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.

This is family dysfunction at its finest. Beneath the Surface was just a fun read about bad people doing bad things. Everyone in this family will do whatever it takes to get what they want.

Thank you to @netgalley and @thomasmerceruk for allowing me to review this book.

Give me ridiculously rich, ridiculously dysfunctional families behaving badly any day of the week. The Kingsleys’ weekend yacht trip to Catalina Island is filled with drama, sibling rivalry, secrets, luxury & so much delicious sounding food you’ll end up feeling hungry 😋

Family patriarch Richard and his latest wife Serena invite his two sons and their wives to join them on Richard’s latest luxury purchase - a yacht. Richard loves pitting his kids against each other and this time it’s all about who’s going to be the president of the family real estate development business.

This was such a fun, entertaining read! A whole slew of unlikable characters doing their best to get what they want. It was like a reality show on steroids and I was so here for it.

Richard Kingsley is a womanizing, narcissistic billionaire who has invited his two sons and their wives and his daughter to spend a weekend with him and his trophy wife on their new mega yacht. Richard dangles succession of his empire in front of his boys, the same boys he has been pitting against each other their whole lives. A storm is on the way, both literally and figuratively and it’s a deviously delicious story that will make an excellent film! I thank Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Awesome family drama read. So much for a nice family reunion, money is at stake and let’s face it, people will do almost anything for money!
Fast paced and fun read. Loved it!

You are invited on an over night voyage with your family. Sounds fun right? Well what if you find out you are competing for your inheritance? and there is only one winner? secrets start to surface. lies, horrible truths. maybe even deaths. when money is at stake people do crazy things.

This was an incredible read! Lots of drama, secrets and great storyline! Can't wait to read more from Rouda!

Think Succession family drama but trapped on a boat. If this has been marketed as a family drama it would've knocked it out of the park...but it is most definitely not a thriller. Given it has been classified as a thriller I have to compare it to other thrillers and there it falls short. It was way more suspense than major twists and turns.

This is the ultimate read of a rich family doing some shady things. As the patriarch drops a bombshell on his family, the group works to stay in his good graces and end up on top. Seriously as I read this one, I could not figure out who I disliked the most. As soon as I figured it out, someone else jockeyed themself to the top of the list. The tagline for this one could be people behaving badly. A lifetime’s worth. And while this seems like I didn’t like the book, it was kinda like a train wreck that I could not look away, or at least put down the book. I wanted to know what happened to this despicable family.

The Kingsley family goes on a weekend voyage on their father’s new yacht. The father is controlling, and when he brings up the family inheritance, the adult children are ruthless.

Beneath the Surface is told using multiple points of view with short chapters. The characters are devious. The story is fast-paced and wild.

A wickedly fun thriller. Secrets, scandals, and betrayals. This is the first book with The Kingsleys, and I look forward to reading more.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book about the dysfunctional Kingsleys. A family hungry on power and each determined to take over the family company. This book is part of a series and I read the second book before this one. It was interesting to read the characters knowing what happened in the second book. The books really can be read in any order and I highly recommend this series!

I highly enjoyed reading Beneath the Surface by Kaira Rouda. In this book, we meet the Kingsley family as they escape their everyday lives on their father's yacht. As the CEO of a big company, billionaire Richard Kingsley has a big decision to make about the future of his company. What ensues is something not to be missed. I loved the family drama all throughout this story. I have also received a copy of the next book in this series and I can't wait to read more about the Kingsley family!

CEO Richard Kingsley invites his sons and their wives on an overnight voyage with a special oppurtunity - to see who will gain control of their dads billion dollar real estate business. Then the messy, daughter shows up trying to get her stake. No one is honest, everyone is brutal (and not very likable), but its addicting to see what is going to happen on this ship. Went into this novel with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Read it very quickly in 2 sittings (would of been 1 if I didn't have work to interrupt me).

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to advance read this book! Out now and can't wait to see what others think.

Beneath The Surface
By: Kaira Rouda
Publish Date: September 5, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer, and the author Kaira Rouda, for the advanced copy of Beneath The Surface.

"Soon I will be announced as the leader of a huge multinational company. I have it all. At least, you could believe that if you didn't look beneath the surface."

I loved this book! I went into this book, without reading the summary and I was highly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! It is completely different that what I even imagined it would be about.
The story is told from each of the 7 main characters point of view. Although it changed from person to person each chapter, it flowed so flawlessly that it seemed like there were only a few characters!
Every family has their secrets, their issues. When billionaire Richard Kingsley invites his children, all of them and their wives, on his brand new, impressively huge yacht, they know it is to be in the running to take over the Kingsley Corporation. But, when one sibling tries to outdo the other, and they begin to fight, turn against and blackmail each other.....what could go wrong....or right?!!
I recommend this book for a fun, intriguing read!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the digital ARC of “Beneath the Surface” in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is full of unlikable characters that are quite entertaining to watch. Overall the plot moves slowly, with each chapter devoted to one of the Kingsley family members having the same argument as to why thy should take over the family business. It was fairly predictable and I expected more out of the ending.

While this started slowly, it certainly picked up!

This fun thriller is about wealthy people behaving badly. I personally love all the drama of the super wealthy. There is a full cast of characters you’ll love to hate.

Richard Kingsley has invited his children on his new mega expensive yacht.
Cue - the kids didn’t know their siblings are invited. Richards new, very much younger wife is hosting. Richard has an announcement.

Expect housewives of beverly hills vibes, secrets, betrayal, and lies with this fun popcorn thriller.

Many thanks to @netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced reading copy.

I tried a few times to get into this one. I loved her previous books, but I just couldn't get into it, sadly! I will still read her future books!

I do not want to leave a bad review on my accounts, so I will just post it here!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own!

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I don't really agree with its classification as a thriller. Maybe just a family drama. The problems I had are that none of the characters are likable. They are almost parodies of what they area supposed to be (the gold digger, the over-the-top toxic male head of the family, the idiot sons). The dialogue and storylines are just kind of repetitive to me. This looks as if its the start of a series, but I don't think I will continue on with it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.

Gripping family psychological thriller with many surprises and twists and turns. Secrets are revealed as the Kingsley family spends one fateful weekend on the family yacht, vying to be the successor to the family business. Great read with a somewhat surprising ending - I can't wait to read the sequel to this book.

I’ve read and enjoyed quite a few books from Kaira Rouda. I thought this was a good read though I did have a hard time with all the unlikable characters. I don’t have to love every character but it’s nice when there’s at least one to root for. That being said, I still read this from start to finish in just a day.

There is a second book in this series coming next year and I’ve already added it to my list as I am curious to see where the story goes next.

Overall an intriguing and entertaining story.

The concept of this story had great potential - somewhat-corrupt family decides successor when patriarch no longer can continue. But the execution needed a LOT more work to be successful. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.