Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren have a friendship that has spanned decades, marriages, businesses, and losses - and they are coming apart at the seams. So Ashley invites Natalie and Lauren on a girls' trip to Tulum, Mexico, to reconnect and salvage their friendships. But tensions are high between the women and Ashley's relationship with tall, dark, and handsome Marco has ratcheted up the tension to a new level. When Ashley disappears on their last night and Tulum and Natalie wakes on the beach with no memory of what happened, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together what happened.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke's work always depicts female friendships in such a genuine and honest way. Girls' Night Out is a deep-dive look into the cracks that form in long-time female friendships when your lives become irretrievably intertwined and resentments build. As the narrative shifts between Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren and the various days of the trip, we see the complexities of the women and their friendships with one another and as a group and how their communication and competing motivations and personalities have built their tense dynamic over time. Five stars for a readable, intriguing story with complex characters that kept me guessing to the end.

Three women who have been friends for over 20 years go on a trip to Mexico to try and repair their broken friendship.
Natalie, Ashley and Lauren have been friends since college and pretty much been dysfunctional since then. Ashley is the alpha female, while Lauren and Natalie go along with everything she says, even though they complain and wish they had spoken up. Natalie and Ashley went into business together and did very well. But now a company wants to buy them out. Ashley doesn't want to, Natalie does.
Lauren blames Ashley for her husbands death, Natalie blames Ashley for not wanting to sell the company and Ashley blames both of them for not seeing her side of things. In order to get the friendship back on track, Ashley invites them to Mexico to make things better. After a week of fighting and recriminations, Ashley disappears and the other two are scrambling to find her.
I didn't like this book and I really didn't like any of characters. Three women who each blamed the other and who were supposed to be best friends but couldn't talk to each other the way best friends should. I found all 3 of them to be selfish and whiny. And the conclusion left a bad taste in my mouth.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley. This will not effect my review of this book.

“Nothing hurts more than being disappointed by the person you thought would never hurt you.”

No truer statement describes the theme of Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke’s book, Girls’ Night Out. A tale of friendships, betrayal, doubt and the fallout of some costly decisions describe this book in a nutshell. What the reader gets to experience are the consequences of what happens when three friends try to reconnect and reestablish an already flawed and strained friendship.

Lauren, Natalie and Ashley put their friendship on the line over the course of a five day trip to the warm and exotic beaches of Tulum, Mexico located on the Yucatán peninsula and get more than they bargained for. Each one takes turns telling their story, what their history is with each other, their hopes for this trip and their true feelings about their other friends.
The reader will not want to put this book down because of the hidden secrets that are revealed on every page.

Fenton and Steinke play a masterful game of suspense and draw readers into a web that will only unravel itself at the very end to know the real truth as to whether three women can save their friendship and ultimately their lives.
#netgalley #GirlsNightOut

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read this novel “Girls’ Night Out” while on a girls trip and it seemed very fitting. The story hooks you quickly and the pace really moves. I found the time jumps a little confusing, but I enjoyed this novel. I only wished the ending had been a little more flushed out.

All in all, a great vacation read!

Wow! I was introduced to these authors a couple of years ago and their books are always intriguing. Girls Night Out did not disappoint! Suspenseful, mind boggling and a great read. This book kept you guessing right til the end. I definitely can not wait for the next book! It helps you realize that friendships are the first that you should forgive. When you start to see the foundation of friendship start to crack, especially friendships that span over 20 years, you need to learn to forgive. Sometimes it's too late in many cases. It teaches you that if you don't invest in the relationships in your life you can and will miss a lot of what is going on in others lives. I personally loved this book and I can not wait to reinvest in my friendships.

Three friends go on a girls getaway weekend to Mexico to rekindle their friendship. Ashley, the one who organized the trip, is spending all her time with a local man she just met. The other two friends are left wondering when they are all going to spend any time together.
While on their girls night out, Ashley disappears and the rest of the book is spent trying to figure out what happened to her that night.
This book just did not capture my interest. I found myself getting angry with these characters, who are grown women by the way, making dumb and unsafe choices while in a foreign country. Going off into the jungle in the middle of the night with a man you just met. Going to his home and drinking a "special" drink with him.
I finished the book just to find out what happened to Ashley that night.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book to review

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

The title alone intrigued me but the story definitely exceeded my expectations. This book toggles between 3 friends and the time frames before the incident and after the incident. I loved reading all three women's point of views and seeing how they cope with the disappearance of one of the women. While this wasn't action packed or edge of your seat, it was full of slow burning suspense!

This is the perfect beach or pool read, but have a drink in your hand, you will need it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I received an ARC from Lake Union Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall I thought this book was a suspenseful, easy-read. It caught my attention early-on, and I loved the premise. Perfect for readers craving fairly light, fast-paced, suspenseful thriller focused on the intricacies of female friendship and the disappearance of one woman after a girls night out.

Three best friends, Natalie, Ashley, and Lauren, embark on a relaxing vacation to Mexico in hopes of reconnecting and healing old wounds. But almost immediately upon arriving at the resort it becomes clear a beautiful getaway isn’t going to be enough to solve the issues that plague this group of women. Financial concerns are weighing heavily on Natalie and she desperately needs to convince her friend and business partner, Ashley, to accept Revlon’s recent offer to purchase the company. Ashley does not want to sell the company she has devoted her life to and which she believes has kept her friendship with Natalie alive. Ashley’s husband, Jason, thinks she is being selfish as usual. Ashley and Jason have some other marital issues too. Meanwhile Lauren has her own resentment for Ashley stemming from the death of her husband a year prior. With all of this going on, Ashley meets Marco Smith, a local, whom seems too good to be true. Several red flags pop up throughout the week that the three seem to ignore until it is too late. After a girls night out, Natalie wakes up alone on the beach with no memory of the night before. When she gets back to their hotel, she finds Lauren there, but Ashley is missing. Lauren and Natalie must work together to find out where Ashley is and what happened. The story is told in alternating views all told in third person, jumping back and forth between two timelines: before and after Ashley disappeared, until the final chapters when the events of the girls night out are revealed and we finally learn what happened.

I found Ashley and even Natalie to be fairly naïve and all three women somewhat annoying. A few chapters in the middle of the book were a bit slow for me, but the storyline picked up pretty quickly, and once it did I couldn’t put it down. I had to stay up and find out what happened. This isn’t a book where the twists will leave your mouth gaping open in shock, but it is suspenseful. While I found Ashley’s character to be very selfish at times and some of her personality to be a tad unbelievable (given her status as a loving mother), I did find the ending realistic and the conclusion satisfying.

As I read this one I kept thinking this would be a good read for fans of Abigail Haas, but I would note the women in this book are much older than the YA characters in Haas’ book and the plot is quite a bit different. Anyone who enjoys thrillers and suspenseful books should pick this one up. Overall it was very enjoyable and entertaining. It made my heart race while I stayed up late to find out what really happened to Ashley after the Girls Night Out.

Trigger Warnings: I do not think this warrants any trigger warnings per se, because although domestic abuse is discussed, the subject matter is not explored in great detail and the discussion appears almost exclusively in the context of one character reflecting on the abuse previously endured. None of the reflections on past abuse is particularly graphic.

I’ll admit it. I wanted to read the book based on the title alone. I had expectations of what I would read and well, I was completely blown away. I enjoyed the plot and how the clues were slowly doled out.

Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren developed a close-knit friendship during college but over the years their friendship unraveled.

Ashley is feeling out of control in several areas of her life and she is determined to bring her best friends together for a girl’s only trip to Mexico. She knows there are significant issues to resolve but rest assured, nostalgia for the old days would help restore this friendship. She has high expectations and let’s face it, Ashley gets what Ashley wants.

Toasting over fishbowl sized margaritas, they all agree that anything could happen. After a wild night of who knows what, Natalie wakes up completely alone on beach with absolutely no memory of what happened. She’s scared and fearful that she was drugged. Natalie is the responsible one. She’s forty with a husband and kids and this kind of thing could never happen to her.

Nothing goes according to Ashley’s plan. One of them goes missing and the next few days are just plain scary.
Mexico, a beautiful paradise is the setting for this heart stopping nightmare. Nothing is as it seems. Did she run away? Was she kidnapped or murdered? There is no shortage of suspects and possible scenarios.

Though it was a little long, I enjoyed the book. Each time I thought I had it figured out, I was proven wrong.

I received an advance review copy of this book from Great Thoughts Ninjas. All opinions are my own.

