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Ashley Elston

Ashley Elston holds a liberal arts degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and worked for many years as a wedding photographer before turning to writing. She lives in Louisiana with her husband and three sons. The author of six young adult novels, her adult debut, First Lie Wins, is a Reese's Book Club pick and debuted at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed First Lie Wins.
1
Books Reviewed
In order

Ashley Elston books in order

8 books; 1 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.

  1. The Rules for Disappearing cover
    2013
    The Rules for Disappearing
    Amazon ↗
  2. The Rules for Breaking cover
    2014
    The Rules for Breaking
    Amazon ↗
  3. This is Our Story cover
    2016
    This is Our Story
    Amazon ↗
  4. The Lying Woods cover
    2018
    The Lying Woods
    Amazon ↗
  5. 10 Blind Dates cover
    2019
    10 Blind Dates
    Amazon ↗
  6. 10 Truths and a Dare cover
    2021
    10 Truths and a Dare
    Amazon ↗
  7. First Lie Wins cover
    2024
    Our review →
  8. Anatomy of an Alibi cover
    2026
    Anatomy of an Alibi
    Amazon ↗

Ask LuvemBooks about Ashley Elston

Ashley Elston is a Louisiana-based author who spent years as a wedding photographer before publishing six young adult novels and launching her adult debut with First Lie Wins, a psychological thriller that became a Reese's Book Club pick and New York Times bestseller with a 4.3/5 reader rating. Her fiction centers on unreliable narrators and the damage caused by deception, crafting plots where truth and motive are deliberately obscured.
Where should I start?
Begin with First Lie Wins if you're looking for her most accomplished and widely recognized work. It's her adult debut and the book that brought her significant recognition, offering a sharp entry point into her style of psychological suspense. If you're interested in her earlier work, 10 Blind Dates represents her young adult catalog.
What's their writing style?
Elston writes with a sharp, controlled voice centered on unreliable narrators and the consequences of deception. Her prose is direct and propulsive, avoiding sentiment in favor of psychological clarity—she lets the mechanics of a lie unfold without moralizing. In First Lie Wins, she demonstrates a particular skill at building tension through misdirection, with a narrator whose motivations shift beneath surface charm.
What genre does she write?
Elston primarily writes psychological thrillers and suspense. Her debut adult novel, First Lie Wins, is a work of psychological fiction centered on deception and unreliable narration. Before her adult debut, she published six young adult novels.
Books we've reviewed
We have reviewed one Ashley Elston title on LuvemBooks: First Lie Wins, her psychological thriller about a woman who infiltrates lives with calculated charm, landing her a Reese's Book Club pick and a 4.3/5 reader rating.
Why is First Lie Wins so successful?
First Lie Wins resonated with readers and critics as a smart, tightly plotted psychological thriller with a narrator whose charm masks darker intentions. Its selection for Reese's Book Club significantly expanded its reach, and the 4.3/5 reader rating across over 106,000 Amazon ratings reflects broad appeal across thriller readers. The book's exploration of manipulation and calculated deception struck a cultural nerve during a moment when audiences were hungry for morally complex female protagonists.
Who is Ashley Elston?

Who is Ashley Elston?

Ashley Elston holds a liberal arts degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and worked as a wedding photographer for many years before transitioning to writing full-time. She is the author of six young adult novels and the adult thriller First Lie Wins, which was selected for Reese's Book Club and became a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Louisiana with her husband and three sons.

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