Having thoroughly enjoyed The Good Widow last summer, I was pumped to get my hands on GIRLS NIGHT OUT. This book did not disappoint. I was invested in each of the characters, was drawn into the Mexican landscape, and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The story is told from different perspectives and moves forward and backward in time, and yet I never found it to be confusing. In fact, it simply added to the suspense and novelty of trying to figure out what happened. I'm pretty limited on books I give 5 star reviews to, but this book had me hooked from the very beginning, kept this tired Momma awake reading way past my bedtime, and had me still thinking about it 24 hours later. #suspense #thriller #beachread

-This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke, and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review.-

Excellent read about broken friendships and a trip to medico to try and heal and resolve differences. I really enjoyed the description of all the areas of Mexico and its history. The mystery as to what really happened on that night and how it all came together at the end.

Three long-time friends, Ashley, Natalie and Lauren, embark on a girls' trip to Mexico for rest, relaxation and an opportunity to repair their bruised and battered friendships. The common denominator of these conflicts is Ashley. As a business partners of a hair product called BloMe, Ashley and Natalie are in a heated disagreement about the future of their company, which causes an obvious strain on their relationship. Ashley and Lauren have been estranged for a year, dancing around their last encounter that resulted in Lauren accusing Ashley of being responsible for her husband's sudden death. On the last day of their disastrous, less-than-successful vacation, Natalie wakes up on the beach, disoriented and missing a chunk of her memory from the night before. Also, Ashley has disappeared and no one seems to know where she's gone. Did the mysterious Latino Casanova, Marco, have something to do with this? Did Ashley finally get fed up with the direction of her life and flee without warning? Or did something more sinister happen to her? It's a situation of nightmarish proportions and Natalie and Lauren are desperate to find their best friend before it's too late.

This is the kind of book I would read on vacation. It's suspenseful, gripping and jam-packed with girl-drama that could easily be solved with some open dialogue, which Ashley, Lauren and Natalie don't seem to realize until it's too late. There were just the right amount of Red Herrings (Marco's disappearing, drugs in Natalie's system, Ashley wanting to escape her life) and the tension between the three friends was palpable in a way that will keep the reader interested in their conflicting relationships. I did get fairly tired of Lauren - I thought it was kind of ridiculous how she blamed Ashley for her husband's death and think she should have been put in her place about it. I thought Ashley's outcome was sad and definitely not what I was expecting (I thought she'd been sold into a sex trafficking network), but I liked that it wasn't predictable. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Love this book. A girls trip gone bad. Three friends on a trip to reconnect, unfortunately does not end as planned. Page turner to the end. Would definitely recommend. Thanks for sharing with me.

Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to get my hands on an ARC of Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke's sophomore novel. Having enjoyed their debut, I was looking forward to reading their follow up and Girls' Night Out did not disappoint. A fast-paced thriller with a slew of interesting characters and enough suspense to keep you guessing throughout.

This is a fun beach read and conveniently takes place on my favorite beach in Mexico. As usual with this author duo, I found myself wanting more but not being disappointed with what I got either. Basically, an easy, fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my Kindle.
My favorite book, so far, by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke!
Three long time girl friends who have "fences to mend" or maybe "not to mend," go to Mexico.
I know the stories about Mexico, especially women going alone, will impact the reader while reading this book, and it should impact them. But just when you think you know what happened, the last couple of chapters change your thoughts and then the ending completely changes everything!
What a great suspense novel!

Absolutely captivating !!! I couldn't put it down. Plot twist I never saw coming . Very well written

Another great read from Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke ! A fast paced thriller that had me hooked from page one. Three friends meet in Mexico to try to rebuild their longtime friendship from past hurts and make big decisions for their future. I loved how the story went back and forth between the present and the past. I felt like all three characters were well developed and each one had interesting stories. I also loved the ending, it was not what I was predicting or expecting.

I enjoyed this book! The only other one I've read from these authors was "The Good Widow" and I didn't care for the whole mystery part (I thought it was lacking something). However, this book was really good! I liked how it went back and forth between present day and the beginning of their vacation. I liked how it revealed details and how you weren't sure if someone was responsible or not. It left a couple of questions at the end and I'm eager to discuss with someone else about their thoughts. I look forward to the next one from these authors and want to go back and read their earlier books.

This book might make you never want to take a girls' trip to Mexico,(or meet someone named Marco) again! You will pick this up and not want to put it down.

Ashley plans a trip with her best friends Natalie and Lauren to try and heal the rifts that have been hurting them. Ashley and Natalie run a famous company BloMe (you can't help but love that) and Revlon wants to buy them out. Natalie needs it but Ashley does not want to. Lauren and Ashley have been at odds since Lauren's husband died suddenly and something happens at the funeral (no spoilers) to make their friendship very strained.

And then Natalie wakes up on the beach, soaking wet, fully dressed, with no idea how she got there. When she returns back to the room she shares with Ashley, there is no sign of her and the story takes off.

I was reeled in from the first page! I loved how the story went back and forth in time so we truly understood what was happening in their lives and their friendship. Ashley was a tough nut for me. I can't say I liked her very much but I got her. I was so invested in what actually happened to her that I read late into the night. Thanks Liz and Lisa for my beautiful undereye bags this morning!

This comes out on July 24 so set your clocks and write it on your calendars!

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union for a copy of this fabulous book.

Fantastic book!

This book was amazing, I could not put it down. This is the first in a long time where I have read a book featuring three strong female characters, and all the men were minor characters. The authors really fleshed out the realities of women who have loved & envied each other for 20 years. The discussions and fights were realistic, and the story itself kept me wanting to read more, right to the very end and then some. This was one of the best books I've read this year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Girl's Night out is a fast paced, edge of your seat, addictive novel! I couldn't stop reading (and frankly, didn't want to!). These two are a power couple and should keep churning out the books so I can get my hands on them! Highly recommended.

Started slow for me. But kept me wondering where it was going. Ending was good.

Out July 24th!

So, I had been hearing about this book everywhere. Tons of people on my various book-related social media groups were raving about Girls' Night Out. So of course I had to read it too! I must say I'm not in Camp Knocked-It-Out-Of-The-Park. But I am in Camp That-Was-Pretty-Good.

Premise of the book: Natalie, Ashley, and their friend Lauren came to Mexico on a girls vacation, in an attempt to rekindle their dwindling friendships. But, will they be able to overcome their pasts? When a charming local inserts himself in their getaway, all bets are off.

The beginning of the story reminded me of a non-comedy version of The Hangover (minus Bradley Cooper... unfortunate), with Natalie waking up on the beach having no recollection of what happened the night before, only to find that her best friend Ashley is missing.

The book jumps back and forth in time between the days leading up to Ashley's disappearance and the events after, eventually revealing the happenings of "that night." Unfortunately, I can't say any of the events in the book were truly shocking or unexpected. The elements that seemed like they were supposed to be unpredictable seemed extremely obvious, and overall the ending was a bit underwhelming.

But don't get me wrong. This makes it seem like I didn't like the book at all, but I did. The story kept me interested despite my lack of surprise, and I felt the panic in the girls as they searched for their friend. The three main characters were relatable (almost gave me a Sex and the City vibe), although they bickered almost the entire length of the story (kind of like that time Miranda told Big he was crazy to get married and Carrie found out... Eek!).

I wish the book hadn't been so hyped up for me, because I ended up expecting much more in my head than what was delivered. If I had jut picked it up off the shelf and read it with no expectations, I probably would have enjoyed it more. But overall, bravo to Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke for putting forth an entertaining read!

-This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke, and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review.-

I have seen such good reviews for this book and I was really disappointed. I had to force myself to read this because the female characters were so whiny and stereotypically privileged. I couldn’t enjoy the mystery part of the novel because I hated the characters so much. I’m baffled that women can write women so badly.

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. The twists are cliche, the characters are basic, generic, they all seem like the same woman and I had trouble remembering who was who. Having said that, it was quite entertaining, and I tore through it to see how it ended. Worth reading of you like these kind of stories.

One word to describe this page turning psychological thriller : wow! This novel is filled with a beautiful backdrop, layered and highly developed characters and multiple twists. Readers get to join Ashley, Lauren and Natalie on a drama filled girls vacation.

Ashley- beautiful, smart, successful, sexy and vibrant. She sets up a trip with her business partner and best friend Natalie to quell drama that is stemming from a recent offer for their business and her estranged best friend Lauren to heal the riff that was formed when Ashley and Natalie attempted to rescue Lauren from an abusive relationship. She also is attempting to escape marital strife.

Natalie- level headed yet fun, overworked fiery red head who accepts the trip to convince Ashley to sell their business and put some distance between herself and her faltering marriage.

Lauren beautiful and widowed at the age of 39 she accepts the trip to forgive Ashley and heal open wounds

The ladies embark on Mexico with images of sun, sand and drinks and quality girl time. But when a man interlopers and steals Ashley's attention, the women only shatter friendships further they get more than they bargain for.

Ashley ends up missing. Natalie ends up on the beach, wet and with no memory and Lauren reels with the outcome of hurtful words and the realization that sometimes time does not heal.

These ladies are real, layered and fun. I both wanted to get to the end of the novel to unravel the story but also hated for it to end

Also the acknowledgement section of this novel carries its own story and is just as raw and emotional.

Releasing July 24th the blockbuster team of Liz and Lisa not only met the bar set by their last novel but shattered it. Absolutely addictive. Sure to be one of the best reads of the summer!!!

I love the cover design and the idea. The pace is fast and the story intriguing enough. But the so-called girlfriends, narrators of the story, quite hideous.

I wasn't surprised to read similar reviews after reading this book. Their friendship doesn't really sound believable. I think in every good book there is a moment or a character that makes ANY reader think, that's exactly like the person I know...place I've been... the thing that happened to me... It's why we read - to escape our present into a world we can easily imagine being a realistic parallel universe (in general fiction, at least).

The three friends weren't described in a way that makes you care because you don't believe they care about each other. It's just words on paper (or screen), there didn't seem to be much emotion behind them. I would say it reads like commercial fiction, but it didn't feel very hyped or cliffhanger either.

Also, the constantly jumping narratives and times were a bit too confusing.

Honestly, I felt like this was a great idea for a story but the book could have used some tweaking, and further character development to explain the intended plot better.

The market is flooded with mysteries. Every time one hits the top of the charts, a hundred more promising the same formula follow suit. I'm not going to pretend this newest one is one of those such books, but it is very good.

Three's a crowd, right? Even though Natalie, Ashley, and Lauren have been friends for years, Ashley is the center around which they revolve. It seems as if the other two apart always vying for her attention, to be the one closest to her. But life and circumstances have driven them apart somewhat. Ashley, desperate to regain that closeness, arranges a girls' weekend in Mexico. And then Ashley disappears. And Natalie can't remember what happened. Did she have something to do with Ashley's disappearance? Along the way, of course, secrets are revealed and motives are questioned.

This is a great beach read. Well, I don't actually go to the beach but if I did I imagine this is the type of book I'd want to have with me. It's fun and fast-paced and predictable while at the same time having a few twists and turns. Just in time for the summer reading season!