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Little Bitty Lies

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New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews delivers another treasure of a comic novel. Little Bitty Lies is a tantalizing tale about an abandoned Atlanta housewife and mother who tells one tiny white lie that sets her world spiraling outrageously out of control. This winning and wonderful romp focuses on about all the important things in life: marriage and divorce, mothers and daughters, friendship and betrayal. Throw in small town secrets, one woman’s lifelong quest for home, and the perfect chicken salad recipe, and you have an ideal escape for fans of Fannie Flagg, Jennifer Crusie, Adriana Trigiani, Emily Giffin, and the Sweet Potato Queens. No lie!

464 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 2003

1368 people are currently reading
6518 people want to read

About the author

Mary Kay Andrews

53 books14.3k followers
https://marykayandrews.com/
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MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels (including The Homewreckers, The Santa Suit, The Newcomer; Hello, Summer; Sunset Beach; The High Tide Club; The Weekenders; Beach Town; Save the Date; Ladies’ Night; Christmas Bliss; Spring Fever; Summer Rental; The Fixer Upper; Deep Dish; Blue Christmas; Savannah Breeze; Hissy Fit; Little Bitty Lies; and Savannah Blues), and one cookbook, The Beach House Cookbook.

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she earned a B.A. in journalism from The University of Georgia. After a 14-year career working as a reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991 to write fiction.

Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 by HarperCollins. She went on to write ten critically acclaimed mysteries under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. In 2002, she assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller, followed by twelve more New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers. To date, her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese.

She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in two restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide—both named after fictional places in Mary Kay’s novels, and both available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses.

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5 stars
4,288 (27%)
4 stars
5,906 (38%)
3 stars
4,200 (27%)
2 stars
874 (5%)
1 star
234 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 935 reviews
Profile Image for Karen.
417 reviews6 followers
May 23, 2019
2.5 stars . Parts I enjoyed but the main character was a push over, she had a horrible daughter and mother in law but catered to them. The best character was her best friend Katherine. The premise of the book sounded so fun but in the end it just didn't work. All the characters commented on how tough and strong Mary Bliss was but I just didn't get behind her as the heroine in the story.
Profile Image for Dianne.
1,844 reviews158 followers
June 30, 2024
4.5 stars-"It Was the Summer From Hell"

Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews

This sometimes confusing, sort of depressing, yet at the same time, funny and poignant novel is written by the mystery writer Kathy Trocheck aka Mary Kay Andrews. Moreover, it sure looks like the transition to a slightly different style of mystery combined with female literature seems to have been made successfully! I have not read any of the mystery series, but if they are half as good as the writing in this novel, I should be pleased.

Yes, the writing was wonderful; the characters are fully fleshed out and believable. You will sometimes love and sympathize with Mary Bliss and Katherine and sometimes you want to smack them silly and hope that they end up in jail. Fortunately, while we only know of Parker, Mary Bliss’s sort of dearly departed husband, via her memories and his actions as told to us by the women and what they learn while snooping ---he is a cad, a rake, a scoundrel, and a major thief. He really isn’t a nice guy, and death would be too easy for the likes of him.

Then again, Mary Bliss and Katharine are perpetuating a fraud…or are they?

There are so many characters that we could really hate, but Ms Andrews writes in such a talented way that even the most hateful of people are written so well that at times we can feel empathy for them. Well maybe except for Parker!
This is an excellent little novel about what is most important to us. And what another person can do to us to bring us to our knees if we let them. This story shows that even someone who thinks they can’t do something-really can with the right motivations and the love of good friends behind us.

This is small southern community at its best and it is a very satisfying read with a Happily-Ever-After, that I wasn’t sure was ever going to happen. I love books that keep you guessing!
Be aware there is a recipe for her fabulous chicken salad at the end of the Kindle edition!
Profile Image for Dallas Strawn.
957 reviews122 followers
April 13, 2021
I’ve been delving into Mary Kay Andrews back list books slowly but surely the last couple years and I’m about to binge a few this month....

I definitely enjoyed this one! It was very funny; full of that trademark southern charm and wise cracking dialogue we’ve come to expect from early MKA. I also enjoyed the plot; touched on themes of marriage and divorce, the mother-daughter dynamic, and the bonds of female friendship....it had a bit of a mystery element about what happens when one little housewife tells a lie and it starts spinning into a whole web....

3.5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Whitney .
476 reviews86 followers
June 11, 2011
This may sound a little snobbish but as a general rule I don't read novels that have a cartoonish drawing on the cover; I typically take that as a warning sign for being a trashy novel. Please don't ask why I picked it up.

Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews centers around Mary Bliss McGowan whose husband has left her and their 17 year old daughter Erin, leaving her only with the kitchen sink. Parker McGowan has run into some business trouble and cleans out all of his family's assets i.e. checking and savings, IRA, Erin's tuition, and a second mortgage, literally everything, leaving his girls broke. I never really got why he would do this, especially to Erin who is supposedly a "Daddy's Girl". Desperate acts call for desperate measures as they say and so Mary Bliss and her BFF fly to Mexico in order to stage her husband's death in order to collect his life insurance policy.

This was a mindless read, but after the two friends are caught red-handed the book takes a turn for the worst, the storyline gets a little to bizarre and too many things are thrown into the mix, havoc with the daughter, a midlife crises/love affair for Mary Bliss and their so called "fool proof" plan coming to bite them in the ass. I guess the best way to describe Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews is to compare it to a train wreck, it's a horrible thing but you can't avert your eyes from it.
Profile Image for Ian.
1,431 reviews183 followers
November 16, 2012
After her husband empties their bank accounts and abandons her, Mary Bliss tells a small lie to avoid the humiliation. Desperate and penniless she hatches a plan to fake her husbands death and claim on a life insurance policy. But her lies are coming undone almost as fast as she tells them.

The author leaves so many things in this book unfinished. It's almost as if she got bored with the book and decided to wrap it up half-way through.

The premise is interesting, the characters are likeable and there are definitely some good moments, but it never quite gets out of first gear and she really needs to finish what she begins.
Profile Image for Jennifer Spearman.
86 reviews
April 8, 2014
Normally, I love Mary Kay Andrews books, but this one just did not keep my interest. I did not like the characters and the plot was just too awkward. I am all for a little exaggeration to have a good story, but I could not side with the main character at all. Certainly, I felt for her, but her choices were ridiculous and immoral. It is hard to get into a story when you do not side with the protagonist.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
444 reviews6 followers
October 8, 2014
Another Terrible Book Club book. THIS BOOK IS AWFUL. The plot is awful. There are so many holes. The characters are awful. I didn't like any one of them. And there was no connection between any of them. On top of this, I found a lot of the attitudes in the book - which were so prevalent that I think they came directly from the author and were NOT written to intentionally make these characters unlikeable - offensive and infuriating.
Profile Image for Christopher Hicks.
369 reviews7 followers
August 20, 2019
This was a really fun quick read, it had several interesting plot twists and a great ending. I’ll definitely read more from this author
Profile Image for Lori Anaple.
343 reviews12 followers
July 25, 2012
If you like chic lit, you will like this. It is a fun rompy ride, nothing too heavy and characters that are relatable while being completely over the top.

Mary Bliss finds out that her husband left her via a note he left in the closet. He cleaned out all of their accounts and remortgaged their house and left her penniless. He did pay up his cantankerous mother's nursing home bill and she does know where he is, but she is not saying.

So, with her best friend and partner in crime, Mary Bliss sets out to declare her husband dead. It is ridiculous. It is over the top. It is funny.

Katherine (the best friend) and Charlie crack me up. I love love love Katherine.

Of course there are problems. Erin (the daughter) is a pain in the ASS. In fact, while I see the need for this sort of complication in the story, her entire subplot can just be thrown out. I don't find much likeable about this character at all.

Basically, this book takes a wife's worst nightmare and combines it with her best revenge fantasy.
Profile Image for Linda.
2,316 reviews58 followers
August 21, 2019
This was a good story. Not quite as lighthearted and funny as some of her other books but a crazy story.
Profile Image for Antof9.
495 reviews114 followers
December 31, 2008
What an odd book! First, I thought it was going to be chick lit, but it wasn't. It more like Chick Limystery. Or something :)

It was very light and fluffy, and some of the characters (Katherine, especially) were over the top. I did like Mary Bliss, though, and her adventures in taking care of herself were both upsetting and entertaining.

I found it odd that some things were very "Southern" (capital S), and other things seemed to miss the boat. For example, the first time Erin used a swear word in front of her mother, I expected Mary Bliss to say something like "we don't use that kind of language, young lady." Didn't happen. Of course there were lots of sweet tea references, and casseroles (odd, I thought that more midwest, but the descriptions certainly fit).

