In Girls' Night Out started off with mystery starts out the day after the girls' night out and continues bouncing between flashbacks and the days after. The chapters are narrated by the three friends who took this girls' trip together, Ashley, Lauren and Natalie, who have been friends since college. Ashley and Natalie run a company together and had a falling out the year before with Lauren at her husband's funeral. This trip is to heal the fractured relationships. There are more secrets than one can imagine that have been kept from each other even though they are supposed to be longtime best friends. This story is a breath of fresh air since most domestic mysteries that do not revolve around a marriage. Relationships between women throughout the ages are always complicated and full of drama. Recommend this book to mystery suspense and those who do appreciate the domestic thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a copy of ARC for an honest review.

2.5 stars. This was okay. There were a lot of parts I found engaging, especially regarding the friendship between the women and the search for Ashley, but I never actually felt very compelled to pick it up again, and it seemed to drag on after a while. The end also felt anticlimactic and the book didn't end up being the thriller I expected.

*I received a free pre-release copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke was a solid psychological thriller, well-paced and interesting. I found the main characters mostly unlikeable – it was as if the authors’ could only see their bad sides. There was a lot of immaturity and selfishness between the three main characters, and personally I didn’t care all that much what happened to any of them. The location of Tulum was well described and the story was fairly plausible. This would make a good beach read for anyone who likes thrillers. 3 out of 5 stars, this book took me 4.5 hours to read. I was given this advance reader’s copy from Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for my honest review.

Ashley Green was excited the day she e-mailed her long-time friends Natalie and Lauren to plan a trip to Tulum, Mexico. She longed for a place of spiritual renewal where the three friends could not only reconnect after having drifted apart over the past year, but do some soul searching as well. Ashely knew this was the time and place for reconciliation, but just didn’t know where to start: “With Lauren and their terrible fight a year ago? With Natalie and the recent offer from Revlon to buy their company – creating tension within their friendship and business partnership? Or say nothing at all?” (Girls’ Night Out, p. 8).

After arriving in Tulum, Ashley becomes enamoured with a local man named Marco during a morning yoga class. Before the beginning of the class, Marco shares with Ashley some of the secrets that make Tulum a truly rejuvenating experience and Ashley finds herself sharing her own secrets with Marco. Marco offers to show Ashley and her friends around Tulum (including a private beach in the area) and Ashley is eager to accept. Lauren and Natalie are skeptical about Ashley’s quick friendship with Marco, but Ashley’s power of persuasion wins out in the end.

Marco becomes a permanent fixture in the friends’ vacation, his presence causing added tension between Ashley, Lauren and Natalie. Everything comes to a head on their final night in Tulum when Marco shows up at the same bar as the three women.

The morning of their departure, Natalie wakes up on the beach outside the hotel wearing the dress from the night before - and it’s soaking wet. She has no memory of what happened after they left the bar and Ashley is nowhere to be found…

The latest thriller by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke will have you on the edge of your seat as you flip back and forth between recollections of the past from the perspective of each friend to the day after the disappearance and ensuing search for Ashley. Along the way you’ll learn bits and pieces of what happened that night from Natalie and Lauren. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself turning the pages as fast as you can to the twist ending you’ll have to read to believe.

Look for Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke coming soon to the GPPL. Place your hold now!

Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is one book that fans of the thriller genre will want to add to their summer reading lists. The book is chock full of suspense, an amazing setting, and is written in a really interesting way. It will have readers guessing right up to the end.

Thrillers seem to be the genre that I have been drawn to lately, and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to read this intense book. Girls’ Night Out is very hard to review without revealing too much of the plot, however, I will say that it did surprise me many times as I was reading, which makes for a great mystery.

One of the aspects of this book that drew me in was that Mexican setting. I haven’t read too many novels set there, and I loved the lush, beautiful descriptions of the region. There is even some history included on the Mayan culture, which I found to be really cool. It is a vacation within in a book, so if you are like me, and pining for your next holiday, this book will satisfy that need.

