and almost every single one of these characters was sitting on at least one secret. I also loved the way Freethy decided to close the book out, and it was a super sweet ending after all of the pain and drama we had to go through to get there.

Amy McFadden narrates the audiobook, and I was very happy with her narration. Even though there are a lot of characters to keep track of, the story is told from the viewpoint of Willow with excerpts from Melanie's diary. McFadden did a great job of changing up her voice for the diary parts, and it was nice to have that differentiation since it was a different character. There is a little bit of romance to this one as well, but nothing that takes away from the main storyline. All The Pretty People was a great little page-turner that I easily finished in one day, and it is the perfect book to add to your beach/summer reading!
Profile Image for Ashley.
216 reviews
June 3, 2023
3.5/4⭐️. A lot of repetitive dialogue but it kept my interest.
Profile Image for Amanda VC.
79 reviews
January 25, 2024
nah why does the dialogue in this book sound like it was written by AI 😭😭😭😭 No emotion, so monotone boooo tomato tomato 🍅🍅🍅
Profile Image for Kristen.
1,189 reviews
January 25, 2022
This is an excellent mystery! There are plenty of twists and turns, too many secrets to count, suspense, and family drama.I was hooked from the beginning and had trouble putting it down. Barbara Freethy has a hit with this new stand alone “whodunit”!
Profile Image for M.
182 reviews3 followers
February 9, 2023
This was almost a DNF but I don’t do that. Took til the last quarter to get a bit of a story. I only persevered because I wanted to know what happened to the two missing girls. Not sure I’d read this author again as I didn’t enjoy the writing style.
Profile Image for Lozz’s Random Reads  McKenzie - Lee.
947 reviews18 followers
August 12, 2025
A Secluded Island. A Wealthy Wedding. Two Missing Girls Ten Years Apart

Willow is returning back to her old stomping ground after ten years.

To the picturesque Hawke Island she grew up on

When her younger influencer, sister Kelsey, a model, all blonde hair, and long legs gets kicked out of her original wedding venue, her only viable option, due to time constraints , is to relocate to the island they all grew up on, and where Willow, and Kelsey’s parents, still live as well as the groom, Gage Chadwick, of the wealthy Chadwick family also live.

Not to mention practically every member of the wedding party, who also grew up wealthy, and lived on the Island.

What a coincidence that it coincides with the ten year anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of sixteen year old Melanie, Willows teenage best friend .

Now, all the same people who were present at the time of her going missing, are are back.

And Melanie’s brother, ( and Willows teenage ex ) Drake, is determined to get the case re-opened and get the sheriff look into it again with fresh eyes.

From Willows perspective, she has been reluctant from the beginning to return to this place.

It has brought her nothing but pain.
Her friend missing, probably dead by now, and the boy, now man, who broke her teenage heart.

So, being the middle daughter, Brooklyn the older, Kelsey the younger, and always feeling ignored by her own family, Willow try’s to remove herself as much as possible from all the festivities

That is until…..
Kelsey disappears from a pre - wedding beach party, sending everyone bat sh*t crazy.

Could this be the same person that took Melanie’s ten years previous?

After all, all the same players are back on the island.

As time is of the essence, we soon have Willow and Drake calling a truce on their past issues to try and pull together clues as to what happened to Kelsey.

Joined by their old friend Ben, who was once the sheriffs son, but now is the sheriff.

They uncover the lies and secrets, some spanning ten years , that everyone has been keeping, all while placing their own lives in danger.

This story was.., okay if a little “ Mid” for me.

I kept reading to see what the ending held, but seriously, by the time we got there I was a little underwhelmed.

The author had pointed the finger at practically every character, past and present on Hawke Island, so by the end in was like,…

Okay, well, or course they were probably the only one LEFT! .

Also, there was element of the writing and the plot that were a little simplistic, and very, VERY, tropy

Luckily, the Drake, Willow relationship, while A major part, didn’t interfere too much with the main storyline, but the moments when it was introduced seemed a bit rushed and clunky.

