This is the perfect summer read because it includes everything you will love: An extravagant yacht, friends, wealth and secrets. I love the flashbacks from current day to the younger lives of the people aboard the boat, which is supposed to be a fun trip with close friends.

Summer and Belle have been best friends forever. Though now they live completely different lives, Belle and Summer had once ago been best friends. Now Summer is living the ritzy life that goes with having a rich boyfriend and Belle's life is much less glamorous. So when Summer invites Belle on a trip aboard her boyfriends's billionaire yacht, 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.

As trip takes a nasty turn, Belle soon realizes that the gap in between her friendship with Summer has not only widened over the years, it's as if they are from two completely different islands in a sea of misunderstanding. She wanted to enjoy a vacation but she is actually focusing on getting off the boat alive.

OMG! I LOVED THIS! LOVED IT! I started it yesterday and was up until 1AM finishing it. (Also: I have NO idea how I’m going to be a real functioning adult when school starts back next week.)

Belle is an aspiring actress living and bartending in LA. When she gets the opportunity to spend a week aboard a luxury yacht with her childhood friend Summer, she gets on the private jet. Summer is dating an older, married, and extremely rich man who needs pretty girls to help woo clients. However, all it’s not what it seems. Belle and the other girls are treated like prisoners not like guests - their passports are taken, they’re like in their rooms at night, there are bodyguards! The book is mostly told in the present tense, but flashbacks are used to tell about Summer and Belle’s relationship and sort of parallel what’s happening on the boat. And what is happening on the board is CRAZY, but the flashbacks are CRAZIER. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to give things away - just know there is SO MUCH more going on.

I received a copy from @netgalley and have BIG regrets about not reading it earlier! The audiobook was fantastic!

This is a book I did not know that I needed to read. I had heard so many great things and dove it. Damn, Summer is a bitch. The end caught me so off guard but I had to find out what happened. I didn't realize how much I would love Eric. he was such a badass pulling off what he did!

What a strange book. I wasn't sure what to totally expect when I picked up THE LION'S DEN, but this odd amalgamation of ideas just didn't quite work for me. It had an interesting murder mystery, but the flaunting of wealth and the paper-thin characters grated at me after a while. Additionally, moving back and forth through time was often confusing and I think it would have been a bit better if it had more of a linear narrative. Set on a yacht off of the French/Italian coast, Belle agrees to spend a week with her supposed best friend Summer who lives off of her insanely rich and older boyfriend John. But the other girlfriends, and Summer's Mom, sister, and sister's friend, are all acting strange and there is definitely something mysterious going on with John's henchmen and Summer's odd actions towards her friends. The book unfortunately asks more questions than it answers, and I just can't recommend this - even for a fun, summer read.

At first, I was not sure I liked the story of a bunch of rich people on a yacht, inviting friends to a week long birthday party. But there was much more to the story, as the cattiness and over the top luxury turns into mayhem and danger. Belle has been friends with Summer for a long time, when Summer invites her to join her and her fiancée aboard the Lion’s Den. Love interests, mobsters and beautiful scenery are all part of this entertaining novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Y'all this book was crazy. I was so frustrated at the things that these people put up with from their so called friend. This book did a great job of building suspense and then in the last 30% everything g exploded. I recommend for anyone who wants to daydream about being on a private yacht in France, with different company of course.

"The Lion's Den" by Katherine St. John has all the qualities of a quintessential beach read: exotic/lavish setting, quick action, and entertaining without having to invest too much thinking into your reading. Since vacations are pretty much cancelled right now, this book swept me away to a lavish yacht on the Mediterranean and left me dreaming of bright sunshine, azure waters, and endless champagne.

I may be in the minority, but this book was overall just ok for me. I liked it just fine, but there was nothing redeeming about any of the characters-- there was no one that I was actively rooting for in the book, including the protagonist herself. Personally, I need that element in a book that I rate above 3 stars. The setting, the constant action, and the dual timelines were positive attributes for me, and the book read quickly overall.

What’s the last book that kept you up way past your bedtime because you just couldn’t put it down? For me it was The Lion’s Den. I read it in one day because I couldn’t put it down.

When Belle has the opportunity to go on vacation with her friend Summer - how could she turn it down? Flying in a private jet to Italy, spending a week on a yacht - sounds amazing!! But you know what they say - if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

This is a perfect summer read and I highly recommend if you want a true pageturner. Don’t read much about the plot - just jump in and go along for the ride!!

Thank you to Grand Central and Netgalley for the advance reading copies. I also bought the audiobook with a credit from Libro.fm and highly recommend the audio.