I read this book in one day on a beautiful holiday weekend. I wasn’t expecting such an intriguing story. There were so many factions and debth to the characters. Ashley, Lauren and Natalie all were likable , relatable,yet flawed. The girls meet for a vacation in Mexico to try to reconnect their friendships. We’ve all been there... friendships suffer due to marriages, families, jobs and other outside interests. The concept of leaving everyday life behind to nourish those old friendships is appealing, but clearly not as easy as it sounds. Hidden secrets, past hurts, marriage issues, jealousy, financial troubles etc are a lot to resolve over a few days. It was interesting to me that the authors admit to experiencing their own friendship/work issues. Perhaps that reality is what made this book work so well. On a silly note, the three main characters names sound like a millennial sorority roster and I had to go back to the beginning of the book twice to remind myself who was who and what their backstory was. There’s a lot to think about this story long after the last chapter. I will be highly recommending this to many.
#girlsnightout #netgalley #lisasteinke #lizfenton

I really enjoyed this book! There was an “incident” that you don’t find out until the end of the story. The rest of the book takes place before the incident and after the incident. It was an interesting read for me, as the story kept going back and forth, which made it fun to read. This is sure to be a good beach read this summer. If you do read, be sure to check out the author’s note. It is my favorite author’s note of all time! Happy reading!

First of all, I have to say I'm crazy impressed by anyone who can write a novel WITH someone else. Not to mention, two friends writing together! This must be so much fun, but also immensely difficult and tense and potentially friendship destroying! But Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke managed to do it yet again and put out an extremely well-written, suspenseful novel.

The premise of the book will suck you in from the start. Three girlfriends on vacation in Tulum together, working on repairing their friendships, which have had some rough times over the past year or so. When Natalie wakes up one morning on the beach with no memory of the light before and can't find Ashley, she and Lauren immediately start searching for her. The book bounces back from the start of the girls' vacation to the search for Ashley and along the way, we're given more and more clues to what happened in their friendships and what occurred during their vacation together.

I loved the way the details were doled out and thought the pace was perfect. I kept changing my mind on what I thought happened to Ashley and was jumping back and forth between theories. I can't way I was blown away by the ending, but won't share much here so as not to give anything away. I was also slightly bothered by Lauren's anger toward Ashley and couldn't fully comprehend why she was still so pissed. Then again, I've never been in a similar position, so I decided to not over-think it (I'm a fabulous over-thinker) and just go with it.

Overall, I enjoyed this thriller; it kept me on the edge of my seat and I'd definitely recommend it to friends!

<i>"What kind of girls' night out does he not understand?" Natalie asked.</i>

This is a perfect summer book. Do yourself a favor and find a body of water (pool/ocean/lake/etc.) and dive in. You're in for a wild ride.

Girls' Night Out switches between Natalie, Ashley and Lauren -- three friends who are trying to repair old wounds during a trip to Tulum, Mexico. On their last night, Ashley goes missing and Lauren and Natalie are left to piece together what happened.

The book jumps back and forth between the night of Ashley disappearing and the events leading up to the night. Things are certainly tense between the women as there is a lot of history and hurt feelings coming from all directions.

<i>Had she become addicted to how the anger felt, how it slid into the small chasms of her budding happiness, crushing it? Maybe.</i>

<i>"But you know what the difference is? You get to decide! You took that away from me. And I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that."</i>

While this book is certainly a thriller, it also takes a deep dive at friendships and whether they can be saved, even after they've turned toxic or started to fall apart. I appreciated the author writing three complicated, but strong, women who are neither fully good or bad. All three are complicated and complex and we feel for them, even as they make poor choices.

Just FYI, trigger warnings for abuse (physical and emotional) and drug/alcohol use. Also some mention of rape, but only speculative.

All in all, this was a fun read and I would certainly recommend it. And as I mentioned before, bonus points if you have a cold drink and a warm, sunny spot by some water to read it near.

I enjoy all of Liz Fenton/Lisa Steinke books so when this one came out, I was excited to get it through the publisher and NetGalley for my honest review. I've never been to Tulum, Mexico but have wanted to go. I started reading this while in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and it made me think twice before walking on the beach ALONE! Yes, this book made me nervous! But I loved it! Great story about 3 BFF's and one goes missing!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke for an advanced copy of this chilling and suspenseful novel.

When Ashley disappears on the girls' trip she organized in the hopes of repairing estranged relationships with her oldest friends, secrets, blame, and self doubt arise.

For Natalie, who runs a mega successful company with Ashley but ultimately wants different things for said company, the timing of Ash's disappearance leaves her thinking of one two things - could she have run off to avoid decisions regarding their work, or has something truly sinsiter happened?

Lauren often felt like the odd woman out for many years in the trio's friendship. Feeling discouraged after not making headway with Ash regarding the issues that plague them, Lauren lashes out in what may be the final blow up between them, for Ash is missing by the next morning.

