This is the third book I've read by Rachel Hawkins and I enjoyed it! It follows two best friends who travel to a villa in Italy to spend time together and each write their next book. The villa has a complicated past and the story takes you through the present day and then also flashbacks to the time before the murder happened. I was intrigued from the beginning and although there were some predictable parts, some of the story was still unexpected and fresh.

I received a copy free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

There are so many authors writing psychological suspense these days that I sometimes feel burned out on the whole genre. Then there’s Rachel Hawkins, author of Reckless Girls and The Wife Upstairs, whose name on the cover practically guarantees a good time. I knew I’d rapidly devour her latest, The Villa, which offers up a female friendship/rivalry story with a pinch of Daisy Jones and the Six plus a soupçon of The Plot.

Emily is in her mid-thirties, a semi-successful author of cozy mysteries. She’s in the process of getting a divorce from her husband, who did not stand by her during a prolonged illness she suffered, but is still intent on receiving a portion of the proceeds from her work. The stress has given Emily a massive case of writer’s block, so when her best friend Chess (neé Jessica), a best-selling, Oprah-anointed author of self-help books, invites her to spend the summer with her at a rented villa in Italy, Emily eagerly takes her up on it.

Emily finds that despite her serene and beautiful surroundings, she’s still unable to work up much interest in the book she’s supposed to be writing; instead, she becomes obsessed with a notorious murder that took place in the villa back in the mid-1970s, when a rock star, a wannabe musician and two stepsisters were occupying the place. One of the women went on to write a successful gothic horror novel, and when Emily finds a copy of it, she realizes that what she really wants to do is investigate and write about what happened during that long-ago summer. Chess is supposed to be working on her next surefire hit book, but Emily can’t help but notice that Chess is acting very strangely, snooping around and peeking at Emily’s notes. Can she trust her longtime friend?

Dual timelines take the reader back to the mid-1970s, when the villa was the site of rock star debauchery, and then to the 2020s, as Emily and Chess warily circle each other. I was sure I knew where The Villa was going, but my instincts were wrong. Any author who can surprise me like that is a gem indeed.

Big points for being unique! I love Rachel Hawkins' writing style, and this had similar tension to the Wife Upstairs, which I also really enjoyed. I thought it was a cool story about friendship and relationships. I'm sure it will do well!

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. I enjoyed this book, and I think the blurb calling it "gothic suspense" is exactly on point (though the cover doesn't match this description, in my opinion). It was a little slow-moving but still kept my interest, especially when we started reading the chapters from Mari's point of view. I think Mari was a more likable and sympathetic character than Emily. Emily came across as a little too naive to be believable. I really enjoyed the reveals towards the end and how the 2 stories became parallel. I was a little confused about the very end, though - what exactly was the truth? And (trying to phrase this without spoilers) - did I miss it or did we never learn the second hiding place Emily found? I wish we had heard a bit more about the villa itself - what exactly did it look like? Overall this was a solid read and makes me interested in more from this author.

Would you enjoy vacationing in a villa that has a history of death? This is exactly what happens to Emily and Chess, two friends who have reconnected in their thirties and decide to go on a vacation together.

Emily and Chess are both writers. Emily writes cozy mysteries and Chess writes non-fiction self-help books. There is a history of competitiveness between the two women. Combined with the history of the house, the situation between the two women hits a pivotal moment that changes the course of their lives.

This is a story within a story and I was kept guessing at what was going to unfold as I read further. In the other story, Mari and her stepsister Lara are at odds over their romantic interests. Mari is a writer and her story is what guides Emily in the present storyline. Lara is a musician and her music plays a role as well.

I didn’t care too much for the characters, but Chess was absolutely my least favorite. The men in the story left much to be desired. More or less a group of losers playing music, using drugs and having sex with just about anything.

I enjoyed the story and the mystery of it and recommend for readers who also like mystery and aren’t turned off by the fast and loose lifestyle of the characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review.

This is my third by Rachel Hawkins' other two books by her pen name Erin Sterling. I will say this was by far my favorite of the five I've read by her, I really liked how both timelines weaved together and enjoyed the different perspectives. I  was all in for the first 75% or so but then the ending felt rushed with too many questions and knocked a star off my rating. This is a solid, entertaining escape read, but don't look too closely at the holes in it!

This was SO much better than I was expecting after being disappointed in Reckless Girls. Even with a slow start, I had a hard time putting it down. Told through dual timelines and the perspectives of Mari and Emily, as they stay at the same Villa (known as the murder house) in Italy, many years apart.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc of this book that releases Jan 3,2023!

The Villa is not just one, but two incredible psychological thrillers rolled into separate stories, the first from the 1970's and the second from present day. Both are filled with mystery, death, puzzles and revenge. And the main character is the house itself because in the end, the house always remembers...