If 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝟷𝟶 had a baby, it would be 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐧.⁣
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A week aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean with your best gals sounds like the perfect glamorous getaway...unless you're Belle. Between a gold-digging BFF, a controlling millionaire boyfriend and a supporting cast of other relatively unlikable characters things are not quite as polished as they seem on the surface. This yacht is drowning in secrets.⁣
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This was a great read for a weekend of camping. Flew right through it and couldn't figure out what the heck was going on until things finally started unfolding at the end. I was thoroughly entertained.⁣
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Disclaimer: Lots of language and an overly graphic sex scene⁣

I loved The Lion's Den! This was the perfect summer read for me. It had suspense, thrill, drama, and even a tad bit of romance.
The book begins with the main character, Belle, getting onto a private jet to go on an all-expenses-paid cruise in the Mediterranean. The kicker is that it's with her ex-best friend and clearly, things have not been great between the two of them lately. Belle's former BFF, Summer, has recently started dating a billionaire who is 40+ years her senior, and this trip is aboard his Yacht, The Lion's Den.
The book moved quickly and had alternating chapters between past and present, so we got an insight into Belle and Summer's former friendship and what caused it to fall apart. This had me hooked until the last page and I thought it wrapped up perfectly. The ending didn't seem rushed to me at all! Great debut from Katherine St. John, I'm looking forward to seeing what she publishes next!

This cleverly-written book is addictive and hard to put down! A five-star highly recommended book.

"Sure, she's out for herself, but at the end of the day, aren't we all?"

Have you ever wanted to read a suspenseful tale that reads like women's fiction (chick lit)? If that sounds like your cup of tea, this is the book for you!

Women's fiction consists primarily of stories about women and the intricate relationships they constantly balance. Now, add some black-hat bad guy, a class divide and a cast of characters that never seems fully trustworthy.

This is a classy novel. There's no graphic sex or violence, it's light on cursing and full of vibrant characters. If you're in the mood for something with a dark premise that plays out like a breezy beach read...this is it.

Belle is invited by her bff Summer on a glamorous getaway to the Mediterranean aboard her billionaire boyfriend's yacht. Their dream vacation turns into a nightmare as she and the other girls are treated like prisoners. Will Belle and her friends make it off the boat?⠀

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗻 is the deliciously 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 summer read. It’s full of suspense and intrigue, romance, drama, lies and secrets, gossip, and an excessive dose of...excess! The last part of the book is where all the action is and is so entertaining and hard to put down. This book was definitely worth the hype, and is an excellent summer thriller filled with dark secrets.
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• W A R N I N G S •⠀language, sex, cheating, sexual assault, talk of suicide, gaslighting, drugs⠀
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Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Pub for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.⁣

With a pandemic keeping most of us at home, why not while away a weekend with some backstabbing among the rich and famous and the wannabe rich and famous. The Lion's Den turned out to be a terrific little escape from reality for me. I kind of expected a lot of fluff but the story got suspenseful pretty quickly. And I'll just add here that there were some twists I did not see coming, which doesn't happen all that often, so it was super fun to be surprised. The book is well written, fast-paced, and perfect for a summertime binge read.

This book was so worth the hype! This was a fast paced book and I needed to know how it was going to end.

When Belle is invited on a Mediterranean yacht trip with one of her lifelong best friends Summer, she thought what could go wrong? Instead of a vacation she found herself being a prisoner of both Summer and her rich boyfriend John. This book switched between both the past and present and explores the relationship between the two friends who turned into enemies, and how they got to where they are.

I devoured this book. The rich is not always rainbows and butterflies and shows how people stop at nothing when money is involved. A few of the twists I had guessed from the beginning, but the ending was not was I expecting at all. The perfect summer read. Everyone should read this!

“A friends knife is always sharpest, but double betrayal is special torment.”⁣
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The Lion’s Den is an excellent summer thriller that takes us through past and present of Belle filled with dark secrets.⁣
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Belle is invited on a yacht of her best friend Summer’s new boyfriend traveling through the Mediterranean with the rest of their friends. There are many different characters but they each hold their own role in this twisty, suspenseful mystery. I was rooting for Belle the whole time.⁣
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Summer seems to use Belle and put her in poor situations so I wasn’t sure why she willingly went on this trip, which wasn’t near as enjoyable as you’d think a week on a yacht would be.⁣
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This was such a fun, page turner that I just wanted to see what was going to happen. I highly recommend it.⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for an ARC for my honest review.⁣
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#books #bookstagram #thriller #thelionsden ⁣

HOW IS THIS A DEBUT NOVEL?! This book has everything I love rolled into one - drama, gossip, romance, and a mystery. I couldn’t get enough of this book and devoured it. It is so so good and without a doubt one of my favorites for 2020! Bravo to Katherine St. John, I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

I have been all for romcoms recently, but this one was a nice change of pace. I didn’t read the synopsis of this before going in so I had no idea what to expect! ⁣
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I loved the setting of this book (mainly on a yacht off the coast of France and Italy), which makes for the perfect poolside/beach read☀️. The story alternated between past and present of how all the people ended up on the yacht⁣
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There were so many times when Belle, the main character, drove me insane because her actions didn’t make sense to me, of course until the end when it all came full circle⁣
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Another story of rich people having entirely too much money, and not acting like functioning members of society, one of my favorite kinds of books😂 Definitely pick this one up!

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, or is it money is the root of all evil?? Either way, this book will take you on the trip of a lifetime, although it’s one I doubt I’d ever want to go on myself!
St John tells the story in threads of past and present, which all culminate into an end I didn’t see coming. The characters are varied, some were witty, intelligent, and fantastic while others I simply wanted to smack! A great read with mystery, suspense, and romance, this one was hard to put down and I didn’t want to finish.

This was a great summer read for me. This was full of love and drama. I enjoyed rooting for some of the characters and hating the others. Just what I needed to take me away from the news and drama of life.