I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
<b>Beneath The Surface</b> has no shortage of characters you’ll love to hate! The Kingsleys are a clan of wealthy family members who will stab anyone in the back to get what they want. Anyone on this short yacht voyage is capable of anything and is not to be trusted.

Kaira Rouda’s writing is riveting. This soap-operaish domestic thriller is no different. It’s fun to watch this dysfunctional family try to destroy each other. The children despise each other and their father has encouraged the hostility. I’m excited to find out what happens next with this wild bunch!

Sincere thanks to Thomas and Mercer for providing this complimentary ARC through NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

#BeneaththeSurface #KairaRouda #thomasandmercer #netgalley #justfinished #newrelease #giftedARC #igbookreels #thriller #honestreview #thrillerbooklovers #thrillerfriendsunite #mysteryandthrills #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #suspense #mystery #lovetoread #bookworms #lovebooks #lovetoreadbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booknerd #bookreviewer

This read like a season of Dallas or Dynasty and I am here for it!

A family full of unlikeable characters and so.much.drama!

Richard Kingsley, billionaire, has invited his children and their significant others to join him on his yacht for a weekend in Catalina Island. His sons and their wives, and his daughter and her problematic boyfriend all show up.

Everyone on the yacht is keeping secrets. They all lie. Behave horribly. And no one trusts anyone.

Great read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever been in a boat on the ocean? I haven’t but after reading Beneath the Sea I’m not sure I can I’ll ever want to (and no fiancé I do not want to ever go on a cruise😂)

The Kingsleys family is getting together for the weekend so the families very rich patriarch Richard can share who will be taking over their multi national family business. His sons John, Ted and their wives Paige and Rachel are invited on to his yacht by Richard much younger wife Serena. Richard likes to play games with his family and this weekend will no different!

I sped through this book! It was under 300 pages and just what I needed after my last read. This is a family drama with yes a bunch of drama between all members of the family! I also love rich people drama and problems so this kinda put a lot of my favourite topics to read about together.

The authors writing style is compulsively readable and engaging. I loved the short chapters and the multiple POVs. Richard was a very riveting character and I really enjoyed his POV chapters.

Most of the little twists were pretty interesting as well and well I could guess some I found they worked with the characters and the story!

One thing I didn’t find necessary to the story was the little gossip column pages that appeared a few times but they definitely didn’t detract from the story either!

If you want a fast paced, family drama with no characters really to route for (ok maybe there could be one) I would recommend this for a read!

A rich family going on a weekend yacht trip to find out about the future of the father’s company. This reminded me so much of Succession! I wondered throughout about everybody’s motives and actions. With multiple points of view I was wondering who was a reliable narrator and who was unreliable. There were surprises along the way, and one of the chapters was shocking! I will definitely be reading this author again.

This family drama was a gripping and fun thriller. I will say it took me a little bit of time to get into the story since all of the characters were pretty unlivable (by the end I liked Paige, but even she was hard to take in the beginning). That’s not to say the characters weren’t well developed or written because they were but they were awful people. It was fun to watch the secrets and betrayals between them come to light and to watch them all squirm as it happened. Richard has three children by three different wives. As he is getting older he knows he needs to make a decision about who he will leave his huge and lucrative business to so while telling them each he was inviting only them on a trip on his yacht he invite them all to get some true family time together. All families have secrets and sometimes to move past them you need to first dig them up. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars rounded up because it was very well written.

I firmly believe that wealthy families should steer clear of boating together. It seems that in these opulent yacht scenarios, bad weather, tragic accidents, or being marooned are just the tip of the iceberg. Surprisingly, the most treacherous waters are often those of sibling rivalry, avarice, and deceit.

Prepare to harbour a strong dislike for the Kingsley family, a clan of conniving, money-hungry, and entitled millionaires. When the family patriarch begins the search for his successor, the atmosphere becomes as tense as circling sharks. It’s exasperating and unfolds with all the drama of a reality TV show, set against the backdrop of a weekend trapped together on a boat.

While the story unveils numerous secrets and even murder, it doesn’t quite fit the thriller mould. Yet, you’ll find it impossible to stop reading because you know these characters will keep digging their own graves, and you’re eager to discover just how deep they’ll go.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From my blog: Always With a Book

I have long been a fan of Kaira Rouda’s books. Not only does she do crazy well, but this is the first book in her new series and I for one am super excited about that! This is going to be one wild ride with the Kingsleys and I’ll gladly take a front row seat!

