I just couldn't get into this book. I tried, and while there are some dark themes (spousal abuse), that isn't what turned me off. Furthermore, I couldn't find an underlying a plot and the dialogue was very rough. I absolutely loathed Mitch, and it's kind of hard to enjoy a book when you can't stand one of the main characters. Unfortunately, it just didn't deliver on what the blurb promised.

This one was a struggle for me to get through.

I did like the authors writing style but I found all of the central characters to be shallow, selfish and unlikeable.. This made it difficult to identify with any of them or care about the issues they were dealing with

#Jeffrichardsladykiller #NetGalley

I'm not a fan of writing negative reviews, but sadly this wasn't the book for me.  I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the story is and was constantly willing something to happen, anything to make it a little more exciting.  It mainly follows Mitch, Dee and Gail as their relationships tangle in a messy triangle.  Dee wants Mitch, Mitch wants Gail, Gail wants Mitch but is married to Ed, and to top it all off Dee's ex-fiance is married to Mitch's ex-wife......... It was all a little 'too much' for me and felt a bit incestuous between friends if that makes sense!

There were some bits that got the action going a little - Dee trying to get what she wants, and a showdown towards the end but these were only small parts of the story.  

I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters.  I kinda liked Mitch on and off, but then realised he was just a bit of an idiot, playing around with Gail and Dee which was just making things worse.  Gail was a strong lady, having suffered abuse at the hands of her husband; and when she finally finds the courage to do something about it, it's a touching moment.  She for one seems to make some sensible decisions (although not all!).  Dee is calculating and malicious, I didn't like her at all!

Although the story covers long-term friendships, marriage and divorce, adultery, spousal abuse, love and second chances, I didn't feel like there was enough depth to the story.  It's a quick(ish) read and I'm sure some people will enjoy this but sadly not me.

A dark gory pictograph of this American life/Society. This is one that everyone will be talking about for years.

Perhaps this book wasn't my style or the writing isn't the type I'm drawn to, but the entire thing fell flat for me. I was interested based on the title and the cover art, but both were more dramatic than anything the book had to offer. The characters were flat and had almost no development, main character Mitch included, a divorced dad of two who seeks to...I don't know? He flits from woman to woman with no real basis as to why apart from that he can, and the women who sleep with him are just as poorly motivated. I couldn't connect with anyone in this book and the over the top stilted dialogue and rushed intimacy (again, with no grounds for it, it just HAPPENS, despite some of characters expressing trepidation/doubt about getting involved) were cringe-worthy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This had no impact on my review.

There’s plenty of social drama in Takoma Park, a liberal enclave just outside Washington, DC, when a group of people who’ve been friends since college face major life choices and changes. All part of the same community and babysitting co-op,where they find themselves dealing with everything from parenting to spousal abuse to post-divorce dating.

Mitch Lovett is divorced and on the dating scene again, but he made a mistake…and it may cost him everything that matters to him.

Dee Wynn has dreams of spending the rest of her life with the man she loves…and that may be a dream that will turn to a nightmare.

Gail Strickland is locked in an abusive marriage…and things are about to explode.

As the lives of these people and the rest of the babysitting co-op collide, tempers flare, relationships complicate and events unfold, leaving some characters forever changed.

For this reader, there was a lot of time spent leading to a climax, followed by an ending that resolved so much faster than the build-up that it ended up feeling rushed.

This story is about Mitch Lovett who is divorced and lives down the road from his children to be close to them. He and his ex-wife are friends with people they went to college with or some from school before that. At times they had dated someone else in the group. Mitch gets involved with two women, one married and one single. The story brings us through these relationships and how they end up.

