Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Business Trip. This is a wild ride!
Unexpectedly one of the best debuts I have read.
A battered young woman and a successful business woman meet on a plane. Both seeking a change in their lives and both will experience just that within a week.
Written with several voices this book takes you into the minds of each character and how wanting a change in life leads to unexpected results.
Fast paced and well written this is a suspenseful and entertaining read. 4 big stars. Recommend!

This is a fun twisty thriller that will surprise you in the end.

Stephanie is a news director in Madison, WI. Her station is sending her to San Diego for a conference of news directors.

Jasmine is a down-on-her-luck waitress who is escaping a bad relationship. She's going to Denver with a little bit of money she's saved up and plans to figure it out when she gets there.

Stephanie and Jasmine will cross paths on an airplane. A week later, both text friends that they have met a great new guy, Trent, and they are going with him to Atlanta. Then Trent is accused of murdering them both.

What really happened? You'll have to read the book to find out!

I won't say much, because this is a book that very much needs you to go into it knowing as little as possible. I will say some of the twists are pretty predictable, while others were not. That made this a very fun read. Some of the characters are pure caricatures rather than 3-dimensional people, and that could be a problem for some readers. It also has murder, sexual assault and kidnapping, so be warned.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

This is a fun debut for this author. The plot is creative and it moves along at a nice pace. I almost gave up on it about half way through when it just felt repetitive with all the characters repeating the same things obviously from their point of view but it got to be a but much. Trent’s chapters were positively obnoxious and I skimmed over 90% just looking for anything I needed to know. I wish there was a way to re work the last 1/4 of the book so that not quite so much is revealed so quickly and in some cases SO MUCH DETAIL. It does require the reader to suspend disbelief just a little to believe some of the characters actions, but won’t spoil it for other readers. The outcome was satisfying enough although it was so obvious how it would ultimately end after comments made by one of the characters. Definitely worth reading. I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

5 Brilliant Savvy Stars !!

Y'all stop what your doing and pay attention !!!

Add this book to your TBR NOW!!

If you are looking for a fast , fun , bingeable and unputdownable read that will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor then The Business Trip is your next read !!

I am still processing this book and I can't believe its a debut novel , it was so cleverly written and so well executed that you would have thought Jessie Garcia has been writing for years and I seriously can not wait to get my hands on another one of her books!!

Without giving too much away this story is told from MANY POV's and lets just say many "unexpected" moments that had me hollering OMGEEE!!

Two complete opposites are on a plane to San Diego both with different motives. Stephanie is on a business trip to a work conference and Jasmine is running from her past to start a new life .

When Stephanie doesn't return to work Monday , the office starts asking questions and Stephanie's phone is blowing up with text messages and she just wants some peace and time with Trent a new guy she has met .

Jasmine's phone is also blowing up with text messages from her Narcissistic and abusive boyfriend Glenn , and she is determined to never return or see him again and put the past behind her.

Someone on the other hand as an alternative motive and if their not careful with their scheming ... is someone going to end up dead ??!!

You need read this to find out what this clever twisty little story is all about!

Thank you Netgalley , St. Martin's Press and Jessie Garcia for this cunning and sharp digital ARC!!

Respectfully Another Read by Angie !

