I am dealing with this whole "they are the dominant religion and I am not" emotional crisis at work, once again, and I think this book was not the right read for this moment.
I don't know about this. I like the setting and all the cats and stuff but I was just not feeling the characters.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This shocking and dark crime thriller follows a group of people who have settled in an old hotel in the hills of Cyprus. They look to heal themselves spiritually with the help of each other.

The group is looking for ways to survive financially, and the leader Quinn believes there will be a way to save them.

When someone from the past comes to visit and offers the group a way to keep their home, they think they will no longer need to worry.
However, this offer may come at a deadly price.

What will this offer mean? How far will the group go to save their home?

This crime thriller is dark and shocking, I must admit I was a little surprised at the offer put to the group, but I won’t reveal it in this review.

The narration of the storyline goes through several of the characters, and through different years, which to be honest I didn’t really make sense of until towards the end. It didn’t take away from the understanding of the events which occur and helped get an insight into more of the characters. There is one character I would have liked to see their side of which I’m a little surprised we didn’t get to see much of, but maybe that adds more to the mystery.

There are plenty of secrets revealed throughout as the group decide how they are going to approach and respond to the offer put before them.

Overall, a dark and shocking crime thriller where an offer to save a home could turn deadly.

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this after reading the synopsis but it fell a little flat for me. It was the perfect setting for a retreat, a group of people trying to overcome their demons and get back on track but then someone came along to make you rethink everything.

Sofia lost her mum at Pure Heart, and the group hasn’t seen her since she left with her grandparents. She’s now back, they’re excited and happy to see her as an adult - see how she’s grown. But this feeling doesn’t last long once she arrives.

The premise is good, the “will they, won’t they” had me intrigued but there were too many chapters ending with a variation of “if only we knew…”, “who knew this would be the last…” it took away from the story and just made me want to put it down. I did think the ending was clever, didn’t see it coming and think there was more to it than we were told. A few clues dotted throughout made me think someone else was involved but this wasn’t fully explained.

Overall, a good well written read, but just fell flat in a few ways.

3,5 stars rounded up

As soon as you first see the House in the Hill, an old hotel in a picturesque enclave of the Cypriot hills, you know it's the perfect home for you - with a breathtaking view, a refreshing pool, and peace and quiet, away from the rest of the world. A place to recover and grow. But paradise isn't cheap, and as the debt mounts, you could lose everything you've worked so hard for. Until someone makes you an offer: to keep your home, you have to take a life. But you could never do that.... could you?

It did take me a while to get into this book, and the pace was slow, so I took off half a star for those reasons. A spiritual resort which is really a place where people go when they want to escape past events in their lives. Their motto is, "The past does not exist." Then someone makes an offer, to keep your home - you have to take a life.

This is a descriptively written story. A nicely twisted read with something sinister brewing.

Published 18th March

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #TJEmerson for my ARC of #TheLastResort in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting book. It took me a little while to get into the book, but when I did I really enjoyed. I was a little thrown by the book summary and how the book started off. Definitely confusing. Didn't feel like I was reading the same book. It came across sounding like the standard "holiday trip gone horrible wrong" book but that is so not the case. I did enjoy the story and the characters and I think readers will really enjoy the book once they get into the story.

The characters each had their share of secrets - some more than others. I like how the author wove the story with information on each person through a background investigation report. I feel the book did a great job of painting a vivid picture of this community (home and people) and the turmoil they faced because of a financial offer. You were able to see the individuals weigh out their options and eventually settle on their individual decisions. I would have liked to see more development of Sofia's character to help her decision make more sense to me.

Not really for me although the writing was good I didn’t really like the characters or the setting
I usually enjoy this authors books much more so look forward to the next

With a fantastic setting i really got stuck into this book!
Such a twisting read where the secrets and lies are aplenty!
I didn't know who had done what and why, the plot keep me riveted until the end

I did not enjoy this book.

I tried to get into it and conn eat to the characters I just couldn’t.

A thriller set in Cyprus centred on a spiritual commune. The pace was slow and I could not focus on the narrative and the characters.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
To keep your beautiful costly hotel all you have to do is kill Quinn and Sophia will give you a chunk of money but can anyone do it?
Memories of childhood lead to bitterness and revenge—- but— can she convince one of them to kill for money???

This is so good! A very twisty story where everyone has secrets and is telling lies . So much deceit, so many lies and so thrilling! I had no idea who had done what to who and how it was going to end -I was gripped. Really good!!

