two years ago, during a wellness retreat, her sister Jenna died under suspicious circumstances. It was labeled suicide but Fran needs answers so she's attending the latest retreat by the same self-help guru as Jenna did. I really love restaurants in Tbilisi. We tried Italian, Japan, French and Georgian cosine. The food in Georgia is cheap and amazing! Jenna is referred to as having disappeared and also referred to as being dead, which has been determined as suicide. This aspect felt a bit wishy washy.

The author effectively created an atmosphere of unease and suspicion. Like Kate and Fran, we wonder who the participants of the camp really are and what their intentions are. There are some interesting twists and turns, not only at the end of the book. The ending surprised me only to some extent, but it's more a matter of having read so many stories in this genre than anything else. I wasn't surprised by what happened to Jenna, but I didn't predict which people were involved and what their motives were. It was an interesting experience. This is the story of Fran who’s sister Jenna disappeared whilst on a wellness retreat in the Mediterranean two years ago. Here are our three POVs: middle aged Fran is still haunted from her sister’s memory who has been missing for two years. She attended to wellness retreat in Gozo but so many things went dangerously wrong! Thanks to the pressure and guilt tripping of her miserable parents who lost rest of their sanities after sudden disappearance of their young daughter, Fran attends to the same retreat because the same health guru couple Tom and Kate reopen the place after Tom has been set free from two years long prison time. Tom, the leader of the SoulShrink retreat, has had trauma in his own life, which led him to where he is. He is good looking and charismatic, but seems to be controlled by Kate, his facilitator. Two years later and Jenna’s sister Fran is booked onto a wellness retreat with the same organisers that her sister used. Fran is there because her mother, Geraldine, has forced her. Fran does want to know what happened to Jenna but she isn’t entirely comfortable being around Tom Wade, who was imprisoned for the deaths of two people.By the end, I was ambivalent and a little let down. Was it me or was it the book? I am not entirely sure. I have enjoyed other books by this author more. I am putting this in the liked but did not love category. I really enjoyed the book. I had the 🎧 audio version narrated by Clare Corbett. The narrator is very good, she does 3 very different voices for the 3 narrators. So, what does Fran’s mother do, when she learns that Tom Wade has been released after serving his two year prison sentence, and that he will be running another retreat? She books a spot for Fran, so she can go investigate her sister’s presumed death. Well CL Taylor has done it again, another addictive and twisty thriller than kept me guessing right until the very end. Her books are always so clever with a cast of characters who are not always very likeable. The ending of this book is exciting and surprising. Loved it. Although Jenna and Fran are sisters, they are pretty different from each other. In my opinion, they are perfect for guiding us through this story. They are both are lost, both suppress their emotions, and both try to find a place in their lives. Fran is a woman with a strong personality who has been suppressing her emotions and distancing herself from other people for years. Jenna is a lost young woman trying to find her true self and understand who she is. The picture is completed by Kate, the wife of the man behind the retreat, who we suspect from the very beginning of evil intentions. But is it true?

Last Holiday wasn't quite the laugh out loud comedy I expected but it definitely was worth watching. It doesn't try to be complex but rather focus's on the main character, her caring attitude, and her adventures on her "Last Holiday." It makes for a cute, fun little movie without being too intelligent. It's just fun to watch. My last holiday was a five-day trip to Prague in the Czech Republic. I know Prague well because I lived there when I was at university, more than ten years ago. What really makes Last Holiday something is Queen Latifah. She offers a dazzling and enjoyable performance as Georgia. Her character is really hard to hate as well. LL Cool J plays Sean and he likes Georgia but he is kind of afraid to make a move. LL Cool J's performance is actually a little weak so it's a good thing that he didn't get a lot of screen time. Tim Hutton was pretty good as the bad guy. Alicia Witt was okay, a little bland though. There were some other supporting characters that were funny like Susan Kellerman as Gunther. This is my first book by this author, but I will certainly read her other books. I recommend this story, especially to those who like discovering family secrets from years ago and complicated family relations.

During the holiday, I met some of my Spanish colleagues and they invited us to visit their house which is located in a nice village in the city suburb. Really, I liked this place for the large landscape, calmness, and the kind people who live in. On the fifth day of our holiday, we walked around the city and saw the old city which has been built above the mountain. So, you can see the whole city from above it. Despite the enjoyment that we have got, the negative thing about that holiday was that we spent so much money and also many friends need to buy some things from there, so I bought some souvenirs and I hope that I can keep one for myself to remind of that divine place. She meets the couple Kate and Tom who ran the retreat in Gaza along with three others who were also there. Surely someone will know what happened to Jenna? Historically, what I've found with Taylor's work is a huge build up, only to get to a conclusion that fizzles pitifully. With this one...the whole story fizzled. It was like a carbonated beverage that's been sitting out (and opened) for too long. I've read many of Taylor's books prior to this one and have thoroughly enjoyed each one. She is an incredibly talented author, and her stories always have my heart beating wildly in my chest while trying to put clues together to solve the mystery at hand, but something was missing from Her Last Holiday for me. Perhaps I had to suspend too much believability to swallow the story as a whole, or it could be that I just couldn't connect with the characters, and the motives behind their actions to get behind the conclusion. Either way, I'm still a fan of the author and can't wait to see what she pens next!

Now this is where I’m left scratching my head. Things just don’t add up. As in 2+2=5, kind of way. Fran’s mother is all set on blaming Tom for her daughter’s death. She’s clearly upset and traumatized BUT why on earth would you send your only surviving daughter into the clutches of the man you believe to be responsible for your youngest daughters’ death? Not buying it. She hears he’s been released and running a new retreat so books Fran a place on it so that she can investigate just what happened to her. One word – WHY?

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Told in alternating timelines, then and now, from both Jenna's and Fran's point of view, plus one of the wellness guru's perspective, this is a fast paced thriller. I always love alternate timelines and different perspectives.

Generally I don't mind suspending belief in the cause of a good story, but there was just too much in this novel that beggared belief. Firstly, that Tom would have been allowed to restart his business after two people died and a third disappeared at his last retreat. How could he even have insurance for the retreat (which Kate mentions they have) after what happened before? Secondly, why would anyone sign up for his retreats after what happened, including people who attended the Gozo retreat? Thirdly, why would Jenna and Kate's mother force Fran to go on the retreat after what happened to Jenna (and why would Fran go along with it)? And finally there is the ending which was just too contrived for me. Two years ago the couple were leading a wellness retreat. Unfortunately two people died and one woman Jenna went missing. People believing she committed suicide. I went to this trip with my wife. We went by train. There was my first visit of Tbilisi but my wife was there a year before. So she knew all interesting places and sightseeings and showed me the city. I recommend taking the whole family to see this one, or a date, it would even be a fun movie to take your mom to go see! The writing is terrible, it flip flops all over the place and there is so much detailed chatter it's driving me bonkers.

Cally Taylor was born in Worcester and spent her early years living in various army camps in the UK and Germany. She studied Psychology at the University of Northumbria and went on forge a career in instructional design and e-Learning before leaving to write full time in 2014.