I really liked the premise and was drawn by the cover (I’m a sucker for a good cover!) but this was a miss for me. I found there were too many moving parts of the story that didn’t help to hold my interest. If it does captivate you - great! I think it will be a great book to those who can enjoy it.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for this eARC!

I was immediately drawn in by this cover—I love how bold it is, super eye catching. I didn’t know the author, but was down to buddy read this with my some of my faves @readingwiththechoob and @roshlite.

Unfortunately this was a big miss for me. Jane Duvall jumps into a marriage with a man she barely knows after suffering a massive career set back and public cancelling (for what we don’t find out for ages) and moves to rural BC for the winter to live in a deserted hotel while her husband does Renos on it and she gets bullied by his mean teenage daughter. There, she uncovers a mystery of missing people and suspicious deaths.

This was giving some fun tension and The Shining vibes for awhile but the writing was a bit confusing and messy; the characters felt shallow and I questioned their motivations; the dialogue was so so rough they just didn’t talk realistically it was more just there for info dumping and plot-revealing. And the twists were super antic-climactic. About half way through this it became a hate-read for me just to finish it.

As for the others—I don’t know if @readingwiththechoob plans to finish it I think she might DNF and @roshlite ended up feeling the same as I did with 2.5 stars.

I liked the premise of this thriller it just did not follow through and I probably won’t be picking up another of her books anytime soon. 😕

Thanks to @netgalley and @simonschusterca for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

THE OFF SEASON By Amber Cowie

An upcoming thriller for those who love:

✔️ whirlwind romances that lead to quick marriages
✔️ dead ex-wives and unhinged step-daughters
✔️ vacation resorts off the beaten path
✔️ secrets. Lots and lots of secrets
✔️ a dash of paranoia and unreliable characters thanks to all those secrets!
✔️ true crime documentaries (the MC is a filmmaker)
✔️ 🇨🇦 authors and West Coast settings

Jane and Dom met and fell in love while vacationing in Barcelona. Less than six months later they are newly married and off to be care takers of the Venatura Hotel during its off season in a remote area of British Columbia. Jane, trying to recover from a professional setback as a documentary filmmaker, is quickly drawn toward the secrets of the resort, and of her new husband. The more time they spend together, the more they realize that they really don't know one another. As a rainstorm arrives, cutting off the Venatura from the mainland, their safety is threatened and Jane is determined to solve these mysteries as a means of survival.

The Off Season is out in stores May 14th, just in time for any Long weekend or holiday reading.

Thank you @simonschusterca, @ambercowie and @netgalley for the ARC!

#thrillerbooks #Canadianauthor #ARC #theoffseason #summerreading #vacationreads #2024reads #bookstagram

This one was fine, I had a hard time connecting to the characters and rooting for their relationship when they hadn’t known each other for very long. There’s a lot going on but I found that I was just not enjoying myself for most of the book. I think the best thing about this one was the cat

There is something about remote locations that feel cut off from the rest of the world that just feel creepy. Jane married Dom, after barely knowing him, and goes with him and his daughter to a remote location where does renovations on a hotel. There she discovers that his first wife died, and there are local disappearances that are suspicious and she decides to investigate. Jane also has secrets of her own of course.

I was stressed a lot while reading, I was paranoid about everyone, I really just wanted everything to be revealed and I had so many questions. I found it long at times, but all my questions were answered by the end. The ending felt a little abrupt but the last few chapters were full of reveals and some twists and I saw none of it coming. It was a good read.

3.5 stars

The Off Season by Amber Cooke was a thrilling, insidious ride that had me uncertain who could be trusted.

Having just married someone who she had only met 6 months previously, Jane is left wondering what she really knows about her new husband as she goes off with him and his daughter to a remote location where he will be doing renovations on a hotel. Soon they are isolated and Jane finds herself investigating both a disappearance and a death, all while finding things out about her husband that she doesn’t know how to take. Dom is a man with many secrets and she’s left trying to figure out just how deadly those secrets might be for herself.

