Megan Collins’ new release, “Thicker Than Water,” is an unusual story in that the most important relationship in the story is between two women, the two women narrators, Sienna and Julia. They first became friends when Julia married Jason, Sienna’s brother. Although they hadn’t been dating long, Julia was pregnant, and Jason was eager to “do the right thing”; and Julia was so enamored with Sienna and their budding friendship that she agreed.

Now, almost fifteen years later, while Sienna and Julia’s relationship is as solid as ever, Julia’s marriage is teetering. Sienna and Julia have started a business together, and their individual strengths and weaknesses work well for them as a team. Sienna’s volatile nature is tempered by Julia’s calm demeanor. And Julia’s inability to be forceful when needed is compensated by Sienna’s ability to deal with angry customers.

But we see, as we learn more about the two women from their own words, how each of them is keeping a secret from the other. Julia is reluctant to tell Sienna that Jason took $10,000 from their vacation fund without telling Julia. He claims it was on a business investment that went bad and he can’t get it back. Julia is hurt and angry that he did it behind her back and then didn’t tell her about it. She found out on her own and had to confront him. But she fears that if she confides in Sienna about her feelings of frustration and betrayal, Sienna will just stick up for her brother, whom she idolizes.

Sienna likewise is hiding something from Julia. She had broken up with her boyfriend, Wyatt, when during one drunken stag party for a friend, he blacked out and ended up sleeping with someone. It wasn’t even anyone he knew, and by the time morning came, she was gone. But to Sienna, that betrayal, even though he doesn’t remember it, meant she could never trust Wyatt again. But she can’t seem to stay away from him, and she will visit him for brief sexual encounters that she convinces herself mean nothing. And at the same time, she tells Julia that she doesn’t speak to Wyatt, and she doesn’t ever want to talk about him.

These omissions, these small betrayals, are repeated throughout the story with Julia and Jason, Sienna and Jason, and even with Julia’s son, Aiden. We see suppressed emotions and false memories; and at the center is Jason. At the start of the story we learn that his boss was murdered: stabbed, suffocated, and his lips sewn together. A few nights later, Jason is driving and in a horrible accident which leaves him in a medically induced coma. During that time, the police become suspicious of him and investigate him for the murder of his boss.

Sienna and, at first, Julia, are determined to clear Jason’s name. The Jason they know and love could not commit such a heinous act. But the more they investigate, the more doubts they have. Julia starts thinking about Jason’s past actions in a different light, and she begins to doubt him and his innocence.

It’s a fascinating threesome—Jason, his sister and his wife. The story revolves as much around the two women together and their love for each other as it does around each woman’s relationship with Jason. By the end, Jason is stripped of pretense, and Sienna and Julia see him with all his faults and weaknesses. But is that a terrible thing? Don’t we all have our own faults and weaknesses? Don’t Julia and Sienna show, via their own actions, that they are not perfect?

In the end, this touching and twisty story is about finding the truth, dealing with one’s own weaknesses, and finding the ability to forgive others who certainly have their own faults. It’s about friendship and trust and honesty, and we really feel fulfilled by the end when we see how both women have changed for the better as a result of their trials.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.