Another great beach read this summer! It follows the story of Emily, a writer, who, after months of illness and in the midst of a divorce, joins her best friend Chess in Italy for a summer at Villa Aestas. The story alternates between her story and that of Mari’s, who vacationed in the same villa in the 1970s, with her musician boyfriend and her stepsister, as guest of a famous rockstar.

Emily is consumed by Mari’s story, and the wild summer that led to murder. She is soon inspired by the lurid events and as she delves deeper into the mysteries held by the villa,, she comes to not only understand its history, but also, the betrayals which have taken over her own life..

A compelling read, although with a bit of a disappointing ending as it speeds to a wild conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed the dual timelines of The Villa, and how the author connected them. I especially liked the 1970s timeline and getting to know the characters. In both past and present, I liked the atmosphere of the setting and I could picture myself at the villa. However, I felt that this book was not as suspenseful as it could have been, especially for being marketed as a Gothic suspense-style novel.

I had a hard time getting into the book for the first few chapters. Part of it was keeping up with changers in characters and time. After that, I really enjoyed the book. Kept you in suspense as to what was happening and guessing until the end.

Despite reading the synopsis I didn't know what to expect from this book. I wondered if it would end up feeling like a juvenile fluffy read. Thankfully I was off base with my pessimism. I really enjoyed this book! The layers of the story flashing back to the original murder in the house and narrator Mari was my preferred storyline as I've found a soft spot for writing about the 70's, especially within rock 'n roll. Mari was a well written character, her flaws of being young and immature but still having her head on straighter than Pierce and his crew made me care about her well-being. Plus I could relate easily to her relationship with her stepsister Lara and having her around all of the time and the romantic competitiveness.

As for Emily, it was hard to get a handle on her persona with the illness and maybe that was the point, as the story picks up in the middle of the hardest times in her life. Going through a divorce isn't easy and to add an illness makes it more crappy. Then adding in a friendship from childhood, you go through so much with friendships of that longevity. It makes it a deeper friendship but also gives you more years of grievances built up as well. I felt for both Emily and Chess at different points. I then could sense some of what would be revealed later in the book.

I will say, I was impressed with the twist towards the end. I love that history ends up inevitably repeating itself in a way, especially if we don't learn our lesson the first time. Or is it all easier to blame on a house? Great book, would definitely recommend!

Rachel Hawkins has an amazing knack for taking some real life mysteries and modernizing them into page-turning thrillers. In this case, our 70s time period chapters feel based on the Mansons, the Shelleys, and some classic 70s rock stars, with our modern day frenemy authors staying in the same Villa where a murder happened in those rock and roll days. As our writers find out more than anyone has ever known about the old murder, they need to figure out if they trust each other with what they've learned, and what they will do with the knowledge.

Another great book by Rachel Hawkins!
Inhaled this book in one day. She never disappoints. Had a good twisted ending.

We can always count on Rachel Hawkins to provide a good mystery thriller, so I was incredibly excited to dive into The Villa and I was hooked at the first line: "Houses Remember". Dual timelines are always iffy for me however I absolutely loved the different POVs and found myself entranced in each groups story. This book has a wide cast of characters who are all easy to love (aka Emily, Mari) or easy to hate (aka Chess, Pierce, Noel). I really enjoyed so many aspects of this book: the setting (who doesn't love Italy?), the deadly house legacy, the frenemy dynamic between both Emily and Chess and Mari and Lara, watching Mari and Emily's writing process for both The Villa Book and Lilith Rising- everything in this book came together so well. Fast paced, intriguing, and inspired by real life people and events, I'd definitely recommend this book to any Hawkins fans or fans of mysteries in general!

I loved, loved The Villa.

I feel so blessed to have received an ARC from the author and publisher.

Without giving anything away this story was a mystery within a mystery. The book went back and forth between Emily in the present day and Mari in 1974. Both women spent the summer in the same Villa and both women are going through turbulent personal and romantic issues at the time.

The Villa has just the right amount of thriller and drama mix.

Loved the book and can't wait to see how well it does when it's released in January.

I absolutely loved this book! Two friends spend a summer in Italy at a villa that has a dark past. One is a best selling self help author and the other is going through a divorce while trying to write another book to her cozy mystery series. The story goes back to the 1970's when another group of friends spent their summer at the same villa. The story intertwines both time periods and makes for a very intriguing story. Rachel Hawkins is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll reign supreme in Rachel Hawkins' latest mystery novel.

