This author was a new one for me! I enjoyed this book but thought it was a little long. Looking forward to what else she has written and will write. Love the cover and the storyline was intriguing. I'm thinking my followers will enjoy too. Until the next one!

Told through two alternating points of view and timelines, this is a suspense novel that will keep you guessing…even after the last page. Heiress Gia is newly married but something isn’t quite right with her new husband. She begins detailing each day in a scathing manuscript. When Gia goes missing, her brother Benny and best friend Abby search for her, thanks to one big clue: the manuscript she left behind. From dark secrets behind closed doors to past trauma trudged back up, tensions are high as they try to find where Gia could be.
I had high hopes for this early on and really got captured by Gia and Abby’s stories. But it went stale closer to the last third of the book, and the ending was somewhat bland and disappointing. Would’ve loved a little more suspense and closure.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oof, mixed feelings here!

On the one hand, I LOVED so much of this. Love love loved Gia's manuscript and feeling like a detective, trying to figure out how much of it was true, and really loved Abby + Benny's storyline. The twists at the end were very fun and well-placed, and the setting/vibes were just *chef's kiss*.

The only frustrating thing was the amount of sexual content--it was a lot. As such, I hesitate to recommend the book, which is a crying shame!

3.5 stars rounded up. Still, so grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc--this would've been a solid four or five-star read, aside from the graphic content!

Gia just got married and invited her friend Abby to visit, but when Abby and Gia's brother Benny arrive in Sweden, Gia is nowhere to be found. This leads Abby and Benny back to Greece to Gia's beachfront estate where it appears she has been kidnapped by her new husband. As Abby and Benny try and piece together what happened to Gia, it's clear things are not as they seem. Overall, a somewhat predictable plot with a very unreliable narrator. Even from the beginning, it seemed like they were not being truthful and then a lot of the plot was being pushed along by miscommunication. Readers who like Ruth Ware or Gillian Flynn may like this one.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I love thrillers and mysteries but this one had a lot of smut in it and I was not expecting that. I am not a fan of smut so that just really turned me away from this one. I don't feel like the mystery was compelling and I didn't like the characters.

I hope others love this one but it wasn't for me.

I went into Ladykiller blind, and boy was I glad that I did. This was a very captivating book that held my attention until the very end. The end was a bit of a letdown, however everything leading up to that was filled with mystery, betrayal, and the constant question of where is this story going to take us.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

The premise of this book sounded very intriguing and right up my alley. Unfortunately, I found that the execution of the book took away from the plot and that over the course of the book the plot became too far fetched to make for a good story. The setting on an isolated island in Greece was excellent and I thought that the overall plot idea was good. I found all of the characters, however, to be very unlikeable and the story went on for too long. I was disappointed at the end and will most likely not read another book by this author.

Greek island with your best friend. Wealth and opportunity at every corner. A past that has come to call. This sets up for a fabulous premise! There is love, jealously, murder, kidnapping, bribery, and friendship - but there just seems to be a little something missing to make the story really resonate. The entitlement that is shown is excessive and the ending left me wanting for more of a conclusion. Thanks to NetGalley for the read.

Thank you Ballantine/Bantam for my free ARC of Ladykiller by Katherine Wood — available now!

» SYNOPSIS «
Gia and Abby used to be the best of friends, but they had a small falling out and neither has reached out to repair it in several months. Until Gia invites Abby to celebrate her birthday, but disappears from the remote Swedish resort before Abby even arrives. Where did Gia go? Is her new manuscript fiction, or is it detailing something sinister happening to her in real time? When Gia starts to get threats herself, the plot only thickens...

» REVIEW «
Sadly, this one didn't really hit for me. It felt a bit unpolished and too salacious for salacity's sake, and none of the reveals really thrilled me. What I did love were the descriptions of the settings (Sweden and Greece), which made me feel like I was actually standing in these luxurious locales! I didn't care enough about the main characters to get invested in their mysteries, and the bit been Abby and the brother gave me major ick. ALAS, you may have a better time than I did!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved the blurb on this one and couldnt wait to read. I did enjoy it but the ending left me someone underwhelmed. I loved the storyline and the characters. Overall a good read and I would read another from this author.

I adore a great plot twist! What captivated me about this book was that the hints were all in plain sight, yet I was so absorbed in the narrative that I completely switched off my brain and immersed myself in the storytelling—ultimate escapism!

Admittedly, when I reached about three-quarters of the way through, I felt the book was dragging on. I wanted to escape. But I persevered, and I'm thrilled I did because the final ten chapters gripped me entirely. This is exactly why I find it hard to give up on books—what if there's a twist waiting to pull me back into the fray?

Discussing the most significant "a-ha moment" without revealing spoilers is challenging, but it reinforces my earlier observation: the clues were always there.

For those craving a riveting thriller, this is one I'd recommend checking out.

My best advice is don't read the blurb! Go in knowing as little as possible and just let this fun, propulsive story wash over you as the summer months wind down.