I spent a lot of this book waiting for something to happen. Something I could care about. Something that would elicit some type of reaction, some type of emotion. Something other than a rundown of who's cheating who in this babysitting co-op. There is a story of obsession in there somewhere, but it's not enough to stir up any kind of mystery. It's actually rather pitiful, a childish attempt to get attention. Things do pick up in the last fifteen percent or so, but it's over quickly. I did finish the book, but I'm left a little confused as to what this story was aiming for. The thing is none of the main players are exactly innocent. It's just that there are varying degrees of guilt among them, and none of them stir even an ounce of empathy. There isn't one character in this story that I felt like I could relate to. The blurb tells us that Lady Killer explores spousal abuse, and it's certainly in there, but I wouldn't call it an exploration. It's more a this is why she did this and why he reacted that way, and so on. I will agree that there are some tragic consequences, but it's all over so quickly that it doesn't have the impact that it should. There is plenty about Mitch and who his flavor of the week may be, which is talked about more often than not among the ladies of the co-op. This one is a quick read, and in the end, that's really the best of it for me.

Uff - I honestly hate writing bad reviews when I don't have much positive to say, but I can say that I at least finished the book. This one just wasn't for me.

The title doesn't really live up to what you expect, even with reading the synopsis. I struggle to figure out what the point of this book was really about. It touches on domestic abuse and maybe would've read better coming from the point of Gail and her struggles rather than Mitch, who was completely unlikeable (which, as you know, I don't typically mind). Unfortunately there was no flow and the dialogue felt forced and unnatural. The sex scenes were cringe worthy - especially the very first one and I almost stopped reading there. However, I kept going thinking there was going to be some point coming and when there was a bit of a climax, it fell flat like the sex Gail was getting from her husband.

While I guess the point is to tell the tale of Mitch and Gail and their struggles to make decisions in their lives that are hard and against what they've been used to doing... it wasn't written in a compelling way and the last chapter or two was a rush of … not much. I only felt a twinge for one character and was happy with her ending.

Sorry, not my cup of tea and I'm so glad I don't live in that neighborhood.

I would probably go to 3-1/2 stars if I could. The book blurb drew me to this book. The story was interesting in that it followed a group of people who had been friends from college on through the first part of middle age. I found some of the characters to be likeable and some, not at all. The love triangle was pretty much as I expected. It contained a lot more domestic drama than I was prepared for. Not a bad book, but not a personal favorite. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

The Lady Killer is Mitch Lovett. He's a divorced father of two, good looking 42-something, fit, gainfully employed, and he likes the ladies ... and they like him back.

He's still on good terms with his ex-wife, and she's now married to Mitch's girlfriend's ex-fiancee. He's sleeping with Dee .. and she's only too happy to tell anyone and everyone. But Mitch isn't as elated as she seems to be.

He falls into an affair with Gail, who's been a friend for several years. Her husband, ED, is an abuser and has a temper that flares all too often and violently.

Needless to say Ed flies off the handle when he is sent an anonymous letter claiming his wife is having an affair with Mitch.

And then all hell breaks loose.

This is a character driven novel involving spousal abuse, lying,cheating., sex, obsesssion, drama, love and hate and relationships in general. Not all the characters are likeable ... they all seem to have one issue or another. It's like driving by an accident ... you don't want to look, but you can't help yourself.

The story premise was interesting, although not unique. It was mostly predictable with an ending that left me a bit disappointed.

NOTE: There are very graphic intimate moments.

Many thanks to the author / Main Street Rag / Netgalley for the digital copy of LADY KILLER. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

A suburban nightmare where spouses are passed around between “friends” when they are done with them. This is a story that will hold your attention as you try to figure out what makes these people act the way they do. Mitch is getting over a divorce and finds himself in bed with one of his wife’s best friend. Following this incident things get crazy as the relationship goes nowhere. A fit of jealousy sends things spiraling and puts life in danger. In the end the damage is done and several people are left affected.

Mitch is a bit of a l"ladies man". Hes a recently divorced dad of two. But there's something about him that women find appealing. He has remained friends with a groupmfrom college. He starts a romance with two women, Gail and Dee. But then a jealous husband arrives on the scene. Gail's husband is abusive. This is a story about abuse, jealousy, sex and obsession.

