Decent enough plot/storyline but the writing needs improvement. Story wandered at times and could have been edited.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210226856

Cerys owns the beautiful Villa Lucia and is preparing for her next guests. Her daughter, Lowri, is visiting her, meaning she has to make more of a conscious effort to hide her drinking Cerys has a dangerous relationship with alcohol and is unable to control herself once she starts, but she must this weekend with new guests coming to share her space.

Zoe, Harry, and their son Charlie are the visitors. Zoe is hoping to have this vacation reignite the spark between her and Harry. Although she feels it’s impossible and suspects him of cheating. Charlie despises his dad for how he treats his family and mother and tells her to leave him frequently. Harry is an arrogant misogynist with no grip on reality and all the annoying features of rich white boy privilege.

Upon arrival, Zoe and Cerys make quick friends and Cerys mingles more with her guests in their first night than she typically would. As Zoe shares her secrets with her, Cerys feels a strong connection with her own past and decides to cope the only way she knows how- alcohol. Meanwhile, Charlie and Lowri have made a connection of their own and watch their mothers with embarrassment as they get totally wasted together. Harry has left the dinner party early in a rampage after being called out by Lowri for his ridiculously offensive comments.

As night settles, Harry is seen one last time before tragedy strikes. Cerys wakes to a dead body floating in the Villa pool and chaos ensues. So he’s responsible? The alcoholic, blacked out villa owner? The scorned son? The wife? The cleaning / cooking crew?

I really liked this book. I feel there was a hole side plot that could’ve been eliminated (Lorenzo connection with old mob) but maybe I missed a connection somewhere? I didn’t guess the ending and felt it was a happy ending for the characters I liked !

4 stars- out July 26!

Thanks to NetGalley for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I almost couldn't get through the book, but I kept on going and I'm glad I did. After a slow pace, the book has many curves that make you want to keep reading. Once you get into the story, it's hard to put down! I did not expect the ending at all and was pleasantly surprised!! A great read. I will be reading more from this author!

4/5 ⭐️

This book definitely kept me on my toes and wanting to read more! And the ending has a nice plot twist that I wasn’t expecting at all. The characters are intriguing and I wanted to keep reading to find out about their pasts. At first I thought there were too many characters to keep up with, but it actually turned out flowing very nicely together and made it a very easy read!

As a family travels to Villa Lucia for a family vacation, one of them is unexpectedly murdered by someone. The person who was murdered had a lot of bad blood between many people—his wife, his son, even workers at the Villa! Many secrets are spilled… can you guess who the murderer is? 👀

I wanted to love this one but I felt like the plot was something I had seen many times before. I felt the pacing was slow and I just could not get into it. I had to DNF this one.

I really enjoyed this book, it had me hooked from start to finish. I definitely enjoyed the twists and turns that were in this book and I fell in love with the authors writing style instantly. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Last night at villa has a well set up, interesting plot. Two years ago Cerys Williams, a long suffering alcoholic, bought a Villa in Tuscany in the region of Montespertoli, the Villa Lucia. After a year her husband, who initially was the driving force behing them buying te villa, decides that the bed and breakfast isn't the easy life he once thought is was and he returns to London. They divorce and Cerys buys him out.
At the beginning of this book we don't know this background, we only know that Cerys welcomes a couple of new guest to her villa and that her daughter Lawry is staying with her.
The new guest are a married couple with their 19 year old son. Right from the start we discover that the husband, Harry is a total ass, who is abusive towards his wife and has constant conflicts with his son.
As it turns out both Cerys's ex husband Nick and Zoe's husband Harry are one of a kind: overpowering, abusive men who denigrate their wives.
When Harry is found dead, floating in the infinity pool after two days a series of plot twists and unexpected developments starts.

Slowly we discover the origin of Ceryses drinking problem through a series of flashbacks. Wil inspector Saachi catch the real killer?

Lots of sudden plot twists and red herrings in this interesting and suspenseful thriller that also deals with a couple of social behaviour issues.

Thank you Netgalley and Storm publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book.. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I was so invested in the story and the characters and I loved it from start to finish. The characters were well fleshed out and felt very real to me. The twists and turns of the story kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't stop reading! The ending was satisfying and well wrapped up. McCleave's writing style keeps the story flowing well and makes you want to keep reading.
I don't usually read mystery/thrillers, and usually read epic fantasy, but even I was hooked! Definitely recommend, not only to readers of this genre, but to all readers!

**Please read content warnings though.**

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Last Night at Villa Lucia by Simon McCleave.

Last Night At Villa Lucia
By: Simon McCleave

4 Stars

Cerys thinks she has to put on a good show and hide her drinking from her daughter, Lowri, as well as the guests staying in Villa Lucia. When a tragedy occurs, all she can think about is forgetting.
Zoe, Harry, and their son Charlie come to visit Villa Lucia to get away and hopefully help their marriage, but with secrets between them and a tragedy on the horizon, this vacation will be different for them all.