I really thought the whole chicken salad thing was going to go somewhere else. In thinking back on it, I think the author did, too, and am not sure why she didn't follow through with it. Oh well :) (I'm copying the recipe before I send this off)

Erin sure did play the only child role well, and I kind of felt sorry for the family across the street. Of course, the Matt character was fun, in a suspicious kind of way, as to be expected.

This was an enjoyable, lite read, and once I got to about the halfway mark, I didn't want to put it down!
Profile Image for Cathie.
232 reviews
April 25, 2009
The writing itself was good and easy as is typical of Mary Kay Andrews. However, I didn't like these people AT ALL - well, except Charlie.Mary Bliss is at best a helpless, clueless type and at worst a criminal. I mean...insurance fraud is not ok and it is definitely not funny. (yes, I work in insurance.)

Katherine is a drunk only capable of rushing through all of her (ex)husband's money and giving crazy advice, and the daughter...well the daughter is a horribly spoiled brat.

And Matt? Did anyone believe him? He is this supposedly hunky, financially stable if not better, genious criminal expert and he can't find anyone else in Atlanta to fall for except a clueless criminal?

The ending was good due to Eula. The one character that actually seemed to "get it" by the end of the book. At least she was always who she was, and you could trust her. As for Mary Bliss and Matt? I fully suspect that Matt will run off on Mary Bliss and dupe her again. I mean, it's all a bunch of itty bitty lies, no?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Simcyn.
222 reviews
June 1, 2019
Some reviewers said this book was funny. I must be missing my sense of humor. I found it just plain pitiful and the wife and friend made me cringe due to their poor judgments. Of course there had to be a belligerent teenager... female of course.... because all teenage girls are hard to live with and lash out at their moms continuously.