The author did a great job making very distinct and real characters. Dom is both loving and secretive, leaving it hard to interpret for the reader whether he is all he seems to be, a devoted husband, or if there is something scarier lurking beneath the surface with all of the secrets he is keeping from Jane. From his dead first wife, to the disappearance of a boy named Elijah who he knew, and the fact that he won’t tell anything about either event to Jane. Then there’s Jane herself who is tenacious, relentlessly digging up these secrets and unwilling to let them go when he tries to dismiss or distract her from her questions. I loved that she was decidedly her own person and refused to be put into a domestic little box despite his attempts, and refused to give up on her passion of finding answers to true crimes and creating documentaries about them.

I was so paranoid about the other characters. The uncertainty that the author created about the motives of characters and the secrecy of past events had me properly hooked. I wanted desperately to know what had really happened and what caused them to be so unwilling to discuss it. I will so the storyline did drag a bit at times and I just wanted it to hurry along and provide answers because it felt like an endless search for clues to the past with not enough actual forward momentum. So at times I grew a bit restless while reading but the moments of payoff kept me coming back.

I did enjoy the read and the ending satisfied in providing all of the answers to questions raised throughout. The final couple of chapters did end a bit abruptly in my opinion, without a fully fledged feeling wrap up, it was more of a “answers have been given and boom it’s over” with an epilogue-like chapter that raised more questions than answered, but as far as thrillers go it’s a well written story that’s worth the read.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and author Amber Cowie for the ARC.

Amber has done it again—THE OFF SEASON is a haunting novel. At time it felt almost claustrophobic , in a good way. It was very twisty and kept me guessing.
3.5 out of 5 ⭐️

Fans of gothic locked room thrillers will appreciate The Off Season. This creepy, highly atmospheric novel is an homage to Rebecca with a modern take having an independent fierce female protagonist Jane. After a whirlwind romance, disgraced documentary filmmaker Jane hastily marries Dom. She begins her new life by joining her husband and troubled stepdaughter Sienna in the remote luxury hotel the Ventura deep in the Fraser valley. It is off season, the hotel is empty with the exception of Jane’s new family. Dom is put to the task of completing many needed renovations by his long time friend and Ventura owner Peter.. While navigating life as a newlywed Jane is often faced with danger and stormy conditions not unlike the treacherous weather outside.

Read this if you like:
-atmospheric gothic suspense
-locked room settings
-isolated forested grand hotels
-nods to Hitchcock, Suspicion, The Shining, and Rebecca
-highly flawed and well crafted characters
-questionable motives and people hiding secrets and lies
-gaslighting
-twists and turns with a satisfying ending
-the toxic effects of social media as well as cancel culture
-dysfunctional families
-missing person mysteries

My rating: 4 out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC that will be published May 14 2024.

Jane is a newlywed & now she’s spending her honeymoon caretaking a hotel with her husband & stepdaughter ala The Shining for the season. What comes after is a series of increasingly stressful situations as Jane uncovers what her husband & the hotel are hiding. It’s the kind of story that makes you want to shake the heroine & stop her from putting up with so much crap! In a good way, I felt invested in the outcome.

It’s apt that the author mentions the Hitchcock film Suspicion, because that is definitely something that came to mind during my reading. The novel screams of old gothic novels but mixes it so well with a modern, self reliant woman as the lead. Think Jane Eyre or Rebecca but for current times. I loved it.

Read if you like:

* Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
* The Heiress by Rachael Hawkins
* The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre

Arc generously provided by NetGalley.

With a whirlwind romance turning into marriage, Jane and Dom return home to start a renovation job at the Venatura Hotel during their off season for their friend. Jane finds a tragedy linking her new husband to this hotel, as well as many unrelated disappearances. Being a documentary filmmaker, she decided to dig deeper but is being shut down by everyone. Who did she marry? And why is he being elusive?
4 stars

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I found the main character incredibly annoying and pretentious, and the writing style did not work for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

🏔️ T U M U L T U O U S T U E S D A Y 🏔️ featuring “The Off Season” by Amber Cowie!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

After a whirlwind romance and race to the altar, Jane and her new husband Dom receive an opportunity to spend the off season at the Ventura Hotel. Dom is a contractor and is hired to give the remote hotel a face lift while there are no guests. They bring Don’s teenaged daughter Sienna with them for the off season and Jane is looking forward to creating a bond as a family. However, the Ventura hotel hits close to home for Dom and Sienna and is haunted by secrets and memories.

