This was such an interestingly twisted and sick, honestly gives the creeps. Readers sensitive to abuse of physical or verbal kind should know that theme comes up as part of the plot in therapy sessions and the main characters. The ending will come to a surprise, one I had hoped for some of the characters. Diversity rounds out the mystery that uncovers part of the corruption and makes the characters shine. Entertaining, a bit shocking and a great beach read!

The Last Resort is an ominous, character-driven novel that takes us to the idyllic Harmony Resort where the illustrious marriage counsellors Miles and Grace Markell are once again ready to help another group of struggling couples find their way back to each other. But like most things involving money, power, and privilege everything is not always as it seems, and hidden away behind those polished, flawless exteriors lies an abundance of lies, secrets, adultery, greed, abuse, subjugation, and manipulation.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Last Resort by Melissa Stapley was an interesting and fast paced read. I enjoyed the cast of character this book had. Each character was fascinating and well written. This one definitely kept me turning pages wondering what we going to happen next!

The Harmony Resort promises hope for struggling marriages. Run by celebrity power couple Drs. Miles and Grace Markell, the “last resort” offers a chance for partners to repair their relationships in a luxurious setting on the gorgeous Mayan Riviera.

Johanna and Ben have a marriage that looks perfect on the surface, but in reality, they don’t know each other at all. Shell and Colin fight constantly: after all, Colin is a workaholic, and Shell always comes second to his job as an executive at a powerful mining company. But what has really torn them apart is too devastating to talk about. When both couples begin Harmony’s intensive therapy program, it becomes clear that Harmony is not all it seems—and neither are Miles and Grace themselves. What are they hiding, and what price will these couples pay for finding out?

As a deadly tropical storm descends on the coast, trapping the hosts and the guests on the resort, secrets are revealed, loyalties are tested and not one single person—or their marriage—will remain unchanged by what follows.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and Harlequin for a free review copy of this book. The setting of this book is initially quite beautiful. It is set in a stunning private resort on the Mayan Riviera. The book starts with couples arriving at the Harmony Resort to attend a couples retreat. The retreat is run by a well know celebrity couple. Miles and Grace are psychologists and on the outside they have a perfect marriage. This facade falls apart as we learn more about them and the techniques they use in counselling their clients. The suspense ramps up as the week progresses with Mile’s behaviour becoming more erratic. Some of the clients worship him but others are starting to question his motivations. Things become even more intense as a hurricane descends trapping them at the resort. Central to the story are two couples in particular who are examining who they are and whether or not their marriage will survive. This is a fast paced thriller that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. I loved the writing. The book is so atmospheric you feel you are living the story along with the characters.

DNF at 40%. Unfortunately I could not get in to this story and found it too slow for my taste. The book was hard to read bc there was no clear indication of when the POV changed.

Set at a couples retreat in Mexico, this story is riddled with drama, secrets and sinister intentions. I loved the tropical setting and the creep factor was strong. Overall, a compulsive, fast beach read!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Marissa Stanley
This was a quick read. Enjoyable, great beach or vacation read.

Super intriguing & fun beach read!! This thriller was bananas!! In a good way! Read this on a beach in Mexico about a lot going down between an angry couple on a beach in Mexico. Definitely recommended this one to my friends.

3.5 rounded upward. The Last Resort is a novel about a marriage retreat where nothing is as it seems.
Thanks go to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Miles and Grace Markell run an intensive marriage therapy camp in Mexico. The affluent couples that come here are desperate to save their crumbling marriages. Everyone is supposed to give up their cell phones and internet privileges, and once they do that, they are more or less helpless, which is part of the proprietor’s plan.

Readers should know this book has triggers everywhere.

Between the punny title and the teaser that suggests that the couple that runs the retreat has the worst marriage of anybody, I was anticipating that this would be hilarious, and that’s not so. There are a couple of moments of dark humor, but mostly this is a straight-up suspense story. That said, it’s a good book, but nothing special. It took me a good long time to distinguish the couples from each other. The climax is fast approaching, and I’m still trying to remember which person Shell is, and who her husband is, and what problem has brought them here. I would probably have had greater success if I hadn’t read this book at the same time as a handful of others, but if I had been forced to read just one book, I would have chosen most of the others I was reading over this one.

This doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy this book. I had recently read another story about a retreat where everyone’s phones were seized and internet forbidden, and so in some ways my lack of interest here was a fluke. Read the synopsis; if you are interested, I recommend you get this one free or at a deep discount.

** Mini Review **

This book was a wild and crazy ride! An island resort, couples trying to repair their marriage, secrets, lies, black male, and a hurricane. This book was SO entertaining. It got a little over-the-top at times, but I was completely invested in the madness. I thought this was going to be a book about couples therapy and some secrets, but it turned into something completely different. A huge swerve and I was there for it! Major drama with a satisfying ending.

