What would you do if you found yourself on vacation and staying in a beautiful villa...that was previously the crime scene! Would your imagination get the best of you?

Emily and Chess are old best friends who have grown apart as they have gotten older. Emily had a seemingly happy and comfortable life: married and fairly successfully writing a cozy murder mystery series. That is, until she comes down with a mysterious illness, gets writers block, and gets into a messy divorce. Chess is an insanely successful (and famous) self-help guru, writing books, appearing on talk shows, and everything that goes along with that. Their lives are very different, so it isn't that shocking that they aren't as close as they used to be.

So after months of illness and shortly after she is starting to feel like herself again, Emily is super surprised when Chess calls her up and invites her to an all-expenses paid summer in Italy. Since they both need to work on their respective new books, what better place to hunker down and focus than Orvieto. And who would turn that down?! Except that this all expenses paid Villa has a dark past, and it takes Emily approximately 10 minutes to start digging into it. And the more she digs into it, the more Emily finds that she needs to get to the bottom of what happened in this Villa back in July of 1974 that left one man dead.

Although it took me a bit to get used to the pacing, I ended up really enjoying the way @ladyhawkins used multiple timelines to tell this story and keep us on our toes the entire time! It was super creative and more complex than most non-linear stories! I also really enjoyed the ending and the bit of twist we get from Mari at the very very end. Well done!

Thank you @netgalley for the advanced e-copy of this book!

It is out now and I highly recommend this read!
#netgalley #rachelhawkins #thevilla #mystery #suspensebooks #italy

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I found it really slow for the first half and by the end I wasn’t interested.

The Villa has parallel stories of Mari and her summer in the 70s and Emily in present day. Emily is in the middle of a divorce when her best friend, Chess, offers her a summer in Italy at the same villa where a murder occurred. Emily is a cozy mystery writer and takes Chess up on the offer to see if she can get her mind off the divorce and back into writing. While there, she gets sucked into Mari’s world by reading the late author’s book that was published after the tragedy.

I loved the double story telling. As the 70s murder mystery unraveled, Emily’s story got built up and up. I suspected some twists but didn’t see others coming. I will say that my biggest letdown was that Mari’s story was much more exciting, the climax was strong, and the ending intriguing. Emily and Chess’ story fell a little flat and didn’t seem to have as fleshed out of an ending as the other story. Other than that, the story was great. I loved diving into the murder mystery while trying to figure out the best friends’ dynamic.

This book is unlike any I’ve read recently. It had the atmospheric glow of an Italian summer but is still very thriller-heavy. We are not skipping down cobblestones eating gelato, we are taking cautious steps and trying not to get caught in lies. It is perfect for anyone wanting something immersive or for fans of duel timelines. I’m really happy to have had the chance to read this!

(I still have so many thoughts and questions and I wish that book reviews could just be filled with spoilers so I could unleash everything. But this is where I say “read The Villa!” instead.)

The Villa was a lesson in how sometimes reconnecting with a childhood best friends might not turn out the way you expect. I found this book somewhat lacking in thrills. With a title like The Villa, I expected the house to have more of a sinister past or influence on the outcome of the novel, but it was more of just a location for the setting of the rivalry between two friends competing to write a better novel.

The description of the house, in both the past and present, made it seem like a sunny and lively house with a dark incident in its past.

A fun read but not a thriller like I was expecting.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t do it. I tried several times but I had to DNF. The story just wasn’t keeping my attention.

Rachel Hawkins excels when it comes to vivid story settings.

I could not wait to read this based upon the Italian setting alone!

I feel like her books are the perfect blend of women’s fiction/thrillers!

This is a dual timeline thriller that folds together so many things I love. It had old rock star vibes. It had Italy. It had murders to solve. But ultimately, it fell flat for me. That is mostly because I just did not fully connect with the characters in either timeline. I liked the 1970s timeline better, but it still just didn’t work for me.

Having said that, I do love Rachel Hawkins’ writing style & will definitely be back for her next book!

My third book by this Author and this one didn't disappoint. A griping story within a story set in the 70's and present day. Just the fact it takes place at a villa in Italy makes it intriguing. An action packed page turner.
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press and the Author Rachel Hawkins for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is another great Rachel Hawkins book that I really enjoyed! I am so drawn in by the way Rachel told this one, and I just can't get enough of her books. Loved!!

This is by far Hawkins best book. A dual timeline story. Emily, a cozy mystery writer, in the middle of messy divorce, stuck in her literary slump. Her best friend whisks her away to Italy for the summer. Chess is famous and rich and fronts the money. Emily hates her and loves her. They end up staying at the villa where 30 years prior a grizzly murder took place and from it came a feminist horror novel and a world breaking album. Both stories are told simultaneously.

I was angry the entire time I read this? Did I like any of the characters? Well I liked Emily. But I think that means the writing was good. To elicit severe emotions. She did it. I'm really grateful for the ARC. The book was *shivers* good. But chess can choke on a rock.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book as the dual storylines were just not gripping me. Really cool setting, interesting characters, but just not what I typically look for in a thriller.

