3 girls on vacation in Mexico, but one of them doesn't come home. FBI agent Victoria Heslin is tasked with finding out what happened, but meets with suspicion from the local Mexican police. Then a second woman vanishes and Victoria suspects the cases are linked. This was a good suspenseful read, and I would certainly read others in the series.

TERRIFIC fast-paced thriller, well written with great characterization & lots of suspense leading up to the grand finale. First time reading this author & will definitely backtrack to read more of the same. RECOMMEND highly for a good enjoyable read.

Vanished on Vacation is a mystery thriller about Avery, niece of an FBI agent, who is told her COVID test was positive and she would be required to stay. After leaving with the resort employee for the retest, she wasn’t found, seen, or heard from again. FBI Agent Victoria is sent to Mexico with another agent to assist with the search.

Legit police crime novels can be a bit hit or miss for me, only because of how gorey and technical they can be. I really liked that this mystery balanced police practice and procedure while still being a page-turning thriller.

I thought the mystery was really well done as it allowed me to play along but it wasn’t obvious. Looking back, the mystery makes sense and wasn’t a total surprise.

My only complaint is that some of the characters were just in likable - the parents being the worst. I totally get that when your kid goes missing, all logical reasoning goes out the window, but I was rolling my eyes and actually feeling annoyed.

ARC was provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the 6th in a series and I didn’t know that until I picked it up to read. while it worked alone, it would have worked better with the others for sure.

I liked this. It was quick and while somewhat predictable, really enjoyable and had a nice pace to it.

I didn’t love the covid stuff at the beginning. It just wore one me and felt unnecessary.

👻 1/5 : not scary, just a little thrill
💋1/5 : just kissing
🤐 1/5 : 5 curse words or less
👀 Read if you like: thriller series, SVU type books

One, Two, Three ladies are missing from this resort. Vanished. Nobody can find a trace of them. The kidnappers nabbed the wrong girl though…Avery Jennings’ aunt is with the FBI.
Will they find Avery in time?

👏🏽 Very quick read! A little predictable, but a nice story! I loved that this book was clean, stuck to the storyline, & there wasn’t any random hookups. I felt like the story was a fun and it kinda gave Olivia Benson vibes!

👎🏼 Did not love the perpetual Covid talk through the first half of the book. It got super old, fast.
I felt like this book jumped around a lot too. Going to the past, then jumping from someone else’s perspective that hasn’t been mentioned for a while. It was a little confusing.

❌There were also a few typos in the beginning of chapter 11 & 48. The “ got left out of the beginning of a sentence. ❌

😏 Let Me Persuade You: Pick up this book if you want something quick to read and perfect for this cozy season! It was pretty clean, which I appreciate!

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSpcial for giving me an advanced readers copy of this book for an honest review.

Some books share the same plot but the execution is where I find value in novels like this. I was hooked from the very fast-paced thriller. I loved Agent Victoria and while this is a series, it’s okay to read this as a standalone.

Since this a really short novel, everything moved at a very fast pace. I was really caught up in the investigation and what happened to Avery Jennings. In the beginning, I was kind of lost on how all these characters fit into the story, and finally, it all made sense. The buildup to that moment was amazing. Each chapter held a significant clue on what direction the story was going.

While there were a lot of characters I liked how the readers got to read from each of their perspectives. I think that’s what helped everything make sense in the end. The readers aren’t just relying on the agents' inferences on what is going on instead, the readers get the full story. I already knew Payton was going to play an important role in Avery’s abduction- being her aunt and an FBI agent.

Agent Victoria Heslin is truly a great agent. I haven’t read the whole series to really speak on her character but from what I have read in this book, I think there was significant character growth. She was vulnerable and stopped holding up barriers. Also, her love for animals just makes her lovable.

Since this is my first Jenifer Ruff novel, I’m not used to her writing. It was difficult for me to get used to it. I read an ARC so there are still some grammatical errors that need to be fixed but other than that it is a great novel. I’m looking forward to reading more books from the series.

I was not sure what to expect began to turn the pages.

It has been awhile since I have read a Thriller and I was not sure how wide open bedroom doors might be.

Actually there were no Romantic scenes at all.

But there are several murders of young women and some gripping details in the form of mutilation.

The story is fast paced.

I enjoyed Victoria as a main character. The author did a great job of getting this reader upto speed with Victoria's recent past as well as her younger life and how/why she became an FBI agent. There is alot of back story with Victoria and her current boyfriend. And agent Rivera who have a past together.

There were lots of characters weaving in and out of the story.

From Avery (the missing girl), her friends, her parents, an FBI agent aunt, the hotel guests and staff. The Mexican Police other FBI agents and a whole slew of bad guys.

As I write I wonder how I kept them all straight. But I did.

To me that is a sign of a very good well written story. I applaud author Jennifer Ruff.

I was surprised at the twist at the end after all the investigation is over and all the secrets came out leaving me wondering how Victoria's relationship with Rivera will develop in future installments.

I enjoyed this book so much that I will add the earlier books in the series to my Wish List.

The only negative I have is there is one character that I wish would have been able to escape the bad guys and become a regular in the series.

