I couldn't put this book down. One of the fastest books I've read. I would highly recommend it if you like thrillers! I can't wait to read more of her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and harlequin for the ARC. All opinions are my own

⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5

A family winery in New York is the backdrop to this family relationship mystery. Twins Harper and Richard return to the family’s estate reluctantly to celebrate their 35th birthday. Elle, Richard’s wife has planned quite the celebration with old family gamesmanship. Brother Zach introduces his girlfriend to the family for the first time and Lauren is eager for their approval

After observing the tense relationships, Lauren isn’t as enamored of the van ness’. Harper appears self centered, her husband Lucas not quite devoted, Elle structured and rigid even Zach seems different shifty and petulant. Each seems to be hiding secret

The story is narrated by Elle Lauren Harper and The Party Guest The house seems the most intriguing and interesting character with its secret chambers and passages. Character development is ok; there’s not much depth to buy into what motivates them. We read what surfacely drives them but not a layered nuance of self.

The pacing movement is quick enough that one doesn’t become bored. The mystery isn’t so mysterious. The ending seemed a little too quickly wrapped up. Maybe one last secret would have added some extra flair. Perhaps add more importance to what Elle found. Also I finished a little confused about Elle and zack. All in all, a good read that I would recommend or purchase

This was a great one as I happen to love "un-lovable" characters! The Van Ness children (now adults) get together to celebrate birthdays at their lavish winery every year. This year Lauren is invited as she will be newly-engaged to one of the heirs, Zach and is anxious to meet the rest of his siblings. But there's also an un-named "Party Guest" in attendance and it's clear he/she is up to no good. So when there's a huge storm during the party and strange "gifts" begin arriving, tensions rise as the tone becomes ominous. Told from alternating perspectives, the novel has so many twists and turns that I had to take notes! But it's always a treat to never guess the ending and who the "bad guy" is so I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

First time reading this author. Great read, loved the characters (even the unlikable ones) . Kept me reading and guessing. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishings for allowing me to read this advanced copy of The Weekend Retreat!

This twisty thriller had love triangles, wealthy family secrets, identity fraud and more!

The Van Ness family has a lot of issues! Richard, Harper and Zach return to the Van Ness Vineyard with their partners for a birthday celebration. They all have secret motives for returning to the Van Ness mansion but an unknown guest kept the pages turning for me!

Every year it has been a tradition that the birthdays of the Van Ness children, have been weekend extravaganza and held at their family vineyard. Six months ago, the matriarch of the family Katrina Van Ness passed away and now it is time for the oldest twins' birthday Richard and Harper. They are turning 35 years old. Elle - Richard's wife has tried to recreate the birthday events that Katrina was famous for, Harper- reluctantly attends with her husband Lucas and the youngest Zach is about to introduce his new girlfriend Lauren to the family. Lauren is nervous as she doesn't come from the world of wealth like the Van Ness's. The thing though is that this adventure will end in broken hearts and even death as the weekend's events end up opening up raw wounds, dark secrets, lies, and even betrayals. The Van Ness fortune has been built on lies and traces back to an event that happened in the early/mid 70's in Monte Carlo. The weekend will be filled with a series of games, that will reveal dark intentions and catch the Van Ness's in lies as if they aren't careful - everyone's masks including Elle's, Lucas and Lauren's may slip revealing their ulterior motives for being part of the weekend festivities. If you are looking for a good family thriller then check out The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski. I have to admit reading books like this, makes you sit back and wonder if is it worth being wealthy as it does seem like a lot of work and all you do is spend time walking on eggshells and you never are quite happy.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was easy to read; the short chapters keep the book moving at a fast pace. I will definitely read more from this author!

I had read some reviews mention a Succession vibe to this book, and that intrigued me to read this. The book revolves around the Van Ness siblings, who run a very successful winery. The main cast of characters include twins, Harper and Richard, their younger brother Zach as well as their respective significant others. Tensions run high as they are at the family compound to celebrate the twins’ birthday. Everyone has their secrets and someone is skulking about the property ready to cause trouble.

The book was a bit of a letdown for me. None of the characters were very likable and the main twist wasn’t that interesting to me. I did finish it because I wanted to see how it all shook out.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Weekend Retreat was great escapism. A dive into the fabulous, fictitious lifestyle of the privileged Van Ness family. Throughly enjoyed all the twists and turns and the unraveling of secrets. Great fiction, thriller read.