I have no idea how this book got published. I loved The Wife Upstairs and her most recent one as well. This one felt like a waste of space to me. Besides the venue, it really didn't have anything. I struggled to finish it honestly and I was so excited about it. Mystery is lacking. The bizarre meaningless diversion at the end, what was that? Did I miss something brilliant? Present-day characters are bland... Em's indifference to Chess's actions were beyond bizarre and annoying me. So many questions. Emotion? Realistic response? How do you continue with that strange resolution. No retribution plot, though. A little bit of a subplot is delivered at the end, and then just feel off?
The history was more intriguing, but told in such a disconnected fashion that it was hard to come to know any of the characters. The primary death was unmysterious, and the book's final reveal was random and unrelated.

Thank you to #Netgalley for this advanced copy for an honest review.

Emily and Chess have been lifelong best friends; however, as adults they have drifted apart. Chess is a best selling non-fiction writer and Emily is a struggling writer who is going through a messy divorce. They decide to take a trip to Italy to stay in a Villa that is famous for being rented by a rockstar in the 70's and terrible things happening there. We also follow Mari in 1974 who has followed her boyfriend, Pierce, to the Italian Villa to join Noel in writing some new music. Along with a few others in the house with them we read Mari's entries of love, cheating, drugs and betrayal.

I really enjoyed the concept of both timelines and how different they were; However, I did find Emily and Chess's chapters easier to read and get through and Mari's chapters were dragging a bit. Although the book's twists were predictable to me, it was a unique concept that I had fun reading. This is definitely my least favourite book by Rachel Hawkins, as I absolutely devoured her other two books. Needless to say she will always be an auto buy author for me.

Jules use to be a therapist, and in one night her perfect suburban life is gone when she crashes her car into the icy lake. She was on her way home after her son's practice and this night she was doing a favor for another mother, and giving her son a ride home. Jules is able to save one, but it's not her son. This sends her reeling, as any mother would do. She is forever changed and struggles with her own loss. She finds herself in the middle of an investigation.

Amber is the mother of the surviving son, Isaac, she is trying hard to figure out what has changed Isaac so much after this accident. When Isaac vanishes, she feels that Jules has a major part in this. Afterall, her son survived and Jule's son did not. Amber, feeling that the police won't listen to her motherly instincts about Jules, sets out to find out the truth of what has happened to her son. She questions everyone, even her husband.

First off, let's just say I love all of Lucinda Berry's books. I have always had a deep interest in psychology, so her books are always interesting for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Mercer for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

I hit the jackpot of all jackpots in our booksta world

I was sent a copy of The Villa and I just could not contain my excitement !

I was introduced to Rachel Hawkins by Book of the Month when she debuted The Wife Upstairs and I absolutely loved it! Not only was the twist there but I also enjoyed every bit of the story as well. Next came the Reckless Girls and I was impressed with how unique the story was and captivated by the island setting. With all that being said, I then received an approval for book number three. The long awaited and much anticipated ….

The Villa !!!!!!!

Eeek ! I just can’t control myself!

This book easily slid into the number one slot for most favored books. Hawkins does it again! I am left completely speechless and in sensory overload . What did I just read?

I loved every single word this book holds . I would not change a thing and I’m eager to read it again!

Teaser:

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

This was a very unexpected book. It has present-day, but also shows in the writing of a book within the book story from the past. Both stories in the book examine complicated relationships between the characters. It’s very interesting to see friendships, in which one person tends to push the other person in ways that might cause then to act in a way that has unforeseen consequences. All in all this was a fascinating at entertaining red.

Great dual story. The author does a great job of weaving the two stories together but having them exist separately, maintaining the reader’s inability to trust Chess or believe that Pierce will do what Mari needs. Great twists at the end. I would love to see where Chess and Em are in 20 years.

4.5 Stars

This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and it definitely won't be my last. I devoured this book, it was so good! At first, I wasn't a huge fan of both timelines, I was enjoying Mari's chapters a lot more. But as I got more into the book I started liking Emily's chapters and I become fully immersed in both timelines. I was hooked by Mari's story and I really wanted to know what happened in 1974. The more I read from Emily's timeline, the more I wanted to know what was happening with her and Chess, and what she was finding out about Mari. It did take me over a month to finish this, but that's definitely not the book's fault. I really enjoy Rachel Hawkins writing, it was easy to follow and was written very well. This isn't 5 stars because I was a little let down by the ending. I just wanted something more in Emily's last chapter, more detailed about what happened. Other than that, I really enjoyed this and I will definitely read from Rachel Hawkins again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was an amazing and completely engaging. I was invested from the very first chapter. The characters were complex. The plot was original.

I LOVED the entire premise of this book! I honestly think the current times/present plot could have stood alone without the past plot line! It was suspenseful and I loved the twist!