Okay, we'll start with the good stuff. This book jumps between the POVs of three women: Fran, who decides to sign up for Soul Shrink under a fake name so she can find out what happened to her sister. Kate, who runs the Soul Shrink retreat and has some dirty secrets that may or may not have lead to Fran's sister's death. And Jenna (2 years ago), who is Fran's sister and who comes to Soul Shrink to figure her life out.

I loved that all three of these women, in their own ways, were strong, yet flawed, characters. I think a lot of books try to make characters out to be perfect, or they end up 2-dimensional, and that leads to me not loving the book.

All in all I enjoyed this book, although it was a little slow to start and there were A LOT of characters to keep track of. I found myself stumbling a little bit, but this would be a great book to throw in your beach bag on your next vacation.

Although I enjoyed Strangers a while back and enjoyed it, it took me a while to get around to another C.L. Taylor. But once I did, boy was I stuck in.

The best thing about this book for me was the twists and turns. I feel like it’s been a while since I read something that brought me on such a journey. Just when I thought I had things sorted out, there was another spanner in the works and I started questioning things all over again.

Actually I didn’t notice this until I read another review but it was quite refreshing to have the story told through the words of three female leads: Jenna, Fran and Kate. And each of the characters brought something different to the book. It was almost like Goldilocks: too bad, too good and just right. Nevertheless, they were three determined, strong women who fill the pages with oomph and excitement.

While Her Last Holiday does dive into family dynamics and these guru-type figures have features in many books before, it was refreshing to see that the author didn’t follow the typical cliches and wrote a unique story.

Split between timelines, then and now and characters Fran (Jenna's sister), Jenna who never came home after going to a retreat a few years previous and Kate - wife of the guru of the retreat Tom who is being released from jail after the scandal at the last retreat. The retreat Jenna attended and never came home from. Kate is picking up the pieces, rebuilding her and Tom's life/business. Fran attends as Geraldine, desperate to find out what happened to her sister. As we flip past and present we follow Jenna's journey up until her disappearance, present is "Geraldine" struggling to get information in the new retreat under the watchful eye of Kate, ooft Kate!

These type of stories can go wrong, duo timelines, multiple narrative perspective but Taylor draws you in and envelopes the reader with each of the characters. What happened to Jenna? Will Fran get answers and finally have closure, is Tom really the bad guy?

Even the small bit characters in the retreat setting, Fran's mum, you want to know more about them, why is Fran they way she is. The chapters are short and keep you hooked, when one chapter ended I didn't want to flip either timeline or person, over and over, Taylor has a gift! I read this in almost one sitting, the end came swiftly and as with a fair few authors you are left wanting more. I have read all of Taylor's books and cannot wait for her next offering, 4/5 for me this time.

great story. loved the way it described family relationships and the future of families. loved the little twists in there to and the charcaters

Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor is the type of thriller you want to be reading on a sun lounger somewhere by the sea – come on Spring, sort your life out! I had high hopes for this one after reading and enjoying Sleep by the same author, but though it was definitely a page-turner, I have to say, I didn’t love this one quite so much.

Packed full of twists and turns this is a book that keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you’ve got the measure of everything, another revelation pops up to blindside you. I really liked the premise and its interesting cast of characters, some to love and some to hate!

You’ll need to suspend disbelief a little bit to get fully on board with parts of the plot, and you’ll have to not mind too much that some of the more minor twists are perhaps hinted at a bit too strongly. But it’s nevertheless an enjoyable read and I’ll still pick up any book Taylor ever writes because she’s brilliant!

With thanks to Avon for gifting me a digital copy to review.

I’m late writing this review, but can still clearly remember this story and the characters – not something I can say about many of the books I read well over a month ago!
Prickly, conservative, uptight Fran books herself onto a wellness retreat to see if she can discover what happened to her much younger sister, Jenna, who disappeared from a retreat run by the same lot two years ago. The police suspected suicide, but her family doubt that.
We gradually get to know all the individuals on the retreat, including the infamous Tom who runs these workshops, and his ambitious wife, Kate. Not many of the delegates are who they seem, including Fran, who’s there under a false identity.
Taylor kept me guessing as gradually more is revealed about what actually happened to Jenna, and who everyone on this retreat is in reality.
This is a fast, enjoyable, suspenseful read.https://www.amazon.com/review/R1XX2NUYU1DAGS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Sorry I could not finish this one as I found it very boring Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor. #NetGalley

Another great book by C.L. Taylor
Frank sister Jenna supposedly committed suicide when she was at the retreat Soul Shrink in Gozo.
Two other people where killed and Tom who ran Soul Shrink was imprisoned.
Two years later Tom is realised.
Fran wants to know what really happened to Jenna . She doesn’t think that Jenna would take her own life but does she know her own sister.
So Fran signs up to go to his latest retreat.
Can she uncover what really happened to her sister.
Brilliant
Thanks NetGalley

I've found this book to b slow at the start but it does pick up as the books goes on.

When fran goes on the retreat she meets people who don't turn out to b who she thinks they are.

Fran is travelling home on the London Underground when her mobile phone alerts her to an incoming WhatsApp message. Her mum has seen a newspaper article and sent it to Fran. She recognises the man in the article as being Tom Wade, the last person to see her sister, Jenna alive after she went missing two years ago when she travelled to the Mediterranean island of Gozo to attend a retreat. Tom is due to be released from prison the next day. Jenna met her death after either falling or jumping from a cliff, but her mum, Geraldine has never accepted this and seeing that Tom is establishing a new retreat in Snowdonia, Wales, alongside his influential wife, Kate, Geraldine persuades Fran to travel there under a different identity...

