The Kingsley family drama continues in Under the Palms and if you thought Beneath the Surface was twisted, wait until you get your feet in the sand with this one. The brothers are still scheming to prove they should be running the company when Paige decides to plan a retreat for everyone at a high end resort at Laguna Beach. Just as surprises came aboard in the last book, sand blows a few surprises onto land as well in this one. This family seems to always live by keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Fires threaten the area with the Santa Ana winds blowing in and deaths once again surround the Kingsley family during a time of intense weather where chaos ensues and almost anyone could be the culprit. Faced with trying to keep her status, Paige stops at nothing to prove she once again is the best at running the company and so much for giving others second changes to prove they have changed. Even though blood is thicker than water, that doesn't seem to mean anything and anyone will do anything to see that blood run if it means gaining the power of running the Kingsley company. I am very curious to see what happens in book three with how this one ended. Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for the free ebook and tour invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

During a weekend retreat, a powerful family plays a dangerous game of dark secrets and cold-blooded ambition in a novel by Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Beneath the Surface.

Under the Palms by Kaira Rouda is the second novel in the Kingsley family series and it is just as good as Beneath the Surface. There's something about a scheming, dysfunctional, crazy family that whets my whistle and Kaira is an expert! I love the feeling when I can picture myself smack dab in the middle of the book I'm reading and Kaira does that every time. Twisty, suspenseful and deliciously thrilling is how I'd describe Kaira's writing.

Under the Palms by Kaira Rouda is an interesting and witty mystery thriller keeping you on edge every time. The book is the second in the Kingsley Series. Under the Palms can be read as a standalone but, if you want to enjoy it deeply then you need to read the first book also. The characters were strong and clever. Women characters had much to do in this story. The plot picks its pace right from the start. The story is mainly focused on dark sides of wealth and how it can change relationships in a family.

I am reading the author for the very first time and I think I definitely need to read the first book. The book has excitement, tension, lies and deceit and you will never be able to guess the end. The book deserves 4 stars. Thanks to Netgalley.

Could I be a Kingsley for a day? Of course, as long as I had a full suit of body armor and access to a whole lot of dirt on every member of this Cray Cray super rich family.
Paige Kingsley is doing her best to run Kingsley Global Enterprises. But Richard’s displeasure along with his sons, John and Ted(her estranged husband) have Paige hanging on by a thread.
Did this family learn anything on their ill-fated yacht trip. Apparently not. Each of them wants some thing and honestly I don’t think anyone in this group has even one scruple. If you didn’t read Beneath the Surface you have plenty of time before this book publishes. The author includes enough backstory, so you won’t be lost, but the first book was so much fun and it’s just not worth missing.
So these are my main questions as I was reading this book. No spoilers, but lots of questions.
Can Paige hold onto her role in the company?
Can Richard ex-wife Serena win him back?
Will John and Ted work together or against each other?
How much of John’s money can his girlfriend Krystle spend in one weekend?
Is Paige’s assistant Justin working for or against her?
Will Sibley make her father love her?


Lots of twists and turns, and this was another page flipper. I think maybe these characters are more self-centered than in the last book. This publishes in May and it will be a terrific beach read.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Have you been wondering what the Kingsley family has been up to since their fateful yacht excursion in Beneath the Surface? Well, wonder no more, because the family you love to hate is back in Kaira Rouda’s newest book, Under the Palms. This one picks up not long after the previous book ended, with daughter-in-law Paige Kingsley recently installed as the president of Kingsley Global Enterprises, while the two brothers scheme to dethrone her. When the family gathers for a business retreat at a swanky Laguna Beach resort, disasters both natural and man (woman!) made threaten to befall them.

This popcorn thriller is an entertaining blend of greed, corruption, and betrayal! Krystle Carrington would agree: the uber-wealthy Kingsleys are reminiscent of all the 80s nighttime soaps I grew up sneaking a peek of: Dynasty, Dallas, and Falcon Crest. Every single character is unlikeable but in a way that you just can’t help but enjoy! It’s fun to see former enemies unite against a common foe as well as meet new faces that might not be as sweet and innocent as they seem. When somebody meets the ultimate fate, everyone’s got a motive, and it kept me on my toes trying to guess the culprit!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Kaira Rouda is one of my favorite authors and I was pleased to find out that the Kingsley's were coming back! This family is greedy, devious, and full of drama. The twists and turns never end. This was a great story and kept me reading to the end to find out what happened.

I actually enjoyed this one a little more than the first book-Beneath The Surface. The drama with the Kingsley’s is always intense. I thought this was a very easy read. I think I finished it in 3 days. The only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars was that I knew who the murderer was almost immediately. Overall I loved this & I’m glad we got answers about what happened to the Kingsley’s.

