I DNF’d this book. I really didn’t like the direction this book was taking, and it was not holding my attention. I will let other reviewers who enjoy this book promote it. I will not be posting on social media or reviewing on retail sites. That way, this book gets much deserved attention from those reviewers who loved it!

Thank you so much for sending me this advance ebook copy to read. This has to be one of the best bait and switch books I have read in a very long time..
Jasmine is in a terrible relationship with an abusive boyfriend. She decides to escape in the middle of the night and start a new life somewhere else. At this point I was rooting for Jasmine, Unbeknownst to me, Miss Jasmine isn’t such a victim after all. Then comes Stephanie, high executive at a news station. She gets taken advantage of by her boss who sends her on all the business trips because she is divorced and has an adult son. Stephanie sets off on a flight to a conference and happens to be sitting next to Jasmine, who is on the run. We then have a murder, a framing of a murder, a mistaken identity, a back stabbing by a high school friend, and a “ holy cow” moment I NEVER saw coming. This was a fantastic read.

Bravo Jessie Garcia, I can’t wait to read your future books.

Early reviews on this book are mixed, so I started it with some trepidation and low expectations. I found myself drawn into the story immediately and, while not perfect, it exceeded my expectations. I did not realize until halfway through that the author is the same Jessie Garcia I watched for years as a sports anchor on our local CBS station. The many Madison, Wisconsin references piqued my interest and were an unexpected bonus throughout the book.

Jasmine and Stephanie have nothing more in common than being on the same flight to Denver. Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship and Stephanie is attending yet another work related conference. Both women appear to vanish after claiming to be with the same man, an Atlanta news director who also happens to be a major sleaze bag.

The plot is twisted and has some obvious holes, but ultimately it didn’t bother me. The full cast, multiple POV narration kept me engaged until the end. The narration built tension and contributed to my enjoyment. The main characters - all of them - were lacking in morals and decency which was perfect for the plot. I definitely think the audio version is the way to experience this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for access to an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

This was one of those pulse pounding, can’t stop reading thrillers. You think you have an idea of what is going on, nope- think again!!!

I enjoyed this from start to finish. I have one complaint, and the reason it lost a star, there was an overkill on details. Like, details we’d heard before, repeated. I’m assuming to make sure we “got it” but that is my only negative.

You will find likable characters, dislikable characters, and a big mess everyone is left to deal with. Jasmine and Stephanie, strangers, board a plane to Denver, CO and nothing is the same afterwards.

Someone is fleeing an abusive relationship, someone is going on a work trip, there is identity theft, manipulation, misogyny, strange text messages, multiple missing people, links to high school, murders and just as you think you have it figured out- twist upon twist upon twists.

I have not read anything by Jessie Garcia before, but I’ll certainly keep my eye out for more of her books. This was a great psychological thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for a digital ARC of The Business Trip. The publish date is 1/15/25- Mark your calendars!!

“The Business Trip” really is gripping, and binge-worthy as advertised!
I loved it! ❤️

My synopsis will be vague on purpose as to not spoil anything for you!

Stephanie and Jasmine both board a flight to Denver, and by chance, are assigned to sit together in the SAME row. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship.

After a few days, each woman is texting their friends and co-workers about meeting the SAME great guy-Trent McCarthy.

And then each woman vanishes at the SAME time.

But this book is not the SAME as any other that you may have read! It is LAYERED, TWISTY and UNPREDICTABLE!
I guessed NOTHING right!

VERY CLEVER Jessie Garcia! I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

This debut is available on January 14, 2025

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC provided via NetGalley.

As always, these are my candid thoughts!

My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin's for allowing me to review this arc.

Stephanie and Jasmine are Strangers on a Plane. They both board the plane, and both disappear. The only connection is a man name Trent? Who is he and what is his agenda?

I loved this book! So many twists! My reasons for only 4 stars:, too many POVs and jumping around. Confusing and hard to focus. No likeable characters accept the cat sitter. Still highly recommend!

