Her Last Holiday was my fourth read by CL Taylor, and my least favourite.

Nearly three years ago, a wellness retreat on the Mediterranean island of Gozo ended in tragedy – with two people dead, and one missing, and the face of @soulshrink, motivational speaker/self-help guru Tom Wade being charged with gross negligence.

It’s now been nine months since Tom was released from jail, after serving a two-year sentence, and his wife Kate (who looks after the business side of @soulshrink) has a new plan to relaunch the brand and get their lives back on track. She’s organised another retreat, this time at a large estate in the Welsh Valley.

Geraldine Fitzgerald, the grieving mother of Jenna (the woman who went missing at the Gozo retreat) has never gotten over not knowing what happened to her daughter, and is sure that Tom holds the key to the truth. To find much needed answers, she convinces her eldest daughter, Fran, to enrol in the retreat.

Truthfully, the synopsis of this one never really grabbed me, I only requested it because CL Taylor’s name was on it, and I was convinced it was going to be better than it sounded. And I was worried when I struggled to make it through the first half due to the slow, boring pace that I had made the wrong choice. Thankfully, the last half was better, and I did quite like the ending. It wasn’t amazing, but I would place it in the above average category. Okay, so maybe the plot was a bit outlandish, but at least I didn’t guess it! The only thing I could’ve done without was the huge info dump in the second to last chapter.

The format followed the familiar NOW (Fran and Kate) and THEN (Jenna) narration, with chapters cycling through the three POV’s. I really enjoyed Fran’s personality and familial hang-ups, but failed to connect with any of the other character’s. Kate’s POV seemed unnecessary, and quickly grew redundant and repetitive. And, what was up with all the ‘slapping nonsense’? I also felt two characters underwent complete personality transplants. Other character’s were just so bland that I failed to understand why they were included. FYI, those group activities seemed kind of risky too? I also wish it would’ve had more of a gothic horror tone, given the isolated nature of both settings, but at no point was I creeped out.

An average read overall, but there was just nothing unique enough to make it stand out from every other domestic noir.

I’d like to thank Netgalley, Avon Books UK, and CL Taylor for the e-ARC.

This was a great read. Very suspenseful and good character development. Thanks for letting me read this book!

This is my first book by the author and I have no idea why I haven't read her other books. But I will be rectifying that.
There are our three POVs: middle-aged Fran is still haunted by her sister’s memory who has been missing for two years. She attended to a wellness retreat in Gozo but things went dangerously wrong there. Fran decides to visit the same retreat again because the same health guru couple Tom and Kate reopen the place after Tom has been set free from two years-long prison time. Fran is desperate to uncover the truth and books herself onto the retreat under a pseudonym so that she can come face to face with Tom and find out what really happened to her sister. As she digs more about the past, she gets more tangled in a web of lies.

Jenna is the sweet sister who attended the retreat where so many strange and unexplainable things occur.

The final one is that of Kate who is the wife and assistant of Tom who tries to keep together after murder accusations ruined their lives financially and mentally.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who like mysteries and domestic suspense. It had some good twists and a suspenseful finale.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. While I was intrigued by the premise of this book, it just didn’t work for me. The backstory was interesting, but as the story progresses I just felt I had to suspend belief too many times to make the book work for me. Including the twist. It was at times difficult to keep the characters straight and the closed room aspect of the book felt a little like it has been done before.

Great book. Going to be looking for more books written by Taylor. I love finding new favs. Definitely recommend

I’m so beyond excited to have discovered this amazing writer!!! I looooooooved this book! It kept me enraptured from the very first page right up through the last! I loved the character development. I loved the nonlinear timeline!!! And i loved how my feelings toward each character morphed over time as I learned more about them! I absolutely loved how each secret was revealed one layer at a time! I cannot wait to read all of her other books!

After receiving the audiobook and it being a DNF at 15%. I decided to give the Ebook a try. However, I didn't not vibe with this version either. C.L Taylor is a great author and I have owned and read previous works from her. However, This story line just seemed to be unbelievable.