In 1974 Villa Rosato in Italy was rented by a group of musicians. Mara and Lara are stepsisters who tag along because Lara is seeing the host, famous rock star Noel Gordon and Mara is seeing up and coming song-writer Pierce. Mara is in love with Pierce and Lara sort of falls in and out of love easily, including an affair with Pierce which Mara chooses to overlook. This complication along with sex, drugs and making music become the setting for an almost inevitable disaster.

And what happens during their time together at The Villa is just that, a tragedy with one of them being murdered and one of them imprisoned. But for Mara and Lara their time together at the house will push both of them into stardom. Mara with a bestselling novel called Lilith Rising and Lara with an album titled Aestas which still haunts those who listen to it to this day. But even until both their deaths, they refused to ever discuss what happened at the house that summer.

Flash forward to best friends Emily and Chess. They have been friends since childhood. Even though their lives took them in separate directions with Emily marrying and becoming a cozy mystery writer of a series and Chess becoming a famous lifestyle guru, they remained in each other's lives. Emily is in the midst of a divorce as well as a year of horrible health issues and writer's block when Chess suggests they go away for a month to Italy. Chess is also supposed to be writing a book. Emily agrees.

When they get to Villa Aestas, Emily realizes that this is the house where horrible things had happened years ago. They had changed the name when Lara became famous to Villa Aestas after her best-selling album which they believe she wrote after the killing. While browsing the library Emily discovers a copy of Mara's famous novel, Lilith Rising. As she begins to read the story, she sees a resemblance as to what happened that summer years ago. Fascinated, she develops a theory and begins to explore the house for clues that her thinking might be correct. Emily's obsession with finding out the truth leads her to decide to start a book about her findings.

Chess realizes what Emily is doing. Their relationship begins to fracture and by the end of their time at Villa Aestas there will be another death and their lives will suddenly change forever. You see, houses really do remember.

The Villa is a well-written, mesmerizing story with a built in who done it and a shell-shocking ending you will not see coming.

Thank You #NetGalley #St.Martin'sPress #TheVilla #RachelHawkins for the advanced copy.

This was an okay read. There were aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. It was fast paced and was invested in the story and really enjoyed the dual timelines but I didn’t love how it ended.
I would rate it 3.5 but rounded it up to 4 stars

Closed out 2022 with this 5 star read!

Reckless Girls was a miss for me, but THIS, this was DEFINITELY for me.

I devoured this story (within a story) told between two time periods. I LOVED that we got a sneak peak into the "sex drugs and rock n roll" era and that it was equally told from the present as well.

Any book set in Italy could do no wrong in my opinion. I imagined this villa was gothic-chic with lots of horror lingering over it. I would have liked to hear more description of the villa, but perhaps it would have not been relevant.

Watching the two time period weave together was haunting and beautiful!

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I liked this a lot better than the previous work I read by the author. However, Chess was nigh on insufferable, so that was a lot to take. Overall, though, it was worth reading.

The Villa is very different from Rachel Hawkins previous books. The setting takes place in a very picturesque Italian village. The villa as a history of previous murders that have happened. The most notorious one taking place in the summer of 1974. When two best friends Chess and Emily rent the villa for the summer, Emily embarks on writing a true crime story about the people involved with 1974 murder and how the novel Lilith Rising came to be. I liked that it had the story of Mari, Lara, Pierce, Johnnie, and Noel intertwined with Emily. Emily saw the clues that Mari had left in her novel Lilith Rising to find the missing pages of Mari’s diary to find out what happened that fateful night. Even though you find out in the end that it was all fictional. This is the best one yet from Rachel Hawkins yet!

For this my last book of 2022 I did a blend of listening to the audio and reading on kindle. I liked the narrators and thought they brought their characters to life. I did have a harder time getting to Mari’s parts, but as I got further into the story those were actually the parts that had me more interested. I felt bad for Emily. She picked a poor husband and an even poorer BFF. I didn’t like Chess through the whole story and wondered why they were friends, especially by the end. This book wasn’t exactly the thriller I was expecting, but it was a suspenseful story told in dual timelines which I’ve always liked. This is the story of a Villa in Italy and two women who stayed there. Emily is surprised to hear a famous murder of a famous musician occurred in the villa Chess has for them to stay in that summer. But as Chess says someone has died everywhere. But the more Emily learns the more interested she is.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4873375427

What have I learned? Rachel Hawkins is not the author for me. This is the second book of hers that I have given a try and it's just not going to work.

I was really intrigued by the setting and mystery storyline about this villa. However, this story drags and I found myself skimming. Characters are forgettable and unlikable. Plot twists could be seen from a mile away. I didn't understand the character's motivations and choices throughout the story.

