#allthebookreviews with Q&A: Girls' Night Out by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke @luauthors @amazonpub @lizandlisa
Girls' Night Out
by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
🔥 HAPPY PUBLISHING DAY! 🔥
I love these authors!! They're hilarious women who interact with their fans on social media. They write great books and I get to meet them at their event in NYC tomorrow. Life is good y'all!
Jessica and I loved The Good Widow last year and are excited to bring you our thoughts on Girls' Night Out - AND provide you a Q&A with the authors.
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publish Date: July 24, 2018
Paperback
336 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Psychological Suspense, Mystery
For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.
Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies?
As the clock ticks, hour by hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit.
Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies?
As the clock ticks, hour by hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit.
My Review:
Ashley, Natalie and Lauren. Is three a crowd? Can three women be best friends and there NOT be any drama? Sometimes a good travel for some quality face time can help these tenuous relationships - sometimes. Look, I'm not going to go deep into the plot - I'm going to explain why this book resonated with me.
Best friendships are like marriages and family - there are ups and downs. It's easy to take your irritations and frustrations out on the people you know best. There WILL be some drama and especially in a core group of 3, sometimes you feel closer to one than the other and then switch off and typically two will always be a bit more bonded - for whatever reason or circumstance. It's purely mathematics, people 😉. Jokes aside, this resonated with me because I happen to have two best girl friends - we do a girls trip every year and there have definitely been ups and downs and drama and yada yada throughout our 20 plus years of friendship. The fact that the trio in the book are basically our ages made it all the more real. (Noting, do NOT go to Tulum - I kid! I kid!)
What I got from this book is that it is a book about friendship, forgiveness, the need for freakin' communication and how no matter how bad it gets, these women are your ride and dies and quite frankly, not easy to shake! I did want to know what happened to Ashley - this ending. Who has read this? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS ALREADY? It triggered a tingling that was fairly reminiscent to something else I read not too long ago... I just wish my brain would work for me so I knew exactly what that was. Is there such thing as book deja vu?
If you've read books from this fabulous duo already then you'll be apt to like this one as well. They're proving to write compelling thrillers. I think those who can understand this friendship dynamic will really find this book to touch them in a different way than others might. I can't wait to tell my besties about this while we're on our girls' trip next month... and I hope WE have a different ending. 😜
★★★★
Jessica's Review:
Last year I read THE WIDOW by this fantastic writing duo, and I loved it. So I couldn't wait to see what they had in store for us this time with GIRLS' NIGHT OUT. I was not disappointed! It always amazes me that two people can write a book together and have it flow seamlessly.
This one is all about the power of friendships. Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren are trying to mend their deteriorating friendship, and of course a girls' trip is just what they need, right? Three women with already strained relationships with each other, of course there's going to be some drama! Well, things really ramp up when one of them goes missing - what truly happened that night and what secrets are they hiding?
We all have those friendships where you can be hot and cold as time goes on. Communication is key to any kind of relationship and keeping so many secrets from each other can really put a strain on things. The dynamic between these women feels so authentic and real - Liz and Lisa know who to write great female characters and capture their interactions and friendships.
This book will suck you in right away and have you flying through the pages to see what happened to Ashley! Oh man, that ending! This is a great thriller and once again, I play the waiting the game for more from this dynamic writing duo.
I give this 4/5 stars!
Q&A with Liz and Lisa!
What does your writing process look like?
We currently live in separate states so we pass the chapters back and forth. Liz will write one and send to Lisa to edit. She works her magic and then shoots it back. We continue this until we are both satisfied, and then move on to the next one!
What is something most people wouldn't know about co-authoring a book?
It’s much easier than writing alone! You have someone to constantly encourage and support you, and to commiserate with!
Do you have any strange writing habits?
Liz has to have music! Lisa must be caffeinated!
Is there one particular subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?
It’s doubtful we’d ever write about child abduction. Just hits too close to home for us.
Is there a type of scene that's harder for you to write than others?
Sex scenes! Awkward!
Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
Hurt, for sure. Incorporating feedback is the most important thing a writer must do, and it would be difficult if an ego has become overinflated.
How many unpublished/half-finished books do you have?
Several!
How long does it usually take you to write a book?
4-6 months for the first draft.
What are you working on now? What is your next project?
We just finished a new novel that will come out next summer. We can’t too much yet, but we’re very excited about it!
Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Any advice on how to deal with the bad?
We do read them pre-publication, just to get a feel for how early readers are responding. After that, we don’t pay too much attention, and we don’t respond, especially to bad ones. It’s important that people can voice their opinion without authors getting involved. As for advice, don’t obsess over the bad ones! Just keep moving. No matter how amazing a novel is, you will never please everyone.
Have you ever gotten reader's block? How did you get out of it?
Omg, yes, all the time! And we usually will switch genres and that does the trick!
Do you google yourself?
Not really. Should we?
What's the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
Crazy things happen to us all the time! But recently, we went to get a massage and they accidentally had us down for a couples’ massage and we had to be in the same room! We laughed so hard we cried.
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