This book was a crazy ride that had me hooked. You get viewpoints from many characters throughout the story, and at first, I figured it would be difficult to keep up. Each view did not confuse, but added to the drama and intrigue of Villa Lucia. This was a classic "who did it" type thriller with a psychological twist. I would think I had it figured out, but it was a pleasant surprise with every turn of the page. It just made me want to know more. This story was written, had a captivating set of characters, and had an edge of your seat storyline. Overall, this was a pretty good story.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

Life is great for recovering alcoholic Cerys as the owner of a beautiful Tuscan villa. Or so she thinks until she wakes up with a body floating in her pool. Was this a tragic accident? Something sinister? I honestly had no idea until about 70% in. So many possible scenarios and situations made this a twisty book I kept second guessing. Great summer thriller, although maybe not a pool read…

Quite an enjoyable read over all that kept me guessing. I liked the Tuscany setting and, minus the murder and abusive men, I could see myself lounging away in this setting.
I winced a bit with the alcohol abuse and the verbal and physical abuse the two women suffered. The SA was a bit rough and finding out WHY the alcohol was needed. Oof. I don't know that I've ever felt so bad for a character before. But I loved how she kept going. For herself. For her daughter. I loved the friendship that blossomed between Zoe and Cerys.

The only thing I really didn't like? The Lucia and Lorenzo part. They added a lot to the story. But why allude to their troubled past and not do anything with it? I don't like unfinished lines like that.

Book review 📖

📜Last Night At Villa Lucia
✍️Simon McCleave
📠Storm Publishing
📚 Mystery/Thriller Fiction
🗓️Pub date: July 26, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @stormbooks_co for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨It’s 8 AM and the Tuscan sun is already scorching, cypress trees swaying in the breeze. The villa is now quiet, after everyone had a late night. There is also a dead body floating face-down in the pool.

✨Cerys, owner of Villa Lucia, needs to back up and get her story straight. Two families were having dinner on the patio, endless glasses of wine poured, insults hurled, and then a ruined meal. But Cerys tries to remember through a wine-filled haze what happened last night.

✨ Three stories, differing timelines, and multiple points of view, Last Night At Villa Lucia is a quick, propulsive, and thrilling ride. With hints of The White Lotus, Villa Lucia is a vacationer’s dream, until it isn’t.

✨QOTD: Where do you consider paradise?

#netgalley #lastnightatvillalucia #simonmccleave #stormpublishing #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading #thrillerfiction #summerreleases #paradise #tuscany

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy.

This was a great suspense novel that had me guessing throughout. It's also set in a beautiful location that will have you lusting for your summer holidays.

I imagine this being a great holiday read by the pool.

3.5 stars.

Mixed feelings on this one. Alcoholism, bullying coercive controlling husbands, bullied wives, mixed up teenage children. Beautiful Tuscan surroundings. Cerys and daughter Lowri run an upmarket villa as rented house in Tuscany. She's divorced from Nick who remains in London. She's still an alcoholic but trying to recover, at times. Harry, Zoe and their son Charlie rent the Villa, perhaps in attempt to re-build their marriage. Lucia and husband Lorenzo are the Villa staff although Lucia's family owned the old villa but lost it due to her father's problems. When Harry turns up dead in the pool and the police discover he was stabbed there are very few suspects. Each chapter is written by one character, clear as to whom this is, and from different times - mostly present but some past explaining part of the background. It was uncomfortable reading at times but sensitively written nonetheless. Difficult to quite understand how the women put up with the controlling behaviours, although recognising their issues, but that's my character. 3.5* rounded up. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Great ending to a novel! There were parts that I felt could have been condensed but overall it was a great read and I couldn’t wait to find out how things unraveled!!

Cerys has opened her villa home to holiday makers. Struggling with alcoholism after a difficult divorce, she is pleased that she has her daughter Lowri staying for a while to help her prepare for new guests.

The new family are interesting, however none more interesting than teenager Charlie who Lowri likes, that is until Harry is found dead in the pool.

As I read a ARC there were many spelling and grammar mistakes and some paragraphs were very hard to read. Add to that a very predictable plot, what are you left with?

Great character study and plenty of it. It was enjoyable to read for this purpose.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Its vacation time and Record company exec Harry, his wife Zoe and their son Charlie have rented Villa Lucia, set amongst the vineyards in Tuscany. But its not all sunshine and smiles, from the moment they arrive Harry is predicably difficult, rude, and offensive. At one time Zoe would have tried to keep the peace now she's just fed up and embarrassed by his unpleasantness.

This novel is well paced with good characters and a few twists to keep readers on their toes. It tackles some serious issues really well and chapters being told from multiple perspectives adds depth.

Well plotted with a few surprises along this way and set in a vividly described picture perfect location, this is a good one to take on holiday with you.

I enjoyed the read, and I would describe it as a fairly quick read that one could enjoy on the beach, etc. I did find a bit predictable at times. I also think it would benefit from slightly fewer perspectives/narrators throughout as that became a little confusing, especially when jumping around in time lines.

Finding a dead body in the swimming pool of a luxurious holiday villa is hardly an original theme, but the story is well told and with a small number of characters was easy to follow. I preferred this book to the Snowdonia murder series and I noted that the author managed to squeeze in a cheeky reference to this series midway through the book.
The author certainly likes writing about toxic relationships and alcoholism and the men in Zoe's and Cerys's life are both stinkers. At least Lorenzo the hunk who is married to Lucia,whose family once owned the villa, is not unpleasant.
The narrative is mainly just before and after the body is found with some flashbacks into the past. I liked the major twist at the end that I didn't see coming.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

This is not the first book I have read by Simon McLeave and it won't be the last

What a great book I could not put it down

Thanks for the opportunity to review