Look I’m a soap opera fan. I’ve watched days of our lives since I was 5. So I love soaps. I just think I prefer a visual soap versus a book soap. I like the characters and I like the spice. It just was hard to get into for me. It definitely didn’t feel like a mystery.

Described by one as a thriller, but for me, a thriller it was not. Ruthless Women follows the dynamic fictional television drama series Falcon Bay, a soap opera that has endured over a number of years. Ruthless Women exposes some current themes such as gender inequality, employment conditions, substance abuse, sexual relations, aging, social media, alliances, friendships and marriage. Not very much my kind of cup of tea.

Eh, I didn't feel this was a mystery. There was very little to it. Its mostly a soap opera centering around incredibly vain women. Not my cup of tea.

Loved this and the story kept me hooked until the end. If you like Jackie Collins, Rebecca Chance and Footballer’s Wives then this is for you!

So spicy and dramatic. This is fun and soap opera-esque, reminiscent of nighttime drama from the good old days.

I love these characters! I love the soap opera drama that seeps offscreen and into all of their lives. I love how all of them are greedy and downright unethical people, but the reader still finds themselves rooting for them. Some of the stuff is so far fetched that it actually works. Very entertaining!

Ruthless Women was a great read by Melanie Blake. Falcon Bay was once the world’s most popular soap opera, set off the coast of Jersey. The ratings are at an all time low and the network has a new owner. The new owner Madeline Kane, arrives on the private island determined to do whatever she needs to get the show back to number one. Director Farrah, leading lady Catherine and producer Amanda are the driven and ambitious women. They have been trying to hold the production together. Their corrupt boss, Jake Monroe causes havoc to the women. Farrah is losing episodes to male colleagues, Catherine is terrified of losing the public’s adoration, and Amanda is battling her desire to have an affair with a handsome new employee. Madeline is pressure to revive the show and unleashes a battle of the sexes. The women will do anything to stay in the jobs they love and on the island they call home. I enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read more by the author.

Wow, what a rollercoaster ride Ruthless Women was! This was my first read by Melanie Blake but she has an incredibly unique storytelling style so I look forward to what she releases next! This was a story about a reality show set on an island that is trying its hardest to stay relevant and create captivating storylines. However, with any long running soap, the actors develop egos and attachments to their characters so we get to see that drama play out as they cut characters and create competition for new ones. This was fast moving and exciting throughout. I really wasn't sure where this was going to go because the plot was all over the place but it kept my attention because of the wide array of colorful characters. The ending was just perfect. Despite how much I didn't want things to end up that way, I felt the cosmic justice was just too good to not appreciate. The women in this are truly ruthless and show us as readers why women have to be ruthless in a man's world. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh the drama! It was quite the read and one that had me thinking about it for a while.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyment: 2.5
Total rating: 3.07

Ruthless Women is hands down the soapier book I have ever read - and though it was too much for me, I can see it pleasing and entertaining many readers.

Blake delivers a book akin to the most outlandish soap, written by Jerry Springer for a cable "after dark" time slot. In a nutshell.

Claire King's narration is fantastic, the main reason for my enjoyment. She is such a trooper. Poor girl had to read raunchy scenes at least once each chapter! I appreciate the audio book's production value, but I can't say the story itself is for me.

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Ruthless Women

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and Melanie Blake for my advanced listeners copy. My opinions are my own and done voluntarily.

This book was labeled as Mystery and Thriller, but I did not see it that way. It has gossip, drama, sex, and drugs, which you would think would make for an enjoyable book, right. well, not so much. It isn't that it was bad, just not for me. It was based about a group of actors and actresses who were part of a long running soap opera, and I used to watch soap operas with my mom (I loved all the drama), so I thought i would enjoy this. But this just seemed dry and did not keep my attention and interest. I did, however, like Melanie Blake's writing style, so I will give her other books a try.

OK this was good, i’ve read a lot like this lately that was just super disappointing and I was nice to read something that wasn’t.

Wow, wow, wow! What a spicy, scandalous read! I listened to the audio book of "Ruthless Women," and I absolutely loved the narrator. I was captivated by her voice the entire time.

"Ruthless Women," is about a soap opera called "Falcon Bay," and the women that make the show. The main characters are Catherine, the Star, Farrah, the Writer/ Director, Amanda the Producer, and Madeline, the new network exec. The book is about what it is like to be a woman working on a soap, and how you have to fight to get ahead. There are complex relationships, backstabbing and very spicy sex scenes. My favorite part of the book was the over the top ending. I love this book is about soaps AND has a soap like plot.

Bravo Melanie! This was such a fun read, that actually did blow my mind at the end. Loved it! Thank you NetGalley, and the author for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Melanie Blake for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book, and was looking forward to a different type of thriller.. I enjoy drama filled books and even drama in my tv shows and movies, so I thought this was going to be a perfect fit. However, I just don't think this was the right book for me. It was hard to follow the character in audiobook version, maybe that's different in the physical form. I think for those who enjoy soap operas, they will enjoy this more.

There’s a new boss is town, and she’s come to breathe new life into a television shows’s dying popularity. A soap opera about aging actresses on an aging soap opera.

Wow! This book was a trip. It was pretty raunchy, & I felt the characters were a little bit flat - only worried about sex, power & image. Even the likable-ish mom-character doesn’t seem concerned over her child’s safety when her new flame shows up.

If you like reality TV shows, though, and want a killer twist, this will definitely fit the bill.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not for me. I tried but just couldn’t finish it. It reminded me of a soap opera in novel form. The characters were unrealistic awful people and I just couldn’t like them. If you are a fan of soaps, you will probably enjoy this.

Ruthless Women wasn't for me, at least in audio book form. Following various women involved in the world of soap operas the story is hard to follow as it switches between women. I also found the story a little too smutty for a non-romance for my taste. I'm not against smut, but it didn't always feel like it fit the story. It also felt like the the soapiness of the storyline was way unbelievable because you don't have any sympathy of these characters the way you might on an actual soap opera.

I was given an early audiobook in exchange for an honest review. To be quite truthful this was hard to get through.The book sounded to me like a book Jackie Collins might have written about her sister Joan Collins Joan made a career in being not daytime so much as in dramatic evening weekly series television. She was in several. Unlike this one the women had been on the soap for forty years as it was coming to an end. In my mind their sexcapades would be far more boring and less often There is never ending caddy behavior. Hidden agendas and constant jockeying for position.Trasy language. I managed to finish but I did not enjoy. I do send Thanks to #NetGalley, publisher and #MelanieBlake for an early audiobook for #RuthlessWomen I’m sorry I can’t recommend. this audiobook.. Definitely requires a certain taste for this one. It just isn’t my cup of tea.

This novel is based around a fictional soap opera production. It is the smuttiest non-romance I’ve ever read, so if people don’t enjoy that, be warned. I definitely got Daisy Jones vibes as far as that the author has borrowed details about celebrities and applied them to her fictional characters.

Thank you to Melanie Blake, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing the audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m unsure if it was getting into the story or the narrator, but I had a really hard time listening to the story. It felt disjointed and hard to follow.