Thoughts on : The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley

Posted by Kay on August 29, 2019 9:43 am in 3 stars reads | 5 comments

The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley
Genre : Mystery
Stand alone

About the Book  :

Run by celebrity power couple Drs. Miles and Grace Markell, The Harmony Resort offers a chance for partners to repair their relationships in a luxurious setting on the gorgeous Mayan Riviera.
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Johanna and Ben have a marriage that looks perfect on the surface, but in reality, they don’t know each other at all. Shell and Colin fight constantly: Colin is a workaholic, and Shell always comes second to his job. When both couples begin Harmony’s intensive therapy program, it becomes clear that Harmony is not all it seems—and neither are Miles and Grace themselves. What are they hiding, and what price will these couples pay for finding out?
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As a deadly tropical storm descends on the coast, trapping the hosts and the guests on the resort, secrets are revealed, loyalties are tested and not one single person—or their marriage—will remain unchanged by what follows.

My Thoughts :

I hadn’t heard much about The Last Resort when I picked it up : I saw it at the store and both the cover and the synopsis called to me. I wanted an intriguing story full of mysteries and secrets set in a beautiful location, and this is partly what I got.

First of all, I liked the group of characters. I wish we could have known a little more about the other couples at the resort, just to make the time with them more immersive, but the three couples each had unique stories I thought were interesting. Their secrets, for the most part, weren’t the most unpredictable, but I still got a couple surprises here and there.

There were a few things that were missing for me though. I wanted to hear more about the location : the weather, the landscapes, the sand and the waves. We get a bit of that, but I never felt like I was completely there.

I also felt the tropical storm should have played a bigger part in the story. I thought it would have been much more interesting to have the characters locked in and worried for half the book, rather than just for a few chapters toward the end as the story concluded. That’s a personal preference of course, but I think it would have added a little more thrill to the story.

All in all, The Last Resort was a fun read, but I think it might be enjoyed more by readers who don’t read a lot of thrillers, or who are looking for more fiction than thrills. I’m satisfied with how it concluded though, and some characters, especially, definitely got what they deserved!