Books written by two authors are hits or misses for me. I can honestly say that if I hadn’t known that there were two creators behind the story, I would never have guessed it. It is a really well-written book that is told through multiple perspectives and flashbacks. I didn’t like any of the characters, which usually is a turn-off for me. However, the dislikable characters fit this novel perfectly because it adds to the “who done it” aspect of the story.

Girls’ Night Out is a book that I highly recommend if you are in the mood for a thriller that will provide you with lots of great suspense. The setting and the writing are both fantastic. I will definitely be adding some more of Fenton and Steinke’s books to my TBR.

Girl’s Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Brief Summary: Three friends Ashley, Lauren and Natalie embark on a girlfriends’ getaway to Mexico to make amends of past estrangement. After a night of drinking Ashley is missing and Lauren and Natalie piece their spotty memories together to find her. Of course, all three ladies have their secrets and not all is as it seems to be. I enjoyed the Good Widow by this writing team and I eagerly anticipated this read.

Highlights: This is an easy to read and quick paced ultimate beach read. I absolutely loved the scenic setting of the novel and am inspired to visit Mexico for the sights, alcohol, and food! I definitely took notes on safety and don’t know that I would consider Mexico for a Girlfriends Getaway after reading this novel. I absolutely appreciated the value of female friendships and the trouble of trying to piece together memories of a night out.

Explanation of Rating: 3.5/5 though this was an engaging and interesting read; it was not all encompassing. Though I had a hard time believing some of their points of dispute and grudges; I imagine that they are very real in some relationships and social circles. I can’t believe there wasn’t a creative way to solve the main dispute between Ashley and Natalie. I hope that readers come away with a reminder that life is short; forgive and forget.

Psychology Factors: I appreciate any efforts to destigmatize the shame of an abusive relationship. I was very glad to hear that Lauren was in both individual and group therapy and had even made a good friend through her grief support group. I also liked the aspect of ambiguous loss of a complicated relationship with an abuser. The threat of an abusive relationship to one’s mortality is very real. Abused women can be a step away from death at any point in time.

This is a quick, easy, and distracting read perfect for your next vacation. Pack it in your beach bag!

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke never disappoint. Girls’ Night Out is beyond fantastic. The story revolves around three longtime friends who have struggled with their friendships for the previous. A trip to Mexico is planned to try to reconnect them. I absolutely loved the characters. Their different points of view made me really connect and understand all of their positions. The descriptions of Tulum are so vivid that I could clearly picture everything in my head. The twists and turns - wow. I don’t have adequate words describe the rollercoaster that this book is.

A million stars for Girls’ Night Out!

This book was hit and miss with me. I enjoyed the premise, but the story itself was kind of lacking. I ended up skimming through the last few chapters just to find out what happened.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The release date for this book is July 24, 2018.

Ashley, Natalie and Lauren have been friends for many years and Ashley and Natalie own a successful company together. Ashley has asked Natalie and Lauren to go away for a girl’s week in Tulum, Mexico in hopes of repairing the fractures in their friendship. A year previous, Lauren’s husband, Geoff, passed away from a heart attack. At Geoff’s funeral, Lauren and Ashley had a massive argument and they have not spoken since. Ashley is hoping that not only will they get their friendship back on track but that she and Natalie can come to a mutual decision regarding their company as Revlon has made an offer to purchase it. Natalie, for reasons that Ashley is not aware of, desperately needs for the company to be sold and Ashley, for reasons that Natalie doesn’t understand, desperately needs to hang onto it.

Shortly after they arrive in Tulum, Ashley meets a man named Marco. He quickly insinuates himself into the threesome, much to the dismay of Natalie and Lauren. Natalie and Lauren do not trust Marco and feel that he is becoming too familiar with Ashley, who has a husband and two children at home.