I received an ARC copy of Vanished On Vacation from Net Galley.

Vanished On Vacation – Jenifer Ruff

A trio of college students head to Mexico for a vacation, including Avery, the niece of FBI Special Agent Victoria Heslin. While preparing for their return home, Avery learns she’s tested positive for COVID, which means she’ll need to remain behind in quarantine until she’s virus free – a possibility they’d been prepared for. But instead, she disappears…

Victoria and her partner Rivera immediately head to the resort where the girls were staying and connect with the local law enforcement, who appear to have done a competent job, and seem willing to share resources. As the agents do their own reconnaissance, by connecting with resort visitors, as well as conversations with Avery’s travel friends, they learn that the male employee who escorted Avery to quarantine was seen in other places about the resort and is even captured in some pictures the girls took. But he’s nowhere to be found and is it quickly determined that he is not resort staff. So, who was he – and why take Avery?

As Victoria digs deeper, an apparent drowning victim is found on the beach, and the Mexican police quickly and inexplicably become much less cooperative. Determined to find her niece with or without their help, she continues her search for this mysterious man – but the wrong question, directed at the wrong person, at the wrong time lands Victoria in a world of trouble, requiring every ounce of strength she possesses to get herself, and her niece to safety…

This was my first foray into the world of Jennifer Ruff and her Victoria Heslin series (Another series!! Yay!!) but most assuredly, it will not be my last. This book had me hooked from the start – the characters are engaging, the plot is well orchestrated and suspenseful - the pages practically turn themselves, and I love me a strong female protagonist! A great read for the beach or a rainy day! I can’t wait to catch up on this series!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Books Go Social in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

📚 Available via all major booksellers on October 7th, 2022 😊

(Blog link below will publish on 10/3/2022)

This book was super enticing! I literally couldn’t put it down. I usually don’t read this genre but I’m glad I did because I became hooked! Highly recommend reading! Thanks NetGalley & Jenifer Ruff for letting me read this!!

Although this can be a stand alone book, I would definitely read it in order, for the sheer fact that there are themes that intertwine with people who appear in each novel. I enjoyed the author tying in the events that are happening presently into the novel as sometimes real life can not feel real so it was interesting to see the author tie in the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall I enjoyed this book. 3 stars.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Three sorority sisters on a trip to Mexico and one gets a positive COVID test so he has to hang back while the other two go home. But she ends up missing. Reminded me of Robert Dugoni and Tracy Crosswhite in the writing style. A little predictable but a very good read and entertaining. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When a college student goes missing while on vacation at a fancy resort in Mexico, FBI Agent Victoria Heslin takes on the case, dredging up her own sad history in the process. As she unveils more secrets and the local police start shutting her out, she takes matters into her own hands.

VANISHED ON VACATION by Jenifer Ruff is the 6th book in the Agent Victoria Heslin series, and can be read as a standalone.

The premise and the cover of this book immediately drew me in, but, unfortunately, I found a lot of this book laughable and eye roll worthy.

The use of COVID in this book felt both messy and as a simple excuse to move the plot forward without adding anything to the overall plot. I understand that the last few years have and will continue to play a role in how authors choose to write their novels, but in this case, it felt like an unnecessary plot point.

The plot of this book was also extremely predictable and I spent a lot of time waiting for the agents to catch up and piece together what was happening. I was hoping for some wild twist that would prove me wrong, but that never came.

Lastly, the dialogue was EXTREMELY cringey at points (especially when describing women):

“Two FBI agents stood behind the prosecutor chick, who was already seated. She was in her forties. Decent face and a big and round behind. She always wore pants suits, so maybe her legs were thick as tree trunks.”

I’m sorry to say that this book was just not it.

It was a quick read, and had enough intrigue to keep me going until the end, but that’s about all it had going for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 07, 2022

This was a thriller that was current with COVID as a theme. It was written with great character development. It was a fast read for me and I will certainly recommend it to my reader friends . I look forward to reading more books written by the author.

'vanished on vacation' was everything i wanted from a murder-mystery: the thrill, the fast pace, the likeable characters, and especially, a believable plotline with little to no loopholes (did find SOME, but that’s better than most contemporary thriller/mystery books). i enjoyed the steady revelation of clues, and i very much did enjoy the little twist (but i’m not sure what to make of it yet? or if it’s resolved? or if it will be resolved in the upcoming books? many questions). regardless, i can’t believe i haven’t read the rest of the series: picking them up, starting from the first book soon!
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rating: (3.5/5)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FBI Agent Victoria is sent to Mexico to help find Avery Jennings, a college girl who goes missing while on vacation with her friends. Avery was told she had tested positive for Covid and had to quarantine, but that was the last anyone heard from her.

When Victoria & her partner Dante are searching for Avery they find out that they can’t trust many of the people working with the investigation. In order to find Avery they must figure out who is telling the truth, and put themselves in dangerous situations to do so.

I enjoyed this fast paced mystery! Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for this ARC.

