3.5🌟
Anchors away!⚓

A family get together. A trip to Catalina island on a state of the art yacht! Sounds perfect right!?

Just one small hiccup. Everyone in this family hate each other! Oh yeah…it’s going to be a choppy cruise!

Richard and Serena: the patriarch of the family with bride number four (or perhaps it's five.) LOL! He has things to discuss with his children. They’re not all going to like what he has to say!

John and Rachel: The eldest son who jumps at everything his father says, he can never quite measure up in his wife’s eyes. What lengths does he have to go to in order to win everyone’s approval.

Ted and Paige: The youngest son currently out of the family business but hoping that will change. While Paige is preparing for their lives as empty nesters, how will she now fill her time.

Sibley and Colson: The only daughter, and her highly questionable boyfriend. The black sheep of the family, she likes to create a scene wherever she goes…the yacht included.

As the waves begin to rise so does the tension between these family members!

I am a huge Kaira Rouda fan! But sadly this might be my least favorite of her books so far (most are five star). She always writes unlikeable characters, and that’s ok with me! I expect that from her...and look forward to them. But this cast just didn’t give me the snark I’ve come to expect. They all came off a bit weak instead of the power hungry nasties we love to see.

This is book one of a new series. And I’m not sure I’ll be running to pick up book two. Okay…who am I kidding! It’s Kaira Rouda! Of course I’ll be reading it!🤣

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer

Succession meets White Lotus on the high seas. An excellent read that takes you on a sleek super yacht with a family who are tearing at each other until they reach land. Family secrets rise to the surface with every page.

4.5 rounded up
Not a likeable character in the bunch but couldn't stop reading it. Great twists and turns. Looking forward to more time with the Kingsley family. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book was good but not unique in any way. Wealthy family full of screaming and backstabbing. Not one of her better books in my opinion.

If you thought your family was dysfunctional, move over for the Kingsleys. The Hatfields and the McCoys had nothing on the Kingsleys versus themselves.

Ted and John Kingsley, along with their wives, will meet their billionaire father aboard his yacht, the Splendid Seas. He owns it with his 4th - and youngest - wife. Both brothers believe their father is poised to retire as CEO of the family business, and each believes he's the better son for the new role. Ted is the younger golden child with the good looks and charm. John is the older, reliable, boring one with 2 adorable kids. Their narcissist father, Richard, enjoys seeing then squirm and vie for his attention when competing for the CEO spot.

Youngest child (and most reckless) Sibley shows up unannounced with her strung-out boyfriend, determined that she should inherit the business. With more twists and turns than most thrillers, the lying, cheating, stealing, and mind games kept me hooked. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

What better than a family with lots of secret's on a yacht near a secluded island during a storm! Such a good read!!It honestly just kept getting better and better as the story unfolds.

First of all, I think I had this book confused with another that I wanted to read, so it was not what I expected, so there's that.
Secondly, while I managed to finish the book, I did not like it at all. The entire book is filled with pages and pages of a cheating, manipulative family, all bickering about who deserves to take over the family company when Daddy dies. Everyone hates everybody else and thinks only they deserve to have the job. One son thinks it so much that a tragedy occurs, which is quickly covered up.
There was not one single character in the book, and there were several, that I could muster any kind of likeable feeling about. They were all horrible people who deserved what they got.
Thanks, NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer foo letting me read this...I think.

Book Title: Beneath the Surface
Author: Kaira Rouda
Series: The Kingsley #1
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: September 5, 2023
My Rating: 3.5 Stars!
Pages: 264

This is my sixth author, Kaira Rouda novel ~ they have ALL been great. I requested this knowing nothing about only that I love this author!

You are cordially invited to an overnight voyage on the “Splendid Seas”.

(This invitation made me laugh as we live in Southern California and have been to Catalina
Island several times. Just as the songs lyrics state “Twenty-six miles across the sea”.
It takes approximately 90 minutes from Newport Beach to Catalina Island.
Hmm an overnight voyage seems that it must go in circles!)

The invitation to Catalina Island is to Ted and John Kingsley and their wives from billionaire patriarch Richard Kingsley. The idea is for the family to reconnect however the heirs know it is an opportunity to see who is fit to gain control and run the family’s real estate empire.
Story is told from the POV of Paige, John, Serena, and Richard the billionaire dad.
Richard (80 years old) has come up with a contest; he and his fifth and newest wife (38 year-old) Serena won’t make it an easy win.

Then we have Richard’s estranged daughter, Sibley who just appears via a water taxi.
Yep! The stakes for the inheritance of the Kingsley legacy are raised.

Although not the typical ‘Rouda’ spark I was expecting ~ perhaps it was just 🤔
However, I did like the ending! I am actually looking forward to ‘Keeping up with the Kinsley’s Book #2!
.
Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for granting me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 5, 2023.