On their last night in Tulum, Lauren and Ashley have words again which causes Lauren to go back to the hotel. Marco wants Ashley to go on an adventure with him and Natalie doesn’t want Ashley to go on her own with a strange man in a strange country after drinking for several hours. Eight hours later, Ashley goes missing and Natalie wakes up outside, soaked to the skin with no memory of what happened the night before.

The story is told in multiple points of view using flashbacks to divulge the whole story. This was a fun, fast read where at times, I couldn’t put it down. There certainly were times that I just shook my head at the three women – what were they thinking???? Getting continuously drunk in a strange country, with a strange man and going off on adventures with him in the middle of the night ….. no surprise when something went wrong, but unfortunately we hear stories like this all the time in real life when people go away somewhere tropical on vacation.

I really enjoyed everything about this book! I read this in one day because I was so anxious to find out what happened. I felt I was really able to connect with and understand Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren. Even when they were frustrating me, I still loved them and couldn't decide whose side I was on. Overall, I found this to be a very engaging read and would highly recommend this to mystery and suspense lovers.

A sunny Mexico vacation, friendships on the rocks, and a mysterious man - all the makings of a great Summer read! This book keeps you entertained and trying to guess what happens. I liked the different perspectives and jumps in time periods based around the main event. This book would pair well with a margarita and a hammock to relax in.

Authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have done an excellent job of piecing the story together with days before and after the main event, and using a different character's voice. Looking forward to reading more by these authors. I was given an early copy to review.

Girls’ Night Out is a must read! I read it in 2 days because I could not put it down! The characters were 3 best friends that decided to go on a girls’ trip to Mexico. The main purpose was to reconcile some things that happened between them and caused some hard feelings. The main girlfriend, Ashley, could not make amends with the other 2 which lead to a supposible accident on their last night in Mexico. It has you guessing through the whole book whether Ashley is dead or not and if so what happened to her. I do not want to give too much away to spoil this read. I would say to definitely put this one on your list! And most of all, try to mend your friendships when they get tangled!

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I LOVED that this book was about women in their late 30 (as am I). I loved that reading about their friendships, their marriages, and their families .... as I am getting older in life, I can really relate to the aspects of this book. The description and the girls trip to Mexico is what really peaked my interest in reading this book.

I love a good beach read - and adding a thriller/suspense aspect to it - I was dying to read it even more! What I didn't like very much, was that it seems to be marketed as suspense/thriller and I feel like it is definitely mis-marketed - while there is some suspense - it is not super strong and the book is more centered around their relationships with each other. While I still enjoyed the book, expecting a thriller and not really receiving one was disappointing to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much, would probably have rated it higher if I wasn't so disappointment in missing the thriller / suspense part of it.

Since I first discovered Lisa & Liz with The Status of All Things, I’ve really enjoyed their work! I was thrilled when they delved more into psychological suspense with The Good Widow and was excited to hear they would be continuing with this genre in Girls Night Out. 3 best friends/business partners, Mexico, stress at home and alcohol?! Sounds like a recipe for a disaster, which is exactly sets the scene for the mystery in Girls Night Out when the morning after one of the girls is missing, one can’t remember her night and the third doesn’t know who to trust! I really enjoyed this and think fans of The Good Widow will be pleased!

This is a story about when friendship is put to test. One woman gets missing, and her friends try to repair their friendship. Some part of this book feels like a chick-lit, while there is also a lot of suspense. It's a nice mix of genres. I thought it was a bit confusing that the point of view changes between 3 women and to Ashley's disappearance. Though, this way you get to learn the secrets of each of them. I didn't like that the woman had so many arguments, it got annoying. I did like the writing and the pacing. I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

Well, I really did not care for this book. Unlikable characters and an entirely predictable plot made it a struggle to complete and I wish I didn’t waste my time on it.

