An UNPUTDOWNABLE Mystery… Coming this October!!!

My 1st Jessica Strawser novel—and it was GREAT!!!

I am obsessed with the characters Stawser puts on paper. She imagines people I feel like I know, knew in a past life, or at least hope to meet. For me, character development MAKES the book. For example, details like Christopher set it off! I have met families like this…

In Catch You Later, Strawser artfully and insightfully sprinkles glistening sparkles of enlightenment across every page. The story not only covers a vast stretch of highway and a wide span of time, but it sent my own imagination soaring to unbelievable heights as I reflected on some of the rules…

Catch You Later hooked me and kept me interested. I GENUINELY DID NOT KNOW THE ANSWER until it was revealed… though I was Team Eat The Waffles straight away (red herrings not required to sell me on this)!

Special thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for the amazing digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

#CatchYouLater #EatTheWaffles #Mystery #NetGalley #LakeUnionAuthors @JessicaStawserAuthor @BookShell_F

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early! I really enjoyed this one.

Two best friends who are inseparable working the night shift together until one day one of them makes an impulsive decision that changes both their lives forever. I was completely hooked by this book from the beginning with the mystery building straight away! It is a story of friendship, family tension, mystery and the power of never giving up.

My only reason this is not 5* was I found some of the chapters a little too long for me. I love the mystery and tension building in small snappy chapters however this was my only reason for not being 5*.

This was my first novel by Jessica Strawser but it won’t be my last! Go grab your copy once this is released!

3.5☆
This is one of those thrillers that you'll find difficult to put down.
I found myself wanting to know what happened next at the end of each chapter.

However, the twist was slightly predictable and the ending bit underwhelming which deemed it a 3.5 read for me

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I would give it 1.5 stars. It was very slow and hard for me to stay locked in. I think the premise of the book is good, but it just fell short, I needed more than conversations and inner monologue. I think if this book was shorter, it would have been easier to stay engaged. While the ending wasn't what I was expecting, it wasn't really satisfying.

Jessica Strawser is an incredible storyteller, and her writing style and characterization have substance and depth. With that being said, this was not one of her best. Her story telling keeps you hooked, but the climax, or even a few curve balls, are really not there in this mystery thriller. It is almost as if the slow burn snuffs out the mystery completely, The main relationship between the two female friends felt a bit contrived and immature. It was a nice ending, just fell a bit flat for such a long build up. Still a Strawser fan, just not her best. Would recommend to fans of the author to give it a shot. #catchyoulater #jessicastrawser #netgalley #goodreads

This book was good. A nice mystery but was hoping for more twists.. I liked that the friend was still alive. Would likely recommend this book to a friend

This book took a little while to get going, and third-person narration isn’t usually my cup of tea - I find it a bit tough to stay tuned into the conversations and really connect with the characters. The plot intrigued me, although the opening chapters didn't grab me, and my ADHD didn’t help with my wandering attention. But wow, once things started moving, I couldn’t put it down! I really fell for the characters, especially the friendship between Mikki and Lark, and Nini was a favorite. The author did an amazing job with the vivid descriptions and character growth. A big shoutout to Net Galley, Amazon Publishing, and of course Jessica Strawser for the ARC!

This one was a good read! Nice plot and had good writing to it also. My first read by this author. It was honestly an easy read it kept you intrigued.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. So this book is soo good. It follows two best friends and one makes a decision that changes her whole future and she disappears. It’s a story of never giving up, the true power of friendship, intrigue, and mystery. It was a very entertaining read. The first I’ve read by this author but I’ll definitely be checking out her other books.

Based off its description, I was expecting Jessica Strasser's latest thriller to be more fast-paced than it turned out to be. This book was definitely a slow-burn type of story, which isn't a bad thing- it just wasn't what I was expecting.


I absolutely adored the characters in Catch You Later. There was a lot of character development woven throughout the plot and I think the story itself ended up being heavily character-driven.

Thank you Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Childhood best friends Mikki and Lark have been stuck for years working the night shift at the Travel Stop gas station and convenience store right off their small town highway. One night, a mysterious customer driving a flashy BMW asks Mikki to take a leap of faith and travel with him to Florida. She accepts, and is never seen again.
Eight years later, the mysterious customer comes back to the Travel Stop hoping Mikki is still around. Lark finally gets a chance to find out what really happened to Mikki.
The premise of this book caught my attention right away and I was hooked from the first pages. However this was really a slow burn. The characters and the setting were intriguing and mysterious but I was hoping for more action and reveals along the way. The twist at the end was good and I would have never seen it coming. I enjoyed the writing as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Another engrossing read from Strawser. She's on my must-read list!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an intriguing read. When Mikki jumps in the car with a stranger and leaves town, she leaves behind her best friend Lark. Eight years on, no sign of Mikki, and Lark is getting by. Set in dual timelines, the events of 2016 link up with 2024 in a very interesting way, certainly, not what I expected. Lot of secrets and twists and turns, and a strong friendship make this a real page turner. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy to freely review.

