Three siblings and their spouses meet every year for a birthday celebration. This year though, the celebration turns deadly.

I wanted to like this because the premise sounded so good, but I was just lacking the suspense. Even with the interlude of the mystery guest narratives, it didn't make wonder what was going to happen next.

5/5 STARS

This was a great book! If you enjoy The Guest List by Lucy Foley (which who didn't?) then you will LOVE this book. It's told in similar style with each chapter changing viewpoints of one of the guests on site at the weekend retreat as well as one character which is not revealed until the end.

The main characters are siblings from a wealthy family and with their significant others - ranging from girlfriends to married spouses provided a hilarious interpretation of family dynamics - especially when you include the fact that not all of them come from wealth. Some of them have married into the family and are still working to belong. The interpersonal thoughts are hilarious - and shocking - as you try and figure out where the story is going to go. Several surprises occur and unexpected experiences (fancy a blind folded walk through a vineyard...in the dark?!) as the family tries to recreate past games as they gather for the first time since the loss of their mother in order to celebrate the birthdays of the twin siblings.

Each character is unique and right or wrong you fall in love with them all and wondering which ones won't make it until the end. I read this over the course of a few days, although if I'd been at the beach (or not had work to get in the way) I wouldn't have put it down. The setting is great and the overall book leaves you wondering...do you really know the history of your family?

Family wealth, secrets, lies, resentment all wrapped up in one awful weekend party. Harper, Richard, Zach, Elle, Lauren, and the "unnamed party guest" tell this tale of a 35th birthday gone wrong. What starts off well goes sideways even before the rain takes out the power to the estate where they've gathered. And then there's a murder. This plot might seem familiar but Laskowski does a good job of putting meat on it. The characters are pretty much all unlikable and if I have a quibble, it's that their voices all sound the same. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Makes for a good rainy day (I know) read.

I’ve enjoyed this author’s books in the past so when I saw she was writing a new one I was excited! For the most part I thought this was a good read. Sure, it’s predictable and it takes a little while for anything exciting to happen, but I think it’s a solid read regardless. The characters- well, none of them are likable. I had a bit of a tough time remembering who was who which took away from my enjoyment. They do, however, make sense for the type of plot the author is going for so their unlikability makes sense. I just wish there was at least one I enjoyed! Overall, this is a decent read and because I enjoyed the author’s previous novels I’ll be reading more from her but this one isn’t a favorite.

Good murder mystery revolving around a rich family. Slow start but picked up towards the end. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC !

The synopsis of the book hooked me right away because I love locked-room mysteries. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark. The book felt slow and really didn't get going until the last third of it. It was told from multiple female POVs, which I liked, but it took me a bit to sort out who was who.

The setting of the story is great: an old winery with secret passages, creepy woods, and older caretakers. I didn't feel like the "secrets" in the house were used enough. Although I didn't like any of the characters, I did enjoy the drama they had between them. Rich family drama is a different type of drama.

The ending of this story was anti-climatic. It waited until the very end for something to happen to the characters.

Read if you like:
🗣️ Family drama
👓 Multiple POVs
🔥 Slow burns

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Graydon House for this eARC to review. All opinions are my own. This book will be available on December 26th!

I liked this story, did not like the characters that much. A very good thriller story itself with unlikeable characters.

“Multiple people have been reported dead at the Van Ness Winery after an altercation late Saturday Night, our Eyewitness Team reports.” Here are reasons to read the Thriller book:

Birthday Celebration - The Van Ness siblings are getting together to celebrate the 2 oldest birthdays at a family estate
Family Ties - They bring their significant others, and as you can imagine, they all have secrets and tension
Party Guest - and what is the identity of a mysterious party guest and what information do they have that will break the family apart?

I am a fan of a locked door mystery. People don’t survive the weekend, but they can’t leave due to storms or dead cars or whatever. This one was about the same. The twist at the end was pretty good, although I started to guess it about halfway through. The biggest issue, and the one that made me guess the ending is that the first 2/3 of this book is very slow moving for me and the characters are not that redeeming at all. I think if it was faster paced and had at least one shining connectable character, it would have been harder to work out what was happening. It’s entertaining but not the best Thriller I have read this year.

The Van Ness siblings gather to celebrate the twins’ (Harper and Richard) birthday weekend at the family winery. By the end of the weekend, two will be dead.

This book was good and overall a somewhat enjoyable read. However, the twists were very predictable and the characters were unlikable. I just didn’t get invested in this story.

The Weekend Retreat was a gossipy, backstabbing delight of a read!

The Van Ness siblings have gathered at the family winery with their significant others to celebrate twins Richard and Harper ‘s birthday. Things go wrong from the start- a video of Harper screaming at her employees goes viral, a present mysteriously appears with a note about secrets, a huge storm is brewing, and a surprise guest is on the way to really make their birthday a thrill.

This domestic drama was wickedly fun, with characters I loved to hate. We get the POVs of the three women in the trip, and they are each hiding something they would never want exposed. The relationship dynamics were absolutely fascinating to watch weave together, from the couples to the sister in laws to how the partners of the siblings interact. This is one messed up family that I wouldn’t want to be a part of!

I don’t know that I’d call this a thriller, definitely falls more under a mystery or women’s fiction. It was fun and compelling to read, and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Really great concept. I liked the various links between "bad guys." I did not like the ending where we find out that Elle and Zack are together raising Richard's child. That gave me the ick. Overall not bad.