The synopsis for Girls’ Night Out makes the story seem much more interesting than it actually is. There are no earth shattering secrets revealed and really no suspense. I’ve read some reviews talking about the great twist ending and I am here to tell you that is false. If you are looking for a really character-driven novel about insufferable women not getting along, then this book is for you. If you’re looking for mystery and suspense and some shocking twists, you should probably take a hard pass on this one.

Ashley was a very selfish, very self-indulgent character. While she seemed to have good intentions, her selfishness was still at the root of all her actions. It was very hard to feel bad for the beautiful, charming (aka: manipulative), rich, self-centered “victim”. Natalie was also not a likable character. She let herself be steamrolled by Ashley for pretty much their whole relationship and is only beginning to show her resentment towards it. I couldn’t help but feel like if she was just more honest with Ashley then maybe she could have talked some sense into her before things got so far gone. Lauren was basically a pointless character. I really don’t have any idea why she was even in the story, except to add just a tiny bit more drama and shine a brighter light on Ashley’s inability to maintain positive relationships. Lauren also has a scandalous addiction that is mentioned and then nothing really else happened with it. It didn’t portray how damaging it is or how it really affected her day to day life. It seemed like it was just something thrown in for shock value and felt a little irresponsible to me.

Overall, I just really didn’t like Girls’ Night Out. I feel like basically your guess from the first chapter pretty much ends up being true and it made a lot of the middle just seem pointless. I also am not a fan of the “amnesia/blackout” trope which the story heavily relied on. Maybe if the characters were a little more likable it would make up for the poor plot, but unfortunately they just made it worse. The only reason this is getting more than one star from is because I liked the use of multiple POVs and timelines.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have created another must-read novel, Girls’ Night Out. This book is about friendships and how much pressure the bonds of those friendships can handle.

Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren are long-time friends who have drifted apart and try to reconnect through a girls-only trip to Mexico. Along the way, their already-strained relationships are tested even further, culminating in the disappearance of Ashley. Throughout the novel, the women search for answers on many levels. What happened to the friendships they once knew? How did they end up where they are personally and professionally? And, most pressing, where is Ashley and what decisions have led her there?

The novel is told from three different points of view and also hops around in time, but these changes are easy to follow, and they make sense with the story. I did feel, however, that all three women are immature and selfish and impossible to connect with. The characters are well developed, but I could not buy into the idea that grown women would really act like Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren behave. The story is filled with cat-fighting, name-calling, reckless decisions, and “I hope you die” statements. Additionally, all three women have massive issues going on in their personal lives, which seems like an unfortunate coincidence.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher Lake Union Publishing, and authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke for a copy of Girls’ Night Out in exchange for my honest review.

This is a Girls' Night Out gone wrong, really wrong.

Three friends, Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, go to Tulum, Mexico for a getaway.
In the course of their trip they attempt to mend broken bridges in their friendships, but ultimately the night before they leave Ashley disappears. And that is where the book begins. We spend the rest of the book figuring out what caused their friendships to go off track, the secrets their hiding, and why ultimately Ashley disappeared.

I struggled to get into this book initially. Between multiple view points and a changing timeline, it took me a bit to get a hang of who each of the characters were and what was happening in the story. It was probably half way when things really started to come together for me and then I sped through to the end. If you enjoy suspense and a little drama, I recommend this book to you. I do think it is ultimately worth the initial effort.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There is a very interesting premise behind Girls' Night Out: 3 BFFs who have been torn apart in recent months by business acquisitions and bad blood are coming together for a girl trip in Mexico to let loose and reconnect. Unfortunately, that's about where the intrigue ends. Ashley and Natalie have invented a styling product that Revlon wants to buy, and they're torn on whether or not to sell it - what is it called? The BloMe Brush. Yes, really. And then one day, they come out of a drunken stupor to realize one of their kind (Ashley) has gone missing. It goes about as far as you think it would considering a main beef between these women lies in the "BloMe Brush." I just can't get past that, it's very hard to suspend disbelief and get invested in a thriller when you have the phrase "BloMe Brush" lurking in the background, trying to take itself seriously.