Pretty Guilty Women

I really enjoyed this book. It was told in an engaging way by the author (of whom I have not read a novel before but will certainly do so again in the future on the basis of this novel!). Great characters, story and investigative essence. Thank you!

I really enjoyed this book, the suspence and twists kept me hooked throughout. I couldn't put it down. The police interviews were fantastic at teasing the story out. Each character had a full and comprehensive introduction, and all packed into a full thriller. Nothing was missing from this story and its a book l will highly recommend to everyone.

This book is both entertaining and sassy
I really enjoyed this book even though the storyline was rather unbelievable
This book was sassy and fun to read. An ideal holiday read.

This is a wonderful fast paced, gripping and yet fun mystery novel. I have read a number of Gina LaManna’s books, but this is the first book in this genre, and I was very pleased and excited by the book.

This is a story of twists and turns, mysteries unravelled and more secrets uncovered. Four women meet and/or reconnect at a plush wedding at a spa resort, sharing personal concerns and demons, and bringing to light old grudges, new secrets and deeply held pain. It is an emotional roller coaster as the suspense grows and the truth is discovered.

The characters are in turns charming, struggling, successful and yet deeply flawed; a reflection of life, we are all struggling at times and none of us are perfect or have a perfect life, despite how things may look from the outside.

I highly recommend this book, and would love to see it played out on the TV screen, it was running in technicolour in my mind as I read this book.

Gina LaManna writes a hugely fun and entertaining novel that deals with some serious issues in the style of a Liane Moriarty book. Three college friends whose friendships have mostly fallen by the wayside are making their way to the week long wedding celebrations in California at the luxurious Serenity Spa and Resort for the DeBleu/Banks wedding. Whitney, their friend, is getting married to the rich Arthur Banks, in opulent moneyed style. What becomes clear almost immediately is that a man has been killed and along with Lulu, befriended at the resort, a woman in her sixties, married five times to four men, the women all claim to have killed him on their own in interviews with Detective Ramone. The identity of the dead man is not revealed until close to the end. In this story of secrets and drama, laying out their past history and present predicaments, we learn why each of the women confess to such a heinous crime.

Ginger Adler has an exhausting family life, married to Frank, where money is in short supply, and with three children, the teenage Elsie, and the younger Poppy and Tom. She has had to do extra shifts as a hotel receptionist for the family to attend the wedding, she is at the end of her tether, her relationship with Elsie is unravelling, and she is tired of being the responsible parent to Frank's fun parent, although she does love him to bits. Emily Brown is in a bad way, she is weighed down by a traumatic post, has a drink problem, and having sex with a man she has only just encountered on the plane. Kate Cross is a wealthy successful lawyer, she has made partner in a New York firm, but an emotional wreck after her boyfriend, Maximillian Banks dumps her in public at the Resort's reception on arrival. Lulu is a worried woman, she is in love with her current husband, but his behaviour is leading her to believe he is involved with another woman and planning to leave her.

LaManna writes a exuberant story of women's friendships with the whole shebang of grudges, rivalries, challenges, and despair. It is also marked by hope and rallying together to support each other when needed, despite the fact their friendships had more or less disintegrated through the years since college. Each woman has a distinct character, and different issues that plagued their lives, whilst money can help, it fails to be the panacea to living a happy life. This is a fabulous read, well written and with great characters that you cannot help but invest in. Highly recommended, especially if you are a Liane Moriarty fan. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

Pretty Guilty Women was very reminiscent of Big Little Lies, so if you liked that one you will probably enjoy this book too. Like in Moriarty’s novel, there is a murder, but we don’t know who the victim is, and the story follows four women who have lots to hide, and who all confessed to the murder.

The plot was solid. The book alternated regular narrative with police interviews, and this structure made the book gripping and hard to put down. Although the solution of the murder wasn’t hard to predict, there was a final twist which I hadn't seen coming.

The four women were very well characterized, and II followed their perspectives with equal interest. Each of them had a distinct personality, with both faults and admirable traits, and their problems and secrets were equally fascinating. The relationships between them were also heartwarming and I loved how they learned from each other and supported each other.

Very enjoyable overall. I would definitely try this author again.

There's been a death at a wedding. This much we know. Then, through police interviews and backstory about the event leading up to the death, we fill in the background. We also find out that there are four women who admit to the crime. Not only that, but they acted alone. They can't all be telling the truth - that's impossible. But who did it and why? Hard to figure out when the deceased is also unknown - to the reader - initially...
There's an eclectic cast in this book - there are three college friends - Kate, Ginger and Emily - who have kinda lost touch as their lives have turned out quite differently from each other. There's also Lulu, an older woman who befriends the trio. How they all really fit in with each other, you'll have to read to find out. We follow them all over the course of a weekend. In a hotel where the DeBleu/Banks wedding of the year is being held! No expense spared. Planned to within an inch of its life!
But why would they all confess to a murder? To muddy the water perhaps - protect the innocent - although how could they be innocent if they did it? All very strange. But surprisingly addictive. We know it's a man who has died but who? I mean- how can you even start to work out why if you don't know who?
This book is jam packed with secrets, lies and more than its fair share of duplicitous behaviour. The characters are all either hiding something or trying to figure something out. This made for a high level of intrigue and finger pointing along the way. But, cutting through all the alcohol that is being consumed (it is a wedding after all), there's also a lot of bonding going on - reconnecting of old friendships and making new bonds. I've already mentioned that there are excerpts from interviews throughout the book which give a bit of a time line, followed by the scene playing out in flashback. This format makes me wonder about the book being written with a tv mini-series in mind.
Pacing is good throughout. This is assisted by the injection of just the right amount of information at exactly the right times to move the story along nicely. Also there is no superfluous waffle so the plot unravels nicely rather than dragging. Characters are good and the majority were easy to connect to in some way.
But, when all was said and done, when the victim was unveiled and the truth came out - well, it was all a little, how can I say it without actually spoiling anything, I'm just going to say it was all a bit bonkers. And then there's this epilogue that sorts it all out - mostly. But it didn't quite give me that satisfied feeling that I wanted.
All in all, a solid read that was entertaining and a good way to spend some time even if it didn't quite light my fire. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The description for this is spot on! Sharp, twisty and very different - and I completely loved it!

Four women arrive to attend a wedding; not just any wedding - this one is in a luxury spa resort and features a full week of celebrations. Three of them went to college with the bride, and this will be a good opportunity to catch up with each other. They soon make the acquaintance of the fourth and end up entangled in the discovery of a body . . .

This is a stunning read! Completely different to any other I have read lately and there is no way of knowing who is being truthful and who isn't. Beginning with the detective in charge asking question of each of them separately, we find out their backgrounds as the book progresses. All of them have very different lives and it's a well-planned story which drew me in from the beginning; it's also written in such an easy style that I just seemed to race through the pages, eager to find out what happened next. There are several genres in this one, and the author does each and every one of them justice and I have definitely added Gina LaManna to my list of authors to watch out for. A cracking story and a book I savoured all the way through. It brought no disappointments and everything was beautifully finished off by the final page. An awesome read which I'm very happy to recommend, and also give a full five stars!

My thanks to publisher Little, Brown Book Group for my copy via NetGalley. As always, this is my honest, original and unbiased review.