I will leave a review on Amazon and B&N on Oct. 7th

Jennifer Ruff is a new author for me and overall, I really enjoyed this book. I know this was the 6th book in the series, but I had no problem reading it as a stand-alone. When Avery disappears on her last day of vacation in Mexico, the FBI was called in because she is the niece of one of the agents. Two agents fly down to help assist the local law enforcement, what follows is a fast paced read one that was hard to put down. I most definitely would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the publisher BooksGoSocial in exchange for my honest review.

A young American woman goes missing from a luxurious Mexican holiday resort. She isn't the first young woman to have vanished in the area, for reasons nobody seems to understand.

As the latest missing woman is the relative of an FBI agent, the FBI are invited to assist the local police, but how much are they actually being told?

This book is part of a series, but I didn't feel I was missing anything for not having read the earlier books.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, although there was one pivotal plot point that seemed very out of character for Victoria, our lead character, even from this single book I have read from the series. This aside, it was intriguing enough to keep me interested.

Thanks to the author, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

Jenifer Ruff's latest edition to the Victoria Heslin series offers plenty of suspense, mystery, and danger as Agent Heslin heads to Mexico with fellow agent Rivera to find a missing college student who also happens to be a relative of a colleague. On the last day of 3 sorority sisters' spring vacation one is taken away because her COVID test comes up positive, but she completely disappears. In that the hotel is in Mexico, the FBI is allowed to be in on the search for the American citizen but have to play nice of course with the local police. Top that off with concerned parents who are also there looking and worrying about their missing child. Clues and ideas of what could have happened along with learning, as the reader, where the girl is, you root for Victoria to put all those clues together to get that girl to safety while dealing with suddenly not so cooperative police, parents, hotel employees and more. I like how Ruff brought in COVID to the story as you just can't ignore such a major event across the world when writing a story in present day. Though stand alones, each book in Ruff's series builds on those qualities Victoria has in putting information together to sovle the mystery particularly when an abduction occurs, something she is all too familiar with Victoria puts herself in danger over and over again as solving the mystery is her ultimate goal yet often asks herself why did I do that. Enjoy a good read! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC read.

Despite this being no. 6 in the Agent Victoria Heslin series and having not read any of the previous books it did not matter to the story which I was pleased about.
I love books in luxury locations and I felt like I was right there in the 5 star Hotel in beautiful Mexico.
This was a great plot that kept me interested start to finish, great characters and fast paced. My only negative that stops me from giving it 5 stars is the somewhat predictability and I cannot get my head around the fact that the top of their game FBI agents didn't immediately think to themselves, OK "girl goes missing in Mexico, her Aunt is working on.........." surely this is everyone's 1st thought? It was mine!?!?!
#NetGalley
#VanishedOnVacation

I thoroughly enjoyed Vanished on Vacation. It's the story of FBI agent Victoria and her boyfriend, Ned, and agent Rivera and his girlfriend, agent Payton. Payton's niece, Avery was on vacation with two of her sorority sisters at an exclusive Mexican resort. Avery ends up going missing, and Victoria and Rivera are sent there to find her. They were asked to work along side of the Federales. At first, there were absolutely no leads. What had happened was that someone who appeared to be a resort employee had told Avery that she had tested positive for COVID and needed to be quarantined. She went willingly with him. Her friend, Brie, had seen them and remembered that he had a distinctive tattoo on his arm. That was the first clue.

The agents questioned all of the employees but couldn't find anyone with the tattoo. Also, Brie had drawn a picture of the man. They had a dog who sniffed out Avery's journey and ended at the shoreline. In the meantime, an 87 year old busy body, Teresa, disappeared as well. She had told Victoria that she had seen the man with the tattoo. They had planned to meet so that Teresa could share everything she knew. Teresa never showed up.

After Teresa didn't show up, Victoria took the picture of the assailant to the shore and asked around about him, and she ended up going missing. The person who kidnapped her was named Eric. He was the son of the Salazar cartel boss. Payton was working on a case against the cartel and they had kidnapped Avery as collateral. Eric's accomplice was Tony, who was the one to kidnap Avery. Eric took her to his in father's yacht where Avery was. He had tied her hands behind her back with rope. He had drugged her, and when she woke up she found that she was in a ship's cabin. She found a glass bottle, broke it and used it to cut through the rope. When Tony went to her cabin she pretended to be unconscious. He picked her up and, with the rope cut she attacked him. He became angry and threw her overboard.