Thank you NetGallery for the ARC.
SPOILERS inside:
This was a quick read full of many ~ominous~ comments that I feel did not materialize well. We follow two timelines and two best friends. I was very interested in Mikki’s 2016 timeline and board with Lark’s 2024 story. After reading it all and trying to feel what the characters would’ve felt I just feel like many things were disproportionately blown up. There was no twist, you see it coming, you can guess one of two endings. There’s no fun epilogue or exciting happy ending. It’s a fictional thriller… just write up the happy ending ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ no need to pretending these two best friends who you paint as THE BEST OF FRIENDS don’t know if they can move forward from this misunderstanding… as if. They should’ve been running and hugging, not standing and staring. But sure.
Wouldn’t recommend and I’m not rushing to pick up the other seven books from this author.

"You can’t always get what you want.”

For ‘almost 30 and stuck in life’ Mikki Jensen and Lark Nichols, the above lyrics taunted them.

The women were working at a travel stop in Becksville, Ohio, and had a limited outlook on life and limited resources to do anything about their disappointment. When Chris Redmond, a complete stranger, stops to get a coffee for his road trip, he off-handedly invites Mikki to join him…and she impulsively accepts. His motivation in asking was he was looking for a traveling buddy and date for his sister’s wedding in Florida. Mikki’s motivation in accepting was a lifetime of regret. The two head off, Mikki wanting a vacation from herself, and Chris looking to “make a statement by bringing some rando to a family occasion.”

They live it up at the Topaz Resort in Amelia Island and enjoy the wedding…but Mikki never returns home.

I was glued to the pages of this perfectly paced mystery. I needed to see what happened to Mikki, and how Lark, who had a codependent relationship with her friend, continued to live in a world where Mikki wasn’t coming back. I enjoyed the alternate settings of 2016 and 2024 and how Strawser used these to give me a little more information just when I needed it. Strawser’s theme of untaken roads, survivor’s guilt and regret were seamlessly integrated into a well-plotted mystery and I loved how she wove in the importance of harnessing the ‘power of yet’ when discussing her characters’ desires and achievements. I know I’ll never look at any travel stop again without thinking of Mikki and Lark!

Strawser’s novel featuring the powerful motivation of regret is one you’ll want on your reading list ASAP!

I was gifted this copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Mikki and Lark are two women bonded together by rough upbringings and a lackluster truck stop. When Chris-“prince charming” enters the picture and whisks Mikki away for a trip to Florida it couldn’t have been more than perfect for her. Or was it? What darkness did Chris bring Mikki into resulting in her going missing? Lark would never feel quite the same until she located her friend/pseudo-sister/family. What lengths will Lark go to as she uncovers the truth? “Catch You Later” was hard to put down and full of twists and turns. A great summer read. Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to complete an honest review of this ARC.

Jessica Strawser is a wonderful storyteller, and I have been enjoying her books since I came across the first one 5 years ago. Hence I was delighted to have the opportunity to review this story on Netgalley.


Lark and Mikki were best friends, two young women working together at the highway travel stop, with decidedly limited prospects. They seemed set to continue on that path, until Mikki suddenly took off with a stranger and was never heard from again.

Nearly a decade later, Lark has come to terms with the situation as best as she can, rebuilding her life with her young daughter and Highway Patrol Officer fiance. She also helps out Mikki's grandmother, whom she is close to, and who is increasingly unable to look after herself.

In the midst of all this, the last thing anyone expects is for the stranger who took Mickey away years ago to show up enquiring about her whereabouts!

So, what actually happened to Mikki? And what if anything, does Lark know about it?

This is an intriguing story well told, and another great book from Jessica Strawser. Worth a read.

Best friends Mikki and Lark are working dead in jobs in their small town. Neither have much family, just Mikki’s grandmother. But when a stranger stops for a drink and invites Mikki to accompany him on a road trip to a destination wedding in Florida, she throws caution and responsibility to the wind and gets in his car.
Lark tries to stop her, but Mikki is determined to see the ocean. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? Well plenty because the story picks up eight years later and Lark has not heard one word from Mikki. Besides desperately missing her friend, she’s consumed with guilt. But why?
I made a lot of different guesses about what happened to Mikki while I was reading. Yes, the author got me because none of them were correct. I didn’t love the reveal, but after thinking about it for several days, I realized that it made sense. The story is told in the past by Mikki as we learn what happened on that fateful trip. Most of Lark’s chapters are in the now, and I must say, she really really did suffer. I wound up liking this book a lot.

Thanks to this ARC of Catch You Later from NetGalley, I am adding everything that Jessica Strawser has ever written to my TBR list. This is an unpredictable must-read about two best friends whose lives are irrevocably changed when Mikki agrees to go to a destination wedding with a good-looking stranger. Lark tries to stop her but Mikki makes the split second decision to be spontaneous... and then she's never heard from again.

Lark refuses to give up hope that Mikki is alive, and when her best friend's wedding date comes back eight years later looking for Mikki, Lark embarks on an investigation of her own to finally uncover the truth. With the help of Mikki's exasperating-but-lovable grandmother and Lark's loyal fiance (who also happens to be a law enforcement officer, which sometimes comes in handy and sometimes gets in the way), they embark on a journey to learn what really happened the weekend of the wedding.

This is the true definition of a five-star read.

Catch You Later is an interesting variation on a woman disappearing: DId she want to disappear? Is she still out there somewhere? This started off very strong for me, but did drag somewhat during the middle. There was not enough action and I got a little bored; but I did definitely wanted to know what happened to Mikki so I stuck with it. Not as strong as the author's previous novel, The Last Caretaker. But worth the read. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.