I’d read two books in a row that I had to force myself through, so I was looking for something that would really pull me in, and this one percent succeeded.

The tone at first seems like we’re reading a fun story of a week on a yacht with Belle’s wealthy friend. Well, Summer isn’t wealthy, but her 63 year-old-boyfriend is. Belle is a semi-successful actress who sometimes still needs to pull shifts bartending to make it. She met Summer in high school and they both met Wendy in college. There’s Claire, Wendy’s pretty, quiet, completely nonthreatening-to-take-the-focus off Summer friend. Summer’s drunken mother who is on her fourth rich husband and Summer’s sister, who is as pretty as Summer, but painfully dumb, and Brittani’s friend, Amythest make up party of women John is taking to the French Riviera. Sounds fun, but the women quickly learn that everything they do will be dictated by John and Summer. They won’t have access to Wifi and are required to sign nondisclosure agreements. If they do ever get to take pictures, everything will be approved by John’s bodyguard/goons before it can be posted to social media.

It doesn’t take long to figure out that Summer has become a truly horrible friend and human being, but, through flashbacks, we begin to suspect she does more than lie and need the attention on herself at all times. In most mysteries of this kind, the tone is threatening and dark. This seems like a story about women who are beautiful and enjoy fashion, but it gets very suspenseful at points. Most important, I liked Belle. She’s nice without being so nice you’d want to puke.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 30, 2020.

The story has a strong message specifically on betrayal and friendship; How far someone will go to get what they want, the stakes they’re willing to risk, the emotions they are eager to ignore, and lives they’re ready to sacrifice. It is horrible. Belle’s character is familiar, struggling to live life comfortably each day and a good friend. All the characters are well-developed and gave me mixed emotions; do I like him, or do I hate her? The places they visited were described where I could visualize being there myself. It is beautiful. This story is gripping and a real page-turner. It is also twisted and intriguing. I love that it goes back and forth between past and present to give the characters and set of events a more substantial background. Besides, I find it always entertaining to read about people who changed and be ridiculous because of money. I love it.

This turned out to be more that just a “beach read”. In the beginning, the story felt like shallow chic lit. Then midway it took a turn and became much more interesting. The second half is a page turner and kept me reading well into the early morning hours.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley.

This is pure summertime fluff, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s compulsive in a trashy, tawdry way. If you’re looking for an escape than this book will provide the perfect getaway.

Summer & Belle were once BFF back in high school, before junior year when Summer moves away. Years later the girls reconnect in LA & they instantly fall back into their friendship. However, time has harden Summer leaving Belle disenchanted with her once best friend. When Summer invites Belle to join her on a luxury yacht of her much older boyfriend, to celebrate her birthday, Belle can’t find a reason to let this opportunity pass her by.
Before Belle even boards the private jet that will whisk Belle and the rest of the party crew to France the cracks & fissures begin to appear.

Belle quickly realizes that this dream vacation is a nightmare from hell. Summer’s powerful boyfriend will control all aspects of her movements both on and off the yacht. John dictates what the guests wear, eat, sleep and their ability to communicate with those not on the ship.
There’s scheming, backstabbing and a possible murderer at play.

The last third of the book really becomes a page turner and that’s when this book finally cruises into choppy waters making for thrills and high sea adventures. I enjoyed this book more than I initially thought I would. It’s a perfect summertime escape, best read with a frozen Limoncello.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this fun fueled novel. All opinions are my own.

The ultimate summer beach read!

Between the juicy plot, yacht-in-Europe setting, and alternating time periods, The Lion’s Den was completely binge-worthy!

I really enjoyed the complex female friendships (or should I say frenemieships?), and Summer was so evil, I just couldn’t wait to see what bitchy comment she would make next!

Amazing such a great summer read! Highly recommend. Looking forward to reading the final copy. Cover art is amazing too

WOW!!! Seriously all I can say is wow... this was one of the best books I have read all year. The characters were beyond amazing and the storyline was TOO GOOD. I mean I could not stop reading. Truly bravo!!

Awful social climbers in a yacht and the week long adventure ensures.
Thanks to NetGallery for this digital ARC.

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Belle and Summer have been best friends since high school, and now in their late twenties, Belle is a struggling actress while Summer has found herself a 63 year old sugar daddy. To celebrate Summer’s birthday, she invites several friends to celebrate on her boyfriend’s yacht in the Mediterranean. But as it turns out, the trip is no vacation for Belle. Summer is making the holiday hell, and something isn’t quite right with their pleasure cruise.
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Okay, while there were bits of ridiculousness to this book, I loved it. It was truly the fun novel I needed right now. I enjoyed the writing, the characters (some absolutely terrible) and the ending was so satisfying. I’ve been wanting to read this since it arrived in my mail a couple of months ago, and yesterday was the day (yes, I sat and read the entire thing, Diet Coke in hand). Congratulations @thekatstjohn on a debut that is summer perfection. •
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I included this title in a recent write-up and will provide details directly to the publisher in the next round of this process.

This was the perfect beach read. I enjoyed every minute, particularly getting to enjoy the luxurious sins of these characters. Its a sexy, steamy read, perfect for the current times. This was the perfect getaway from reality.

