Dire’s Club by Kimberly Packard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Charlotte Claybrooke is a woman with a career as a life coach, but she feels like she is drowning in the all consuming grief resulting from a tragedy ten years in her past which she still has not gotten over, she feels like an imposter in her own life and that the lies she feeds to those around her and those who look to her for advice and counsel are starting to pile up around her and all she wants to do is escape, so she fills in the forms and packs, ready to go on an adventure with the Dire’s Club. Jimmy Dire is the founder of the Dire’s Club, it is a place where the terminally ill and dying can have a last adventure before their light leaves the world, it is a passion and Jimmy knows it is also the right thing to do, it is something that can make the biggest difference to someone and help them to remember that they are more than just a diagnosis, but like all things it is expensive.

As he is preparing for his latest group of Diers, he pushes all that to the back of his mind and greets the group after his assistant has introduced him and let them all get settled, it is a mixed bag of an ageing Rockstar, a young genius, an older mother figure, an actress and telenovela star and last to arrive is Charlotte, the group generate mixed feelings in Jimmy, but all he sees are five people ready for the last big adventure in their lives. They have all chosen their last wish and he has created an itinerary which will take them on a three week tour round the world to accomplish it, as the group gets to know each other and the last of the paperwork is filled in and filed, they are all sent to get some rest before the first adventure starts. There is a mix of excitement, trepidation, worry and happiness as the travellers support each other and band together as they share the experiences organised for them, it is in the midst of this that things take an unexpected turn and they all have to band together to solve a problem, that is until tragedy strikes and the foundations they have built together start to crumble and fall apart.

A few days later, one of the group lands themselves in hot water and despite best efforts, things take another turn for the worse and it looks like there is only way that this can end and the Diers have to try and band together again to help, but can they all get past their differences and help, or will lies and fraud rip them further apart? This is an emotional rollercoaster which will whisk you away on a beautiful adventure and keeps you absorbed in the story and feeling everything the characters are feeling, all while making you ask yourself all the hard questions which occur to you while reading.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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