Ten years ago tragedy struck the Pure Heart community. 12 yr old Sofia lost her mother and was taken from the only home she's ever known. Now at 22, with a recent inheritance, her Pure Heart family is excited to welcome her back.

Is she the miracle of abundance they have been praying for? Whelp, her purse comes with strings. When she makes them an offer she thinks they can't refuse, loyalty is put to the ultimate test.

I will be thinking about this book for a while. Is there anything money cannot buy? TJ Emerson has written a twisted, suspenseful tale of the relationship between greed, loyalty, family, and survival. A must-add to your Spring TBR!

Thank you TJ Emerson, Boldwood Books, and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed the perfect holiday so thought this would be a slam dunk winner but I really struggled to get into it, I found it very slow and didn't enjoy some of the elements in the group setting. I found myself wanting to skip sections to find out when the pace would pick back up. I like the idea of this book but also didn't think the blurb correctly tells the story. Might just be me as I loved the previous book, just couldn't get on board with this one.

A twisty take about a seemingly harmless community of misfits in Cyprus - but is all what it seems?

Told in slightly different timelines and by different narrators, as well as being interspersed with additional information about the characters, this book will keep you guessing.

Just what did happen to Eva and why is Sofia, her daughter, back at Pure Heart decades later? What secrets have Quinn and other members of the commune been keeping? And just who will survive their time together after a substantial offer is made, in return for a murderous revenge?

This book kept me guessing.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review.

This book did not go in the direction I thought it would! I thought it would be a vacation gone wrong type of book but was surprised that it wasn't! I think the blurb is a bit misleading though.

However, the writing in the book is good, but the book itself was a bit underwhelming. I was not entertained as much as I thought I would be which was disappointment.

The story felt very slow, maybe it was just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is my first book by this author and this is always a bit more exiting. I don't know the writing style and so I don't know if this will pull me in or push me away.

First of all I would like to say something about the cover. I don't know if it has something to do with my star sign (I am an aquarius ) but I love water. This does not mean I like to swim, but I love view or picture featuring water. A river, a waterfall, the sea or an ocean, a lake... and of course a swimming pool. So I fell in love with the cover.

The book is a bit slow paced. You constantly feel the atmosphere in the story is building up to something sinister, the author really made me wait for it. 

But once it's picking up the pace, you feel dragged away by it. Loyalty is a beautiful thing, but once something else presents itself, people can be challenged to make a u-turn. The big question is will the scale tip to the right side...?

An enjoyable book taking you to sunny Cyprus where the peaceful existence of a small group of people is uprooted. 4 stars

Thank you

The past does not exist.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read.

This is my first book by T J Emerson. I really liked the idea for this book but I found that it was slow paced. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and found it quite hard to pick up to read.

The actual writing was good, just the story didn't deliver for me. The setting was beautiful and I can imagine some people would find this to be a perfect summer read.

3 stars

Okay, for starters, this book had a very misleading blurb. It came across sounding like the standard "holiday trip gone horrible wrong" trope that is fodder for so many thrillers.

As it turned out this book is actually about a self-styled spiritual commune which is actually a hideout for people seeking to escape past events in their lives. The motto of the place reflects that too: "The past does not exist"!

Anyway, as it turns out, over the course of a *very* slowly unfolding story, we find out the past has just returned to bite this group of people in the bum. After facing some financial issues with their set up in Cyprus, the group has been looking for financing.

This now appears to be forthcoming from someone who grew up at the commune and has since made a life elsewhere. But as it turns out, Sofia's motives for returning to Cyprus have far more to do with revenge than spiritual reawakening...

The pacing of the story definitely felt a bit off, and a large part of the first half was unnecessarily slow. But some aspects of the story were interesting, and the descriptions of the location were very atmospheric. So the book is a somewhat mixed offering, but has something to offer, especially as the story deepens.

Going into “the last resort” I definitely though I’d be reading about regular vacationers who end up at some deadly resort where people mysteriously drop dead, but the plot is miles away from my best guess going into this blind.

To start with the cover is captivating and enticing and gives you that summer vacay gone wrong feel.

The plot follows an “intentional community” (or should we just call a cult a cult), made up of people who are trying to hide from their past, go to a resort of sorts with the promises of safety within a non judgemental community.

The motto is “the past does not exist” (convenient), however to someone, the past is still very much relevant and they are their seeking vengeance and revenge.

This plot is a little too slow burn for my tastes but overall there was potential in the premise.

The warm sunny setting of Cyprus is a stark contrast to the dark undertones of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, T J Emerson and Boldwood books for an advanced copy