I really enjoyed this and look forward to more from this author duo. The friendship dynamic between the main characters was the stand out of this book for me. It's a great beach read!

3 girls in a tense friendship go to Mexico to reconnect. It’s never clear how they got to be best friends, only how it all fell apart. I never connected with any of the characters and they seemed to be making just awful decisions for almost 40 year olds. Was looking forward to this book but it was not my favorite sadly.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during that 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I’d rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.

This book was... fine. It pulled me in initially but the second half of the book dragged so much that by the end I didn't care what happened to any of the characters. I didn't feel like any of the characters developed as the story went on either; they kept harping on the same issues with no resolution.

No matter what I'm reading these days I always like to switch back to a mystery thriller on occasion, which is what had me reaching for Girls' Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, a novel about three best friends with a lot of friction between them that go on vacation to Mexico together only for one of them to disappear.⁣
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This is a co-written book that includes multiple perspectives but it flows seamlessly while having each perspective be clearly defined and unique. I thought the authors did a fantastic job capturing the dynamics that often happen when there are multiple best friends in a group, and the relationships between the characters was really strong. There is also a whole lot of domestic drama which adds another element to the story, although sometimes the arguments in the book felt repetitive--that's real life, but not the best to the read about. I didn't actually like any of the characters but I didn't mind, I just felt like the book was a bit slow-moving at times. It does flip between before and after the person goes missing, but I still didn't quite get the tension I crave in a thriller. Even though it wasn't a new favourite, I enjoyed Girls' Night Out and I'd recommend picking it up if you are fan of books that focus on the relationships between women and want an extra element (a missing person!) to the story.⁣
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Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Girl's Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke.

This is a story about three women with complicated histories, reconnecting for a night of fun, a girl's night out. But past hurts start to quickly resurface, and one of them goes missing. What happened in their past to cause one to disappear.

I'm surprised because the last book I read by Fenton and Steinke I really enjoyed. This was just way to muddled and didn't seem to go anywhere. The characters also felt too interchangeable. I honestly couldn't keep them straight.

This was a really good book! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. You could feel all of their pain and their desire to repair things. I highly recommend it!

These three women were the best of friends, but also the best of frenemies. They were quite competitive and didn't really think about each others situations very much. It didn't even seem like a girls trip, they weren't ready to talk things out, to try to forgive, and Ashley kept leaving them behind to go off with Marco. It was her idea to have this friendship healing trip and didn't even seem to try to hash things out with Lauren. I felt like some of the story was dragging through the middle, going over the same bad situations several times until we finally got to the end and found out what happened.

Girls Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke #jaylammreviews

This was one of the first books I was ever approved for on Netgalley- a July 2018 release. I wish I wouldn't have put it off so long because I really liked this one!

The story is pretty simple- three friends; Natalie, Lauren, and Ashley go on a tropical getaway to reconnect their fractured friendship- then Ashley goes missing...

What I loved about this story was the characters. All three women were interesting and complex. The main issue was that old saying three is a crowd is spot on. They were always competing for the attention. They had intense flawed friendships with each other within their group- which tends to happen in a group of friends. Each person has their own dramas with the others. So I felt that this dynamic was very realistic. 

The story is set up to surround the night that one of the girls went missing. So we go back and forth between the few days before the disappearance and the days after. This story was really nonstop suspense. I couldn't wait to find out what happen to Ashley!

Definitely check out this back list book if you are looking for a suspense novel with a whole lot of drama!

I really struggled to get through this one, which doesn't typically happen to me when reading suspense novels. However, I felt like I had to drudge through this to get to the end. The novel follows three women who have been friends for 20 years but have faced real conflict with each other over the past year. One decides a vacation in Mexico will do the trick to help them mend things (which made zero sense to me). After a lot of drinking over the course of several days, one of them goes missing. I wanted to find out what happened to her, but there were just no twists or turns to keep me interested. It felt predictable and drawn out, and I found all three of the main characters to be pretty annoying (with barely any redeeming qualities). There were also constant rehashes of the same information, which made it feel even more lengthy, and the plot jumped back and forth in time and in perspective (so confusing!). Also, I did feel like it was noticeable that two people wrote this novel - some of the writing styles seemed to vary unnecessarily. I need a lot more in my thrillers to keep me happy.

Lila, an attorney who had an affair with her boss, Sam while being married to her husband, Ethan. Lila and Ethan are going through a divorce after Lila cheated with her professor to get an internship at a prestigious internship beating out her best friend
This was my first book by these talented ladies on audio. i absolutely loved it⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The alternating timelines were a lot to keep up with, and these characters were very unlikeable, but overall not a bad book for a quick read. I enjoy this writing partnership and can't wait to read more from them.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

The trip to Mexico was for the group of friends Ashley, Lauren and Natalie to reconnect and make amends.

