A great psychological thriller set in a lovely Spanish location. Three years ago, on a hen weekend, the bride to be is killed. Her friend Dani cannot remember what happened and wants to recreate the weekend to jog her memory. She arranges for her and the other three hens to go back to the same villa without telling them until they get there. What follows is a gripping story that you can’t stop reading!

Three years ago Aoife was murdered at her hen party in an isolated villa in Marbella. Three of the four friends with her have moved on with their lives but Dani has been unable to. She has big gaps in her memory, (not surprising the amount of alcohol consumed!) Before she can move on she feels she has to find answers & to do that she feels they need to recreate the weekend. She persuades the other 'hens' that this trip will be a final memorial to Aoife. Reluctantly they agree.

Told in the present & back to the original weekend by each of the women the story doesn't show any of them in a particularly good light. I like a drink as much as the next person but this story was enough to make you reach for the alcohol free booze! The story kept me guessing. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

'"What could be worse than your best friend being murdered?" He gives her a long pitying look. "Believe me, you don't want to find out."'

In a gorgeous villa on the Spanish coast, Aoife is celebrating her hen party ahead of her wedding, with her best friends in tow. But before the debaucherous weekend is over, the bride-to-be will have been murdered. Police suspect she confronted an intruder during a party, but no one saw a thing. Her best friend, Dani, who was in the house with her, passed out and remembers nothing.

Three years later, Dani has convinced the other hens to return to Spain to honour Aoife. What she doesn't tell them is that she's booked them back into the villa. Because Dani is determined to recreate the weekend so that she can finally remember what happened, and get justice for her friend. But almost as soon as the group arrives, things go awry and they find themselves in danger.

This is an entertaining thriller with a solid mystery at its heart. The reader is given the viewpoints of Dani and the three other hens, Celine, Beth and Tiffany in dual timelines, during the original hen weekend and the present one. Slowly, it's revealed that all the hens have secrets from each other. Petty jealousies reveal themselves while friendships fracture.

This is a typical popcorn thriller that you can gobble up in one sitting quite easily. There was enough intrigue to keep me reading and the author does a good job of building the tension to a climax. I feel like the reveal wasn't very shocking and there isn't really a twist. Though I wasn't sure which of the suspects killed Aoife, I also didn't exactly feel myself gasp when it was revealed. A fun but ultimately forgettable read.

Set in two time zones, 3 years apart, we find ourselves a story about a group of ladies out in Marbella. Three years ago they were there as 5 for the hen weekend for Aoife. An odd collection of ladies, the two lifelong friends, the new best friend who’s a party girl that no one likes and the work colleague who didn’t want to go, all put together in one villa, what can possibly go wrong… The death of the bride to be was certainly the last thing they ever imagined.
Moving on 3 years and the 4 hens return to Villa Floriana for a memorial celebration to Aoife, Dani wants to relive the weekend in the hope of shaking some memories loose as the tragic night is a blank to her and all she wants is the truth.

I found this book to be well written, seamlessly moving between then and now. The characters were developed well and I felt like we knew most of them inside out by the end. With many twists to the story I was gripped, constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next. It was a great chick flick style whodunnit.

I would recommend The Villa to anyone wanting an easy summer holiday read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

First time reading #JessRyder and #TheVilla didn’t disappoint. I loved it! I couldn’t put it down.
Three years ago bride to be Aoife dies at her hen party in Marbella.
Now the hens, Dani, Tiff, Beth and Celine return to the villa where everything happened. Some want closure, others don’t want to be there and secrets are being kept….
The story is told through multiple POV’s and alternating timelines from then and now. It’s easy to follow. Set in a beautiful Spanish villa and surrounding area. It’s cleverly written, fast paced and lots of twists and red herrings. A story full of lies, deception, betrayal and secrets with lots of drama. The writing style is gripping and detailed. Keeps you turning the pages and guessing until the end, which you don’t see coming. Just brilliant.
The characters have strong personalities, each with their own secrets. They are not particularly likeable, with jealously, envy, selfishness and hurt leading to clashes and spats among them but this just makes them more real and relatable and adds to the tension.
Overall, a gripping entertaining psychological mystery thriller. Definitely recommend if you enjoy this gene.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
With thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK #Cornerstone for an arc of #TheVilla in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 18 July 2024.

I rated this one 4⭐️. It’s a brilliant thriller with well placed red herrings and shocking twists and turns that leave you on the edge of your seat.

First of all, I love that this story is told from multiple perspectives. We get to see the events of the weekend through different perspectives, get to be privy to secrets that the other characters don’t yet know, and we get to know and understand the characters better. I really like that everyone’s perspective was in first person, other than Dani’s, whose was told from third person. As the character who couldn’t recall much of the events of the dreaded weekend, it really feels like we are walking alongside her as she watches her memories come back to life before her.

I like that the chapters alternate between then and now. Instead of just being in the present day and being told what happened all those years ago, we get to go back in time and see events unravel in real time.

I did semi-predict the ending - but that doesn’t mean it’s a predictable story, I just think some motives stood out more to me. How the ending played out did catch me off guard though, it was very well thought out. We definitely get thrown a few curve balls to throw us off the scent, and these are seamlessly threaded into the story to give us a few surprises and unexpected twists.

This is a perfect thriller/beach read. It definitely keeps you hooked and isn’t hard to follow, nothing is over complicated.

"The Villa" is the latest psychological thriller by Jess Ryder, whose work I have previously read and enjoyed. The writing style is gripping and absorbing; this new release does not disappoint.

Full of secrets, lies and deception, there is a lot to keep readers engaged in this storyline. The fast-paced narrative, set over a dual timeline and with multiple points of view, is a masterclass in suspense and drama. Ryder's masterful creativity is on full display, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.

It's a little predictable in places, yet it's still a great read for fans of this author and genre. It would also make a great summer read!

I really wanted to love this book - I normally enjoy thrillers in holiday locations and there is no doubt that this is an entertaining read, but it was just missing that spark for me.

I think the main issue I had is the lack of connection between Aiofe’s hen group of friends. We have her childhood friends Tiff and Beth, her friend from university, Dani, and a friend she has met recently at a yoga class, Celine. While I understand that they all come from different times and places in Aiofe’s life, the vibes between them are just prickly and awkward and at times made for unenjoyable reading.

Three years after Aiofe’s death, the other hens reunite in the same villa in Marbella to honour her memory, and it makes sense that the atmosphere between them would be uncomfortable at that time, but even the initial hen party sounded dire! None of these girls are people I would like to be friends with 😆

With the alternating timeline between past and present, details surrounding Aiofe’s death come to light and it was definitely an interesting revelation and not something I predicted beforehand. This story had all the makings for a decent thriller, and it was in some places, but I think the characters were what let it down a little for me.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone & Netgalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This reminded me of a 3 part ITV drama, and I could see it being made into one!

I love books where chapters are done by different characters and there's multiple timelines, so this really delivered.

It was full of twists and although it dragged a little in the middle I was invested enough to keep going.

Three years ago on her hen weekend in Marbella, Aoife was killed in a tragic accident after a break in and her friend Dani, who blacked out that night, wants to learn the truth.

She manages to get the group back together under cause pretences so that she can find out what happened on that fateful night.

Told from multiple points of view from each of the hens in the past and from Dani’s in the present, the hen weekend unwraps piece by piece each time Dani revisits one of the scenes that the group faced those years ago.

The story is complex and there are some surprising twists which you don’t see coming; all keeping me on the edge of my seat.

The hens - Beth, Tiff, Celine, Dani and Aoife are all completely different characters which at first you think will compliment, but as the story unfolds they each have their own secrets they are trying to keep.

I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more from the author.

Overall I have rated it three stars, I loved the premise and set up for this book with great character development. I loved the twisty ending which kept me hooking but I felt like it was a bit slow in the middle of the book. I would still recommend this book!

Three years ago Aoife and her friends are on her hen weekend in a lovely villa in Marbella when tragedy strikes. Aoife has been attacked and has died, but who killed her. Three years late Dani invites the “hens” back for the weekend in Marbella, she just doesn’t tell them they will staying in the same villa.

This is a great book, I liked the back and forth to now and then and each girl told their own version of the story. The author dealt with subjects well in the book. A chilling 4 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advanced ecopy. This is a really good, interesting suspense thriller. We begin the book by meeting Dani who is attending Aiofe's hen do in Marbella. There are 5 friends in total including Celine, Beth and Tiff and after lots of fun and mischief , the trip ends in tragedy with the Hen found dead. The book tips between then and now - now being 3 years later when they are returning to try and patch together what happened as the killer still hasn't been caught. There are plenty of suspects, secrets and lies and I couldn't stop turning the pages to try and find out the truth. Absorbing book I will be recommending and looking out for others from Jess

I've been reading very slowly lately but I found this to be a fast and easy read. Great for summer.

It has dual timelines, the past in which a hen party goes awfully wrong and the present where one of the bridesmaids tries to put together what happened that weekend.

While there were some questionable choices made by everyone, I could understand the tension in both timelines and could see character growth as well. I flew through the book and guessed every possible ending. This was a fresh thriller and while it was fun, I felt like there could be a bit more closure from the ending.

Overall an entertaining thriller.. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the e-ARC!

"The Villa" by Nora Roberts is a novel that intertwines romance, mystery, and family drama. It follows the lives of three generations of women in the Sullivan family who come together at a beautiful villa in Italy. As they uncover family secrets and navigate their relationships, they are drawn into a captivating story of love, loss, and resilience. The book delves into themes of love, heritage, and the power of family bonds.

A group of friends is off to Marbella over two timelines; past and present. Their trip in the past ended in tragedy as their friend Aoife, whose hen do it was, ended up killed. As the group returns in the present, you can tell that there is tension amongst them. As the story unfolds, fluctuating between timelines more details are uncovered relevant to solving the Aoife's murder. The past timeline is narrated from the pov of each of the friends while the present timeline is told through the pov of the Dani, Aoife's friend trying to understand exactly what happened to Aoife. As a reader you start making your own assumptions and potential conclusion, however, it is safe to say the plot twist is one that you would not imagine.
With 4 stars, The Villa by Jess Ryder is a psychological thriller/ myster story that I would recommend to any lover of the genre.

I was really excited to read this book as the premise was super intriguing and super up my street.
However this book didn't live up to the excitement.
It took forever to get started, and then when it did finally get going, I just wasn't invested. It was very similar to other books I have read. It's not one that will stay with me and not different enough from other books I have read within the genre.
Disappointing.

A hen party goes terribly wrong in Marbella and the bride to be ends up dead.
Three years later and Dani is still coming to terms with the death of her best friend. She’s invited the hens back to Marbella, officially to pay respects to Aoife, but really to walk through the steps of the fateful hen party so she can work out what happened that night.
The dynamics are strained when the old best friends, Tiff and Beth, the new best friend Dani, and a work colleague, Celine are all thrust into a house share in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Marbella. With the husband-to-be pulling strings behind the scenes the hen party ends in tragedy but can Dani figure it out or will she put herself in danger by reopening old wounds?
An interesting concept, I was keen to read and learn what happened to Aoife, but while I warmed to Dani (mostly) I found it hard to like any of the other characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a reasonable read. We have the 3 years previous story unfolding which culminates in Aiofe the bride to be dying in a Marbella villa. And we have the current day story where her remaining hens visit to work out what happened. I like the set up of the story which reveals bits little by little and thought the ending was good.

Three years ago, bride-to-be Aoife died at her own hen party. Now the hens have returned to the villa where that terrible weekend unfolded. Everyone has a different version of what happened that night. Who is keeping secrets? And how far will they go to keep them hidden?

This was an engaging thriller told from the perspectives of the hens. There is a dual timeline - the present (where the hens return to the secluded villa 3 years after Aoife’s death) and the past (the hen do). The past is presented as flashbacks which link in with the present story, revealing secrets bit by bit.

None of the characters are particularly likeable, but that leaves the story open and you’re wondering whether any of them could have played a part in what happened to Aoife. There’s twists, lies and betrayal, making this an exciting and tense read. This is a great summer book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.