This book in emojis 🏝 🎢 🌊

*** Big thanks to Harlequin for my copy of this book ***

The Last Resort was a unique read, unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. It was hard to feel connected to the characters or to care too much about their many problems, and a lot of the "plot twists" were pretty expected. If you like stories with lots of secrets and mysteries, then give this a try on your next beach read day!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 4 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

This was not a favorite of mine because there were too many subplots and vaporous details to make the story solidify and not seem to ramble. The premise is good: a couple’s resort designed to delve deep into the true reasons for the couple’s problems. However, the problems of the owners of the resort present more problems to the continuity of the plot rather than add to it.
I voluntarily read an advanced reader's copy of the book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

<I>The Last Resort</i>, as the title might suggest, is marketed as a beach read. I just so happened to start reading this at the beach. What luck! But I didn't finish it there. It took me a lot longer to get through than I initially anticipated. I didn't like the characters. I didn't like how their stories were written/portrayed. There could have been some thriller and suspense that would rope me in, but essentially it just got me skimming. It had the opposite effect on me.

Understanding that most married couples hit rough spots. Some might have even married for the wrong reason and get so wrapped up in their lives, that they never take the time to realize it's not right for them. <I>The Last Resort</i> follows a couple of married couples on the fringe of breaking up, but trying one last time to work through their issues. Those whom they are supposed to trust to help them, ultimately end up manipulating them and ruining that line of trust.

There were some strong individual storyline lines (Johanna, the social worker, dealing with a clients unhinged husband: Shell and Colin making one bad decision about their daughter that changed the scope of the rest of their lives) but together, the main story just didn't hit its mark.

I waited long enough to finally read this damn book that I was able to listen to the audiobook. I found that I definitely need audiobooks to be intriguing and somewhat mysterious for me to really want to pick listening to one over listening to a podcast. Apparently that’s just the way I am. I listened to most of the audiobook and read some of my egalley afterwards because I really just wanted to finish it off.

The premise of this book is that a bunch of couples head to Mexico for a couples retreat to rebuild their relationships, under the guidance of popular married therapist couple of Miles and Grace. There’s Jo and Ben, who are newlyweds already struggling with their compatability, and Colin and Shell, who have been together for about 30 years. I was kind of expecting more couples to be featured but I think it would have gotten too complicated at the end of the book when things kicked up.

I don’t have much to say about this one, to be honest? It was mostly fine. I didn’t love the characters – not sure if I was supposed to – and pretty much every “twist” was predictable. I knew exactly all of the “secrets” everyone was hiding before coming to the island. I thought this was a bit of a thriller going into it but I think it’s mostly just a slightly thrilling contemporary? Maybe a domestic thriller set on an island.

It definitely picked up at the end just because the storm finally arrived at the island around the 80% mark, despite being a part of the synopsis of the book… Anyways, I think this was a quicker read overall and kind of entertaining. I would read another book by this author and see how I feel.

2 stars, ⭐️⭐️

Actually, that may be a bit generous. The Last Resort was a huge letdown for me. I expected so much more I guess.

The luxurious Harmony Resort, run by celebrity power couple Miles and Grace, offers couples with struggling marriages a last chance to repair their relationships on the beautiful Mayan Riviera. However, Harmony is not all that it seems and neither are the hosts.

Sounds interesting, right? WRONG. Boring characters + a super slow storyline does not work for me. This could have been so much better with a little more excitement and fewer pages.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin-Graydon House Books and Marissa Stapley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

The Last Resort is an ominous, character-driven novel that takes us to the idyllic Harmony Resort where the illustrious marriage counsellors Miles and Grace Markell are once again ready to help another group of struggling couples find their way back to each other. But like most things involving money, power, and privilege everything is not always as it seems, and hidden away behind those polished, flawless exteriors lies an abundance of lies, secrets, adultery, greed, abuse, subjugation, and manipulation.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are troubled, deceptive, and vulnerable. And the plot, including all the subplots, keep you engrossed from start to finish with a multitude of twists, turns, obsession, deception, jealousy, familial drama, revelations, violence, and murder.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley but unfortunately the release date passed before I could read it. However, I enjoyed the story a lot. Miles and Grace Markell own a marriage retreat on the coast of Mexico near Tulum. However, their picture perfect marriage is a carefully constructed lie. The story focuses on 3 marriages, 2 of which are couples at this retreat. I am going to guess the editing and spacing was corrected on the final version, because mine didn't have breaks between "scenes" so that was a little confusing at times. Johanna and Ben ; Shell and Colin were also featured. We saw more of the women's perspectives than the men's. There was definitely a #MeToo aspect as Miles was a predator and culty type person. His murder was not so much a mystery as what it took to get to that point. Nonetheless it was well written and enjoyable.

What do you get when you blend a few troubled marriages, a beautiful Mexican resort, a hurricane and a complete whack job....a great summer read! The characters are well written (although Ruth and Miles need a smidge more background), their stories are compelling, and the romances are beautiful. It a joy to see true love triumph over evil...