Girls' Night Out: A Novel

Written by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Narrated by Karen Peakes

From the bestselling authors of The Good Widow comes a chilling novel of psychological suspense that will make you think twice about what your best friend may be hiding…

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543698411

Liz Fenton

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for over thirty years and survived high school and college together. They’ve coauthored seven novels, including The Two Lila Bennetts, Girls’ Night Out, and the Amazon Charts bestseller The Good Widow. In their former lives, Liz worked in the pharmaceutical industry, and Lisa was a talk show producer. They both reside with their families and several rescue dogs in San Diego, California. Find them at www.lizandlisa.com and on Instagram at @lisaandliz.

Reviews for Girls' Night Out

[Melea Mullican · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed GIRLS' NIGHT OUT. Unfortunately for me, it was not a standout read, but rather one I enjoyed and will likely forget. The story follows three estranged friends Lauren, Natalie, and the ring leader Ashley. They go on a vacation to Mexico, and one goes missing.

I enjoyed how the story flipped between the three girl's points of views, as well as the time frame. We might get one girl's perspective from 4 nights before the event then flip into another's from the night after. This back and forth kept the story fresh and interesting and me wanting to know what happened next.

I think I would have enjoyed the book more if not for the ending. After all the hype up to "the event," it was anti-climatic and made the story just one among many instead of a standout piece.

I liked the girl's dynamic and how they went about working through their issues. As a girl that has had groups of 3 friends before, I can see how it would be easy to fall into that line of thinking: always in competition for the best friend title and always feeling left out if you didn't reach it. At times, it was a little dramatic, but hey, this is fiction, and drama is half the fun.

The narration was good, and I enjoyed listening to it on audio. I would recommend the audiobook to someone that wanted to try the book. Overall, this book just fell into a sea of the many others where a group of girls go on vacation and someone turns up missing. I didn't find it bad or anything in particular wrong with it, other than it did not leave me remembering it as something special or wanting more.

[Noha Nabil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely THRILLING! The story, the narrator, the mystery, what is not to love?! Enjoyed every moment of this audiobook ❤️❤️❤️

[Jen Brink · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The beginning had me gripped and then it totally went a different direction. I did not like the ending at all. Too much left unsaid....

[Yolan Shiffrin · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Don’t waste your time. This was one of the most frustratingly horribly written books ever. It doesn’t make sense and I felt second hand embarrassment for the author. Just bad. The characters were not interesting and the storyline was bad. I usually post reviews when I like something. I just hope this review will help at least one person not waste a collective 11ish hours of their lives.

[Bridgette Pope · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good read! Kept my attention to the very end which is rare

[Nicci Holland · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Didn’t like who read the book. But I enjoyed the ending.

[Yusuf A Muhammad · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent read/listen. Each chapter holds you as you wonder what twist and turn would come about next.

[julie weeks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The characters and conflict were true to life. The plot did have a twist at the end. The selfish of one destroyed multiple lives.

[Allison Schwemley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little slow. I would have liked it better if it had a little less inner monolog. Over all, an entertaining story.

[Erica McCarty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good story. Excellent character development. Alittle slow towards the end. Not any twists but rational options for resolution. Worth the time!

[sally · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a good story but I was really dissapointed from the ending.

[STEFANIE KITE · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

When I read the synopsis I thought it was going to be a really interesting book, but I struggled to get to the end. I did not like any of the characters at all. I found myself side-eying some of the descriptions of the Mexican people and the area in general as well. Just not my favorite by any means.

[Lara Pretorius · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book, had me hooked from the first few words! Enjoyable story with a reasonable twist-would have liked more mystery but still a good listen! ?

[Becca Sharpe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book. Also within one hour of listening I bought a blowdry brush so, it should be sponsored x

[Tiffany Wolfe · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It could have been a good book. It’s a good story. But the majority of the book is the 3 main characters fighting with each other. You can literally skip the fights and not miss out. Honestly, that was 75% of the book. I listened to it sped up because I wanted to know how it ended..They also were all hard to tell apart- basically the same character with a different name and slightly different story. Even coming to the end I had to think about which one was which.

[Allie Kane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing and what a plot twist. Couldn’t put it down!

[Sheila Nelloms · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately the authors left you not liking any of the characters.

[rylan nygard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found there wasn’t any excitement here, it was so predictable and frankly pretty dull. Good plot but just lacked my interest

[Beverly L · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book honestly had a very interesting plot overall. The narrators were good. The book was well written in grammar and imagery. My issues with it are it was extremely repetitive. I started skipping some parts towards the end cause they authors literally kept going in circles repeating the same stuff in different ways over and over and over it was almost unbearable at the end. I also am a little biased about main characters who lose their memory and spend the entire book trying to regain it. Truly awful process no matter how good the overall plot is. If they would have cut out a lot of the fluff it would definitely get a 4 or 5 stars.

[Kendalle Alquwaie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Meh. I listened to the full book, however I was annoyed most of the time with the characters. We're best friends but we hate each other and always have. this is such a lame girl relationship to write.

[Kelli Martin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’ll admit that it took me almost 2 months to read this book. I started it before release day hoping to finish it quickly but I grew bored with it. I kept having to push myself to read it, kept putting it away to read other books. In that almost 2 months, I only read 44%. But a friend encouraged me to finish it. She told me that it picked up and was really good. So tonight, within about 3 hours, I read the remaining 56% and finished the book. At about 80% I was starting to feel a little let down, things were not going how I had suspected them. But man, those last couple plot twists made up for it! This book made me cry, my heart was breaking for the characters. It was such a raw showing of how skewed our lives and relationships can become. When I read the last paragraph, my heart broke a little more and my jaw dropped. I was very skeptical about this book but now I am glad I finished it. I would classify this book as more of a slow burning thriller as opposed to a regular thriller or suspense. I must say though, I greatly enjoyed it and will be on the lookout for other books from these authors.

[Cassie Gibbs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book, really drew me in and I was looking forward to the next time I could listen to it. I was disappointed with the ending. There was such a wind up to it and it was a big let down

[Karla Marsh · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It really drug on and on...this book was interesting at the beginning but the characters seemed way too immature to be as old as they were, and the narrartors whiney voices just about did me in. Its gonna be a no for me, I fast forwarded alot at the end because it drug out forever.

[Bianka Rubio · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not sure how to describe it other than annoying, and dull. I finished it, but there were no real twists or turns in the story. I found all the characters unlikable, and found their stories unbelievable. There was WAY too much inner monologue, to the point I would find myself drifting off. It also feels like the author didn’t do a lot of research about many things, but most glaringly the setting. Tulum is pricey and bougie. Given the author’s description and vibe of the place, she would have been better off placing it in a smaller beach town like Sayulita to make it more believable. The narrator was excellent.

[Cheryl Morrell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read some reviews and a few people said too much was left open in the end of the book but I think the important issues were cleared up.. didn’t expect that ending.

[emilee senio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! A great thriller. Highly recommend reading/listening!

[Leslee Wilson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not bad read. Took me a little to get in to it. But was overall kind of bland.