I really wanted to like this book. It started off strong and peaked my interest. And overall, I never really lost interest. But there were just a couple big things that made me not fully enjoy this book. The first was that there were just way too many characters’ POVs at the beginning. I feel like a couple could have been eliminated, and just portrayed the same things through word of mouth of other characters. The second thing was I felt it was unbalanced that the second half or so is just primarily one person’s POV. And the last thing that just didn’t wow me was the ending. Did I see it coming? No, but it was about as interesting as my husband’s updates on his fantasy football team.

Since this book did keep me listening to it from beginning to end, I am giving it an extra half star. If thrillers are your pizza, as in you will enjoy it just because it’s pizza alone, then I’d say pick this one up. But just don’t expect gourmet toppings.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. Wowza. I was absolutely GRIPPED.

I really thought I knew where this book was going and I couldn't have been more wrong. I was surprised over and over and kept thinking to myself, WHAT IS GOING ON?!

I listened to this novel on audio and it was excellent. I enjoyed ALL the narrators - and there were a lot! - and the acting was on point. With so many different viewpoints, I was worried there would be a lot of fluff but every character brought something significant to the story and really pushed it along.

I really can't believe how much this book surprised me in the best way. Admittedly, I could have done without the final twist but it was definitely a jaw dropper so I'll enjoy it all the same.

If you are looking for a book that will shock and delight you, The Business Trip is it! It was a super-fast listen and I really think I could have listened to the entire novel in an entire sitting had my schedule allowed it!

A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the copy. Don't miss this one!!

This book took a little time to get started as the two main characters are introduced, but once it takes off - buckle up! Twists upon twists that honestly floored me, and an ending that had my jaw dropped. I liked the multiple point of views, even though I did want to shake each of these women! I throughly enjoyed this book!

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

I genuinely enjoyed this novel by Jessie Garcia! Stephanie and Jasmine meet as strangers on a flight… but from that moment on their lives will be forever changed.

I struggled somewhat with this book, I think because I actually hated most of the characters. Stephanie’s cat sitter/neighbor/bestie being the only one I just really liked! It’s a little hard to stay interested when you just want to smack every character upside the head.

The writing was good, the book was full of twists, and the multiple POV/timeline storyline was fantastic. Over all a great debut!

This is a nail biting story told from the point of view of several characters. Readers will not see the explosive ending coming. The author uses the method of relating the same scene from a different character’s view point which makes for excellent storytelling. One meeting changes the life of several people with Stephanie being the axis point. The author sets the stage for each incident in a way that pulls the reader into the plot. It’s a story that would definitely be worth reading twice to see if any clues were missed.

What.A.Ride. This is such a good book. Very suspenseful - it had me on edge! I read this over the course of two nights and stayed up late to finish it. There's a couple of storylines - Jasmine is escaping her abusive boyfriend. Stephanie is traveling to a conference and wishes she could just take a break and not travel as much for work. Trent is the creepy and chauvinistic macho news director attending the same conference as Stephanie.
All of these characters intersect at some point. As the book turned to Jasmine's role, I wasn't a fan of her character and found myself a bit disappointed in the twist.
But just when you thought the story was over, another twist that brought me back to what I liked about this fast-paced thriller. Highly recommend!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Two strangers meet on a plane. Both leaving Wisconsin, each for a significantly different reason. Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. Stephanie is attending a work conference. Within hours of meeting, friends and colleagues of both women start to notice something isn't quite right. Things escalate after a couple of days, and no one's life will ever be the same.

Writing a review of The Business Trip without giving anything away is somewhat challenging. But I'll try to share what I liked and what didn't quite work for me.

As a Wisconsinite, the partially local setting crafted by a local and familiar author--TV broadcaster Jessie Garcia--was a strong selling point. The plot is intriguing and unfolds from multiple characters' viewpoints. The author crafted a compelling foundation and ramped up the tension for the first three-quarters of the book.

And then we get to Part Four.

At first, I was engrossed in all of the pieces of the plot twist reveal. But as the novel raced to the conclusion and all the pieces slipped into place, my belief also slipped. The actions of the narrating character began to feel unrealistic and incongruous with who they were presented to be leading up to this point. And the epilogue, well...it could have safely been omitted altogether.