The eventual ending, and finale wrap up though, is very fitting and a little heartbreaking to be fair
Profile Image for Isha Coleman.
9,007 reviews173 followers
January 29, 2022
A heartstopping thriller that goes to the head. Freethy plays the ultimate mind game with chilling results. All the Pretty People burrows it's way into the senses. The twists keep coming. The danger is haunting and the emotions are riveting. Step inside a nightmare that will steal your breath and touch your heart.
793 reviews26 followers
February 15, 2022
All the Pretty People is a five stars emotional thriller. Willow’s sister is getting married on the island where ten years ago her best friend disappeared forever. Willow’s memory of that last night is blank, but she now is an astute observer and what she’s seeing brings many questions as she has to interact with those same people who were there before…especially when the bride goes missing. Barbara Freethy knows how to snag reader’s attention immediately and never let it disengage until the last period. So many secrets and lies will be revealed in a tight plot that will keep one guessing. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book. Most highly recommend.
Profile Image for Peggy.
490 reviews5 followers
January 24, 2022
Stunning roller coaster of a story. Riveting, I could not put it down. Willow goes home to a place that has awful memories for her. Her Sisters wedding is the reason. Willow has been caught between her two more flamboyant sisters all her life. Her last time on the island ended in tragedy, Her best friend disappeared and was never found so to return is painful. The story turns from a wedding celebration to another missing woman when the bride to be disappears much the same way her best friend did 10 years ago. I was completely surprised at the outcome. There is much intrigue and small town drama.
Well written and beautifully laid out. I loved it.
777 reviews18 followers
January 26, 2022
This book has it all…. Secrets, lies, romance, mystery!
The last place Willow wants to be his back on Hawk Island, she hasn’t returned to the island in over 10 years since the disappearance of her best friend
Melanie.
But her baby sister Kelsey is getting married and wants to have her wedding on the island. This brings back so many memories and right before the wedding Kelsey goes missing. Is history repeating itself? Are these two connected? And why oh why is Willow still attracted to Melanie’s brother Drake !
This brings friends back together, family secrets, long unsolved mysteries, secret hook ups, and lies.
I enjoyed this book so much !
Profile Image for suze joyce.
873 reviews11 followers
January 22, 2022
Barbara does it again. From the first page to the last she leaves you guessing? Anyone could be guilty of Melanie's disappearance but it is hard to believe whodunnit. It's a page turner and you won't be able to put it down.Thank you Barbara for yet another great read.
Profile Image for Barbara Tobey.
3,018 reviews86 followers
January 25, 2022
Loved it. An emotional and cleverly twisted murder mystery. The permanent residents of the island versus the summer ones. Realistic relationships. Ten year old mystery plus a new one kept me guessing. Thanks to the author for providing a copy. My review is voluntary.
Profile Image for Naaheeda Allie.
9 reviews1 follower
May 16, 2025
Promising plot but the dialogue was prosaic and characters poorly developed and unrealistic.
Profile Image for Judi Haley.
1,356 reviews6 followers
November 18, 2022
Hawk Island, Willow thought she would never go back, but standing on the deck of the ferry, she is sure now she should go back home. But, it is her sister's wedding that is going to take place and she has to put all her fears aside and return to the island that sent her away.

When she was 16, Willow and her best friend, Melanie, did everything together. With all their friends, the enjoyed the summer with a little romance and love thrown in. But, when Willow gets a little too drunk at the bonfire they are attending, she fails to meet Melanie where she had promised to. The next thing Willow knows, she is at home, and doesn't remember how she got there or who brought her home. All she knows now is that Melanie is missing and she feels that it is her fault.
After desperately searching for her, Willow leaves the island with her parents.

But now, years later, she is back, She has so much guilt and one of them is leaving without finding or knowing what happened to her best friend. Now she has returned for the wedding and being back on the island will bring her more secrets then she could ever guess.

A great novel that will keep you guessing.
133 reviews9 followers
October 27, 2025
I only read this because it was available as an audiobook and I wanted to read something that was easy to handle. But this was way too easy as in the dialogue between the characters felt not real. The writing was not good. It made the famous thriller author's books I won't name look good. That's how bad it was. The plot was fine. The ending got me a little. I just wanted to finish this as soon as possible so I didn't care much. The romance felt off for me. After ten years, they don't know anything about their lives before but they instantly fall in love again and slept together. Yeah no. Willow is honestly too stupid. Actually all the characters felt like a caricature of how rich people need to be that they didn't feel real.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews

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