This was my first book by Rouda, and I can definitely say it will not be my last!

Full of drama, secrets, jealousy, sibling rivalry, deceit and power struggles, the Kingsley family is all sorts of messed up.

When it comes to who will inherit the family company that is worth billions, nothing is off limits for each of the Kingsley children.

This thriller is full of twists and turns, and just when you think you have someone figured out, it turns out you don’t!

I could not put this one down, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a thriller involving family members.

Kaira delivers again this time with the start of a new series. Scandalous secrets, rich people you love to hate and twists and turns on the high seas this is one that you don’t want to miss. I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Beneath the Surface was the first book from this author that I have read. I enjoyed the switching of the points of view because it brought other characters into the mix. I thought it was interesting that the author had a point of view that wasn’t one of his children, but I loved that. You have love/hate relationships with most of the characters and get sucked into their lives. Honestly, I forgot I was reading a book most of the time. This was a great book, and it will not be my last from this author.

Kaira Rouda does it again with the story of an aging millionaire whose children are embroiled in a bitter find over his money and will go to any lengths to control the fortune. So good!

Well, the cover is nice. It pains me to say that I did not really enjoy a Kaira Rouda book. This one fell flat. Getting everyone's point of view made for a repetitious, tedious read. Anticlimactic and, overall, boring.

The Richard Kinglsey's children all want a part of their billionaire father's company and all three are ready to compete to get what they feel they deserve and have earned. When Richard calls his three children together with their spouses to spend some time on his new private yacht each child hopes for a chance to get some time alone with their father and convince him that they are worthy to take over the company.

Beneath the Surface was full. of drama, twists, turns and backstabbing. Most of the time I flip flopped on which child was the least deserving and in the end the only likable character was Paige although I do think that she was probably the most manipulative of the bunch. I am looking forward to the Kinglsey's book #2.

For an honest review, I received this ARC.

Siblings....if you love stories about siblings try to out maneuver and screw over their siblings at every possible turn, then this book is for you. Wealth doesn't buy family love.

When wealth allows you to do anything you want, you have four children with four different women, you find out you have chronic heart disease - things get sticky, The characters are superficial and there is no need to want to like them. They are all after one thing.

A quick read for anyone.

Rounding up from 4.5 stars.

Beneath the Surface is about a CEO father who invites his three adult children on an overnight trip on his very glamorous yacht. All of the children are eager to become to future CEO of the company and are willing to do just about anything for the title.

This book was wild, filled with the MOST family drama. I think I said “damn this family is effed up” at least a few times while reading. I couldn’t read fast enough while getting to the end because I NEEDED to know who wins.

This is my first book read by Kaira Rouda and it absolutely won’t be my last. I loved the writing style and it kept me engaged beginning to end.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I definitely recommend this book that comes out 9/5/23.

#BeneaththeSurface #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel.

Drama, lies, and betrayal, oh my! Richard Kingsley is a CEO, billionaire, and patriarch of his family. He invites his adult children and their significant others aboard his yacht, the Splendid Seas, to reconnect. Richard is on his fifth wife and is also 80 years old, nearing retirement. His kids are expecting to see who will be named the heir to his successful global company and lavish lifestyle. While Richard might be a very prosperous businessman, he is certainly not a standout father. What they don't know is that this weekend's escape is going to be a challenge, a game if you will, where Richard pits his kids against one another. Sibling rivalry at its finest as one brother already works for the company, and one left it under suspicious terms. Then, there's the wild card, the younger sister who is a very unlikeable person.
Beneath the Surface was pure entertainment, and a wild ride! With twists and turns at every stop on this cruise, I was hooked until the end. I can't wait to see what will happen in Part 2 of the Kingsley series!

Thank you to Netgalley, Kaira Rouda, and Amazon publishing.

Riveting Familial Drama…
Billed as the first in The Kingsleys Books this riveting familial drama hits the sweet spot between scandal, gossip, ruthlessness and downright unpleasant characters. A controlling billionaire patriarch with many ex wives as well as a current one, a clutch of offspring and their respective partners and a real estate empire that every single one of them wants to control. What could possibly go wrong on a weekend voyage with this particular family? The answer is probably everything. Compelling and entertaining, the author makes good use of her penchant for creating the obnoxious.

The Kingsley family is perfect, so it seems, but what secrets lie just Beneath The Surface? Richard, the patriarch of the Kingsley family has a successful company but he is growing old and needs to name a successor, he invites his family on a trip to Catalina for an important decision, however things come to the surface and secrets are revealed. The twists and turns of this novel kept my interest piqued with every turn of the page!