Add in a handsome and charismatic stranger who worms his way in between the women, and who was one of the last people to have seen Ash, and you have the recipe for an intriguing page turner.

Told from the POV of all three women, in the days leading up to and after Ash's disappearance, Girls' Night Out is full of tension and explores the intricacies of female friendship in a gripping and memorable fashion.

Wow!! These two are a powerful force in book writing! Girls' Night Out captured my interest from the first page and would not give it up into the final period! The characters, the setting (which happens to be on my bucket list), and the storyline are all wonderfully blended together into this mystery!

The mystery of the disappearance of one woman who goes missing as the three friends are in Tulum, Mexico, trying to repair their friendship kept me reading to the end, but their differences and arguments got tedious and none of the women was likeable.

The story not only alternates from the three women’s points of view, it also bounces back and forth between the few days before Ashley disappears to the days after. So, one chapter you’ll be reading about the night they arrived, the morning after she disappears, two days before she disappears, the night she disappears, then back to three days before she disappears. That had to be a very hard way for the authors to plot this novel, but it did let all three women’s secrets be revealed in a way that unravels nicely.

Both Lauren and Natalie have reason to be pissed at Ashley, but there has also always been a rivalry between the two of them for her affection for the twenty years they’ve been friends. Though the trip was supposed to be about the three of them forgiving each other, Ashley spends much of her time with a handsome stranger, Marco, (despite the fact she’s married) adding tension between the three women.

Despite the good things about the novel, their endless arguments over the same things over and over again made it an unenjoyable read in the end.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #GirlsNightOut!

This was a great book and a great follow up to The Good Widow, which I loved! The story is simple. Three friends go on a vacation in hopes of repairing their friendship however all of them have something to hide or are holding grudges from previous events. When one of them disappears, it forces the remaining two women to come to turns with their part in the disappearance and what they could've done differently in the months/year leading up to this trip. This book makes you think about the relationships in your life and how important it is to be honest with those closest to you, and yourself, and that you should try and forgive when you have the chance.

Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down! The premise is simple enough: three friends, who have tensions running through their friendship, take a girls trip to Mexico to try to rekindle their friendship. They search for forgiveness and clarity through the lens of margaritas, sunsets and spirituality.

However, when one of them ends up missing, the pieces of the story need to fit together to figure out what happened. Told through the perspectives of the three friends, alternating between the events leading up to the disappearance and the events after the disappearance, the whole story is gradually told.

The characters are well-developed and their actions all make sense. This isn't a book where you have to suspend reality or disbelief - you can understand why everything happens. The ending is resolved in a way that makes sense as well.

The format and story was similar to Liane Moriarty; you know the big event (one of the girls is missing) but you don't know what happened until about 3/4 through the book and then the rest is spent answering the questions the reader had all along.

This book is truly the perfect blend of a beach read and a thriller. The reader feels like they are with the three friends, cringing at times, laughing at others. However, there's the shroud of mystery that surrounds the trip - what happened to Ashley?

By the end, you'll know. And as the co-authors write at the end, you'll want to give your friends a hug, a call, anything to let them know how much you love them. Because at the end of the day, friendship (especially female friendship) is one of the most important things to have. And what would we do without that?

Loved this book!!! A girls' vacation sounds like fun, until someone goes missing. Ashley, Natalie and Lauren head to Mexico for a girls' getaway. They have been friends for twenty years, but haven't been close in the last year. Lauren blames Ashley for what happened to her husband and they haven't spoken in a year. Ashley and Natalie are not only best friends but own a company together. Natalie desperately wants to sell it, while Ashley completely refuses. Ashley meets Marco on the second day of the trip and spends much of her time with him. On their last night in Mexico, Ashley disappears. Natalie has no memory, Lauren was fighting with her and Marco is nowhere to be found.

The book alternates between before Ashley disappeared and after. Ashley was my least favorite character. She invited her friends on the trip and pretty much blew them off for some random guy. As soon as she met Marco, she pretty much told him everything about herself. All the woman even went to a private beach with him where no one knew where they were. I guess I watch to much Investigation Discovery because I immediately thought Marco was some kind of creep, preying on innocent female tourists and that he will either murder or kidnap Ashley. I'm not sure I would call Ashley, Natalie and Lauren friends. They seemed to hate each other. I don't know why they didn't tell each other the truth about what was going on in their lives. Natalie didn't want to tell them why she needed to sell the company.

I definitely recommed the book and now need to start reading the authors' previous books. I liked the writing style and the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the authors, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.