Jessie Garcia weighs in with her variation on a common fantasy in her debut novel, “The Business Trip,” which invites readers to imagine what it would be like to chuck their own lives and take up a new existence elsewhere free of all existing complications or entanglements.
Particularly appealing the prospect is for the novel’s Jasmine, whose arm bears marks of her boyfriend’s regular abuse. Enough finally becomes enough, though, and early one cold January morning, careful not to awaken him, she rises early and takes an Uber to the airport, where she has gotten only so far in her planning as to board a flight for Denver, where she will see what she will see.
Once on her flight, though, she crosses paths with fellow passenger Stephanie, a TV network exec whose ostensible purpose for being on the flight is to attend a conference in San Diego but who is herself experiencing dissatisfaction with a life that has made for business success but at the expense of a failed marriage and a grown son from whom she feels estranged.
Revealing much more would be a disservice to the author, other than to say that the two women go missing and their acquaintances back home begin receiving strange, even alarming, texts indicating that the women have met a man named Trent McCarthy with whom it seems they’ve become involved. And as the texts become ever more alarming and things overall become stranger and stranger, the reader is given to wonder if perhaps the women have been done in by Trent or if they’re themselves colluded in a plot to do in Trent or perhaps, even, that Trent doesn’t exist at all but has been fabricated by the women as part of an elaborate scheme that the women have hatched to facilitate an escape from their regular lives.
All good fun it makes for if you enjoy this sort of thing, and there’s even a stab at a greater theme of class consciousness as Jasmine mentally remarks on the better quality writing paper or even toilet paper at the sort of hotel Stephanie would stay in. “Just another way the class system in America rewarded people like Stephanie,” Jasmine thinks.
Overall, though, the novel exemplified the sort of over-the-topness that puts me off about mysteries or thrillers, in particular how one of its characters does things as part of a grand scheme that defy credulity. Also, there’s a finale that I found superfluous.
Still, the novel is a particularly ingenious instance of its genre which will have fans of this sort of thing impatiently turning its pages.

The premise of this looked interesting so I decided to give it a go. The first 40% was fast paced and I was back and forth trying to figure out where the story was going. There are a lot of different POVs to keep up with. Some of the POVs like Glenn were a little juvenile with the writing. 65% through when it switched back to Jasmines POV, is where it felt rushed and far fetched. The beginning was strong and then I feel like the author was trying to rush to tell what happened. Then the final plot twist came out of nowhere. Some of the writing made me cringe when the police officer said "well let me tell you how we found out" and listed step by step the whole process. I don't know if I would reach for this again but as a debut novel it wasn't bad just the second half of the book kind of ruined it for me unfortunately. Thank you for the ARC.

I wanted to like this book better. It had potential but not the follow-through. There were many characters and their sides of the story. It didn't confuse me; it just didn't add anything special to the book. The twists in the middle and at the end (can we even call them twists?) were not shocking or thrilling. It just made for a hum-drum story overall.

This was great. Wonderful plot and when you think you have figured it out, trust me, you haven't. This is a new author to me and I will be looking forward to her next book. This book was good to the very last drop.

Watch out mystery writers, there's a new kid in town, and she's awesome.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. I enjoyed the way this book played out, which was essentially two missing women and the viewpoints from those people in their lives - I thought this was a unique approach, and I never felt lost with the different characters as the author did a good job distinguishing them. Thus, there are a lot of layers to this book and it was entertaining to read it all unfold. This is a pretty fast paced book as well, so the plotline moved quickly, even without hearing from the two main women who went missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Business trip was a great story with lots of twists and turns! Although it was a little lengthy in the descriptions occasionally, I really enjoyed this tale of murder and deception. The characters were great, I especially Jasmine .. her character development was great! The story line kept my interest .. so much so that I finished the book in 2 days. A wonderful debut novel! I look forward to more of Jessie Garcia’s books. Thanks to NetGalley for sending me an early copy.

loved this twisty book about murder and a business trip. Loved that it was told in many different point of views . I was on my seat trying to figure out what happened and what really happened. Loved seeing annie and Raven. wow what a twisty ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia due to be published January 14, 2025.
I love debut books, so I was excited to get this one!
Stephanie and Jasmine are seatmates on a plane to San Diego but don’t know each other and have nothing in common. After a few days, their friends receive the same text messages about the same man, and then Stephanie and Jasmine vanish. Was it the mysterious man, Trent McCarthy? What happened to the two women?
Oh, my goodness! Nothing is as it seems in this thriller. Just when you think you know what is going on with which girl, it twists in a totally different direction! It was a fun, fast page-turner of a read. I just thought I knew what was going to happen next, but no! This was definitely a surprise, and I can’t wait for the next book from Jessie Garcia!
#NetGalley #JessieGarcia #StMartinsPress #TheBusinessTrip

Wow! This book was more than I expected. Thanks for the chance to review and give my opinion to NetGalley.
First, the bad news. My only complaint is that there were many characters to keep track of. I had to remember who was who and it was a lot. But that's only a small complaint. This book was really good! Trent and Glenn were despicable gag-worthy guys. I loved Robert! And Jasmine I liked in the beginning. It had twists I didn't think of and I couldn't stop reading because I was so intrigued. Really like this book and highly recommend it!

