Not everybody who came to this holiday house will be leaving it alive.”

The Holiday Home is a domestic drama about a group of friends who travel from England to Scotland on a family vacation where secrets, lies, and betrayals are exposed, leading to a startling conclusion.

Nicola is the primary narrator, but the reader also experiences her husband Ryan’s perspective. Also shared are the POVs of Lewis, husband to Kim, and Cole, son of Lewis and Kim. I found all of the characters whiny and self-serving, and I didn’t like any of them.

The chapters are short, but almost every chapter ends with a foreshadowing statement or mini cliffhanger, which became more and more annoying as I read. This trope took away any nuance for what might happen next.

Daniel Hurst has been blowing up on my GR feed, so I was extremely excited to read The Holiday Home. Sadly, this book didn’t live up to the Hurst hype. It is described as a psychological thriller, but not very thrilling as it is lacking tension and suspense. There are a few twists at the end, but all was predictable.

The Holiday Home kept me entertained, but I was glad when I finished.It is an easy popcorn read that sadly didn't knock my socks off.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

This made me what to rip my eyes out I couldn’t believe what I was reading…badly plotted, weak annoying pointless characters, boring, no tension or suspense and full of outdated boys will be boys mantras…stuck in 2004

I have read the authors previous 20 mins series of books which I found were okay but did have questionable parts. I haven’t read any of his novels so when I saw this ARC I thought I’d give it a go wish I had not wasted my time. I now know why all his books are offered for free on kindle…utter rubbish

I wish male authors would stop trying to write woman characters this book is case in point Nicola and Kym were complete disasters and insulting to women. As for the male characters…MEH. And what was function of Emily starting her periods( of which was portrayed completely wrong) very strange

This book is full of outdated cliques and stereotypes that frankly leave a bad taste in my mouth.

The writer attempted to create tension and suspense but failed tragically what is seamless in other books of the same genres becomes awkward and misplaced here. The book is told is the first POV from multiply characters the writing style is very strange, the chapters often end with characters saying something in hindsight which is mismated in how the they are telling the rest of story it just doesn’t work

For me this was big big miss

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of Daniel Hurst's new book. I can't believe how quickly he churns them out. I only recently discovered this author on Amazon Prime Unlimited and have read multiple books in rapid speed. This book was no different in how quickly I read it. The story of 2 couples who go to a cabin for a long weekend and wind up finding out things that they couldn't have imagined about their relationships and secrets of years past. Things are not always what they seem. I would definitely recommend this read!

The perfect holiday or the perfect nightmare…

Kim, her husband Lewis and their teenage son Cole are heading to their new luxury cabin in the Scottish Highlands for a long weekend and they've invited Kim's best friend Nicola, her husband Ryan and their eleven year old daughter Emily to join them. Nicola is desperate to go as it's the only holiday they are going to get this year, but Ryan is reluctant and she believes it's because he's jealous of their friends success and wealth, then a text followed by an overhead whispered conversation one night brings Nicola's comfortable world crashing down around her and she's left not knowing who she can trust, but things are about to get a whole lot worse...

The Holiday Home is the latest domestic thriller by this author. This is a tale of friendship, loyalty and trust and shows how a long hidden secret can destroy all of that in a matter of seconds when it is finally revealed. I know from first hand experience that holidaying with friends isn't always the relaxing time it was intended to be, I'm pleased to say we were all still very much alive at the end of ours though! This is a fast paced drama told from various perspectives but mainly Nicola and Ryan. The chapters are short, just how I like them and the premise, even though similar has been done before; log cabin, middle of nowhere with no phone signal, it was an intriguing read that had me hooked from the first page with a few twists along the way which kept me turning the pages and I finished it in a matter of hours. I'd definitely recommend and look forward to reading more of Hurst's work in the future.

I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley.

Nicola thought she would have the perfect weekend getaway when her best friend, Kim, and her husband, Lewis, invite her family to their holiday home in Scotland. Nicola just wanted a nice weekend away with her husband Ryan and their daughter, Emily but when she overhears some whispered conversations the truth is finally revealed.

First of all, I did enjoy the pace of this book and the slow-burn reveals. Nicola came off as a pretty naive character and I thought that for having kept secrets for so long, they ended up coming out in a pretty foolish way. I did ultimately enjoy the ending of the book, although some of the actions seemed like they were overblown and forced. Overall, it was a good beach read.

Nicola and Kim are longtime best friends. They are both married and mother to one child. While Nicola and Ryan are leading a normal life, Kim and Lewis are rich thanks to his successful business that he built. When Kim invites Nicola and Ryan to come with them to their luxury villa in Scotland, Nicola has mixed feelings. She wants to spent time with her friend and she really needs a holiday. And it is for free. But Ryan and Lewis are not getting along so well and she is afraid that it will be awkward. But it gets worse when Nicola overhears something that turns all their lives upside down.

Nicola is our main narrator. Sometimes we get a chapter from Ryan, Lewis, Kim and even the children. I could not connect to any of the characters. They are all whinny and self-centered and especially Nicola is very self-righteous. The story started entertaining enough with the families arriving at this lavish and remote villa. The atmosphere is a bit tense with the husbands competing and the women trying to keep up the appearance. But then everything changed and to be honest it gets a bit over the top. But what really annoyed me was that almost every chapter ended with a foreshadowing statement. That got very tedious very quick. I got the feeling that this should put some tension into the otherwise slow story. But what ruined this book for me was the “last twist”. I love unreliable narrators but this was just ridiculous and hypocritical. Until then it was a 3 Stars read for me but I lower it to only 2 Stars because of that.

I absolutely love all of Daniel Hursts books.
He always leaves you with your jaw on the floor with the twists.
I always think I am on the right track but again I was wrong haha.
It had a unique story line with deceit, scandals and lies.
I am still thinking about this story at the moment. It was wild.
Thankyou to Daniel, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As one of my favourite authors this book definitely did not disappoint. A reminder of how even the closest to you can be hiding the most powerful of secrets. I enjoyed every second of reading this book and highly recommend.

"Shocking secrets have been revealed. Precious hearts have been broken. And now that I've heard that gun shot, it means something even more terrible has happened."

I wanted to love this book. It had so many possibilities but it just didn't reach for them. This could have easily been a novela. It was a very long book for such a simple plot. And it was totally predictable. I'd figured it out by Chapter five or so.

"Not everybody who came to this holiday house will be leaving it alive."

This book was a little difficult to get into for me. It felt very predictable and the characters weren’t very likeable. The ending was kind of anticlimactic for me. I loved that the book was set in Scotland and the premise of the whole thing, but the execution was not there.

This is a rather long story for very small plot, and with the constant changing of first person POV it's a mess. Writing this way leads to repetition and confusion, and there is no upside. And then there's the lack of suspense in the plot that the author is trying do improve by ending every chapter with a teaser. Cheap and tedious.

I enjoyed the premise of this book. Being in a luxury holiday home in Scotland as the book describes sounds absolute bliss. What follows however, certainly did not. I probably enjoyed this book at the start but found that once the initial secrets started to be revealed I found the pace dropped slightly for me. However, I did continue to read as I was invested in the outcomes for the characters and overall, the ending felt satisfying if not surprising.

I thought we retired boys will be boys. Anyway this was a predictable and not well thought out book. None of the characters were like able and not even the house description was interesting.

This was such a suspenseful read and the description of the setting was beautiful. It was well written and engaging. It was a little slow to start but once it got going, I could not put it down!

Really enjoyed the suspense in this novel. Couldn't put it down. Was it The perfect holiday or the perfect nightmare?

This is my second book from this author. I have already read "The docto'rs wife" which features similar themes: deception, betrayal and subsequent murder.
Once again I really enjoyed the backdrop scene of the holiday home in Scotland. Daniel Hurst does really describe a scene really well and clearly has much fondness towards Scotland,
However, once again I did not like the characters therefore found the experience of reading about their thoughts through the multiple points of view quite unpleasant.
The story is well written and as ever, although a little slow paced at the beginning.
The twist at the end, which seems to be Daniel Hurst's signature, adds to the feels, but not enough to make me want to read that book again in the future...

Another book I enjoyed by Daniel. I have read several books and enjoyed them all although this wasn’t one of his best. It had a bit of a slow start but then got better and I couldn’t stop reading it. Well written and an engaging storyline. Bring on the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Nicola, her husband Ryan and their daughter Emily have a lovely life. Nicola’s best friend, Kim, her husband Lewis and son Cole have a very comfortable life.

When the two families head off to Kim and Lewis’s luxury cabin in rural, Scotland, they expect a relaxing weekend. Instead Nicola overhears a big secret. This then leads to some shocking events and some (more) big lies!

This was a good book although I did find the end half quite slow. It was really fast paced to finding out the secret. The final twist was a wee sting in there tale.

What to say about The Holiday Home??????
The storyline was quite intriguing as it played out. Literally the characters have been living with lies for years and it accumulates on a weekend trip. And, this happens in an explosive and twisty way.
The ending epilogue was a shocker to say the least.
I can’t say I liked the characters. Well, I did like the kids in the story, Emily and Cole.
The story is told from multiple POV’s.
Did I like this book? Overall, yes, I did. It kept me reading on because I had to see where the author was taking the story. Definitely takes you on a wild ride full of unexpected surprises.
If you like reading domestic thrillers, this is a book for you to pick up.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.25 Stars

Two best friends and their families are staying at a holiday home for the weekend. What was supposed to be a fun and relaxing weekend, ended up being the worst of their lives.

I finished this novel a few days ago while flying to a wedding. Since I was busy the entire weekend, I couldn't review it right away. Now that it has been a few days, I can honestly say this novel didn't stand out. It was maybe slightly better than his other novel The Doctor’s Wife because there were a few more thrills. But the characters were dull. The multiple POVs were unnecessary. The author should have stuck with one or two (Nicola and Ryan).

Overall, it didn't bring anything new to the table. I would only recommend this to those who are already fans of this author or new to the genre.


***I would like to thank NetGalley, Daniel Hurst, and Bookouture for graciously sending me a copy of the novel to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.**