First off, one should not expect a suspenseful thriller like Hawkins' previous few novels, as this one is more gothic and the pace is more relaxed. The book follows friends Emily and Chess as they travel to an Italian villa to write their respective books in progress. There, they learn more about a murder that took place in the 1970's and Emily really gets into it. But the more she learns, the worse the tensions get between her and Chess.

This book is an onion (sorry for the cliche!). I'm so impressed with the way Hawkins was able to craft so many individual narratives and weave them all together. The characterization here is particularly amazing. As we read about Em (an inspirational self-help writer) and Chess (a cozy mystery writer), we also read about Mari, one of the visitors in the 1970's, her relationship with writing, and the dynamics of the group she's with. We also get a little glimpse into the horror novel Mari is trying to write. Chapters alternate between POVs and the suspense does build towards the end of the book as Em and Chess really get into it. I do wish the book was a little more twisty (the twists were a bit gentle to me) but what we have overall is a very solid piece of fiction and a story I really enjoyed.

According to the Goodreads page, this book was partly inspired by "the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––" Another infamous gothic summer? I'll have to look that up. As to The Villa, it's a fantastic novel that is so well structured and intriguing, I would recommend it to any fan of mysteries.

Big thanks to St. Martin's and Netgalley for providing an ARC, though that didn't affect my opinions about the book which are entirely my own. The book is due out January 2, 2023 so add it to your shopping list!

Emily has had a really tough couple of years. Not only has she been struggling with undiagnosable health issues for at least a year, but during this time, her husband decided to divorce her—and to take as much money from her as he could while he was at it. Now Emily’s best friend and self-help guru, Chess, is going to Italy for the summer where she’ll be working on her latest book and getting some R&R while staying at a very famous (or, in this case, infamous) villa and she’s invited Emily to come along. It’s during this “trip of a lifetime” that Emily starts to dig into the history of the villa, finding some explanations to what happened all those years ago while she also unravels what has happened in her own life. Another book where I couldn’t wait to dive into it at the end of the day, ignoring favorite tv shows and social media in exchange for getting through a few more chapters. I couldn’t put this book down, and the ending did not disappoint—I’m happily adding this author to my list to watch!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book.....a great beach read!
It was entertaining, yet dark at the same time.

Emily and Chess have been best friends since childhood, both authors, but very different writers. Having grown apart after college, they travel to Orvieto, Italy to reconnect while finishing their next books. The villa Chess has chosen is the same villa where a rock and roll murder took place back in 1974.

Past and present, this book takes us through the heartbreak and jealousies of both Chess and Emily as well as Mari and Lara, the step sisters at the heart of the murder. When Emily finds the diaries of Mari, who after the murders wrote on of the most famous horror murders of all time, begins to piece together what really happened in the Villa Aestas. Chess wants in on the adventure and the book that Emily begins to write. Secrets, deceptions, greed and jealousy is at the heart of each of these girls stories; yet is murder justified when so many wrongs have been committed?
They say women can be the best of friends and the worst of enemies.... this book might help you answer that conundrum

Emily and Chess are two childhood best friends turned authors who escape to Villa Aestes in Italy for a summer of reconnection and writing. As Emily, a "cozy mystery" author, is planning for the trip, she learns that Villa Aestes was the site of a murder in the 1970s. Two timelines alternate between Emily and Chess in modern day, and Mari, Lara, Pierce and Noel from the time of the murder. Emily begins to piece together what happened decades ago through Mari's horror novel and Lara's folk album, and starts wondering if Chess is really the friend she pretends to be.
I thought this was just so-so. The multiple timelines, along with flashbacks to Marianne's life, and excerpts from Lilith Rising were a little confusing to keep straight. I was expecting the murder to be more exciting than it turned out to be. I also found Chess to be a fairly insufferable Rachel Hollis type (which in all fairness, is probably what the author wanted.)

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

Houses really do remember, and this Italian villa is chock full of memories both good and bad. Memories that seem to be repeating themselves again. Grab yourself a good glass of Orvieto, a comfy couch and buckle up for a great ride. Rachel Hawkins has really outdone herself on The Villa.
Thank you for an ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This is the 3rd book I’ve read by Rachel Hawkins and I feel like the descriptions of her books always draw me in.