I couldn't come up with a positive thing to say about the book except that it wasn't that long. I was too lazy to come back into the house while working in the garden to transfer another book onto my phone or I would have stopped listening to it. I've read/listened to this author's work before. I have liked them... not this one though.
Profile Image for Beverly.
3,858 reviews27 followers
March 24, 2023
I'm not sure why or how I got so behind in my reviewing last summer but I did and although I tried to catch up, I just kept getting further and further behind. So now all I can say about this book is that in the past I have found Ms. Andrews books to be funny and entertaining and since I gave it 4 stars, I'd say this held to that standard.
Profile Image for Barbara Powell.
1,131 reviews67 followers
May 19, 2020
One horrible summer. A great best friend. Pitiful excuse for a husband. Put it all together and it makes an easy, sometimes funny read. I will definitely read more from this author whenever I need a quick, not too deep read :)
Profile Image for Leane.
534 reviews35 followers
May 22, 2023
I really really liked this one.
I have no idea why I was putting off reading it!
43 reviews
April 18, 2021
This book contained many plot twists. It was an easy and fast paced read. The only issue is that the characters are boring and flat. They have no emotion or personality. I despised Mary Bliss and Erin. Mary was annoying, her actions were constantly irrational. Never made up her mind. Her daughter was annoying and a selfish brat. The manner in which her mother corrupted disciple was abnormal. She's a 17 YEAR OLD. I do not know how she let many things pass as if she were independent. I will say this though. Katherine carried the book. She was fierce, hilarious, and chic. Any funny dialogue and mentions were from Katherine herself. Those emotions drove this book to be less boring or unlikable.
Profile Image for Tiffany.
163 reviews
August 3, 2012
I was recently introduced to Mary Kay Andrews' books and became an instant admirer of her work. Little Bitty Lies is another exceptional story centered around Mary Bliss McGowan, a wife and mother whose husband disappears under mysterious circumstances. As Mrs. McGowan gets over the shock of his departure she realizes that not only is her husband gone, but he took all of their money with him. That's when she starts telling a web of little lies to help her cope and keep a roof over her daughter's head. This is a great read and on par with the humor, suspense and terrific writing of Ms. Andrews' other tales.
Profile Image for Zoha.
219 reviews87 followers
July 16, 2017
the plot is terrible and true to southern literature, it's a steaming pile of racist, homophobic, sexist, classist, god knows what else, pile of dung. the repeated racialization of characters as a personality trait is infuriating and clumsy and, it goes without saying, racist. the author has to unlearn a lot of internalized misogyny because all the women-to-women interactions in this novel are painful to read, reinforcing all the tropes that literature is trying so hard to outgrow. I feel sorry about all the hours I wasted reading this, It wasn't even written well and the 'mystery' was beyond predictable.
Profile Image for Allison.
24 reviews3 followers
September 22, 2010
What a great, fun read! I thought the book started out slow but it picked up! What do you do when your husband packs up and leaves one day and leaves you with only a note? Well Mary Bliss and her friend Katherine came up with a lie that changes everything! They set up a boat crash in Mexico to say that Mary Bliss's husband died on. That way the noisy neighbors can't say anything negative about their marriage. The trouble that these two get in will keep you on your toes and keep you laughing! I enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by Mary Kay Andrews!
Profile Image for Marilou.
34 reviews
April 7, 2011
Classic Mary Kay Andrews. Wife finds out hubby has left her and her teenage daughter...took all the money, etc. She has the conflict of her daughter...being a typical pain the butt for a teenager. How is she to overcome the emotional loss and the financial loss.This is a Southern novel about woman's lifelong quest for home but also about the important things in life: marriage and divorce, mothers and daughters, friendship and betrayal, small-town secrets and the perfect recipe for chicken salad.
Profile Image for Alison.
168 reviews3 followers
May 27, 2012
I had been looking forward to this read since I had loved Hissy Fit also written by Andrews. But this book fell very flat in my eyes with some of the most awkward cringe worthy literary moments. In addition to just being an uncomfortable read, I pretty much hated every character this book had to offer. If you weren't spiteful and bratty, you were weak and passive. This book reminded me of the movie Hope Floats, such a great warning of those who want kids as to what can easily be your awful awful future. But a horrible movie and an equally horrible book.
15 reviews
August 30, 2018
I thought this was just a mindless fun summer beach read. The writing was fine, the story line was outlandish, but agin mindless summer beach read. Then (spoiler alert) the 17 year daughter is having sex with her high school soccer coach, who as it turns out, has done this in the past. And this serious transgression was not treated as such. How a mother could not have immediately called the police to have this man arrested is beyond me. I honestly don’t know why the author had to add this to the story line. Just have the high schooler have sex with her boyfriend of the same age. Ridiculous
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Randy.
39 reviews4 followers
September 16, 2007
much more fun than i'd hoped for. it was different than other chick lit i've read -- in a good way -- and kind of reminded me of Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. atlanta is as much a character in this book as NYC is in other chick lit. there was a lot I recognize from my own experiences in the South, which was three-parts refreshing and one-part suffocating. speaking of recipes, there's one in the back for Mary Bliss' perfect chicken salad. I'll try it out sometime.
93 reviews1 follower
July 18, 2009
I've read almost all of Mary Key Andrews' books, and they're very light reading. They almost always follow the same pattern--the stable protagonist has a best friend who is a little wild, and they stick together through difficult situations. This one was my favorite of hers because it was set in Atlanta, where I understood the references to private schools, malls, etc. It was also fun to see how the plot unfolded when Mary Bliss' husband disappeared unexpectedly. Good summer read!
Profile Image for Charlotte Guzman.
594 reviews34 followers
October 27, 2023
I love Mary Kay Andrews and have read her books for years, since I came to the Atlanta, Ga area in 1996.
This one was short and sweet and one of her older books. The premise of the story is don't start telling lies to cover up your mistakes or problems. They just grow and get you into trouble. But in this case there was a happy ending.
I will continue to read Mary Kay when I need a laugh and happy endings.
Profile Image for Tasha.
246 reviews42 followers
October 10, 2008
This is a funny, light read. Kept me laughing throughout the book. Finished it in one day. MB's best friend Katherine will keep you entertained. I didn't like the attitude of her daughter Erin, but other than that, it was a good read. Definitely would recommend picking it up if you like witty romances.
Profile Image for Just - The romance reader.
549 reviews34 followers
July 3, 2009
This book was so good! The plot was full of twists and turns, drama and heartache and best of all, when it comes down to it, love. Mary Bliss is a strong, spunky and fiercely loyal character who will not stop until she has done everything she can to protect and defend her family.

I might just have to read this book again!
4,010 reviews10 followers
April 28, 2012
I really enjoyed Little Bitty Lies. I was firmly in Mary Bliss's camp and I sincerely wished that good and happy events would happen to her. I was sympathetic to her plight. I also liked Mary Bliss's friends. I did think the ending was abrupt, but I felt that way because I wanted to know what happened next now that everything had settled down. I didn't want the story to end.
Profile Image for Ty.
3 reviews
January 31, 2013
I loved the fictional characters of this book. I liked the message of courage and strength it gave through Mary Bliss's character. I enjoyed the way it pulled the reader in and forced you to see someone you know in each of the characters.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy dramatic, fictional, girly books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 935 reviews

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