cover image Girls’ Night Out

Girls’ Night Out

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Lake Union, $14.95 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-5039-0256-5

In this lackluster psychological thriller from Fenton and Steinke (The Good Widow), estranged friends Natalie, Ashley, and Lauren take a vacation in Tulum, Mexico, where they hope to reconnect. But despite their efforts to put the past behind them, resentment runs deep. Natalie and Ashley, YouTube celebrities, are at odds over their hairbrush business—Revlon’s offer to purchase BloMe solves Natalie’s financial problems, but Ashley doesn’t want to sell. And Lauren, a recent widow, is disconcerted by Ashley saying she’s seriously considering leaving her husband. To make matters worse, Ashley connects with a local named Marco, who is always around and adds tension to an already friction-filled trip. After more disagreements and another evening of drinking, Lauren hooks up with a bartender, Natalie blacks out on the beach, and Ashley disappears. Natalie and Lauren, desperate to find Ashley and unsure whether they can trust each other, try to piece together what happened that night. Readers will quickly grow weary of the travails of these three angst-ridden characters. [em]Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group. (July) [/em]