This book caught my attention and held it, page after page, until the very end. It’s an entertaining and compelling read, even if it isn’t the most original or revelatory story I’ve ever read. I took it with me to my doctor’s appointment today, then I read it while in line at the bank, and I read it while eating my burrito bowl from Chipotle after I got back home. I snuck in a food nap after the burrito bowl, but then it was right back to it, because I needed to find out what was going on and how this seemingly inextricable puzzle was going to be solved.

Ostensibly, this book initially reads like a book where someone desperate for a way out of difficult situation finds themselves in a feminist cult, mixed in with a message for the MeToo movement. Luckily, it’s not as cut and dried as all that, which sets it apart from the norm in this genre of thrillers. While I enjoy a good MeToo vengeance tale as well as the next bloodthirsty female, I like them more when the vengeance is not by proxy (as it is in this book). What I did enjoy about this book’s take on “Call your dad, you’re in a cult” is that Nicole, our protagonist, was already a curious and inquisitive person by nature with a stable and loving marriage in place when she’s approached to join Panthera Leo (the “cult”) in question, so she is naturally resistant to falling straight down the rabbit hole and doesn’t completely lose track of who she is and what she holds dear. A lot of cult novels would break up her marriage, have her throw away all her core beliefs and values, and have her hit some kind of rock bottom before she found a way to crawl out of the ruins. Instead of taking that approach, McKenzie has Nicole use her sharp brain and puzzle-solving mind to pull together the disparate strings of the Panthera Leo web and see the big picture.

It’s hard for me to admit that I like books where women don’t always look out for other women; or, if they do, it’s only to take advantage of their situation for personal gain. It’s hard to admit that I do often enjoy books where women fight and are enemies, bringing each other down and sometimes being really shady. But I do. I don’t think it’s realistic in any way to think women should or could always get along. There will always be competition for resources, no matter what those resources may be. And women have power struggles between one another too. It happens in other species, so it happens in humans. This book does contain that awful scenario where we have women wearing masks of friendship to disguise faces of selfishness and avarice. It makes you ask, “Why are the actors in our lives?”

I highly recommend the read if you’re looking for a feminist suspense thriller. That’s the best way to describe it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this title.

Nicole feels like her life isn’t turning out as planned. She is losing her dream home and her career isn’t exactly what she hoped for. When she gets invited to a women’s networking group, it seems like it is full of professional women, but is it too good to be true?
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Let’s be honest of course it’s too good to be true, but this was a fun ride and I enjoyed watching all the pieces come together in this one.
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Thank you @atria @letstalkbookspromo @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I went into this with high expectations as this is one of my favorite authors. The pacing was on point. I enjoyed the characters and their layers. Everything here was perfection.

Nicole Mueller has is all. A loving husband, a successful career, a beautiful apartment. So when she sees these things slipping through her fingers she jumps at the opportunity to regain control.
Panthera Leo an exclusive, by invite only, “girls club in a boys club world” with a very impressive list of members.
Nicole immediately starts reaping the rewards, but when it’s time to return the favor Nicole sees just how little control she has.

This was a weird one for me.
It is thrilling and fast paced, yet I found myself incredibly bored while reading it.
Having said that, when I saw the massive web the author had woven for Panthera Leo, I was blown away and genuinely impressed.

3.5/5 stars

Please Join Us is my fifth book by this author. I would categorize it as a combination of a thriller, and general fiction.

The book takes place in New York. The narrator is 39 year old Nicole (1st person POV). The book goes back and forth between THEN (June) and NOW (October). The past moves forward until it meets the present.

Nicole gets some bad news at her job (she is a lawyer). She then receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group. This group is led by Karma and Michelle and includes a bunch of powerful women.

The beginning was interesting because I did not understand what was happening in the present. The middle was mostly just Nicole getting more and more involved with the women's group. I did become more invested in the story towards the end. And I was anxious to see how the story would play out. I'm not sure that I was totally satisfied with the last part of the book. I thought that the story was going in one way (that would have been amazing). But then it shifted. And when discussing the ending with some friends many of them thought something totally different than me!