Overall, The Business Trip is a creepy, clever, and captivating crime story. I enjoyed it (for the most part), and I thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Both Stephanie and Jasmine end up on the same flight. They don’t know each other, yet both end up sending people in their lives a text about a man they met. The same man. Suddenly both women end up missing, the only clue, the man they both texted about…

I read this book in a single day! It had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was happening and what had happened! The twists were seriously never ending! I don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you want a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, look no further!

Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy of this book!

The Business Trip
When two different women from different sides of the tracks meet on a plane ride to Denver, what could possibly happen? Apparently A lot! Stephanie is a well off news director on her way to yet another work trip. She’s burned out and lonely. Jasmine is running from an abusive relationship and a lifetime of bad choices. Both really would like to start over. Each woman eventually sends texts to friends about a man they met, Trent McCarty and how they’re extending their trips to be with him. Uncharacteristic for both of them to each of their friends. But something is not right. The texts don’t add up. And what happens in between will blow your mind. Not at all the ending I was expecting either.

Finished in one sitting!!! Loved this book so much. I love how we got to see the perspectives of multiple characters! If you love twisty thriller books, then I 1000% recommend you read this one!

My, oh, my! The Business Trip is a phenomenal twisty turny debut thriller which gripped me in an anxiety-inducing vise the entire time. This is more than a book. It's an experience. Imagine what subsequent writing by this author will be like! Who cares about dinner preparation when you have this to jump into?

Two young women find themselves on the same flight but for very different reasons. One is en route to a conference, the other to escape a dangerous situation. They hit it off. But their lives become messier as they become entangled in sticky webs of deceit. You can't throw a stick without hitting a smarmy or questionable character. And the twists keep coming. And coming. And coming.

Multiple timelines must be challenging to get right. But the author nailed it. Oh, how I enjoyed despising these infuriating characters! The atmosphere is tense and the pacing is snappy. Talk about an attention getter!

Very twisty mystery/thriller. A little Scooby-Doo-ish towards the end, but overall very gripping and entertaining.

Jasmine escapes an abusive relationship in Wisconsin. She sneaks out in the middle of the night and boards a plane to Denver. After a few days, she contacts a friend and tells her that she met a man and after that no one is able to contact her. Stephanie is a news director at a television station in Madison and she boards a flight to attend a news conference. After a couple of days, when she doesn't return when expected, her friends and colleagues receive a series of odd texts from her saying she has met a man and is going to spend time with him. Then she vanishes as well. What happened to these two women?

I listened to the multi-narrator full cast audiobook production of this novel and it was fantastic. It really helped to get immersed into the story and involved in what was happening. It allowed me to feel the emotions of the characters and get to know them better than I would have on the page.

The narrative moves between the present day, the near past, and the past. The story unfolds deliberately and I was absolutely captivated wanting to know what was going on with the situation. It's difficult to know who to believe--if anyone! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another curve ball is thrown and I was surprised yet again at the turn of events.

Although the ending felt a bit dumbed-down due to the over-explanation of every single detail of how everything transpired, this was still a completely entertaining mystery thriller that is sure to please readers of the genre. There's a bit of suspension of disbelief needed, but overall if you just relax into the story you are sure to enjoy the experience.

Jasmine has planned to escape her violent overcontrolling boyfriend and start a new life without him. Stephanie is stuck in a high power job without a break to herself. Both women are on a plane together headed for Denver when their stories converge and take on a whirlwind of a story. What do these two women have in common when their backgrounds are totally different? They want to live for themselves.

A whodunit mystery you can't put down, it's quickly paced and told from multiple points of view.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Opinions are my own.


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Stephanie and Jasmine are strangers that meet on a plane by chance. Both of them go their separate ways and then begin texting their families about a man. Shortly after that, they both go missing. Is this man to blame or is there something more sinister going on? EVERY SINGLE TIME I thought I had the story or a situation figured out, I was slammed with another twist. It was an amazing read. The characters were all well written and easy to love (or hate) based on their individual qualities. I cannot wait to read more from Jessie Garcia! I was also given the opportunity to listen the audio version of this book and highly recommend that edition as well! Thank you NetGalley and Jessie Garcia for this ARC. All opinions are my own.