Fran's sister is missing, Nobody knows exactly what happened to Jenna, Just that a man named Tom Wade has spent time in prison for her disappearance and the deaths of two other people. Fran decides she needs to find out what has happened to her sister so she decides to book a retreat. It just so happens the retreat is owned and operated by the man just released from prison, Tom Wade. Will she get the answers she is looking for in regards to Jenna's disappearance or will she become the next victim?

I originally picked up this title for my girlfriend but ended up reading it myself. Outside my usual genre but it sounded fun and accessible.
Overall, quite decent and a fun summer read if you are sitting on a sun lounger. The story took some what predictable turns but kept within a nice story arc so it wasn't unpleasantly predictable.
The multitude of characters having two names each did make it difficult for me to follow at times, especially if you a break between reading sessions. I also felt like some plot details were forgotten about later, so would have appreciated if the "clues" tied back into the story a little more later on.

I would recommend it to it, it won't be the most memorable book of your life but it'll get you pleasantly through a holiday read stint.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Wow wow and wow this took as always was amazing I just couldn't put it down it kept me up into the early hours I would definitely recommend it

I am slowly getting through my backlog of Netgalley books and decided to give this one a go. I really wasn’t disappointed I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it look me a little while to get used to but as soon as I was in I was hooked. I really like how the chapters were split through the points of view of Kate, Jenna and Fran but was also split by then and now. It really helped pace the book and kept me forever wondering what was going next. Also the last 20% really had me going OMG this can’t be happening. Can’t wait to dive into more of CL Taylor’s books.

I struggled to get through this book found it a bit disjointed. I was disappointed as I love C.L.Taylor books. I found it a bit long and drawn out sorry not one for me

Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor was gripping from the beginning pages. The story did however feel familiar, as though it's been written in various forms before. Nevertheless, I found the story to be well-written and tense, with a solid ending. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Started off an interesting read, I really enjoyed the dual timeline and hearing from different viewpoints of different characters, but around half way through my interest started dropping more and more and I really did not like the ending.

I think the conclusion was a bit odd, I found some of the reasoning behind certain charactes' behaviour and actions really quite silly and the story just went from "huh?" to "why?!"

Overall, nothing to write home about. If you asked me in a few months down the line I'd probably not remember much about the storyline. An average joe.

Eek 😬

Yawn, LOL, wtf - all the thoughts I had while listening to this book. I will admit I only got around to it because I'm trying desperately to check off old ARCs I have on my NetGalley but this was a huge struggle. I guess it wasn't terrible because I did finish it and I did want to know the outcome, but it was just a clusterfuck of wtf moments. I found the flip-flopping POV and time frames very confusing and hard to follow at first, which lost me a little bit in the story too. I had no idea which character we were supposed to like or be rooting for and then the ending through me for even more of a loop of what was happening and who was guilty. While I didn't see the end coming at all, it was a little far-fetched and confusing as to the motive, it felt forced to make it shocking. I could see others enjoying this one, but it wasn't for me. Probably a lot to do with the thriller burnout, I would guess.

How do I even start when I didn’t finish. I DNF this book a little under 50% it was just to unrealistic. There is no mother in this world that would send a second child to a place where she believe her first one was killed. This book is definitely not you typical mystery/suspense I’m not really sure where it fits. I also didn’t understand why the sister would even agree to go. Yes I understand that Tom only went to prison for two years but there are other way to get information without putting yourself or a loved one in danger. This book was just to much for me I could not finish.

Thank you Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honesty.

I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I always enjoy C.L. Taylor's writing and her stories and this book was no exception.

This was a really enjoyable thriller with some good twists and turn and I personally really enjoyed Fran as a character.

Look forward to continuing to pick up new books from C.L. Taylor in future.

Good story. Full of twists and turns. Really enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the opportunity to review.

This book was a fast paced page turner. I liked how it switched between current time and the past and how both things unrolled together. I kept trying to figure out what happened and who was guilty but I just couldn't. I liked this story and will definitely be reading more books from C.L. Taylor in the future.