#PleaseJoinUs:⁣
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Tickity Tock, it’s cult o’clock y’all.⁣
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You know how on certain books another author will call a book, “explosive” and you just think, “what an interesting way to describe a book”. Well, say hello to a book that my personal blurb would just say: “explosive” ⁣
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I’m going to start off with high praise for audio. The audio was amazing. At first, I felt the story started pretty slowly and the pacing was off. Once the women made it to the compound, I felt the story really took off. I started the audio a little bit before this part, and I really felt like it helped me settle into the pacing. Also the reader, Joy Osmanski, just had it down. You could hear the resolve and confidence in Nicole. I don’t think this book was meant to be funny, but some of the sarcasm lines hit way too well to not have me laughing. ⁣
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There are so many twists, turns, red herrings that I felt like Lt. Mattias in Frozen 2. I swear I could hear McKenzie after the 4th bombshell, “but wait! There’s more!” They did not seem excessive or outlandish, they fit the plot well. I was a bit confused about the very last page, but other than that, I really enjoyed Please Join Us!⁣
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Thank you so much @simon.audio for the gifted copy! Please Join Us just released 8/23!

5 stars for a mind-blowing thrillride!

This one kept me up at night and had me looking forward to my commute just so I could crack this book back open and pick up where I left off!

This was quite the suspenseful story, I must say. It started with an invitation, and it ended with the sentiment of shock and dismay.

Imagine you received the invitation of a lifetime - a secret organization made up entirely of successful women aimed at elevating everyone to the next level. Women helping women, just like the "boys club" but make it a "girls club". But at what cost? How far would you be willing to go to succeed, and help others succeed, until you have to draw the line?

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this fantastic thriller ARC!

Nicole feels like she is on a downslide professionally, being passed over in her law firm by men. In her personal life, as she and her husband might lose their apartment when his aunt dies. A letter arrives from a group that promises that they can change things. Panthera Leo is a women's group that help promote each other in their "prides". The cost of it all becomes too much for Nicole when she is asked to cover up a murder. Things are not what they appear and Nicole begins to unravel the chain of Panthera Leo and starts to wonder if she can ever escape it. There were parts that dragged a bit for me but it picked up quickly when Nicole starts planning her revenge/escape and then another twist is thrown at you! The epilogue Letter was the perfect touch.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for a copy of this book for review.

This was so good. At first I thought this would just be a typical (aka boring) naïve idiot joining a cult and ignoring all the warning signs and *gasp* having to inevitably escape.

And...it was lol but it was done SO WELL. This was The Firm meets #MeToo and I was hooked so bad. Nicole is a strong and smart main character (even if naïve at first). I loved Agatha, Samantha, and Julia; and was intrigued by Connie and Heather. Great plotting and complexity and ending.

I do wish that women empowerment didn't mean being "like men," which always means all the negative connotations of that phrase. Sleeping around, treating people like trash, sexism, and severe anti-men-ism. Why can't we have our own version of Boss? We don't need to be "like men" or despise and demean men to be equal to men. We can be our own strong. And also there are a lot of good men out there in high positions.

Anyway. I highly recommend this thriller!

Many thanks to Atria Books for a free digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

Please Join Us, Catherine McKenzie

Cult thrillers are front and centre in 2022, becoming a sub-genre of their own. Please Join Us is but one. Unfortunately this one didn’t grab my attention in the same way others have this season. Yet, I see the appeal and have a feeling many readers will enjoy it.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the digital arc.

Thank you netgalley, Catherine McKenzie and ateia books for e-arc in exchange for honest opinion. Not aure if thriller themes come in waves but culta seem to be the popular thing to write about. This was goos wanted a bit more from.the story.



3.5 stars

Please Join Us
Catherine McKenzie

There are quite a few cult-centered thrillers being released this season. Please Join Us is one of them.

In PLEASE JOIN US, we’re following Nicole who after running with the wolves finds herself behind in the pack.

She responds to a secretive email invitation inviting her to join an exclusive networking group designed to help amazing women in their fields become even more awesome and circumvent the patriarchal system.

She quickly accepts the invitation and within a month she is plane bound for a team-building event by the networking group.

We follow Nicole as she navigates certain parameters of the event. And then she returns home where everything starts to unravel.

It’s a big bite for a thriller and I’m not sure the author was very successful.
I struggled at times with the writing. Parts of it felt stilted, almost forced. It lacked fluidity and similar to the main character- it lacked confidence.

