Last Christmas was a very good book. It had a lot of family drama which is something I always enjoy. I love dual POV’s so this definitely worked for me. The characters were also well written and the storyline was interesting. The ending was definitely something I didn’t see coming. Well done by the author. I definitely recommend this book to others, just be aware of certain triggers.
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Book Title: Last Christmas
Author: Maria Frankland
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller- at Christmas
Pub Date: November 10, 2023
My Rating: 3 Stars!
Pages: 298

When I saw a post for this novel on one of my FB Book Groups and it mentioned it is a Christmas Psychological Thriller. Since I LOVE both I was sure this was going to be win/win for me!

Christy, Sacha and Rebecca and their husbands are spending Christmas with their parents as it’s to be their dads last Christmas as he is terminally ill

Sacha’s husband Neil has been struggling with depression and his marriage is hanging by a thread due to his infertility issue. He doesn’t want to spend time with Sacha’s family so is compensating with alcohol.

Didn’t take long to know that isn’t a ‘feel good’ Christmas get together secrets are revealed throughout the story- Infidelity, jealousy, revenge, and no surprise arguments!.

I am a big fan of psychological thrillers but this is definitely family –aka sibling drama!

More about the author Maria Frankland
Maria’s novels are fast-paced, down to earth and realistic. You never know what’s around the corner…
Find out more about Maria at https://www.mariafrankland.co.uk.

I always enjoy reading the Author’s Notes in this case
A Letter from Maria Frankland
She tells us that for most of us Christmas is a magical time but for some it can truly be a stressful nightmare- season of spending too much; getting together where a lot of alcohol is consumed that can bring old resentments to the surface.

She hopes that after spending time with this family we will feel thankful and blessed with our families
- at least we are not spending time with any of them!
(This of course made me laugh!)

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 10, 2023.

4.5!

This book was full of twists, turns, loops and more.

I really did love the split POV's. I'm usually not a fan of huge chunks being in one POV, but this one was done wonderfully.

I do wish we got a bit more insight into the family background, but this was such a good book. The end thru me for a loop, I was not expecting it!

Neil and Sacha's relationship has been going through some tough times.
Suffering from infertility, bouts of mental health, family drama,
and infertility, the tension was building like a pressure cooker.

Sacha's family has always made Neil feel like an outsider, so when they decide to spend Christmas with them , drinks flow tempers fly, and someone ends up dead.



As with all Maria Frankland novels, you never know where it's going to take you. I expected a Christmassy book but ended up with more of a domestic family drama. And I enjoyed it!

The disfunction in this family is completely off the charts. The characters are wonderfully crafted, although none of them are particularly likable. They all behave attrociosly, and Frankland weaves this gripping setting where the secrets are peeled back, and we find out who the true catalyst is .

She explores the topics of and many other sensitive subjects with precision and skill, which will keep you reading past your bedtime

If you enjoy appalling behavior, sibling rivalry, and family disfunction, this book is for you. It's a short, intriguing story with several twists that will keep you entertained until the end.

Thank you to bookatue, Netgally and Maria for the advanced copy.

Wow! I didn’t see that ending coming. I suspected who the killer was for the husband but I didn’t see everything else coming! The sister, Rebecca, was most definitely not my favorite person. I really enjoyed this book. There was a lot that went on in this book. I will say if you have any triggers with suicide or the loss of a loved one, this book may trigger you.

Aww the absolutely perfect holiday thriller! It's well written and has a good pace. I love books that male you rethink absolutely everything that you thought you knew. The characters are cleverly written and the author did an amazing job of showing that it all depends on perspective and about the hidden sides people can have. The plot has multiple povs and multiple plot threats and they all merge perfectly at the end with no plot holes or ridiculous stretches if the imagination. I can't say enough good things

3.75 stars- thank you so much to NetGalley and Bookouture for having me read this early in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so where do I start with this novel? I always love a good multiple POV; however I wish that more books would come with TWs. So let me give them to you: TW suicide, terminal illness. At some points it did get a little dark for me, and not at all in a gripping psychological thriller way. Sacha was a great FMC…until she wasn’t. I definitely looked at her as the victim in all of this, when in all actuality her sister Chrissy had done nothing to deserve all of the turmoil her family had put her through. Many storylines wrapped up into one, however they ended up connecting pretty seamlessly. We did start off with Neil’s POV and I definitely wish we spent a little more time with him before abruptly writing him off. Or at least getting a little more backstory, I don’t know. His time with us seemed a little rushed. Not all parts of the ending were predictable; that doesn’t mean I didn’t see some coming from a mile away because of the lack of characters we were introduced to. I would pick up another book from this author.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

The way the characters were portrayed in this book was so well!
I love these classic ‘someone i love died and someone i love did it’ novels and this was no exception. I’ve read it in a day and it was really enjoyable.

This is a new author for me and she immediately went to the top of my list. I love her writing style and the way she can keep the reader glued to their seat is just wonderful.

She managed to make me feel sorry for someone who was not really to be trusted and did not deserve to be pitied fully and she made some of the characters so real I honestly despised them thoroughly.

Sometimes people do some despicable things and think they got away with it, but the truth always comes floating on top.

Why do people often break the trust of loved ones? Well, it's because they only see what they can gain from it and they consider the rest collateral damage. 

I can understand you can despise someone with a vengeance, but some have a really have a rather cruel way to show it. 

A great story with revelations I could not have come up with, even if I tried. I am looking forward to her next book. 5 stars

Thank you

Last Christmas 🎄🩸

Brief Synopsis:
The doorbell cuts through the sound of the howling wind outside. Snowflakes from the freezing December air whirl into the house as I open the front door to the police. The look on their faces says everything. My husband is dead. Did one of my family kill him?

Thoughts:
The plot twist at the end!!!! Honestly improved my rating because I was so happy and did not see it coming. This book starts the reader with a glance into the POV of the FMC and her husband, who we know is going to be murdered shortly into the Christmas holiday per the book description. They are not doing well in their marriage and had been struggling with infertility for some time which is straining their mood, as is the husband's alcoholism. I enjoyed that the author gave us the MMC's death scene through his POV with enough vagueness that we were unsure he was dead at that time and who killed him. Throughout the book, the FMC remains distraught at the death of her husband despite being pregnant, with her family questioning who the father is. Family secrets are exposed throughout the novel in the setting of dynamics changing due to the FMC's husband dying and her father's health declining.

A Christmas Murder Mystery?! I think yes! I was excited to be accepted for this book because it’s hard to find good suspenseful books taking place around the holiday season and I’ve been looking for things to add to my TBR and to advertise during this time. I liked this book. I thought it was nicely executed (pun intended).

4.5 star

Wow! This was the perfect holiday thriller! It had everything I’ve been craving in a book.
It’s a faced paced family drama obviously set around christmas. It had enough twists to keep me turning the page. I read it in a single sitting.

Wow, I loved this book - I could not put it down, such a page-turner.
This is a family drama like no other, ending in death - and at Christmas as well!
There is no end to the shocks in this story, it was so well written the page were turning themselves!
Brilliant thriller - couldn't recommend highly enough.

This story has a lot going on touching on depression, mental illness, alcoholism, suicide, infertility, infidelity, betrayal, terminal illness, parental loss, sibling rivalry, and a mysterious death during a family Christmas holiday get-together. The dysfunction of this family dynamic is off the charts and their family holiday is pure chaos. All of the characters are so flawed, that none are very likable.

This was a slow burn as the characters were being developed in the beginning but picked up speed about a quarter of the way through and was a quick read.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in return for my voluntary and honest review.

Last Christmas is a quick read with an interesting twist at the end. The book came off more as a drama to me than a thriller. It was not much of a Christmas book as it was a family drama. I think it was a well written book, but not the kind of book I typically gravitate towards. I was a little put off by the how whiny some of the characters came across. In this book, you can trust no one.

Neil and Sacha are having relationship difficulties, so it's probably not the best time for them to spend Christmas with Sacha's family - especially since Neil can't stand Sacha's two brothers-in-law and one of her two sisters! And on top of that, Sacha's father is terminally ill, so this may be their last Christmas together.

Given that Neil is already suffering from depression - and they are both struggling with fertility issues - it is not surprising when various familial resentments quickly spill over into ugly confrontations.

While one person ends up dead directly as a result of the events over Christmas, it seems likely that the deaths in the family will not end with him.

This story did a good job of delivering several plot twists, but I figured out what was happening reasonably early on. And the more sordid aspects left me thoroughly disliking almost everyone. Though I did feel for Sacha's parents...

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the ARC #LastChriatmas by #MariaFrankland. I loved this book and all the drama it entails. The relationships with the family and all the problems take you to an incredible, twist ending. Amazing!

Neil and Sacha have been having a tough time, between depression, infertility, unemployment, and alcoholism. So the last thing they need is the stress of spending Christmas with Sacha’s family, where Neil has always felt like an outsider. As the drinks flow, animosities rise to the surface, and tempers flare, someone is going to wind up dead. Is it a tragic accident or is there a killer in the family’s midst?

Last Christmas is a quick, solid read, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. There are so many Christmas rom coms and not enough Christmas thrillers, so I was excited to read this one. Unfortunately, it’s much more a family drama than a thriller. Even calling it domestic suspense is a bit generous, as the cast of characters is small and only a couple of people could be the potential killer. Also, it wasn’t nearly Christmassy enough for my taste, as only the first third and the epilogue take place at the holidays, and even those sections felt only vaguely Christmassy.

The story was interesting and well-written but overall missed the mark for me. Plot points and characters felt in-your-face and over the top with no subtlety or nuance. Every single one of the characters is unlikeable, and not in that fun-to-hate-them way. I couldn’t believe grown adults would be so constantly and blatantly nasty to each other. Even Neil, who should have been more sympathetic with all his mental health and life struggles, comes off as a whiny and selfish drunk.

If you like spiteful sibling dramas with a side of murder, this book may be for you. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Sacha and Neil are experiencing relationship troubles, alongside infertility, mental health issues, family drama, and parental terminal illness. When they decide to go to Sacha's family's house for Christmas, tempers flare and everything escalates, resulting in someone's death. As the authorities investigate the death (which initially seems like a suicide), new information comes to light, and it becomes clear that many members of Sacha's family are hiding big secrets.

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was a slow burn that really took the time to develop characters and to help us get inside their heads to experience what they are feeling. I loved the exploration(s) of mental illness, the murder mystery, and the deep dive into family politics. I wish the ending had been more about showing what was happening rather than telling overall, but there is one scene that was incredibly satisfying and tied everything together.

I love almost any thriller or novel set during the Christmas season! Thank you to the publishers at NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me an e-ARC! I went through it in a night, starting late and reading into the wee hours of the next morning. Thriller readers will definitely want this on their list for Kindle reads in November!

Wow! Don't let the title of this book fool you into thinking it's a nice, sweet Christmas story. This book is full of self-centered people, and there are some sad and distressing things happening, but I could not put it down! So many of the characters do horrible things and don't feel badly about it. And then they treat their stress with excess alcohol which often makes it worse. One of the characters has severe depression which can be painful to read about, so if that can be triggering for you, be warned. There's lots of jaw-dropping craziness and continuous revelations throughout the book that kept me turning the pages. I'm not sure I'd want to be friends with any of these people, but they sure kept me entertained. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC.