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. This is a gripping stôry, and felt both original and authentic. The narrator did a fantastic job, rising to the challenge when several accents were called for!

From the Sunday Times and Richard & Judy Book Club bestselling author, comes a thrilling, suspenseful tale that will leave you breathless. The story, which looked at people's aspirations and dreams and the need to take every day as it comes, to enjoy life to the full (as we don't know what is round the corner) was played out with great passion and skill. Latifah's comedy acting (loved the raised eyebrow and sideways glances) was relaxed and easily won over the sympathy of the audience. Great, also, to see Gerard Depardieu again as I haven't seen him for a while. I just love Last Holiday! It's one of my favorite movies ever, and I've probably seen it twenty times by now. It stars one of my favorite modern actresses, Queen Latifah, costars one of my favorite celebrity boyfriends, Gérard Depardieu, and features an incredibly inspiring storyline filmed at an exotic, glorious setting. It's my dream to follow in Queenie's footsteps and take a vacation to Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary. MY THOUGHTS: I simply flew through Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor. Yes, I had to suspend belief, and no, this isn't what I would call a psychological thriller, but it was fun and I enjoyed it, mainly I think, because of the characters, because I certainly didn't find this suspenseful.

Teaming up with an undercover investigative journalist they join forces try to piece together what happened that fateful night on the island. This is another book that I've read this year that's a very character-driven story. On paper it doesn't sound like a lot is going on but under the surface you do get a fair amount of interesting narration from Fran, Kate, and Jenna. Reeves, Jessica (January 13, 2006). "Movie review: Last Holiday". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved January 6, 2013. EXCERPT: As Caroline continues to rant, Fran stares at her in awe. It's been a while since she met someone with such fervour and passion, such a powerful drive to vanquish injustice and reveal the truth. It's really quite inspiring, despite Caroline's dubious taste in knitwear. The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

Queenie works in the cookware department of a department store. She loves to cook, follows recipes on cooking shows, and photographs her food, but she doesn't get to enjoy her creations. Instead, she eats Lean Cuisine. She has a crush on LL Cool J, one of her coworkers, but despite encouragement from her friend, Jane Adams, she barely has enough courage to say hello. She has an accident at work and gets a CAT-scan, which shows she has the very rare and incurable Lampington's disease. With only three weeks to live, she throws caution to the wind. She tells off her boss, cashes in all her investments, and plans a permanent vacation to the place she's always wanted to visit: Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia. The writing is terrible, it flip flops all over the place and there is so much detailed chatter it's driving me bonkers. years ago) - heartbroken by some recent developments in her life she hopes Tom and Kate's retreat will fix her.At the resort, she doesn't bat an eyelash about expenses. After all, she figures, she'd better pamper herself. Georgia realizes she must update her wardrobe as well and transforms herself into a beautiful creature. The party of Americans staying at the hotel include the senator from her home state of Louisiana and the rich man who owned the store where she worked in New Orleans. Georgia is an instant hit because she is herself all the time. She makes everyone at the hotel like her because they see in Georgia a genuine person. 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. This is my first book by C.L. Taylor and while this book didn’t impress me, it won’t be my last book of hers.

I thought Fran was mad, going on a holiday run by the man she felt killed her sister. But I did understand why she needed to find out for sure. Jenna disappears on a spiritual retreat run by Kate and her husband Tom on the island of Gozo. It is presumed a suicide. However, a body is never found, and sister Fran is determined to get to the bottom of what happened. Another couple die on the same retreat leaving Tom in prison for manslaughter. Two years later, and with Tom newly released, Kate organises another spiritual retreat in Wales to salvage their reputation and finances.Georgia Byrd is a shy, unassuming salesperson in the cookware department at Kragen's Department Store in New Orleans and a Baptist choir singer who longs to cook professionally. She privately records her dreams of a better life in a scrapbook labeled "Possibilities" enjoys replicating TV chef Emeril Lagasse's gourmet recipes, serving her creations to a neighbor while denying herself the pleasure of eating them. I particularly enjoyed this book as an audiobook as it made me feel more engaged with the storyline and really bought the characters to life.

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. You keep asking yourself as you observe several counseling sessions of these health gurus: are they conmen or are they really talented soul shakers who help the people get through their mental problems? I enjoyed this book and found it to be very engaging. It centers primarily on Fran, who joins a wellness retreat to try to figure out what happened to her sister Jenna, who disappeared on a similar trip over 2 years prior. You also get chapters from Jenna's perspective before her disappearance, and from Kate, the wife and business partner of Tom, who runs the retreats. I am a fan of alternating perspectives throughout a book and thought that it was interesting to see how various situations were seen from the different POVs. I’m new to C.L Taylor books so I can’t compare to any others but I must say this one was very good and left me on the edge of my seat throughout.I've also become a fan of LL Cool J who plays Sean Matthews , Georgia's co-worker who is destined to become her love interest.