This is a solid debut novel with strong writing, it was gripping and a page turner that I kept flipping through because I wanted to find out what happened between the main character Belle, her "best friend" Summer and Summer's ex Eric....but the problems with the book are that it's full of vapid unlikable characters that you don't root for whatsoever....and it's told in alternating order from present day 1 to 10 years ago to day 2 to 2 years ago to day 3 to one year ago...and so on....and it got a little irritating to me.....However the last 70 pages of the book were really strong and had a wicked end that I didn't see coming, which forgave most of all the flaws I had with it. I did really love the end.

This is a quintessential "summer beach book"...its beautifully written and narrated on a boat on the Riviera....and the scenery of the ports are described beautifully.....the book itself just screams summer, and was a welcome distraction from everything happening in the world right now

The Lion’s Den by Katherine St. John was exactly the kind of book I was in the mood for when I got my hands on it! This book is humorous and suspenseful, it’s light, fun, and it keeps you completely entertained from beginning to end. The book is told in past/present timelines leading up to the present day which worked well as we get to learn more about the characters and their shared past.

There’s nothing better than a good satire and even though the some of the characters were unlikeable, I still wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Take a look:

Belle likes to think herself immune to the dizzying effects of fabulous wealth. But when her best friend, Summer, invites her on a glamorous getaway to the Mediterranean aboard her billionaire boyfriend’s yacht, the only sensible answer is yes. Belle hopes the trip will be a much-needed break from her stalled acting career and uniquely humiliating waitressing job, but once she’s aboard the luxurious Lion’s Den, it soon becomes clear this jet-setting holiday is not as advertised.

Belle’s dream vacation quickly devolves into a nightmare as she and the handful of other girls Summer invited are treated more like prisoners than guests by their controlling host-and in one terrifying moment, Belle comes to see Summer for who she truly is: a vicious gold digger who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Belle realizes she’s going to have to keep her wits about her — and her own big secret closely hidden — if she wants to make it off the yacht alive.

I really enjoyed the author’s humorous writing style and the little details about vacationing on a yacht. The closest I have ever come to living lavishly aboard a luxury boat is watching Below Deck on Bravo. I also liked the setting of this book, the gorgeous French Riviera. How could you not love this book!?

There were some twists and turns that I didn’t expect and I was sad when the book was finished. Poorly behaving, selfish rich people plus lies and murder aboard a yacht, what could be better?

Out on May 19, pre-order here!

Paradise it may be, but things are definitely not what Belle expected. For one thing, Summer's rich boyfriend appears to be extremely controlling. And not just of Summer. All of Summer's friends are under strict orders to follow his every instruction. And the friction between Belle and Summer is undeniable!

As the trip wears on, things begin to go from awkward to downright sinister. Belle believes her emails are being read and the guests are locked in their cabins at night. Is it security or is it something darker?

The Lion's Den is a darkly comic and unabashedly fun debut!

Belle is a struggling actress who's almost perpetually broke. She's been friends with Summer since they were teenagers, offering up her couch any time Summer needs a place to stay (which is often).

Summer has made it plain that her goal is to find a rich man to take care of her and she's convinced her new boyfriend is the one. And Belle couldn't be happier for her, at first. But something happens in the weeks leading up to the trip, something that plays out in flashbacks as the story progresses, giving the reader the opportunity to see exactly why things have taken a turn between the once close besties.

I absolutely did not expect this book to take the turn that it did! And I loved it! I will admit, some of the twist was easy to figure out, but only as it became closer to being revealed in the narrative itself. And again, it was not what I expected at all when the book began!

This is the perfect summer read (both for reading in summer AND for reading anytime you want a slice of summer in your life!). The setting is exclusive and the prose is vivid and playful. Highly recommended for anyone in search of a book that's pure, darker, entertainment!

Terrific book. Absolutely loved it. Compelling characters and story line. Kept me interested the entire time.

A once in a lifetime vacation trip that starts to go horribly wrong, with much drama and many twists. A fast fun read.

This book is referred to as a beach read, which I suppose it is, but I feel that term degrades the well-written plot of THE LION'S DEN. There's the lifestyle of the rich and glamorous combined with the drama of a Real Housewives' show with an exciting twist and murderous scheme. Definitely recommend and will look forward to other books by this author!

Thank you to Grand Central Pub. And Netgalley for allowing me to preview this thriller. Belle is unsure whether to accept her friend Summer’s invitation for a week on her boyfriend’s yacht to celebrate Summer’s birthday. She finally decides to go and is among several other friends of Summer’s. They’re all packed for some great fun in the sun until it isn’t fun. Soon they find out their host, Summer’s much older billionaire boyfriend, is having them drugged before they go to bed and that they are locked in at night. His controlling knows no boundaries – they all go together for land excursions and do whatever he says or risk his wrath.

This was truly a thriller in every sense of the word. Told from the present and the recent past in Belle’s viewpoint, it made my heart race. Pair the bumpy ride with the description of Italy, France and warmer climates, and St. John has penned a winner. A perfect beach read or an ideal escape for the winter chill. You won’t be disappointed.

A fun frothy summer book, with snappy dialog and prevention and snobbery to spare, and that’s a compliment in this modern, satire. An entertaining book that is perfect for the beach