It's been about a week since I finished and I still don't know how I feel about this book. It was entertaining and I had a good time BUT I didn't like the characters and thought they were absolutely stupid. That's why it was entertaining! You can safely watch people mess up their lives and get what they deserve without having to get messy yourself. It's like telling your best friend about how your common enemy from high school is going through hell lol. We hate her.....but tell me more.

It was supposed to be a fun trip to Sweden to celebrate Gia’s thirtieth birthday. Abby and Gia had been best friends since childhood, but their friendship had been strained ever since Abby's disapproval of Gia's whirlwind marriage. This getaway together would be a chance to fix that. For studious Abby, it didn’t hurt that Gia’s handsome brother Benny would be there too. But a tragic event that happened in Greece when the girls were eighteen still looms heavy in her mind, particularly after she receives a threatening email the morning of her departure.

But that's just the start of the trouble. When Gia fails to show up in Sweden, Benny and Abby frantically try to make contact with her by phone. When they're unable to reach her and Abby receives another ominous message, they race to her home in Greece to find her before it's too late. Arriving to an empty house and no sign of Gia, they turn to her memoirs that she'd been writing before her disappearance for clues. Gia's clearly been keeping secrets neither Abby nor Benny knew about, but she's not the only one. As sparks start to fly with Benny, Abby struggles with her own secrets about what really happened in Greece when they were teens. The truth could cost her Benny. It could cost her her life. Did it already cost Gia hers?

Dripping with sex, scandal, and tons of suspense, "Ladykiller" by Katherine Wood is this summer's twisty poolside read for those who prefer unreliable narrators and lethal secrets over romance or chick lit. Starring Gia, the beautiful heiress, and Abby, the bookish attorney, it's a story of two best friends who've let time and secrets come between them to the point that Gia's life might be hanging in the balance -- and Abby's in danger. Despite the ominous emails that foreshadow danger and Gia's disappearance, the book is filled with opulence and lust. From Gia's extravagant home to the sparkling Grecian beaches to her handsome husband and guests, sex soaks the pages. "Lady Killer" is a pulse-pounding thriller in more ways than one. It's fast paced with a steady rhythm to the story that increases as the tension does. Think Danielle Steel meets "Gone Girl".

The story is told from two different points of view and two different timelines. It's told from Abby's point-of-view in the present day. It's also told from Gia's memoir's point-of-view (if you can call it that) two months prior to her going missing when her life was all poolside, alcohol, and orgies with her husband and their guests. The way it's written creates some unbelievable suspense. What happened to Gia is hidden between two different timelines. The truth only rears its shocking head when the memoir's point-of-view ends, and Abby takes over the remaining chapters and delivers the conclusion.

"Ladykiller" by Katherine Wood is a captivating, enjoyable read. I found the ending to be a little bit of a let-down without any definitive answers as to what happened to Gia's husband and guests. However, I liked the rest of the book so much that I can get past it. I usually avoid books with extremely wealthy characters because (unfortunately) I can't relate, but I'm glad I picked up "Ladykiller". It was filled with enough tension (sexual and otherwise) to keep my palms sweaty and my heart racing. I hope there will be more books by author Katherine Wood coming in the future. I'll definitely be reading them.

DNF'ed this at 40%. I really wanted to like this because so many people gave it great reviews, but both of the main characters were a bit annoying, AND there's a little too much of EVERYTHING thrown into this suspenseful plot.

- Remote Greek estate setting near the sea
- A newly married wealthy couple who now have money problems and like to invite others into their bed
- A random couple that were shaping up to be con artists
- A young lawyer who's best friends with the newlywed bride - WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE RECEIVING THREATENING 'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID' style emails *gasp*

The thrillers I like best have more nuanced development. Not a kitchen sink approach.

I thought this book was going to be very different than what it was. That is probably partially my fault. I went in mostly blind, and was hoping for more of a thriller aspect than a drama filled book about upper class individuals. I was enjoying the plot and different POVs until around the middle when the two didn’t seem to mesh well with one another. It left me more confused than shocked. I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened, even though it was very unrealistic. I feel like there are some major plot holes and an unfinished ending to this book. I enjoyed the setting and I feel like if there wasn’t too many things going on at once, it would’ve been more appealing to me personally.

Thank you to Random House & PRH audio for the advanced copies.

Rich people behaving badly, sign me up!

Woods has written a sensually, salacious suspense novel. Every character has story that intertwines to the overall drama. Set on a small island in Greece, its lush landscapes provide the perfect backdrop to rich people problems. This story is packed with twists, turns in this slow-burn story. Woods leave the reader to form their own conclusion after a jaw-dropping open ending.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam

Unreliable narrator, unlikable characters, a couple of red herrings, and an unclear ending left me wanting a lot more. Perhaps if everything was tied up clearly without leaving me wondering what the truth really was, I may have enjoyed the book a little bit more. But alas, that is not what happened and I was not a fan. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

This was a serious mindf*ck and after a while, I just gave up on trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Abby's secret was also giggling at me too, like what could her secret possibly be?? This was a piece of great writing and mystery and anyone who likes drama, mystery, and a steamy summer read is in for a good time!

Very thrilling read. I loved the storyline and the characters. I loved the descriptions of the exotic places. The ending was was a little underwhelming but enjoyable.