As the story starts, we meet Ali, a walking, talking, mess of unreliableness, acting wild and crazy when drunk (or pretending to be drunk), mega liar, blushing bride to be. She is marrying Will, brother of Jack. We see the story through Rachel, Jack's wife and staunch defender (for now) of Ali.

Once at the beautiful Portuguese villa I realize I don't want to hang around any of these people. Ali, Jack, and Rachel meet up with Will, and longtime friends, Noah and Paige. Rachel and Noah have a history back to their college days, Jack and Ali have history from work, and once the rumor mill gets going between the group, tensions and suspicions run wild and rampant. Infidelity is a main topic, with lots of almost evidence, lots of lies and misdirection, and nobody saying what needs to be said.

Just who is lying and who is telling the truth?

Six friends, Rachel, Jack, Allie, Will, Noah and Paige goes to Portugal for a wedding weekend. The friends all stay in a villa, close to the ocean. As the weekend goes on all hell breaks loose, what do you expect when two of the women doesn't like the third one. Most of the characters are likeable, but Allie is portrayed as that friend that's an airhead, extremely bubbly and perky that it's annoying, dreading spending any time with. With the revealing of secrets and twists in this book it keeps one turning page after page. This book had me on the edge of my seating waiting to find out if what Rachel was thinking is true. OMFG this ended, this is a must read book. I highly recommend it.

A wedding on an island in Portugal set up the perfect vibes for this thriller. Ali and Will are getting married on an exotic island and are at the center of the story along with two other couples. Will’s brother Jack and his wife Rachel along with Rachel’s friend Paige and her husband Noah are living in the same villa with the bride and groom. The thriller revolves around the relationship and tension between these three couples. There’s infidelity and deceit and violence to top it off.

There are alleged affairs but the readers don’t find out until the last few pages who was actually having an affair. Ali is beautiful and attention-seeking, Rachel and Paige find her infuriating and their dislike towards her is apparent from the very beginning. Rachel and Paige are best friends but Rachel was also friends with Paige’s husband Noah and they had a romantic relationship in the past. Everyone is doubting everyone else, and we readers are just following these messed-up relationships throughout the book.

The ending is dramatic and violent and comes out of the left field. The less that is said about it, the better.

This thriller was an average read for me personally. I did not guess the ending or solve the mystery but I wasn’t even trying. I just wanted to get through the book. The premise is exciting and the atmospheric vibes are immaculate in this thriller. But character building felt very weak. For a large part of the book, I had a hard time telling characters apart. They were all written blandly and I did not care about any of them. The plot also felt weak with not much going on, it only seemed like a delaying tactic to keep the reader guessing. The ending was also unnecessarily dramatic and a twist that this thriller did not need.

Not a book I would recommend to anyone, it’s an okay read and bearable to get through if you really want to read it, otherwise, it is fine to skip.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sandie Jones and St Martin's Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy how Jones' novels are fraught with tons of drama and lies! This one is no different and I found myself racing through the novel to see what these characters were up too. I definitely thought I knew where the whole thing was going and I believed that we already knew the twist, but man was I mistaken! There are so many twists and turns in this one that it is easy to get lost in it for an afternoon, trying to find out who the guilty parties are. I thought I enjoyed most of the characters until the ending and they all show their true colors. Definitely recommend as I think it is my favorite of hers yet!

Awesome read! A page turner with many twists just as I’ve come to expect from this author, Fabulous! Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.!

A fun and drama-filled "friendship story" that will keep you turning the pages just to see what will happen next!

What could be more fun than a destination wedding with friends! Rachel and her husband, Jack, along with her long-time best friend, Noah and his wife, Paige, are flying with Ali, the bride-to-be, to Nazare, Portugal for the nuptials. Ali is not the woman that any would have picked for Jack's brother, Will, but they all put on their game faces and are determined to make the most of the weekend. Their seaside villa is gorgeous, but things start going wrong almost from arrival. Under the facade of these seemingly happy, stable relationships is the seed of suspicion that keeps growing until the truth is revealed. NO SPOILERS.

I found this an entertaining and quick read that is perfect for a pool or beach day. The gradual revelations and the typical secrets and lies scenario combine to hold interest even as the reader is probably shaking their head because it takes so long to GET IT ALL OUT. Not sure where it was all going at first, I thought I had things figured out by the halfway point only to find out that I was wrong by the end. None of the characters was particularly likeable, and I'd say who was my favorite, but that might be a spoiler. Sometimes when surprised by a character, I'll look back to see if the foundation was laid for their later behavior or motivations -- and in this particular book, I will say I wasn't prepared. I guess people like that wear masks and are good at putting on acts. But, you know how it is -- why don't people just come out with it instead of dancing around the issues!

Have fun with this soap opera! Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

I received this an ARC through Netgalley. The Guilt Trip had a slow build for a while. Then when you think you've figured it out, it keeps twisting and turning. I felt it repetitive in some parts as Rachel keeps saying the same type of things over and over and over again. That really bothered me. Happy to have read it though.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first started reading this book I got vibes of Big Little Lies and The Guest List. The drama was tense from the get-go.

There are a ton of secrets and there are plenty of twists and turns. The ending was mine blowing but almost in and over the top way. You certainly will not see it coming!

The entire story focused on infidelity and the mental downward spiral that occurs when infidelity is suspected in a significant other. This is a topic that I shy away from for many reasons. That being said I did not enjoy it near as much as other people might.

I give 4.5 ⭐️ for THE GUILT TRIP by Sandie Jones. Wow this book really keeps you guessing! Right up to the very end. It makes you start to question everyone in your life - all their actions and possible motives! There wasn’t a tremendous amount of action in this book, but it still holds your attention. The one thing you take away from this is trust no one, especially those who are closest to you!