Her Last Holiday is told from three perspectives - Fran, Kate and Jenna’s, making it all the more immersive. The story had me immediately hooked and absorbed me into the storyline. Mistrust takes root and intensifies giving rise to feelings of unease and foreboding. C.L. Taylor throws into the mix some emotional themes that are well explored so Her Last Holiday has plenty of substance, too. With its comfortable pacing and concise chapters dripping with unsettling occurrences, I found Her Last Holiday highly addictive. This is an intense read that genuinely keeps you guessing and I would recommend it, and the author, with confidence.

I read Her Last Holiday in staves with other Pigeonholers as part of a group. A special thank you to Avon Books, C. L. Taylor, NetGalley and The Pigeonhole for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request. This review is my unbiased opinion.

The first book I’ve read from the author. I have seen many good reviews of the author‘s previous book and eager to read the latest one, but I’m afraid to say that it’s just not to my liking.

The story follows Fran, who wants to investigate the mystery of her sister’s death. She was going to the psychological retreat that her sister went to the last time.

I liked the idea about the retreat, but unfortunately, I wasn’t hooked on the mystery. For me, the story is quite dragging and flat at some point.

I might read other titles from the author in the future. Maybe this one title is not for me, but the others are. Might want to try.

Anyway, thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for providing me the eARC in return for an honest review. I highly appreciated it.

The premise started out promising but then meandered down an odd and awkward path. All of the characters were annoying which made it difficult to care what was happening to them. I would be interested in reading other books by this author as I think there was promise with this book, it just fell flat.

Jena’s disappearance 3 years ago at a retreat has been ruled a suicide even though her sister, Fran, knows deep in her gut that something is amiss. Fran believes the counselor at the retreat, Tom, is responsible for her death, and decides to use an alias to get into the next retreat. Her goal: prove Tom killed Jena to bring justice.

This was honestly pretty boring in the beginning and I thought it was probably 100 pages too long, but the end was decent enough with a little twist that I hadn’t predicted all along which was nice.

A 3 star read that in parts got up to a 3.5. The female perspectives were strong and distinct and although the majority of characters were fairly unlikeable, I still found myself hooked. I would have liked some more breadcrumbs throughout the novel but the story still worked well.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Jenna attends a wellness retreat in Malta which goes horribly wrong.

Two years later, Tom Wade, the man behind Soul Shrink Retreats, has been released from prison after serving a sentence for the deaths of two people on the same retreat as Jenna. However, he has never revealed what happened to Jenna.

Jenna's mother is determined to find out the truth as to what happened to her youngest daughter, so books her eldest daughter Fran onto Tom's first retreat since his release. But it seems secrets are being hidden, and Fran may not make it out alive.

I, unfortunately, felt something was missing from this novel: it didn't capture me as much as I thought it would. It was slow to start and I felt I could not connect with any of the characters, finding Fran especially quite hard to like.

I felt other bits were unbelievable. For example, the mother of Fran and Jenna has potentially lost her daughter to this man, so what does she do? Sends her daughter off to a retreat with him in the middle of nowhere, not knowing for certain if Tom has already killed her other daughter or not. And what about insurance? Two people have already died on a previous retreat, for which Tom has been in prison, yet he is now able to re-start the business and run another retreat (albeit more or less forced by his partner)? It felt a little too unbelievable and was a slight distraction.

What I did like is that the dual timeline added intrigue, as did the suspicions around various characters at the retreat.

When Fran's sister Jenna disappeared during a wellness retreat two years ago in the Mediterranean their mother refused to accept the story authorities and now-disgraced guru Tom Wade fed them. Tom, newly released from prison after serving time for two deaths, wants to put the past behind him even though he's never publicly shared what happened to Jenna. Desperate for answers, Fran heeds their mom's pleas to uncover what really happened and books herself on Tom's first retreat he's holding since being released from prison. When Fran arrives in Scotland, the group gathered is also keeping secrets. Some were there the day Jenna disappeared-and some wanted her gone. Told in alternating timelines and perspectives, Her Last Holiday contains some twists and turns that make for a decently-paced story with some definite surprises. Overall I enjoyed reading C.L. Taylor's latest release!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGally for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Her Last Holiday
by C.L. Taylor
Published April 29, 2021

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my first C.L. Taylor and I had trouble getting into this book. I like a story that gives clues and makes me want to believe in the story. Unfortunately, this one did not hit the mark for me.
3 star

C.L. Taylor smashes it again!

C.L. Taylor is one of my favourite writers and this book was no exception. The author is so good at creating the setting and creating realistic characters, which you instantly empathise with.

This book is a fast-paced, gripping mystery thriller, based around the main character Fran, who refuses to believe her sister committed suicide over 3 years ago, at the wellness retreat named SoulShrink; which is run by Tom and his secret wife, Kate.

Fran’s search sends her undercover at the next SoulShrink retreat, to find out what happened to Jenna and why her body was never found.

Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, in reply for an honest unbiased review

Perfect beach thriller. Always enjoy Taylor's books. Highly recommend.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

This was an enjoyable thriller, not the best I've read but I liked the idea and the setting of social media coaches and their retreat. Unfortunately, I wasn't really hooked on the mystery that much. I did enjoy that the three narrators were three women of various ages and personalities!