I will leave a review on Amazon and B&N on Oct. 7th

Jennifer Ruff is a new author for me and overall, I really enjoyed this book. I know this was the 6th book in the series, but I had no problem reading it as a stand-alone. When Avery disappears on her last day of vacation in Mexico, the FBI was called in because she is the niece of one of the agents. Two agents fly down to help assist the local law enforcement, what follows is a fast paced read one that was hard to put down. I most definitely would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the publisher BooksGoSocial in exchange for my honest review.

A young American woman goes missing from a luxurious Mexican holiday resort. She isn't the first young woman to have vanished in the area, for reasons nobody seems to understand.

As the latest missing woman is the relative of an FBI agent, the FBI are invited to assist the local police, but how much are they actually being told?

This book is part of a series, but I didn't feel I was missing anything for not having read the earlier books.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, although there was one pivotal plot point that seemed very out of character for Victoria, our lead character, even from this single book I have read from the series. This aside, it was intriguing enough to keep me interested.

Thanks to the author, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

Jenifer Ruff's latest edition to the Victoria Heslin series offers plenty of suspense, mystery, and danger as Agent Heslin heads to Mexico with fellow agent Rivera to find a missing college student who also happens to be a relative of a colleague. On the last day of 3 sorority sisters' spring vacation one is taken away because her COVID test comes up positive, but she completely disappears. In that the hotel is in Mexico, the FBI is allowed to be in on the search for the American citizen but have to play nice of course with the local police. Top that off with concerned parents who are also there looking and worrying about their missing child. Clues and ideas of what could have happened along with learning, as the reader, where the girl is, you root for Victoria to put all those clues together to get that girl to safety while dealing with suddenly not so cooperative police, parents, hotel employees and more. I like how Ruff brought in COVID to the story as you just can't ignore such a major event across the world when writing a story in present day. Though stand alones, each book in Ruff's series builds on those qualities Victoria has in putting information together to sovle the mystery particularly when an abduction occurs, something she is all too familiar with Victoria puts herself in danger over and over again as solving the mystery is her ultimate goal yet often asks herself why did I do that. Enjoy a good read! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC read.

Despite this being no. 6 in the Agent Victoria Heslin series and having not read any of the previous books it did not matter to the story which I was pleased about.
I love books in luxury locations and I felt like I was right there in the 5 star Hotel in beautiful Mexico.
This was a great plot that kept me interested start to finish, great characters and fast paced. My only negative that stops me from giving it 5 stars is the somewhat predictability and I cannot get my head around the fact that the top of their game FBI agents didn't immediately think to themselves, OK "girl goes missing in Mexico, her Aunt is working on.........." surely this is everyone's 1st thought? It was mine!?!?!
#NetGalley
#VanishedOnVacation

I thoroughly enjoyed Vanished on Vacation. It's the story of FBI agent Victoria and her boyfriend, Ned, and agent Rivera and his girlfriend, agent Payton. Payton's niece, Avery was on vacation with two of her sorority sisters at an exclusive Mexican resort. Avery ends up going missing, and Victoria and Rivera are sent there to find her. They were asked to work along side of the Federales. At first, there were absolutely no leads. What had happened was that someone who appeared to be a resort employee had told Avery that she had tested positive for COVID and needed to be quarantined. She went willingly with him. Her friend, Brie, had seen them and remembered that he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm. That was the first clue.

The agents questioned all of the employees but couldn't find anyone with the tattoo. Also, Brie had drawn a picture of the man. They had a dog who sniffed out Avery's journey and ended at the shoreline. In the meantime, an 87 year old busy body, Teresa, disappeared as well. She had told Victoria that she had seen the man with the tattoo. They had planned to meet so that Teresa could share everything she knew. Teresa never showed up.

After Teresa didn't show up, Victoria took the picture of the assailant to the shore and asked around about him, and she ended up going missing. The person who kidnapped her was named Eric. He was the son of the Salazar cartel boss. Payton was working on a case against the cartel and they had kidnapped Avery as collateral. Eric's accomplice was Tony, who was the one to kidnap Avery. Eric took her to his in father's yacht where Avery was. He had tied her hands behind her back with rope. He had drugged her, and when she woke up she found that she was in a ship's cabin. She found a glass bottle, broke it and used it to cut through the rope. When Tony went to her cabin she pretended to be unconscious. He picked her up and, with the rope cut she attacked him. He became angry and threw her overboard.

Victoria was able to swim to the shore. There was a young boy there who had a phone and she used it to phone Rivera, who then phoned for an ambulance for her. While talking to Rivera, she was able to tell him the name of the yacht and that Avery was on board. Rivera then phoned the Coast Guard, who found the yacht, rescued Avery and arrested Tony. Eric died of a heroin overdose.

It seems the Federales wanted to keep Victoria in the hospital, but she escaped. She and Rivera had unfinished business. Teresa was still missing and she was a United States citizen. Since she was not on the yacht , they figured her body had been dumped in the seaweed truck. So they followed the truck to the dump site. They climbed the fence and searched. One of the Federales officers showed up, Vince, and decided to help. They found Teresa's body.

After that, Victoria and Rivera were ordered home to DC. Victoria had chosen not to tell Ned about her adventure but Rivera encouraged her to tell him, which she did.

In the end, Victoria asked Ned to live with her, and Ned proposed, to which she said a resounding yes. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it for book club.