The Van Ness family is gathering to celebrate the twin siblings, Harper and Richard, birthday. Zach, the baby of the family, is bringing his new girlfriend, Lauren. Elle, Richard's wife, is stressed about every detail because this is the first time the family is gathering since Mother's funeral. And there's one more guest, who is coming to destroy everything.

The Weekend Retreat from Tara Laskowski is a fun domestic thriller with the usual twists and turns that readers can expect. The good thing is that the action never really stops and the mystery is multi-layered. In fact, there were a few mysteries that were left a little untouched or less detailed than I would have wanted.

This is a fun read and I would recommend this for all. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I ADORED this book. Tara’s writing style is exactly what I want in a novel - a little funny, very real, smart as hell, and psychologically twisty. Each character had their quirks that I loved and I found myself rooting for the Van Ness’s in the end. The plot was very Succession-esque but totally unique in execution. I need to read more from Tara!

A wealthy family's weekend celebration at their lush winery estate becomes a retreat to die for in Tara Laskowski's The Weekend Retreat. What a wild ride. I really enjoyed this story. The Van Ness family heads to their family winery and estate to celebrate Richard and Harper's birthdays, but they are in for a long weekend when a storm hits and an uninvited guest surprises them.

I really enjoyed the characters and the development of relationships between the characters. There were some weird interactions but they seemed to play out well. I love a good multiple POV narration, and this one didn't disappoint. There was so much suspense and drama. The twists that Tara Laskowski throws are so good and the more that you read, the better the story got. I feel like the ending was a little rushed and would have liked to see more there, because we built up to this climax and it was slightly underwhelming. I think overall, it was a good suspenseful thriller and I found it to be very entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House and Tara Laskowski for my eARC of The Weekend Retreat. Rated up for 3.5 Stars.

Publication date for The Weekend Retreat is 26 December 2023.

The more you like rich people behaving badly, the more you will like this book. For me, it went over the line into more childish petty siblings and I got tired of that. This is somewhat balanced out by a big ol' estate, a pending storm, expectations of an annual birthday celebration, and an added person that the family doesn't know is there. Pile all that in with those annoying siblings to make an interesting read. I'll admit I had favorite characters that I hoped would end up on the top of the dog pile. I wish that mystery person's role had been expanded before and after the "reveal." But I wasn't dissatisfied with the ending, I just think I would have preferred more intrigue and less bickering.

The Weekend Retreat follows a rich family who’s mother has died and they are all back together at the big estate for a birthday party. There is a lot of drama around this group. When an unexpected visitor comes and a bad rain storm knocks out the power, things really go down hill and people end up dead.

Throughout this book, there are newspaper articles sprinkled throughout. They tell you right away that 2 people die at this party and it unfolds from there. I really liked how it had that revealed early and then you’re trying to figure out who died and how. I also liked the drama throughout. Some of the characters really annoyed me but I liked how the drama unfolds. There are blog posts about them as well that reminds me of Gossip Girl and that was a fun addition. I liked the pacing and the storyline. There was a lot put in this book but I think it all worked together!

I do feel like the character development was a little lacking. A couple of the characters blurred together a bit. Other than that, i really liked this book and I would recommend! It reminded me of the Guest List by Lucy Foley with the storm and secluded setting.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Harlequin for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Van Ness matriarch of the family recently passed away and the kids reunite for a traditional weekend birthday celebration at the mansion estate. Things are not as they seem; everyone has a secret to protect. Trapped in by a storm and a mystery party guest with an agenda combined with jealousy, bitterness, and wealth, you can imagine where this will go.

Who is genuine?? Who has an ulterior motive?? Whose secrets will ultimately be revealed??

This was a quick and easy read, although it started a little slow, it picked up quickly. It is told in multiple POV’s, each of the siblings and the mystery party guest. I liked the short chapters; they aren’t long enough to get tired of the character or circumstance. There were hints of what is to come with news articles strewn in between which kept me engaged and had me guessing! Tons of foreshadowing which was well paced leading up to the end.

I must admit, I didn’t love any of the characters, they were all superficial and entitled with some kind of ulterior motive, self-centered. I just didn’t connect with any of them, I wasn’t rooting for anyone but was still curious to know how it would all unfold.

Ultimately, this was a quick read that I enjoyed, but it was typical to that of a rich spoiled family filled with drama, secrets, and backstabbing. I can imagine that there are plenty of fans for this type of thriller!

Thank-you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

The story is about the Van Ness family and their weekend retreat to celebrate the 35th birthdays of twins, Harper and Richard. Their younger brother Zach is also there along with many many other family members and guests. All of the family in one place for a whole weekend is bound to cause drama in any family, but this is no ordinary family. This family is full of unsettled past issues, resentment and true hatred. There are so many twists and turns throughout this story, the author makes it impossible for you to figure out who the “bad guy “ or “girl” is. It’s been a while since I’ve read a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what could be coming next: I highly Recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. Thank you NetGalley and Tara Laskowski for allowing me to read an arc copy! It was truly a great book.

Wow! Wow wow! Very fun read! I really liked the writing and enjoyed the story! I would like to read more books by this author. Save the date!! You all need to read this!!

Three and a half stars. Was such a great story, loved all the characters and learning about them. Reading how all the characters interacted with each other was so interesting, I loved having the multiple POVs so you go to really get inside each of their heads. The book was going so well and the story was getting incredibly good, but the ending for me seemed rushed. This would have been an easy four star book but I feel the end was underwhelming. Overall it was entertaining and a good read! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!