One thing I’ve come to love about Kaira’s books is that her books usually have one or two unlikeable characters. This time around, we have a whole slew of them and I’m not even sure which one I could pinpoint as the worst. I think maybe there was one who I liked, but even she had her quirks. The family dynamics here were so dysfunctional, it was bordering on ridiculous, but given the backstory we are given for each character, it all makes a weird kind of sense they act the way they do.

This book is full of secrets, lies, drama, manipulation, sibling rivalry, power struggles and so much more. I loved that it took some unexpected twists that I did not seeing coming and kept me guessing as to where the story was ultimately heading. It’s a clever play on the title, but you never know what really lies beneath the surface when it comes to anything and that is so true when it comes to all the characters we meet here. No one is above reproach and I loved how ever so slowly we see their true selves revealed.

I really enjoyed this book and am super curious to see where this series goes next.

Another hit from Kaira Rouda that made my top 5 list of new reads for the month of August. Make sure to catch Kaira's episode on the Killer Author Club -- links to watch at https://killerauthorclub.com/killer-episodes.

BENEATH THE SURFACE is the first instalment in Kaira Rouda’s contemporary, adult THE KINGSLEYS dramatic, thriller series focusing on the dysfunctional Kingsley family.

Told from five different perspectives (Paige, John, Serena, Sibley and Richard) as well as intermittent gossip site reporting, BENEATH THE SURFACE focuses on the bitter reunion, sibling fighting and the naming of a new CEO at Kingsley Enterprises. Billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley, the patriarch of the Kingsley family, has invited all of his children and their spouses aboard his new yacht, the Splendid Seas. Along with his much younger wife Serena, Richard has set a plan into motion to ferret out who would be best suited to take the reins at the top but each sibling is determined to win their father’s approval, forgetting that Richard Kingsley knows all, and more than anyone could have imagined. A weekend cruise, a storm on the seas, and the revelation of secrets and lies, proves that Richard is unable to trust those vying for the top prize.

BENEATH THE SURFACE is reminiscent of televisions’ SUCCESSION™ and the maladjusted Roy family. From the top, Richard Kingsley has pitted his own children against one another, in an effort to see who was worthy of the job. All of his children and some of their spouses keep hidden the secrets that could destroy them all but Richard is well aware of everything, including the biggest secret of them all. Murder and mayhem, theft and destruction, drugs, gambling, adultery and blackmail are but a few of the sins uncovered by the man at the top.

We are introduced to the Kingsley siblings: John and Rachel, Ted and Paige, only daughter Sibley, as well as Richard’s fourth (or fifth) wife Serena.

BENEATH THE SURFACE is a story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, dysfunctional family values, greed and murder. The premise is intriguing, captivating and dramatic; the characters are pathological, desperate, jealous and lost. BENEATH THE SURFACE is only the beginning as the new CEO is about to have their hands full when betrayal continues to push at the wounds.



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This book was all about family drama and unlikable characters! It was a fast read at 268 pages, and I was curious to see what the outcome of this weekend yacht trip was going to be!

I thought this was a fun read, although I wouldn't really consider it a mystery/thriller. There was one part that I didn't expect to happen, so I did like that twist to the story.

Goodreads has this listed as "The Kingsleys No. 1" so another book will be coming, and I'll be looking forward to picking it up!

Thank you @netgalley @amazonpublishing, Thomas and Mercer and the author, for the gifted e-arc of this book.
3.5 stars rounded

Love Rouda's books! They are always twisty! This is like Succession in a novel and I was here for it!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy!

Sorry to say this didn’t work at all. Connected to zero characters, slow paced, and nothing actually happened plot-wise until the 80% mark. Huge disappointment.

This book grabbed my attention but didn't necessarily keep me hooked throughout. The story was slow going but I enjoyed it!

I am so excited that this dark family novel is going to be a series. Each character has a secret and a past. Page turning and gripping

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Keira Rouda - 4.5 stars!

Billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley and his new wife, Serena, invite his children and their spouses to join them on a cruise to Catalina Island in their new multi-million dollar yacht, Each of his sons, John and Ted, thought they were the sole invitee and were quite surprised to see the other onboard. Because it's time for Richard Kingsley to make his succession plan for the company, and each of his sons feel it's their due. Then Richard's estranged daughter, Sibley, crashes the party. Everyone is hiding secrets and with so much at stake, much can go wrong.