The Villa is the newest suspense mystery from Rachel Hawkins. Cozy mystery writer, Emily, is going through a rough time and her best friend since childhood, Chess, offers her a chance to get away to Italy for the summer to reset. With the money from her fame as a self-help guru, Chess rents them the famous Villa Aestas, site of a tragic murder from the 70s. While their stay doesn’t spark Emily’s cozy mystery mojo, it does ignite a creative interest in the villa’s complicated history. As the summer continues, Emily begins to question not only the betrayals of the past, but those close to her as well. Will the Villa claim another victim this summer as well?

I enjoyed this book much more than the last two Rachel Hawkins books I’ve read. I liked how she wove in the story of the famous tragedy with the story of Emily and Chess’s summer, weaving the parallels so that you are constantly questioning what is happening to Emily. I wasn’t in love with any of the characters but I was very invested in their story. It was a quick, fast-paced read and I thought I had it figured out…but it kept me guessing and I like that I’m still kind of questioning how it ended. If you liked Hawkins’s other books, I would definitely check out The Villa.

Summary:
1974 - Mari, her married boyfriend Pierce, and step sister Lana, are invited to a villa in Italy by rock star Noal Gordon. During the summer, Mari writes a best selling horror novel, Lara records a platinum album, and Pierce is brutally murdered.

In present day, Emily and Chess rent the same notorious villa to write their next novels. But Emily is drawn to the history of the place and wants to find out what really happened that fateful summer.

Thoughts:
This was a wild ride. Told in alternating chapters with Mari and Emily as narrators, the story of the two timelines weaves together. Honestly, the similarities of the events in both times sometimes made it feel like I was reading the same story twice. The way this was written was reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid but not done as well. It wasn't until the very end that I considered googling events to see if any part of this story was based in truth. The ending was not the payoff I had hoped for, but it was entertaining.

I absolutely loved this book and this is just another 5 star for me done by Rachel Hawkins!! This book gives you the present timeline of Emily and Chess, childhood best friends almost like sisters until adulthood when their relationship is strained so Chess suggests a trip to Italy that literally changes their whole lives. The trip to Italy leads to another timeline in the story between stepsister Mari and Lara who stayed at the same villa as Emily and Chess are at now.
Villa Aestas formerly known as Villa Rosato, is a house in Italy that has so much history and where history was made. What happened there in 1974 comes alive in present time as Emily starts to discover and unravel the past that led to a famous horror novel written, a platinum album on its path to creation, and a brutal murder that happened that fateful summer in 1974 when Mari's boyfriend Pierce was murdered!! Sex, drugs, and rock & roll that went way past the limit to lead to murder at the villa! With the past rearing its ugly head in the present there is bound to be another victim and "houses remember" in the words of Mari and her infamous "Lilith Rising" novel.
There was two alternating timelines and the book Mari was writing added a small storyline of its own in, but it was pretty easy to follow once you realized the flip between the past, present, and the novel within the novel which I found to be creative and genius! This was a slow burn but the different go between helped to keep me intrigued between the past and present coming into one. I liked the aspects of the complicated relationships between friendships or being relatives and how much of a mess and entanglement it can be it felt to be more realistic than just a perfect setting between friends or sisters.
I wanted more for Emily in the end, she grew so much from the beginning of the book but I also didn't hate how it was written, maybe it could even eventually turn into a sequel of Emily and Chess and see if their friendship can keep withstanding their differences?!?! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC to read and review, for me this was another 5 star from Rachel Hawkins!

“Houses remember.”

I picked this up because I’ve had okay luck with Rachel Hawkins but I think I may skip out on her next one (that’s what I said about this one though lol). I was drawn in by the Italian setting and the cute cover to go along with it. The “houses remember “ line and concept was fire and wasted potential.

I’m just going to say I don’t get the raving reviews. It was so boring for most of it and nothing happens until the very end. Once things do pick up, everything happens so quickly and then the book ends. It’s kind of just glossed over and everyone moves on. I found that entirely unrealistic. None of the plot twists particularly shocked me and I was hoping to be blown away.

The past timeline was also extremely boring and a waste of time. Specifically with journal entries or song lyrics. I started skimming those once I realized they don’t bring anything to the story except for that history repeats itself and houses remember, etc.

On top of that, There weren’t any characters I cared about either to keep me going so I don’t know how to finished and I don’t really know how to rate this either.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

This story follows a cozy mystery author who has been friends since childhood with a famous self help author. They stay at a villa to visit and write that happens to be a murder house. Betrayal and inspiration ensue which is where some bumps occur. The chapters alternate between the current vacation and the past unfolding of the murder story. Entertaining and a quick read with a few flaws.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Sadly, this was not for me. Unlikeable characters and disappointment that the “wicked gothic suspense” was an overpromise at best did me in. I switched between reading and listening to the audio version, The narrators did a fantastic job and that’s why I listened to the end. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.