The Kingsley family is at it again. What an absolutely delicious story of greed, murder, money, lies and everything in between!!!

5 HUGE stars for this family saga that takes dysfunction to the next level! If you love the show Succession you will devour these books!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that Kaira Rouda continues this fantastic story!!!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book…what a ride!!!

The Kingsley family returns!! I’ve been looking forward to this sequel of the back stabbing and greedy family. As the patriarch prepares to pass on his company, we join in the story as his sons, daughter , daughter-in-law AND ex-wife all have plans to remain in his good graces and his will.
This family! Oh my, the backstabbing, convoluted plans and sneakiness of this family!
Rouda does not disappoint as she draws us right back into their lives. How does she come up with all these twists? You won’t see them coming!

3.75 stars

Under The Palms is the sequel to Beneath the Surface (The Kingsley series) by Kaira Rouda. The story focuses on a very wealthy but dysfunctional family where everyone is working an angle, scheming, and making alliances to take over the running of the company empire from the aging billionaire father. This novel is full of scandalous goings-on and people behaving badly - reminded me of Dynasty! There is murder, lies, backstabbing and swindling - all that sinful stuff to get caught up in! Lots of soapy goodness.

Fans of Beneath the Surface will want to check this one out!

Under The Palms
By: Kaira Rouda
5🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

I was thrilled when Rouda announced a sequel to Beneath the Surface about The Kingsleys. A ruthless family with secrets on top of secrets.
🌴
After Richard Kingsleys names his new predecessor as Paige his daughter-in-law, his sons are not happy.
🌴
Paige has planned a retreat for the company and everyone is invited to a swanky resort. Ted is her shady husband who cheats and sees himself as the successor, and wants Paige to step down and John the eldest who wants control as well. Richard has also threatened Paige.
🌴
Everyone is hiding something and they all share a secret which can bring the whole company down. After a death occurs, chaos erupts as the Santa Anna winds are fierce and fires around the resort add to the tensions of all the family members. WHO will turn on each other? WHO will survive?
🌴
I would love to see another book with The Kingsleys! Thank you!

This is one of those books that I read and feel immensely grateful for being able to read them way before anyone else does. I also feel immensely grateful for being able to discover authors like this one. and then, I want to scream from the rooftops about what I have read, about the book, about the author, about how it made me feel, how it stays with me, how I keep thinking about it, how it has somehow creeped out of my kindle, out of my mind, and found a way to live a life with me, here, in the real(-ish?) world.
Let me start by warning everyone that this is book two in the series. While it will work perfectly well if you never read book three (there is going to be the book three as far as I know!), it will work way better if you do read book one first. I don’t feel like this works as a 100% standalone. Yes, lots of background info from book one is repeated, but still, I think book one is a must before you pick up book two.
This book reads slightly differently from the 1st one. No one is as horrible as they were in the 1st book (or am I just desensitized by now?). They still are not nice people, none, but they feel less horrible.
This Kingsley family seems to be magnets for all sorts of natural disasters (that also bring tech mishaps with them). The 1st book was the storm and no comms. The 2nd book is hot winds and the looming doom of fire.
Richard and his family members who don’t love him make me think he is the textbook example of “you've made your bed, now lie in it” saying. The Kingsley wealth pie is so huge and so lucrative that everyone and their mother wants a piece of it. Yet by now, it is so crystal clear that the whole pie is rotten, and it ruins anyone who ever touches it, and to me, it looks like the whole pie should be just burned down and its ashes scattered. Or shared between all those who wanted a piece of it so desperately.
Compared to the 1st book, it was both tamer and wilder at the same time. When you think you have seen it all, read it all, then a new layer of wild craziness is uncovered. By the end of the book you (me, that is) realize that the people in this book were both more horrible (is that even possible with this horrible family?) and way nicer. At. The. Same. Time. How is that even possible, right?

I was reading it as an exciting and entertaining wild book, I honestly no longer expected any more twists and turns. I thought it was all there, in-your-face. You read, you see, you are horrified, you are entertained, you facepalm, you make weird sounds, and you make crazy faces as you go. But then – huh, a twist? I was not expecting that one. Not only I was not expecting a twist at all, but I was also never expecting THAT twist. Yet somehow it didn’t shock me in the slightest. No matter how unexpected it was, it did something even more unexpected to me – it made me SMILE. This huge, manic grin. I was grinning and nodding, and going all – mmm yes, mmmm perfect, well done!
The bone-chilling ending. And the next bone-chilling realization that the end is not there. The end is not near. Nowhere nearby. There will be another book in the series. Yes, you heard that right and you heard it from me. There will be book three. And I cannot wait to read it.
This horrible family is addictive, especially the way their way of life sends shivers down your spine at the times you expected them the least.

My favorite quote? Here you go!
Ted Kingsley at 44%, “You don’t really know anyone: not your best friend, not your lover, not your spouse. Not really. Not ever.”

Thank you @kairarouda and @thrillerbookloverspromotions for the #gifted copy of this book!

Grab your martinis…the Kingsley Clan is back and they are crazier than ever! This is book two in the Kingsley family series and in my opinion should be read in order. Make sure you grab Beneath the Surface first!

In this book there is a new president in the Kingsley family, Paige, and not everyone is happy about that! The two Kingsley brothers feel they should be next in line over Paige and oh, we can’t forget about Ted, Paige’s estranged husband too! Everyone seems to want a piece of the pie and the they all will stop at nothing to get it. There is murder, backstabbing, lying and unexpected bonds that are forged and it seems in the end the best man or woman will be left standing!

If you enjoy watching shows like Succession you are going to love reading this book.

Paige Kingsley is the current President of Kingsley Global Enterprises. She has organized a retreat for executives and board members at Laguna Beach Resort. She knows she will have to fight to keep the President position and she is armed with a plan and ready to implement it. The Kingsley men are all fighting to be the head of the company. It was entertaining to read all the back stabbing, lying and manipulating to try and get to the top. Some truly awful human beings but makes you glad this isn't your family.

This was second in the series but works as a stand alone.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the e-arc.

This is one part thriller, one part "rich family soap opera drama", combining in an explosive sequel to the first Kingsley novel. The pace is just right and the family drama is delicious! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕.

The Kingsleys are back, and the drama, scandal, and intrigue that set the tone for the first book is amplified in this second installment, set in a lavish Laguna Beach resort.

Richard Kingsley, the family patriarch who is struggling to manage a heart condition, has appointed his daughter-in-law Paige to run his company. Paige has called the family to the resort for a company meeting. When a bad business decision sours Richard's opinion of Paige, his two sons vie to win the approval that Richard has always withheld. Add in daughter Sibley, the black sheep of the family, and a colorful cast of supporting characters, including the famed Santa Ana winds, and you've got a story steeped in debauchery, power, betrayal, and murder.

I absolutely love this wild series that is pure, unadulterated fun. With tabloid snippets prefacing some of the chapters, the family's power struggles and dark deeds take on a voyeuristic tone. To the average person, celebrities aren't 'real' people, and it's easy to see their problems as all superficial since it's assumed they all have such power and wealth. Will you root for any of these characters? Probably not, but you will certainly marvel at how realistically crafted and flawed they all are. I cannot wait for the next installment, and I thanks Thriller Book Lovers Promotions, NetGalley, and Thomas and Mercer for this early read. This title will publish May 21, 2024.

This is a fast-paced thriller about money and power. Everyone in the family wants it but the question is: who will lead the Fortune 100 company now that the billionaire father, Richard Kingsley, has stepped down? This follows the first book, “Beneath the Surface” when the family goes on a weekend voyage which ends up with unresolved deep secrets.

Now, it’s all about the control of Kingsley Global Enterprises. The readers may be surprised that Richard’s daughter-in-law, Paige, has been appointed as the president of his company and it’s not a pretty picture. She has made a big financial mistake and his two sons, John and Ted, are eager to take over. But will she let go? Paige has arranged for a weekend board retreat at a fancy hotel in Laguna Beach. Of course, the weather may be a factor with strong Santa Ana winds and the possibility of fires.

Their world is full of revenge and what they think they deserve. It starts to feel repetitive with everyone’s goal for the gold. I felt it wasn’t as exciting as the first book but it’s a short, full of suspense and a good beach read. I wish the author included more about the dangers of the fires in the area which would have added a huge challenge. Perhaps it will be part of the next book.

My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book which has an expected release date on May 21, 2024.

Kaira Rouda's latest novel, "Under the Palms" was a quick, suspenseful read. While my favorite stays at an earlier novel, this was a great read.

The Santa Ana winds make people do crazy things. The kingsley family is back, this time at a family retreat complete with extreme weather warnings.
This is the second book in the Kingsley series and I enjoyed it more than the first book! It’s a quick read that only took me 2 days to breeze through.
We meet some new characters in this book and more secrets are revealed. Overall I really enjoyed this book however I do feel like some loose ends weren’t tied up but maybe they’ll be another novel coming!
Thanks to NetGalley and Kaira Rouda for the ARC. Look for the book May, 2024