#minotaurbooks #minotaurpublishing #netgalley

Book description:

They went away as friends.
They came back as suspects.

Rachel and Jack. Paige and Noah. And Will. Five friends who’ve known one another for years. Then along came Ali, Will’s new fiancée.

The three couples travel to Portugal for Ali and Will’s destination wedding. The weekend away at the gorgeous cliff-top villa is a chance to relax and get to know Ali an little better. She seems perfectly nice―and Will seems happy after years of bad choices.

But when Rachel discovers a shocking secret about Ali, everything changes. As the wedding weekend unfolds, the secrets each of them holds begin to spill, and friendships and marriages threaten to unravel.

In Sandie Jones’s explosive new suspense novel, jumping to conclusions can become the difference between life and death.

I’ve never read anything by this author before. I was hesitant going into this one. I ended up not liking it. The characters seemed childish.

A very, very slow-moving plot, full of unlikeable characters, that got very repetitive. Look for it on your Lifetime movie channel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

My fourth book I’ve read from Sandie Jones! She always proves to give me a thriller I can’t quite put down with an explosive ending!

Six friends are heading to Portugal for Will and Ali’s wedding. Rachel and Noah have been friends since university and while they may have almost had something once, they both have been happily married to Josh and Paige for years. While Ali has a tendency to rub everyone the wrong way, Rachel has always been patient towards her future sister in law...but when she discovers something about Ali she can hardly believe everything changes. Secrets start to spill out, and marriages and friendship become rocky…and eventually leads to death.

The beginning of this book was a slow burn of trying to figure out the real dynamic behind these six friends. It had me guessing and hooked for sure, but it’s the ending goes off the rails! Down to the last page I was trying to figure out what the Hell had just happened. While some of it I found confusing, I do always enjoy a thriller that throws you for a loop right till the very end so I did quite enjoy this one!

The Guilt Trip is one of these books you'll start reading and not want to put it down. I suggest going into it blind then enjoy the ride. The characters were just amazing and I really enjoyed the story. Thanks to the NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy so I can provide an honest reveiw.

WOW!!! Where to even start with this one?? Sandie Jones has quickly become a favorite author of mine! Three couples head to a destination wedding in Portugal and realize they aren't as good of friends as they thought. The author does a great job with short chapters that leave a cliffhanger, move onto the next chapter, leave a cliffhanger, going back to the previous cliffhanger and all while keeping you breathlessly turning pages! Super twist and a LOT of 'AH-HA! I know where this is going!' moments, only to be wrong. AGAIN! READ THIS and while you're at it, pick up all of her other books too!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sandie Jones and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC!

Ever a Sandie Jones fan, I was so excited to get my hands on her new book! I would summarize it here but there seems to be a mismatch between the synopsis on the book, and with the story I read.

I went in thinking this would be a psychological thriller, with the promise of “jumping to conclusions becomes the difference of life and death”. There was none of that. This was a domestic suspense, chocked full of drama. Relationship problems, mean girls, secrets… and feuding best friends. All good things, but not what the summary has promised.

All in all, I liked this book a lot. It kept me hooked through out the story, and whole predictable, was still pleasantly surprising on its twists and turns.

I am a huge fan of the author, but this book was a little stranger than usual, with some unexpected twists. It is the story of friends together at a gorgeous villa in Portugal, there to celebrate the wedding of Will and Ali. The relationships between the couples involved are as complex as the secrets that they hide and the lies they tell. Rachel and Noah became good friends in college and could have been a couple, but they aren’t because Rachel is married to Jack, Noah is married to Paige and the couples are friends. Well, kind of. As much as you can be friends when you hide things from each other and put on a false face when you lie to them. The plot was a simple one about a wedding and the drama leading up to it. The book itself is a character study of shallow characters, with secrets and lies slowly being revealed. All in all, this was slow-paced and methodical, a study of flawed characters with dysfunctional relationships. With a new lie hiding behind every corner, the book was engaging as well as puzzling at times. I was not sure who was telling the truth, a half-truth or a full out lie. None of the characters was particularly likable and Ali, the bride-to-be, was not just unlikeable; she was loathesome, with no redeeming qualities. Her fake enthusiasm for the wedding seemed to be all show from the beginning. Everything she did was to be the center of attention, a space that she thought she deserved. Paige’s truth zingers came at the most unexpected moments and were almost like comic relief from all of the drama. All of the characters are on a collision course for disaster, and I just kept waiting for the next shoe to drop. This book was a cleverly written diatribe about people without much substance and who make a whole lot of noise. The plot was simple, complicated by lies and a thoroughly enjoyable read once I got used to being in “Peyton Place.”
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This is the first book I've read by Sandie Jones, so I had no source of comparison to her other work. Overall, I found it to be an engaging story that kept me guessing about who could be trusted. Even at the end, I still felt a bit uncertain about how everything really went down. The characters usually aren't meant to be likeable, but I was more comfortable with these than the characters in other books of this genre that I've read. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance copy to read and review.

This book was fantastic, I could not put it down! The entertwined lives of the three couples, in addition to knowing something was happening based on the prologue, made for a very exciting read. The character development was phenomenal - I didn't know who to trust, who to believe, nor could I begin to guess the fate of the six involved. I don't often read the thriller genre but from now on, I will always pick up one by Sandie Jones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

#TheGuiltTrip is drama packed and I am here for it 👏🏼 I flew through this one and I enjoyed unraveling everybody’s secrets. I was a little confused by the ending but still really liked it! I will read everything #SandieJones writes 🙌🏼

Full review to come on Instagram and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.