Christie's review: Tomorrow's Lies by S.R. Grey

Title: Tomorrow's Lies

Series: Promises #1

Author: S.R. Grey

Release Date: October 28, 2015

Cover Designer: Hang Le

Rating: 4.5 stars

Cliffhanger: No

When today's promises become tomorrow's lies, how can you believe in anything . . . or anyone?

Jaynie Cumberland has no idea how to trust again, so she’s given up on trying. Dumped in to the state foster care system at age fourteen, Jaynie spent three years treading water, just trying to get by.

Still, Jaynie always knew she was broken in some way. After all, why did her own mother abandon her? And following a harrowing experience at her first foster home, Jaynie’s worst fears are confirmed, leaving her feeling worthless and shattered.

Now Jaynie counts the days till she turns eighteen and can go out on her own. All she wants is to be free of everyone and everything. But before that can happen, she must make it through the next few months at one final foster home. There Jaynie meets a gorgeous, albeit rough-around-the-edges, boy who is dealing with the repercussions of his own turbulent past.

Flynn O'Neill is immediately taken with this new, fragile girl. He becomes determined to show Jaynie there is more to life than hurt and pain. Unfortunately, this new home they live in, one that promised to be a haven for unwanted kids, is more like a living hell.

So what do you do when you’re trapped and there’s no way out?

What if you fall in love and protecting the other person becomes the most important thing in your life?

What if something unthinkable happens, testing your love, and the stakes are raised higher than ever? Will you come out unscathed? Can today’s promises be kept? Or will they simply become more of tomorrow’s lies?

Tomorrow’s Lies is a beautiful story of an all-consuming love and broken people building a family out of nothing. It's about never giving up, even in the face of adversity.

*mature content and possible triggers*

Buy Links:
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Author Bio:

S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and Barnes & Noble #1 Bestselling author. She is the author of the popular Judge Me Not series, the new Promises series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey’s works have appeared on multiple Amazon Bestseller lists, including Top 100 multiple times, as well as Barnes & Noble #1 in Bestselling Nook books.

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Excerpt:

Without opening my eyes, I lean into Flynn’s lingering touch. He tucks more wayward hair behind my ear, pieces that weren’t even stuck to my cheek. He just wants to touch me. “Is this all right?” he whispers. 

“Yes.”

I open my eyes, and he smiles at me. I smile back at him. He’s as excited by this development as I am. And, damn, it feels good. A million unsaid things are expressed as we gaze into each other’s eyes. Maybe not a million, but many, and all of them point to two things—I like Flynn, and he likes me. We are more than friends, more than pretend siblings. 

Time freezes, and I revel in the magic of the moment. But alas, when he moves his fingers away from my face, the moment is lost.

“We should go in,” Flynn says, clearing his throat. 

“Yeah, we should.” 

In the house, neither of us mentions a word about what happened out on the porch. There’s no need for discussion; we both know this is huge. Flynn—a guy—touched me, and I didn’t have a meltdown. 

Maybe there is hope for me, after all. Like real hope that I can have a normal relationship. I feel more like myself now than I have in a long time. So maybe this is the family I needed all along to help me reach this point. 

And then there are my feelings for Flynn. Maybe Flynn is more than just the here and now. Maybe he’s my future.

Tomorrow's Lies is a story of love bringing hope back to the hopeless. It's not just another story of two broken people putting their shattered pieces back together. Jaynie and Flynn are denied the most basic physical and emotional necessities that are every human's right. And still, their giving nature, their goodness is never erased. When all hope and optimism for a better life have been shattered and destroyed, two teens find healing and acceptance in each other.


This book is so different than my typical reads, but I'm so happy I decided to read it. I got so much more than I bargained for and I won't soon forget it. The author sheds light onto some very difficult topics, things that most people would rather not think about.

These are two characters that will immediately draw you in and bring you into the world that they exist in. Jayne and Flynn are foster children who have lived for years in the horribly flawed system that often times consumes the innocence of the ones who need a loving hand the most. The first chapter was a raw and heartbreaking look into the horrors of child abuse. But that was only the beginning of the pain and suffering that would have to be endured.



The book alternates between the past and present, showing us how Jaynie and Flynn came to be at the foster home where they meet. They are both seventeen and counting the days until they can leave the care of the state and finally find freedom from the fears they live with every day. Jaynie has a huge chip on her shoulder and is incapable of being touched. Even though she's entering a home that once again exploits her vulnerability, it's a far cry from the horrors that she just escaped. But she never expected to find the boy who would help her find real happiness once again. A boy who has been through just as much pain as she has and understands her and treats her with kindness and patience.

His wide shoulders carry so much of his own pain, but he's willing to carry mine too. And beneath that hard chest lies a good heart. Maybe someday I'll find the courage to lean my head against him.



Watching their love bloom in these less than ideal circumstances was sweet and heartbreaking all at the same time. Together they find the exhilaration of that first attraction-the uncertainty and nervousness. Then the rush of exploring their gravitation toward one another.

Lowering my face to hers, we share breaths more heated than the hot air surrounding us. There is nothing else in the world right now, only she and I.



This book was difficult at times to read, but also a love story with purity and expectation. Of what could be. The strength and endurance you can find in the lowest of places. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a poignant and emotional read that will resonate in the most cynical heart. It ends in a happy-for-now place (no cliffhanger) and Jaynie and Flynn (as well as the side characters) story will continue on in the following book.
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