The more questions Janes asks about the hotel creates a distancing between her and Dom. As the truth begins to unravel, Jane begins to realize that she has no idea who she married. There have been several mysterious disappearances related to the hotel … will Jane be next??

If you are looking for a locked room/atmospheric thriller, this one’s for you! I loved the isolated Canadian setting and the hotel itself screams sinister and foreboding!

Thank you kindly to Amber Cowie, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on May 14, 2024!

Jane is a filmmaker who has faced a major setback - her last film had deadly consequences. So what better way to reset than to stay at a rural hotel with her new husband during the off season? Their only rule: No talking about their pasts. Now, with only her husband Dom and his difficult teenage daughter Sienna for company, Jane is about to discover that while the past cannot stay hidden, some will go to great lengths to try to keep it that way.

This book was engaging and a fast paced read. I loved that it was set in the Fraser Valley, as it's a place very familiar to me having grown up in the area. I enjoyed the aspect of the land and environment itself as a type of character in the novel, as it was a significant factor in the plot. It was interesting that the hotel also felt alive. The descriptions of setting were a big factor in setting the mood and atmosphere, something I really appreciated. I could imagine exactly the type of cold and damp Jane was feeling.

The cast of characters were all quite interesting, though at times they felt a bit stereotypical - the angry, vindictive step daughter, and the oblivious, defensive father. While some of the plot points felt predictable, it was still an enjoyable read.

Canadian author Amber Cowie’s ‘The Off-Season’ is an absolute gem in the realm of thrillers!
This book kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. A captivating familiar plot with references to a certain classic movie of a similar storyline, but with its own unique twists and turns and intrigue!
As a Canadian, I deeply appreciated the familiarity of the setting, with references that were both relatable and recognizable, adding an extra layer of immersion to the story.
Amber’s writing style is simply lovely, effortlessly drawing readers into a world of mystery and suspense. Her words paint a clear, stunningly beautiful picture of the visuals of the location of this story, as well as great character visuals.
What truly sets this novel apart is its ability to keep you guessing until the very end.
I devoured every page of ‘The Off-Season’ in almost one sitting,
Highly recommend!
Thankyou to author Amber Cowie, Simon & Shuster publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publish date.
Charlene 📚🤗🌸 @lastnownext

I hated every character so much I couldn’t get past it. The atmosphere had a lot of potential and there were some solid twists that salvaged it! So sorry but for that we are going with a 2.75

The Venatura hotel definitely had a lot going on and it was an interesting place to get lost in. The hotel itself held a lot of mystery and I loved imagining the hotel and everything it had to hold.
I was really into the first half of this book but then I felt like there were too many moving parts. Sure, it was captivating but then I got a bit discouraged with how many parts I couldn't figure out. The end tied everything back together well, but perhaps it was a bit rushed.
Dom and Jane's relationship was interesting to read about but also aggravating - not a bad thing, it kept me interested and hooked.
Will I be telling my friends to run and buy this book? No. Will I be telling them it's a boring book? Also no. Perhaps a good read if you just want a change of mind!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read The Off Season by Amber Cowie.

Jane Duvall met Dom on her vacation and had a whirlwind romance that quickly turned into a marriage. When they returned home in Vancouver
Dom took a job for his friend at The Venatura Hotel to do some renovations in the off season. Jane thought this was a great opportunity to get to know her new husband and his daughter Sienna better.

She quickly found out that her husband has a lot of history with this hotel with his former wife who tragically died here. There have also been a few disappearances in the area as well. Jane is a documentary filmmaker and thought while she is there she can investigate more into the disappearances, but when she asks her husband and his friend about it they do not want to discuss it. They shut her down and try to get her to stop digging.

The more Jane digs around the more she feels that her husband has something to hide. His daughter is impossible to deal with and Jane starts to feel unsure of who she married. A storm hits making the hotel more isolated and Jane has to try to figure out what really happened here and how to escape before it's too late. After all, she has some secrets of her own.

This is my first time reading a book by Amber Cowie and I was not disappointed. The premise intrigued me so I was excited to jump into this book and quickly devoured it. The first 20% was a little slow but it was just setting up the story and then quickly takes off from there . I loved the setting, a big hotel in the off season, a storm raging through, mystery after mystery. You will not be able to put this one down! 4 stars from me.