Thank you for the arc of The Weekend Retreat.
This was such a good book and well played out twists. I really enjoyed this authors writing style. The POV from different characters made it interesting. I read it in 2 days.

This novel features three siblings, some partners, a guest, and some creepy family history. While the entire thing is told from the perspectives of several of these characters, I often found these characters bleeding into each other. That's not even a fun thriller pun. Truly, they are hard to distinguish at times, and this, in part, is because they're not as complicated as one might expect characters in this genre to be. Their drama is pretty easy to guess quickly, and it's also very difficult to find someone to root for because they are really all awful in their own ways.

Possibly because I read this following a 5* thriller, this one was only meh to me. The characters were all privileged and unlikable; the plot felt overly contrived. The setting was beautifully evocative, but I wanted more wine talk from a novel that is set on a vineyard.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Van Ness siblings, an old money family, have retreated to their mansion in the woods for the first time since their mother died. Her memory haunts the entire weekend, but the siblings and their partners are determined to advance their own agendas. When a storm bears down on the house, who will make it out alive?

This was a twisty thriller, and there were so many juicy secrets that were exposed along the way. I loved seeing all the different interactions between the siblings and their partners. The story kept me guessing nearly the entire time, and I was delighted to see how it ended.

If you like Succession and locked-room mysteries, this is the one for you!

A note for the publisher--I'm sure this will be corrected for the finished proof, but the formatting was really off in the kindle copy I got. It was a bit hard to read (any fl words were separated like Fl orida, for example).

3 stars

Ah, yes. A classic case of more money more problems...or is it?

This novel features three siblings, some partners, a guest, and some creepy family history. While the entire thing is told from the perspectives of several of these characters, I often found these characters bleeding into each other. That's not even a fun thriller pun. Truly, they are hard to distinguish at times, and this, in part, is because they're not as complicated as one might expect characters in this genre to be. Their drama is pretty easy to guess quickly, and it's also very difficult to find someone to root for because they are really all awful in their own ways.

I did jam through this one but more in search of the gripping twist than because I was enraptured by it. With siblings, secrets, and so much money, there are a lot of opportunities to advance the plot, and the resources remained largely untapped.

This is an intriguing concept, so I'll be back for more from this author, but I have hopes for better outcomes.

This was a good read. The characters were written so well and I couldn’t put the book down! The twist at the end was amazing!! Great read!

Two points for remembering who was who in this twisty little number where everyone's personalities were so interchangeable they literally could have started going by completely different names by halfway through without causing any problems in the plotting. These whack-a-moles deserve each other.

THE WEEKEND RETREAT
BY: Tara Laskowski
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Publishes: 12/26/23

🌧️ WHAT I LIKED:
-the characters were all like a brewing storm in and of themselves not to mention the impending storm that was brewing outside the mansion as well.
-multiple POVs (from the women), and easy to keep them all separate
-POV from an unknown person called “The Party Guest”
-quick, easy to read short “chapters”

⛈️WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:
-somewhat predictable
-none of the characters are likeable, and some are downright awful
-Cast of three siblings: yet the Daughter In Law also called the Mother “momma” which was not only confusing but a bit weird for me

I’d suggest this one for anyone needing a suspense novel and maybe for those who aren’t reading a lot of thrillers on a regular basis. This is an honest review for a book I read voluntarily from NETGALLEY.

"The Weekend Retreat" has a good premise, title and cover, but the story itself did not stand out from the genre. The characters weren't very likable, but what kept it from being more compelling for me was a lack of narrative drive. Yes, it had secrets to uncover, but more complications would have helped. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What to say about The Weekend Retreat? I liked it. Didn’t love it - but liked it. It had some twists and turns - but they were fairly easy to figure out. I did like the premise and the setting of the story. Some of the characters were a bit flat.

It’s worth a read if you need something quick.








#TheWeekendRetreat #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this thriller by Tara Laskowski in exchange for my honest review.
A wealthy family gathers to celebrate a family brthday at their vineyard. I could not find one character to like in this twisty thriller, and that made this book enjoyable. I found this book to be a mix of both Liane Moriarty and Agatha Christie's styles.. The writting was well done, with numerous twists.