Victoria was able to swim to the shore. There was a young boy there who had a phone and she used it to phone Rivera, who then phoned for an ambulance for her. While talking to Rivera, she was able to tell him the name of the yacht and that Avery was on board. Rivera then phoned the Coast Guard, who found the yacht, rescued Avery and arrested Tony. Eric died of a heroin overdose.

It seems the Federales wanted to keep Victoria in the hospital, but she escaped. She and Rivera had unfinished business. Teresa was still missing and she was a United States citizen. Since she was not on the yacht , they figured her body had been dumped in the seaweed truck. So they followed the truck to the dump site. They climbed the fence and searched. One of the Federales officers showed up, Vince, and decided to help. They found Teresa's body.

After that, Victoria and Rivera were ordered home to DC. Victoria had chosen not to tell Ned about her adventure but Rivera encouraged her to tell him, which she did.

In the end, Victoria asked Ned to live with her, and Ned proposed, to which she said a resounding yes. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it for book club.

3 college girls from UVA go to Mexico to vacation. One of the girls tests positive for Covid and can’t return to the US but has to quarantine. She goes missing and the Mexican police aren’t too great at finding her. I felt like I was at the resort while they were talking about it. First time I have read a book by this author and I’m looking forward to more. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published October 2022.

I have not been this hooked on a book in a long time. The basic premise is three girls in their senior year of college go on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. One of the girls, Avery, goes missing. Her aunt Payton happens to be in the FBI, which is how the FBI gets involved. Two agents go down to assist with the investigation and that’s the premise of the book.

What I love about this book is how it’s slowly revealed in pieces. When we first see a POV from Avery, the chapter was so brief that I barely realized that part of the storyline was being exposed. That made me scramble to get to the next sighting of Avery and each time I got a little bit more. It took a long time for that side of the story to become clear but that just made me more urgent to read.

The author did a great job building suspense for a lot of people, including the staff at the resort where Avery and her friends were staying and even Avery‘s family. In the synopsis, it says the female agent Victoria might die trying to bring Avery back, and boy they were not kidding. This was a great page-turner and a very quick read.

On the last day of her vacation at the Azure Cove Resort in Mexico, Avery Jennings, a college senior from University of Virginia, tests positive for Covid and must quarantine.
That’s the last anyone hears from her.

FBI Agents Victoria Heslin and Dante Rivera are invited to assist with UVa college student Avery Jennings who disappeared while quarantining of Covid while staying at the Azure Cove Resort, Mexico. During the investigation Victoria discovers that Avery’s family and friends as well as resort’s staff and guests are hiding secrets.
When another guest vanished Victoria defies orders and takes matters into her own hands.
Determined to bring the missing home, Victoria just might die trying to find them.

This is my first Jenifer Ruff Victoria Heslin story ~ I am so delighted to find a new author that I love ~ I certainly am looking forward to The Atonement Murders Victoria Heslin Thriller #7!

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope she writes more! I am totally hooked!

As soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to read it! I love thrillers with a vacation setting, and "Vanished on Vacation" certainly lived up to my expectations!

Avery and her two friends go on vacation to an exclusive resort in Mexico; however, on the last day of their trip, a resort employee notifies Avery that she received a positive Covid test and will have to quarantine at the resort. The employee escorts Avery to her room to grab her stuff, and that is the last anyone hears from Avery. Her friends try calling and texting repeatedly, as do her family members, to no avail. Fortunately, Avery's aunt is an FBI agent, and she brings in her friend, seasoned FBI agent Victoria Heslin, to help find Avery.

Apparently this is book 6 in a series of standalone thrillers centered on Victoria Heslin, and after reading "Vanished on Vacation", I definitely want to go back and read all the rest! I found Victoria to be a well-written character, and I enjoyed all the twists and suspense throughout the book. I did feel as though there were a few points throughout the book that were a bit slow, and I lost some interest; however, the pace really picked up in the last 40 percent or so.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed other books by this author, or who enjoys vacation thrillers! You'll be glad to be safe at home (unless you are reading this while on vacation...in which case the jury is out!).

TWs: murder, dismemberment/torture, drug and alcohol use

Thanks to the author, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for this arc!!

Thank you to Netgalley for granting me access to this ARC.

I'm not a great fan of FBI/detective stories but this one had me engaged. At times you question whether the lead character, Victoria, is a reliable narrator. This is a trope that I love and enjoyed seeing the bigger picture come together. Victoria appears to be a well-developed character whom I will be reading more about, continuing the series. I will have to find the previous novels and read those. However, this works well as a standalone also.