The dialogue felt unnatural and the characters did and said things that were entirely unrealistic. I slowly began to focus on silly little details, which caused me to come out of the story.

There are several scenarios where the author is trying to convince the reader of the nefarious nature of the group. And a lot of the writing surrounding that concept came across as a little far-fetched and implausible.

And that’s where I think it will lose a lot of its readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books, and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copies!

PLEASE JOIN US…⭐️⭐️⭐️

I should have been able to read this in a day, but the first half did not really hold my interest and I didn’t really look forward to reading it. The second half picks up and becomes more interesting, making this just an average read .

The main character is a NY lawyer who is unhappy with the trajectory of her career at her law firm. She gets invited to join a secret society type networking group and things go off the rails from there. The ending was satisfying, but this won’t stay with me for long.

Nicole is a good lawyer, she loves her job..but sometimes she doesn't get the credit she deserves. When she receives an invite to Panthera Leo she jumps at it. Panthera Leo is a group of successful women who want to help other women succeed in a man's world. She meets some other women and thinks she has it made. Are things like they seem? What could possibly go wrong.

This was such a fast read. I love books with short chapters, it seems to make the book fly by! I liked the cultish/secret society vibes from this book. It makes the book a bit more creepy. I did like Nicole and her husband Dan.

The twists I didn't see coming...but for once I was trying not to figure out the book. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.


Thank you to NetGalley for my ebook and goodreads for my physical book!

A book with a questionable cult?! Yes, please!

Please join us is about a woman whose life is falling apart an elite women's networking group that will lift her back up. It seems too good to be true...until it is, forcing people into questionable situtations.

Is the concept for this book new? Absolutely not. We've read however many of these stories...from a man's perspective. We've seen so many shows with the storyline...from a man's perspective. It was super refreshing to see a somewhat known storyline turned on its head, just by changing who was behind it.

PLEASE JOIN US is an exceptional novel, suffused with feminism, empowerment, betrayals, #MeToo, marital juggling, familial elitism, women in the corporate world vs. the prevailing "old boys' club." It is stunningly convoluted, and our protagonist Nicole battles life, the "old boys," her in-laws, aging, and a process that claims to empower her but instead grossly entangles her, with the determination of a salmon fishing upstream to spawn. Corporate attorney Nicole verges on the edge of "unreliable narrator, " and she's not always endearing. What she is, is obdurate, and she won't EVER back down, and that was very endearing to me. This is a woman who seizes the reins of her life, and of some others, and despite shocking betrayals and life upsets, she just won't stop. She won't give up. She won't prostate herself in subjection: to anyone.


I also had to appreciate Nicole's husband, a man without her driving ambition, but who demonstrates a quantity of compassion and is a strong emotional support for Nicole, even during a period when he could have no idea how bad events were or how strenuously his wife was being tested, by circumstances, fate, and too much behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

Please Join Us is the subject of the email lawyer Nicole receives, inviting her to join an exclusive women’s networking group via a five day retreat in Colorado. Nicole has just received a less-than-stellar review at work and is floundering, and she latches on to the new friends she makes when she attends. Her husband is a little jealous to share her with these new women which he jokingly refers to as a cult… but maybe it’s not a joke...
I sat and read this pretty much straight through yesterday - I love a twisty, cult-ish thriller! If you like the same, I bet you’d enjoy this one which was just published last week. Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I had not read anything by the author, and I already placed a library hold on one of her previous books, Six Weeks to Live.

I found this to be an average thriller. There were a few twists and turns but nothing I found too exciting.

Attorney Nicole doesn't know how to fail, so she is reeling when her law firm mentor tells her she failed to earn enough points. Almost immediately, she is invited to join a women's networking group. Although she has some reservations, she goes on a retreat with the group and meets her "pride," a group of women she will be working with.

Her luck soon begins to turn. Although she and her husband are forced to move from their much-loved apartment, they find a newer one. Nicole is given a new case and a new associate. But she begins to sense everything is too good to be true, particularly when she is challenged with a test that challenges her morally.

This novel is the best of page-turning suspense, with so many double crosses my head was spinning at the end. #PleaseJoinUs #NetGalley

This might just be a case of picking it up at the wrong time but this is dragging for me. DNF at 22%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy.