Girls' Night Out: A Novel

Natalie, Ashley, and Lauren have been friends for twenty years, but ugly fissures have taken a toll on the foundation that once glued them together. Ashley and Lauren haven’t spoken for a year after a tragedy drove a knife between them, and Natalie and Ashley are on opposite ends of a major decision. The two friends are also business partners, their once start-up company now mainstream with a buyout offer from Revlon. Natalie wants to sell, Ashley is opposed. Each has hidden personal reasons for their stance. In an effort to repair their friendship, Ashley invites Natalie and Lauren on a vacation in Mexico—sun, beaches, margaritas, and good times. But once they arrive it becomes apparent how far apart they’ve drifted. Toss in an enigmatic stranger who takes a shine to Ashley and offers to act as a personal tour guide and the three friends find the minimal glue holding them together quickly deteriorating.The book starts with Natalie waking up on the beach, after a night of partying, her clothing soaked, with no memory of what happened the night before. One thing is apparent, however—Ashley is missing. Told from multiple viewpoints and moving back and forth between the present and the nights leading up to Ashley’s disappearance, the reader becomes privy to how this vacation—meant to heal relationships—went very wrong.I was hooked on the dynamics of the three women, their backstories, and their efforts (and non-efforts) involved in salvaging their friendships. The book lost me a bit when it delved into Mayan beliefs and made a major player out of Marco, the mysterious local who beguiles Ashley. This is one of those books where everyone is flawed, capable of doing despicable things. Most of the book holds up well, keeping the mystery intriguing, although the ending fizzles a bit. Could have been better, but still entertaining, and an easy read. I can see the movie in my head.

Three fortyish women, formerly best friends, spend a long weekend at a glamorous resort near Cancun, Mexico, in an effort to repair their relationship. What could possibly go wrong? The premise of GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT sounds intriguing, and for a few chapters, the book delivers. An intriguing combination of chick lit and mystery slowly begins to fizzle in a long, drawn out story filled with boring, dysfunctional characters.Ashley, Natalie and Lauren were a tight-knit trio for several years until something happened to cause a rift, leaving Lauren on the outside looking in. Perhaps getting the threesome together at a luxurious resort on the Mexican Gold Coast will reboot the friendship, decides Ashley, who springs for an all-expenses-paid trip to Tulum. Psst: I want Ashley as MY friend!They eat, they drink, they dance, they pick up men, they argue, they laugh, they cry in the midst of a Mexican paradise. As I continued to read, I realized that the book could have been an episode of Real Housewives. I even began to associate faces of the Orange County women with the characters in the book.Another similarity to the Housewives franchises: none of the characters in the book is likable. Ashley and Natalie are entrepreneurs; Lauren, a widow, is living off her husband’s life insurance. Natalie had invented a revolutionary way to style hair while drying it, which sounds like the dryer/brush combination found at a store near you. Between Ashley’s shining manipulative personality and Natalie’s brains, the two women started a now-successful company called BloMe (clever, eh?). I mention “BloMe” only because the authors do ad nauseam.The trio limps along attempting to repair itself when Ashley mysteriously disappears. Natalie and Lauren immediately suspect Marco Smith, a handsome, yet sleazy guy Ashley had quickly bonded with. The mystery begins. While everyone searches for Ashley, Lauren and Ashley begin to re-bond over shared secrets.I could have enjoyed the trite story if it had been shorter...much shorter...and if one character were likable and believable. Even the deep dark secrets the women spilled were uninteresting. I was so bored that I didn’t much care what happened to Ashley. I take no pleasure in writing negative reviews. These authors have written a book I loved, and they will do so again. GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT is not their best.

I read a lot of reviews before starting, both, good and bad. The reason for this is because I have never read anything from these authors. In the end, I decided to make up my own mind and I'm glad I did.Although the story was pretty much transparent, from about halfway through, I didn't distract me from reading the rest. I needed to see how things worked out.What I found terrifying, is this sort of situation happens in real life. Regularly. It's alarming how easily people can target and manipulate others when they are at their most vulnerable.All in all, the book was okay. It was an easy read. However, it did not challenge me to try and figure things out all the way to the end and for that I am disappointed.I am glad that the story was wrapped up right at the end, because I was dreading finding out the authors would leave the ending open to interpretation.

To be honest, I didn't like many of the characters in this one. Very sad story, but they spent a lot of time in my opinion on petty stuff, rather than focusing on trying to fix their fractured friendships. Lauren should've let it go and forgive her friends, Natalie shouldn't be worrying about what Ash told Lauren. Lauren was the one I disliked most I think, purely because she was so selfish. Ashley should've concentrated on them, not a man she meets once there, I do agree with Natalie there. In spite of this, I don't like the characters, but I liked the book. Friends with old grudges and building tentions with bad consequences, is what you'll find if you read this one.

I read a lot of books, usually one per week, and it takes a lot for me to dislike one. But dislike this I did.There's far far too much dialogue, and very little description of what could have been a great setting. The characters are two-dimensional, and the plot was slow and predictable. It was a real slog to get through, but I persevered to see if there was an amazing twist at the end which justified it's publication - but no, there was no real mystery at all. The entire book could have been condensed into a short story, and even then it still wouldn't be very riveting.Reviews from critics/other authors stating that it's a 'heart-stopper of a thriller', 'utterly enthralling', 'impossible to put down'... did they read a different book?! I certainly won't be going near any of those authors if they thought this was good. One review was correct however when it stated that the book 'will leave readers shocked again and again... and again' - it certainly did, just not in the right way. The fact that Girls' Night Out was written by two authors shocked me the most, as I thought two heads were better than one.

This story is written from the different perspectives of three old friends who are trying to rekindle their once close friendship. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading to the end, but found it rather far fetched most of the time....however, there is a very interesting twist at the end which made me glad that I had persevered!!!!

The story was interesting but very thin. Lauren was not believable. Natalie was not as hard as her actions. And Ashley was so thick skinned yet appeared to care what her friends thought.? Marco was too convenient but his personality was unbelievable ! The mystery of Marco was never explored.