[arc review]
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Business Trip releases January 14, 2025

<b>*contains spoilers*</b>

Jasmine and Stephanie are both women in their mid-40s living in Madison, and end up boarding the same flight to Denver.
One of them is escaping an abusive relationship, and the other is heading to a conference in San Diego for work.

Two days after their flight, they both text their closest friends to tell them that they’ve met a man named Trent McCarthy.
What happened on that flight for two strangers with different final destinations to end up with the same man?

This was the most nonsensical story I’ve read in a while.

The pacing and structure did not work for me, and the dialogue was extremely stilted and unnatural. I grew frustrated with it being overly detailed in places where it didn’t need to be, and the many character pov’s of everyone other than Jasmine and Stephanie.

There was actually no reason why Jasmine needed to take Stephanie’s identity. She was already free and clear in Denver with an additional $2K in cash and could’ve started a new life for herself… I find it hard to believe that her abusive partner, Glenn, who lives in a trailer and refuses to cook his own meals, would ever exert enough effort and search for her across all 50 states. Jasmine wasn’t even tech savvy enough to know how to order an Uber that same week, so it’s not like her social media presence was extensive enough to track either.

Since Jasmine seems to be such an expert killer, why couldn’t she have come up with a way to kill Glenn in the year that it took her to save up her tip money? I’m sure she could have thought of something that would’ve looked accidental instead of the whole fiasco she drummed up involving Trent, which actually drew more attention to herself.

Wow at first I was not sure what to think as the beginning chapters didn’t hook me right away. However once I got to chapter 3, I couldn’t put this book down. The multiple POVs were at times a lot, but I enjoyed learning more about each character. The twist in the middle, I did not see coming. Trent is a character I had a hard time reading about mostly because of his personality. But it was a great representation by the author and she certainly made the readers not like him and think he did it. The twist at the end floored me!! I enjoyed this fast pace moving plot and can’t wait to read it again. I give it 4”5 out of 5 stars. I will definitely be reading more by this author whenever they publish a new book.

It took me a minute to connect to this book, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down! Stephanie and Jasmine have no idea who each other are, but both text friends about a man they both met who has the same name, Trent. Then they both disappear.

I enjoyed the alternating POV’s in this book and watching it all play out in many pieces that eventually has you on the edge of your seat. This book was fast paced and held a lot of emotions. Can coworkers and friends put together what has happened to both ladies?

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who travels a lot, I had some issues with this book. It might have been different if I could have fully shut my brain off and just got lost in the absurdity of this book, but it doesn’t always work that way. This book also had way too many points of view, and I really could have done with less. The slimy abusive boyfriend would have been a great one to cut or Trent’s boss (just why?). Because there were so many points of view, towards the second half of the book there was overlap in the book, and it was frustrating. I think the author used so many points of view to keep the reader guessing, but instead it was frustrating and convoluted and I just got angry. I think that this book had potential and I wish I would have enjoyed the ride a bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for trusting me when an ARC of The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia. The Business Trip is the story of two women, Jazmine and Stephanie who meet on a plane ride to Denver. Jazmine is running from an abusive relationship and Stephanie is a news director who is on her way to a conference in San Diego. Given Jazmine's abusive relationships, I was rooting for Jazmine's successful escape from Glenn. That is until Jazmine decides to assume Stephanie's identity and follows her on to the conference in San Diego. What follows is a series of twists and turns that involve others in Jazmine's web of deceit.

This book drew me into the story and the characters. I could not put it down, that is until the end. I was along for the ride until the ending and was a bit disappointed in the ending. I certainly did not see it coming despite the clues along the way. Overall, well done for a first book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to more from Ms. Garcia.

Keep turning those pages....

I really enjoyed this read, there was a twist I didn’t quite expect and the pacing was done really well. As a debut novel it’s a great one I look forward to hopefully more books in the future!

Wow! I loved this book and all of the twists and turns; so many things happened that I did not expect. Moreover, I never felt quite sure which character I should be rooting for. Two very different women, Stephanie and Jasmine, end up sitting together on a flight, and another passenger remarks on how much they look alike. Jasmine, fleeing an abusive relationship, steals Stephanie’s ID, in order to aid her escape. From this chance encounter a wild tale emerges, told from multiple points of view. The friends and co-workers of these women push the story forward in bits and pieces as they receive texts from them, see their social media posts, and other brief communications. I loved this structure and this book will keep you guessing until the very end. Highly recommended! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. This was an alright read, it was quite predictable and the characters were rather one dimensional. The writing style was also heavy on telling instead of showing, and the different POVs all had the same voice.

Thank you, NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this eARC to read and review. Pub date: January 2025. I was very honored to be invited to read this title and had high hopes - the synopsis sounded very promising and I was ready for a thriller. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story and found the characters lacking credibility, depth, and logic. The inner monologues of the characters were difficult to stomach and were just so one dimensional. The twists were creative, but lacked sound plots and even a suspension of belief was a stretch. I had to put the book down various times, but wanted to do it justice and finish.

This might appeal to those who enjoy twists, multiple narrators, and unreliable narrators.

The twists, the turns, the surprises!!!
This was definitely a story that kept my interest and my brain trying to figure it out.
Jasmine is finally taking the steps to leave her abusive controlling boyfriend. She’s leaving town and starting fresh.
Stephanie is going to a conference in San Diego. If only she knew how much her life would change with this one trip.
Trent is also going to the conference and his slimy ways are going to catch up to him.
Told through multiple persons and sure to keep you guessing. Loved hearing the details through all parties involved.

Couldn’t put this book down!!
It was so good. Multiple perspectives helped keep the book moving. So many different things were happening. The twist at the end was so good!!!!

From the description I thought I was getting into a "strangers on a train" type situation but it was darker and twistier than expected! There was a lot of detail and buildup which I think could have been a bit less but overall a great storyline. The big twist in the middle of the book was not expected and I was again hooked on what seemed like a new. storyline! great read

3.75⭐️ - Overall this debut novel is completely bingeable and sure to get you out of a reading slump with some edge-of-your-seat fun. With a major ‘Strangers on a Train’ vibe I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what happened to Stephanie and Jasmine, two seemingly strangers who met on a plane with two different end destinations whose lives cross with one awful guy. ⁠
The beginning is fast-paced and I truly couldn’t believe I was reading a debut fiction novel, however once we got to the second half the book lost me a little. The pace slowed down quite a bit and we got the exact same sequence of events from a different point of view which ended up being incredibly repetitive rather than shifting the focus to mostly introduce new information.⁠
In the end we picked back up with the bingeable theme of the first half of the book which I was happy about. Overall this is an excellent debut and I can’t wait to see how this author evolves, as I’ll certainly read more by her going forward.

Unbelievably thankful to have been given the honor of reading this arc. This book was thrilling with many plot twists that I did not see coming. This writing was easy and sucked you in immediately. The change up in POV was unlike any other book I’ve ever read. Cannot believe this is a debut novel for this author and am excited to read more from Jessie in the future!

The whole plot of this book was intriguing to me and it didn't really slow at all which I liked. You pretty much got right into the good stuff right away. When I got to Trent's character I almost stopped reading. Not because of the writing but just because of his personality. But humans like that do exist, very cringe. Anyway, I am so happy with the ending because as I was reading I thought if it didn't end the way I hoped then I would be quite upset. I thought it was a quick and easy read. I believe some parts like the repetition of texts didn't need to be there but I understand it was sharing another character's POV at the time. Would recommend.

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia is one of those books that pulls you in from the first chapter and doesn't let go.. The suspense kicks in right away, and I found myself constantly wondering what was really happening. Is Trent pulling the strings, or are Stephanie and Jasmine playing their own twisted game? Just when I thought I had it all figured out, something would happen to throw me off. The pacing is perfect—intense without being too much. It’s definitely one of those books where you keep saying, “just one more chapter.” If you’re into psychological thrillers with lots of twists, this one’s a must-read!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a twisty, turny, thriller! This kept me intrigued and surprised through the last page. Written first-person by multiple characters, everyone has a past, everyone is trying to cover something up, everyone has their own purposes, and they all have their schemes running into each other. The book has everyone from newsroom executives to outright criminals, murderers, forgers and identity thieves. The protagonist has a fantasy she shares with a neighbor about being taken by a “friendly” kidnapper. It happens… or does it… or in a way she doesn’t expect? The twists and turns go through this story all the way to the end! Kept me on the edge of my seat, and considering what could be happening while I was away from the book.

Well, this was a wild ride! I really enjoyed the plot of this story and the several twists the author threw our way. I am usually pretty good at guessing where these types of thrillers are headed, but that final twist really shocked me!

My biggest gripe was the large number of POVs. I'm sure the author's intention was to use these to keep the reader guessing what really happened to our main girls and to help provide some backstory. But I feel like many of those clues could have been added elsewhere to keep the story tighter. Did we really need a chapter from the POV of Trent's boss? Or all those folks in Stephanie's newsroom? The lack of a distinct voice made all of these kind of blur together and read more like info dumps.

Also, many of the characters rang hollow and were bordering on stereotypes. This could have been remedied had some of the extra POVS been removed to give them more space to be fleshed out.

I did really enjoy just how unlikable Trent was. I laughed out loud at some of his scenes because I know a few men that are just like him. I found myself hoping for his comeuppance regardless of whether he was guilty of murder.

Two strangers meet on a plane. Shortly after, both of them go missing.
Jasmine is fleeing to Denver from her abusive boyfriend. After a year of saving up she finally has enough money for a plan ticket to start her life over.
Stephanie is a divorced program director from Wisconsin laying over in Denver before heading onto San Diego for a news convention.
Their lives can't be any more different from one another, yet somehow both of them are texting their friends about a man they met, Trent McCarthy who lives in Atlanta.
As the text messages become more worrisome to their friends about how controlling and erratic Trent can be, it sparks them to alert the police when the texts go silent.
How did these women, seemingly in different parts of the country end up in Atlanta with Trent and what really happened to them?
The layers in this story from each character's perspective show that all is not as it seems and the twists and turns of this plot will have your head spinning till the very last page.

wow!! what a twist!! this was a quick read that literally had me on the edge of my seat!! i’ve never read the author before but will definitely check out more of her books. i loved how in the end Jamie got a surprise of her life lol!!!