Yes, I can see how love triangles start. After all, they happen all the time. I neither liked or disliked any of the characters. They seemed a little lack luster. The writing was not the best either. The word "pecker" (who still calls their manhood that?) was a bit overused. The story is very slow to start with but it does pick up a little. When the action happened it was over in a flash. This is a very quick read.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Main Street Rag and the author Jeff Richards for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

This one was a struggle for me to get through. Honestly I don’t really think that the book lived up to its description. I found all of the central characters to be shallow, selfish and unlikeable.. This made it difficult to identify with any of them or care about the issues they were dealing with. The premise of the story and subject-matter can be difficult enough, but when we can’t find any of the characters to like, reading becomes a chore. I personally cannot recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC..

I almost did not finish this book. The main character is very difficult to like, and the women surrounding him in the story are just as unlikable. It is a slow burn, leading to a very breathless ending. It wasn't a waste of time, but it isn't one that I will be recommending to friends, either.

This is the story of a man pursued by 2 women - one is trying to get out of an abusive marriage, and the other woman is single and determined to keep that man no matter what. It was a good read.

Coupling and uncoupling. A lot of relationships in this book and a lot of busy gossip, tattletales etc.
You just know how it's gonna end...

I've attempted to read this book several times and unfortunately it just has not captured my interest. Thank you for the opportunity to review but it just isn't my cup of tea.

I'm on the fence with this book. At times I felt that it read quickly, but the majority of the time it was slow paced. I kept waiting for something to happen. I found it to be interesting enough but it's not a book that will stick with me.

As I sat down to write this review, I wondered why on earth I liked this book. Many of the characters border on unlikable, I detest adultery in fiction (and real life, too, of course), and I have almost nothing in common with any of the characters or their circumstances. Yet against those odds, I still liked the book. The only other book I've enjoyed despite these issues is The Great Gatsby. I haven't figured that one out, either.

The probable ending haunts the beginning chapters. It's easy to see what could happen. I wanted to reach into the story and shake some sense into the characters. Can't you see that you're making a mistake? You have kids! Why are you doing this?!

Sleeping with your best friend's ex-husband and calling to brag about it. Carrying a loaded gun around the house after you've been drinking too much. Flirting with a woman with an abusive husband. These are troubled characters. It's hard to feel sympathy for how they destroy their own lives. But it also makes them realistic, too.

Maybe I misspoke (mis-wrote?) earlier when I said I had nothing in common with the characters' life circumstances. Dee is rather full of herself, with an inflated sense of her own beauty and allure; who calls her best friend to brag about her sexual escapades with that woman's ex-husband?

Yet there were moments when I did identify with her. Her sense of self has become wrapped up in Mitch Lovett. (Cue memories of high school and college, when I was the same way!) When she realizes that Mitch cheated on her--though he is hardly hers--the truth tears her apart. She finds that she has nothing left. The life she thought she had? It was only an illusion.

I feel the same way about Gail. She's haunted by the past, abused in the present, and confused about the future. The tragedy in her past makes me sympathize with her and understand how she married Ed, an abusive man with whom she shares little in common. (Cue memories of college, when I did similar things, minus the abusive marriage.)

The story unfolds slower than the typical thriller, and the pacing and tone is more literary than the standard crime or suspense novel. So if you're looking for heart-stopping action and unexpected plot twists, look elsewhere.

Yet it's also an easier read than many literary novels are. Richards doesn't bog down the narrative with flowery descriptions or excessively-detailed introspective narratives. If you're looking for ultra-literary prose, then you'll need to look elsewhere.

The bottom line is this: it's a slow burn of a story, starting out slow and speeding up later. It takes a while to get into the rhythm of the story. But once I did, it was rewarding.

Thanks to Emily HagenBurger of MindBuck Media Book Publicity and Main Street Rag for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

(Blog post review will be published on September 16, 2019.)