I am a big fan of Rouda's books and am so excited that this is the first in a Kingsley family series! It was full of family drama, lies, and unlikable characters. The atmosphere of the storm on the sea added to the turbulence going on between all the people on the ship. There were twists and turns that will keep you glued to the pages, and the ending was perfect. Can't wait to read the next book in this series!

oh Kaira Rouda, what have you done to my soul!!!

Beneath the Surface IS going to be a contender for Book Of The Year.

I was first introduced to Kaira Rouda through our little book corner, "bookstagram" . I hungrily devoured both The Widow and The Next Wife! I finished BOTH of these books in the same day!! To say I became an instant fan, would be an understatement.

When I saw Beneath the Surface, pop up on Netgalley, I knew I just had to have it!

The book fairies were working over time and I lucked out with an approval email and I am so grateful I did as this book is MIND-BLOWING!!!!

I zipped through this book anxious to see what would happen next. As all of Gouda's books are, this one is original and like nothing I have read before.

When you read as many thrillers as I do, they can at times feel like something you have read before, this is not the case with this one.

I was completely lost within the pages and felt as though I held my breath through more than half of it.

This book is sure to be a hit and I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to read and review early in exchange for an honest review! Thank you, Kara Rouda, Thomas & Mercer, and Netgalley for letting me share in the early success of Beneath the Surface.

Check out this teaser :

On a weekend voyage, the power-hungry children of an aging billionaire are unprepared for a storm of deceptions in a novel about ruthless family ambition by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.

You are cordially invited to an overnight voyage on the Splendid Seas.

An invitation to Catalina Island from billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley. For his sons, Ted and John, and their wives, it’s an opportunity to curry favor, gain control of a real estate empire, and secure their family’s futures. For the controlling patriarch, succession is a contest. He and his newest wife won’t make it an easy win.

Then Richard’s estranged live-wire daughter, Sibley, crashes the party. She’s the least of the night’s surprises. As the stakes for the inheritance of the Kingsley legacy are raised, the beautiful waters of the Pacific look more like a menacing illusion.

Let the games begin for a family who has everything money can buy, and has used lies, deception, and more to keep it. This weekend one of them will be crowned heir. One is in line to lose everything. That’s the plan. But in the coming storm, so much can go dangerously wrong.

Im convinced that rich families should not boat together. In most of these luxury yacht type settings, the weather turns bad, someone dies, or they get stranded somewhere. You would think that’s the worse thing that could happen.. well it’s not. Sibling rivalry, greed, and deception can rock a boat more then the weather.
You’re going to hate the Kingsley family. Seriously, there really isn’t one member that will have you on their side. They are all backstabbing, gold digging, and entitled millionaires. Of course, when the head of the family is looking for a successor, they circle like sharks. It’s infuriating and totally dramatic. Trapped together on a boat for the weekend, they can’t help but fight. It like watching reality tv, but on open water and in a book, lol.
While there are several secrets revealed, and even murder, the story wasn’t exactly a thriller. It’s more of a slow down and watch car wreck story, lol. You can’t stop reading because you know they will all keep digging their holes deeper, and you need to see how far they will go. The Kingsley family is definitely a storm to watch from the shore.

Mega rich Richard, along with his fifth wife, invites his children to an overnight trip on his newly acquired luxury yacht. Each of the sons is disappointed to see the other arrive as each believed they were the only one invited. They are hoping their father is finally ready to retire and name one of them as successor.

There is a lot of family discord in this one. Are any of them even suited for the roll of CEO?

As the secrets and drama unfolded, I was left not liking any of the characters. That will never stop me from enjoying a book though.

A few of the twists had me laughing as they were revealed to the family. You reap what you sow. Even the rich are not exempt.

A good family saga.

Thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc.

There is so much family drama going on in this fast-paced thriller. 95% of the book takes place in less than 24 hours... and what can go wrong on a family yacht trip where all the siblings hate each other, and everyone is hiding terrible secrets. So many hateful characters and so many twists; this book will have you guessing.

Richard is the patriarch of the family, and after leading a successful business for many years, he is getting older and ready to give up the reins. But who should inherit the business? His son John and attorney wife Rachel? His son Ted and stay-at-home wife Paige? Or maybe his estranged daughter Sibley? And of course, you can't forget his most recent bride Serena, who is wanting to enjoy his riches.

There are so many enjoyable, dislikable characters in this book, you can't really root for anyone. The bad things rich people do and get away with.