THE GIRLS WEEKEND is an entertaining thriller about a group of old college friends who meet up years later for a baby shower reunion weekend. When one of the women goes missing, the rest of them try to figure out what happened to her and if one of them are responsible.

Author Jody Gehrman does a great job writing compelling characters and making their stories interesting. I flew through this fast-paced book and was intrigued throughout. I will say the ending didn’t blow me away, even if it is appalling to fathom. Still, an entertaining read and now I have a new author to add to my list.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Jody Gehrman, and NetGalley for an ARC.

WOW, just WOW. I could not put this book down. The premise, 5 college friends re uniting for a girl's weekend captured my attention and kept from start to finish. The descriptions of the characters, the house, the grounds was so well done that I could picture it all while I was reading. The animosity. jealousy, pain, came through so vividly. It went in a direction that I never would have guessed. Great twist.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

June’s boyfriend leaves her for another woman and informs her via text that he is in Amsterdam with the woman. This causes June to attend a girls weekend with old college friends that she had previously had no plans to attend. June and her best friend Emily meet 2 other college friends at the home of their wealthy and successful friend Sadie, in Washington. Sadie lives with her husband and 17 year old daughter in what appears to be a perfect life. During the girls weekend, Sadie goes missing, none of the other women can remember the previous nights events, and the search for answers begins.

Everyone in this book had a bone to pick with Sadie so the murdered could have been literally anyone of them and I would have believed it. When the culprit was revealed, I hadn’t figured out and it was totally plausible. Overall a good quick read.

Why can't they remember? Where is Sadie? Did she plan this and leave on her own? Is she dead?
A text from Sadie MacTavish for a reunion at her house. Five girls who attended college together and one fixing to have a baby.
"Don't old friends owe it to each other to answer the call of the tribal drums?"
June, at the last minute decides to go with Em. Her boyfriend sends her a text breaking up with her from Amsterdam where he has suddenly gone with another girl.
This book will keep you turning the pages until the end.
"We were caught in that magical golden bubble between childhood and adulthood- We knew secrets about one another weighty as grenades."

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

What a “guilty pleasure” of a read! A fun who dunnit that made me miss my college years a little, and my group of “girls” I have lost touch with, a lot. The main character did a lot of detective questioning, but her prose was imaginative. Her mind worked like a modern day “Agatha Christie.” I enjoyed the book and finished it in a day.

An interesting concept of four college friends gathering again.. One reluctantly. It's a bit leading towards the conclusion, but a fun read.

A fast-paced, engaging read. In some cases, this book's premise could seem outlandish; however, in Gehrman's hands, it feels completely plausible. A group of 5 college friends reunite after almost 20 years to celebrate one of the women's pregnancy. But the catch: one of the friends has made it big--like, J K Rowling big. And while it is a convenient setting for a novel like this, it's also something that can--and does--happen to some people, right? The regular kid who grows up to be a famous gazillionaire? This book explores the complicated dynamics that take place when something like this happens.

Of course, it's more than a sociological study; it's a great closed door mystery as well. Someone ends up missing, likely dead, during the girls' weekend on the wealthy friend's estate. The more you find out about the victim, the more you find motivations for those around her to want her dead. There are a number of red herrings to sort through until you finally figure out the actual culprit.

This was a real page-turner, and I enjoyed reading it. I also look forward to reading other titles from this author.

I read this in one day, it was so good. Even though parts were slow and I skimmed them ( I regretted this later!) the story was intriguing and I never knew what to believe. The ending was unpredictable and satisfying. Worth a read!

Jody Gehrman serves up a closed room thriller much like some of her contemporaries; "The Hunting Party" by Lucy Foley and "An Unwanted Guest" by Shari Lepena are the first two that come to mind. What starts as a girl's trip that promises to bring a quartet of bff's together for the first time in over a decade quickly devolves into an outpouring of raw emotions, pent up anger rushing to the surface, and violence beyond comprehension.
Gehrman has a strong structure in place. There are four strong, independent and unique ladies at the center of the story. Our pov character is just coming out of a break-up and needs some time away from real life, but she's also a bit tentative to throw in for the retreat. She has a bit of a hot/cold rivalry with their host and is aware of the potential for drama - after all, her college flame is now married to their hostess. What could go wrong? The answer is a whole lot. And quickly. There in lies my only major issue with the book; every thing happens so quickly. Before we've gotten to know all four characters and what made them such great friends we are thrown into the mystery and things spiral more and more out of control from there. The writing is crisp and keeps moving forward, but there's no much paranoia and panicked theorizing that most of the book feels like a fever dream from the mind of our protagonist. There are some misses as things get wrapped up rather quickly, but I admire the author for taking the swings. I'd rather read this than something something moving at a snail's pace and with plain jane characters who are afraid to say what they mean!