From the outside Ashley has everything anyone could ask for. A perfect marriage, 2 loving kids, her own successful business and a beautiful home.

Natalie and Ashley are best friends and business partners. But Natalie is stuck feeling like an extra in the world of Ashley.

Lauren feels like she's the third wheel. She's not in the business with Natalie and Ashley. Lauren doesn't feel there's a true friendship between her and Natalie outside of Ashley.

This thriller is a chilling page-turner full of secrets and contempt that will keep the reader guessing over and over.

I have to say that this book was a little disappointing. I felt like there was too much dysfunction in the relationships between these three "friends." And I put friends in quotes because friends don't treat each other the way these three ladies did. The "girls" in this book were selfish and more focused on drinking, screwing around, not supporting each other.

There was mystery involved. And the fact that the book was told from three different voices made it interesting. Though there was so much rehashing of some of the issues. It just got old.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Three friends who are trying to mend relationships go on a trip to Tallum, Mexico. Ashley and Natalie co-own a company and Lauren and Ashley have some past fences to mend. Loved the beginning of the book. Natalie wakes up on a beach chair and her dress is soaked. She does not remember what happened the night before. Ashley has disappeared. The story moves before the disappearance, after the disappearance, and before they went to Mexico. I enjoyed this story. It is a good summer read. Not sure about the ending.

I have to admit that the mystery of this book was only somewhat compelling for me. But what I really enjoyed were the depictions of the friendships between these three women. Women are complicated, and adult friendships even more so. As much as their dealings with each other made me frustrated with all three of them, it also felt somewhat realistic. In a trio of friends, it is guaranteed that the relationship will always be unbalanced between the three. I enjoyed the book most after reading the back matter about the authors, and how writing the book tested their own friendship. I think in the end it all worked out- for the book, and for the writers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC, in exchange for my unbiased review.

*thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.

Ohh I so wanted to like this! But I couldn't connect with the characters at all, they kept blending into each other and none of them really stood out for me. It was a struggle to get through but I wanted to know if it would pick up and get more interesting. It did but it took too long to reach that point. Unfortunately this was not for me.

Loved it! Girls' Night Out is a great deep dive into three women's friendship and the slights, jealousies, and other things that can affect it. It starts with Natalie and Lauren, essentially living in the shadow of their beautifrul friend, Ashley. As much as they love her, there is always something beneath the surface...resentment...old grudges. When the three women decide to go on holiday together, they hope to repair their friendship, but then things go horribly wrong when Ashley disappears.

I really loved how Girls' Night Out takes us back to earlier days in the women' lives so that we experience what has led to the tension between them. The story is tightly written and keeps the tension high. I really enjoy books that go beneath the pleasant surface of friendship and examine the dynamics of how friendship can just as easily become hate. And one of my favorite aspects of this book was how Steinke and Fenton zero in on the ever-shifting balance of power within relationships that can inevitably leave one party feeling like the "also ran". Great writing, interesting and very flawed characters and a tight mystery. Highly recommended!

Fantastic book about three women in their 40’s who had been friends since childhood, and now struggling to regain their friendship after being partners in a company, and have become estranged by time. In an attempt to recapture their once solid friendship they embark on a girls trip to Cancun Mexico. Unfortunately, troubles also follow them to Cancun and have a tragic outcome. Quickly the characters and pages of the book grasp you in a “What happened their last night out” frenzy. Exciting book all the way to the very end.

Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren have gone away together to a resort in Tulum, Mexico in hopes of rekindling their previous friendships at Ashley's request. They had been best of friends since college, but in the last few years several incidents have damaged their relationships. The story is told by going back and forth since their arrival in Tulum as well as with a few flashbacks describing their troubles. It might sound confusing, but I had not problem following this story.

It opens the day before the trio will be returning to the U.S. Natalie wakes up wet on a chair on the beach. She does not remember what happened the night before and she can't find Ashley. The last thing she remembers is that she and Ashley were together. When she heads to her room, she finds all Ashley's things, but not her. Lauren has not seen her either. Where is she? Has something happened to her? Did she run off with Marco, the man they met on the beach?

I liked the theme of friendship in this book. The ladies all had problems, but Ashley wanted to bring them all back together, unfortunately, wanting it and succeeding at doing it are two very different things. The problems the women were experiencing were realistic; Death of a spouse, abuse, financial problems and of course, keeping secrets only exacerbated the situation. Having said that, I did not like these women. They were all very self-centered and selfish. They were whiny and hard to connect with. Overall, this was an interesting read with some twists, and an intriguing and well-paced plot. The ending was unexpected and shocking, a real wow moment. This was my first read from Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, and I will watch for more books from this pair.