This book is about a villa in Orvieto (small cute town in Italy that I actually have been). The plot was two fold where one was taken place in 1974 about 5 friends living in the Villa when a murder happens and the other part was about two childhood friends staying there for a week years later. I enjoyed how the two overlapped where the 2 childhood friends are looking through the house to find out what actually happened. I enjoyed the deep dive into their friendship and ties with Matt. The storyline with Matt made me hate Chess and I couldn’t get over that Emily didn’t really care what she did. I did enjoy Emily and Chess’ storyline more than 1974 one.

The Villa begins when Emily Sheridan, a cozy mystery author who is left by her husband when she becomes sick, is invited by her best friend, Chess, a popular self-help author, to spend the summer at an Italian villa. Emily soon learns a man was murdered in this same villa in 1974 when a rock star, Noel, invites a songwriter, Pierce, along with his girlfriend, Mari, and her sister, Lara, to spend time with him at villa. Told from the viewpoints of Emily, now, and Mari in 1974, the Villa by Rachel Hawkins unfolds into a tale of what happens during the long days and nights spent together in this villa.

Although the wonderful cover design first drew my attention to this book, I loved the story line of The Villa and was quickly drawn into the very different worlds of both of the narrators. The Villa kept me reading into the night to learn the idiosyncrasies of each of the characters.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for gifting me a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

I enjoyed that the novel included two different time lines. One story line involves Emily, a successful writer in the midst of divorce looking to spark her writing. Her best friend, "Chess" invites Emily to spend the summer in an Italian Villa, which she accepts in order to get past her writers block.

However, the villa they are visiting has a unique history in that there was a murder that occurred there in the 1970s. A rock star, Noel Gordon stayed there, while trying to respire his music career by writing new music at the Villa. During his stay, a fellow rockstar and friend, Pierce was murdered at the villa.

Emily decides to delve into the events of the 70s and write a non-fiction novel about the brutal murder of Pierce.

Ultimately, this novel includes two timelines, the events of the 70s and current timeline with Emily and Chess. The stories are very engaging and entwine well with each other.

I enjoyed reading the novel. It's not often that I have encountered a novel with two different timelines within it.

I loved this book! I liked Reckless Girls, but The Villa has made Rachel Hawkins an instant buy for me from now on.
Mystery/thriller isn’t my favorite genre, but this book had just the right amount of suspense to keep my anxiety controlled, but my heart still pumping. So many fantastic twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something else would happen.
The bonds of sisterhood and women’s friendships are a strong theme throughout both of the timelines of the book.

“Houses remember.”
Emily and Chess are the best of friends. But growing up sometimes means growing apart. Emily with her marriage and her book series then pending divorce. Chess with her independence and growing fan base then struggling to write her newest book.
After reconnecting at a lunch, Chess invites Emily to a famous Villa in Italy for a summer away to focus on their respective works.
At the Villa in 1974, Mari and Pierce and Lara are invited to spend the summer with the pop star Noel; primarily so that Pierce and Noel can create music.
Secrets are revealed, along with betrayals, and ultimately murder. Which begs the question, how well do you really know the people that you love?
The two timelines are woven together seamlessly, along with news articles, song lyrics, and excerpts to give outside perspective.

“Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.” -from the book’s description.

I had watched the Mary Shelley movie with Elle Fanning a while ago, so the actors that played Mary, Percy, Claire, and Lord Byron shifted in my mind from the 1800s to the 1970s as I read this book. It was phenomenal!

I’m so thankful to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: 1/3/2023

The Villa is a book that intricately wove together stories separated by decades. Although the stories take place in different times, the characters experience similar emotions, struggles, and successes. The way Hawkins connects these stories throughout the book gives so much depth to the characters.
I enjoyed being transported from the 1970’s and the drama of the 5 people living in the Villa to the present day drama of two best friends.
I thought the ending was abrupt and I would have loved some more details on Chess and Emily’s decision and what actually occurred on their last day at the Villa.

Overall it was fun to read and I loved the unique telling
of the history of the Villa. Houses Remember.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I loved Reckless Girls bc of the ruthlessness of it, the morally grey characters. Which is why I liked this book too. Bc you can feel the dread as the book (almost) ends, camera panning out to two women bound now forever.

I loved the 70s timeline. That was the more captivating one (which makes sense since it captivated our protagonist too) and really came alive on the page. The last twist was one we've seen before, but is earned here in a way that anyone who feels compelled to write stories can. But also explores the notion of does anyone actually know the truth?

It's a quick read and at least something different in this genre.