White Outdoor Lounge Chairs, opens a new window by Colon Freld, opens a new window / Pexels, opens a new window / Cropped and re-sized
The White Lotus takes us on vacations we’d never want to be on – in places we’d love to visit. Some would even say the White Lotus resorts are, ahem, to die for. Whether you hate to love the White Lotus guests, or love to hate them, there’s something addicting about their ostentatious behavior while surrounded by serene beauty.
If you binged both seasons of The White Lotus (raises hand) and crave more dysfunction in your life, I recommend checking out these books.
This book mainly takes place at sea, but the drama, chaotic energy and frenemy dynamics are all on point. The Lion’s Den by Katherine St. John starts as a lovely vacation for a group of girlfriends aboard a very nice yacht, but quickly changes tune as betrayal and jealousy set in. Rich people behaving badly? Absolutely. Deceit at every turn? You bet. Murder? Of course!
Travel to the South of France, where Dora, a sex worker who plans to make big changes in her life, has one final job: pretending to be the girlfriend of one of her clients for a week. Dora thinks this should be a straightforward task but learns that other plans are in store for her when someone from her past reappears in One Last Secret by Adele Parks.
Craving family drama? I highly recommend Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti. Dava Shastri is a wealthy woman with a plan for how she’ll die after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. Before that takes place, though, she gathers her adult children, their partners and their children for one last family get together on her private island. While there isn’t nearly as much aggressive cattiness in this book as in The White Lotus, there is plenty of deception, secrets, wealth and power in this family gathering.
You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa follows Amaya to a week-long wedding celebration in Sri Lanka. But it’s not just any wedding – it’s for her former best friend, Kaavi, who is marrying Amaya’s ex-boyfriend. That alone is enough to make for a juicy read, but the drama is turned up when Kaavi goes missing, and all of the wedding guests suspect Amaya is the person who made it happen.
Do you have a favorite luxuriously scandalous book? Let us know in the comments.