The easy dialogue and short chapters made this a quick read and it was relevant and felt like something I could be following or reading about in the news. It was a definite page-turner, if not slightly predictable. Had there been more development of several people, we may have been led to alternate conclusions. That didn’t make the book less enjoyable, though. I will certainly read more by this author.

Thank you to Jenifer Ruff, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of a digital advanced reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review!

Fast paced. Cartel.

This book begins by following three sorority sisters from University of Virginia who are vacationing in Mexico. The three girls have to produce a negative COVID test to return to the U.S., but Avery Jennings' test comes back positive. She is relocated to the quarantine suites, where she mysteriously disappears. FBI Agent Victoria Heslin and Dante Rivera and invited by the Mexican Federales to aid in finding Avery. Will Victoria be able to save Avery or are the secrets surrounding her disappearance too deep?

This is the first of the FBI Agent Victoria Heslin series I have read. I do appreciate that they are stand alone novels and I did not feel like I was missing any backstory with jumping straight into this one. I was hooked by the premise of this book. This is a super quick read and was able to knock it out in two sittings. As I was reading though, nothing stuck out to me as "stellar" that made me want to give it a higher rating. I don't think I am a fan of COVID-based thrillers and thought plot was mediocre at best. I was intrigued enough to keep reading, but I don't see myself picking up another book within the Victoria Heslin series any time soon. I wish the author would have taken a different route on the ending. I did not think it fit within the novel and will definitely catch the reader off-guard, but for me, it wasn't in a good way.

I really enjoyed this book by Jenifer Ruff. This was a fast paced mystery that kept my interest. The MC Victoria was smart and nice. She was a little hard on herself but I liked her determination. I kind of figured out where the story was going midway, but was excited to see how it would play out. I am looking forward to reading more books about Victoria and the cases she solves.

Y’all know I love a good thriller set in paradise and female detectives that are full of gumption! This book “Vanished on Vacation” by @jenifer.ruff combines those two things and I cannot recommend this read enough!

This is book # 6 in the FBI agent Victoria Heslin series. When the niece of an FBI colleague goes missing while on vacation in Mexico at the Azure Cove resort, Victoria heads down to assist the Federales with their investigation to find Avery. However, it becomes apparent very quickly that there are some things that the Mexican police do not want uncovered and puts others in danger!

Thank you @jenifer.ruff and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

Book: Vanished on Vacation
Author: Jenifer Ruff
Series: Agent Victoria Heslin Thriller #6
Publisher: BooksGoSocial
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: October 7, 2022
My Rating: 4 stars

On the last day of her vacation at the Azure Cove Resort in Mexico, Avery Jennings, a college senior from University of Virginia, tests positive for Covid and must quarantine.
That’s the last anyone hears from her.

FBI Agents Victoria Heslin and Dante Rivera are invited to assist with UVa college student Avery Jennings who disappeared while quarantining of Covid while staying at the Azure Cove Resort, Mexico. During the investigation Victoria discovers that Avery’s family and friends as well as resort’s staff and guests are hiding secrets.
When another guest vanished Victoria defies orders and takes matters into her own hands.
Determined to bring the missing home, Victoria just might die trying to find them.

This is my first Jenifer Ruff ~ Victoria Heslin story ~ I am so delighted to find a new author that I love ~ I certainly as looking forward to "he Atonement Murders" Victoria Heslin Thriller #7!

Want to thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 7, 2022

Jennifer Ruff has a new fan. This book had me hooked. I was so intrigued by the summary; it reminded me of the Natalie Holloway case. There were parts that were predictable but still kept you guessing and wondering if and how they would find her. Definitely going back to read the other Victoria Heslin books and let’s face it, any other Jennifer Ruff book I can get my hands on.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the copy of Vanished on Vacation. This was a fast, easy thriller/mystery. I liked how Avery was ‘chosen'. I also liked how Covid was part of the story, but a tiny part, enough to acknowledge it but not so much it got tedious. If you’re looking for an easy read, pick up this book!

My first book by this author, but I didn't feel lost in the series, the books read well as stand alone. I really enjoyed this book

Vanished on Vacation was the first book I have read by Jenifer Ruff. I thoroughly enjoyed this read! It was entertaining and I enjoyed the easy writing style. I was definitely looking for opportunities to pick it up and keep reading.

While there were clearly references to previous books in the series, it was just fine as a stand alone book. I will read more books by this author!