This fast-paced thriller had me hooked from the first page and I could not put it down! Filled with twists and a shocking ending, I was able to finish this in one sitting.

Admittedly, when I first started this book I felt it was very reminiscent of Julie Clark's The Last Flight and was worried I was going to be reading something similar. Happy to report I was wrong :) The book starts with Jasmine, a waitress at a local bar, who is sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night to finally leave her abusive, controlling boyfriend and start a new life in a new city. On the plane, she meets Stephanie, a woman who "seems to have it all" - a successful career as a news director, loads of money, nice home, etc who is also looking to shake things up in life. From the point they both get off the plane both of their lives change and not in the way they had hoped. I don't want to say too much in fear of giving away all the twists and turns but I was overall quite surprised in the direction the book went in. The plot was somewhat unique and kept me interested the whole way through. I found myself not wanting to put the book down because I needed to find out how everything tied up in the end (I couldn't figure it out for the life of me). This was a great debut for Jessie Garcia (and fun fact - Jessie is a news director herself!)

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this amazing book.

This story has more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Jasmine is a waitress at a bar, she is living with her abusive boyfriend, Glenn who she desperately wants to get away from. Stephanie is a news director for a Madison TV station, she is headed to a news director conference. When these two ladies meet on a flight to Denver, life goes awry for both of them. What happened to both these ladies? Who is Trent McCarthy and what exactly was his role?

What a great debut novel from Jessie Garcia, if I hadn’t started the novel so late in the day, I would have finished it in one reading, it is that gripping. Chapter after chapter, the plot unfolds revealing tidbits until at last the story is revealed. This novel has a well-constructed plot, the author definitely leads you down a path where you are stumped trying to figure out what is going on. Well done, I am looking forward to the next novel.

The Business Trip is the kind of novel that keeps you up all night, with something always happening, relentlessly pushing the “one last chapter” mark again and again. While the characters are a bit stereotypical—some of them downright unpleasant to read—it works well. My only disappointment is that it lies on a foundation made of a too-large number of coincidences. However, this book is highly entertaining and superbly crafted with its multi-character narration. I’ll be sure to follow Jessie Garcia’s future works.

This book kept me hooked, and the ending took me by surprise.

Jasmine, fleeing from her abusive boyfriend, ends up on a plane next to Stephanie, who is heading to a work conference for her job at a news station. Suddenly, both women vanish, and Trent, another news director attending the conference, comes under scrutiny.

While the story was a thrilling ride, it also had me rolling my eyes at times. The concept was intriguing, but the execution lacked finesse. There was excessive fluff, and many details were unnecessarily repeated. A more concise version could have made for a better read. I didn't enjoy the writing style and had to push myself to finish it.

Still, I would recommend this book if you're looking for a quick read with a plot twist. It just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

What a debut! This book was absolutely amazing. A one-of-a-kind psychological thriller that holds a tight grasp on the reader until the very last word. The unique writing allows for significant character building and subsequent character bonding.

A fast moving and cleverly written book. I could not put this one down. The story of two women is told thru multiple characters. Many times, having several points of view or voices is distracting. In this book, it was what made this story unique and fresh. The reader is learning something is wrong as the characters are figuring it out. I loved the short chapters that moved the story along at a rapid pace.

The story line was predictable in a few spots with satisfactory twists and surprises.. What prevents be from giving this five stars instead of 4 is the ending. The ending was wrapped up and summarized too quickly. I expected the story to bounce back to some of the original characters as the mystery was unraveling. It never diid, I was disappointed as I enjoyed the earlier characters.

I loved reading this debut book from Jessie Garcia. I was hooked from the start, enjoyed the mystery and loved her writing style. This is an author to watch and I am looking forward to reading more from her.