This book hooked me from the beginning, and overall I really enjoyed this well-paced thriller. There was a lot going on between the main plot and the side story lines, which held my interest throughout and made for an extremely quick read. While I wouldn’t say the plot was extremely unique, I did enjoy the setting and the interesting cast of secondary characters, and the book really kept me guessing throughout. Definitely an enjoyable read for anyone who is a fan of the mystery/thriller/suspense genre, and a great book for summer beach reading or a weekend away!

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Jane Gehrman for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

Reminiscent of In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. It’s addictive and certainly entertaining. The characters quickly pull you in to their drama and you become enthralled in their story.

This was a fast paced read with an interesting premise. I had a bit of trouble with the characters, they didn't really hold up all that well. I had a hard time believing educated women of their age would think and behave the way they did in this story.

Who doesn't love a good book about a girls getaway? You just know something is going to go wrong! And there's a lot going wrong on this weekend as each woman has secrets, jealousies, and grudges that all come to a head when they get together. There's a beautiful beach house, a murder, a "love" triangle, and so much more! I loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jody Gehrman and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

I loved this book! It's got the right amount of suspense and excitement. This one had me guessing until the big reveal. Excellent book. I will definitely be reading more by Jody Gehrman!

This is marketed for fans of Ruth Ware and I can definitely see the connection. Personally, I enjoyed it more than I have enjoyed a Ruth Ware book.

The formatting was a bit off but I put that down to the download rather than anything else and after awhile you don’t really notice.

I liked the pacing of the plot. I didn’t find myself getting bored and annoyed with lulls in the story line. The characters were intriguing and the twists were enough for me.

I did guess the main plot but there were some side story lines that definitely threw me.

Overall I really enjoyed this book!

The mystery aspect was definitely alive in this book....a classic story of who-dunnit, where it literally could have been anyone. All the players seemed to despise the victim, and it kept me guessing til the end. Quick, easy read (I read it in one sitting!).

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

The premise of The Girls Weekend sounded right up my alley, but it did not live up to my expectations. I couldn't connect with the characters and that's important to me in order to like a book. I finished the book to see if I had correctly predicted the killer and I did. The writing was decent, but the pacing could have been better.

"How well do we really know the people close to us?" may be the most common theme in psychological suspense. In The Girls Weekend, Jody Gehrman plays it expertly five times over, then expands the circle of suspicion to additional characters. Five college friends, now in their 30s, reunite for a "girls' weekend" at the lavish home of Sadie, the group's bossy, irritating queen bee who has found worldwide success by writing children's books about her own daughter. June, the narrator, has remained close to only one of the others, and unpleasant memories make her reluctant to attend the gathering. Sadie's husband, Ethan, was June's boyfriend in college,. and he proposed to June, who turned him down, before moving on to Sadie in search of a wife who could get him a green card that would let him stay in the US. Once the group is assembled at Sadie's mansion, all of June's misgivings prove to be well-founded. When Sadie disappears, everyone is a suspect, not only in the eyes of the police but to all the other guests. This is a well-plotted tale with vividly drawn characters and enough sudden turns to keep the suspense level high to the end. Highly recommended.

A group of college friends reunite after many years at one of the women’s estates for a getaway weekend together. This should be a great weekend to reconnect and celebrating one friend’s pregnancy. After getting reacquainted, some old grudges start to resurface. Not enough to deter the women from letting loose and having fun, until they wake up one morning to realize one of the friends is missing and the house seems to be in disarray. The remaining friends try to piece things from the night before together, but realize they cannot remember anything. What happened? Was there an attacker? Was it one of them? Now the time is ticking, and they need to figure out what happened, and who was to blame.

The description of this book enticed me. The set up seemed like an excellent thriller, whodunit. Not to forget to mention how cool this cover looks. I just had to read it. For me, this book started slow and I struggled to connect with the characters and really get into it. The pace picked up throughout the second half, and I enjoyed the story enough, but I think my expectations and reality clashed a bit. I’d hope that other readers could get into this story, that it could be the thriller I had anticipated it to be. It just wasn’t the book for me.

Thank you to @NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.