Review: All Eyes on Him by Iliana Xander

                                                            

Print Length: 320 pages

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (December 2, 2025)

From Goodreads.com: He’s the Man of the Year. But is he really a monster?

When Natalie saw her best friend leaving the club with a handsome stranger, she never would have thought that the next morning, her friend would be discovered unconscious at a bus stop.

What happened that night? Only her best friend knows. And until she recovers from her coma, she won’t be able to tell her side of the story.

Natalie is desperate for answers – so she can’t believe her luck when she comes across a photo of the man her friend left with. Except he’s on the cover of a magazine, being heralded as the ‘Man of the Year’. This man appears untouchable. He’s a millionaire. He’s famous. But Natalie suspects he’s dangerous.

To prove it, she takes up a job as the housekeeper at his mansion. Her plan is simple. Watch his every move. Gather the evidence. And make him pay. But when she discovers that the last housekeeper went missing, she realises she’s in over her head.

She thought she was setting the trap – but has she just fallen into his?

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

A little self-preservation goes a long way; something Natalie could have seriously benefited from. She seems utterly incapable of grasping simple concepts like "danger, no, leave it alone, don't go asking for trouble, or mind your own business" in any way shape or form. And heaven forbid she follows the ONE golden rule of the house which is "don't provide your boss with alcohol."  It’s baffling how often she ignores this not only this most basic pieces of advice, but also ignores all of the other warning coming from literally everyone else in the house; making one questionable decision after another.

Another thing that didn’t sit right with me was how she never once followed up with the police in person. Sure, she spoke with a detective over the phone, but given the sensitive nature of the information involved, I would have thought an in-person meeting was not only warranted but necessary. That lack of proper procedure felt strange and pulled me out of the story more than once (I mean seriously, once you saw what you saw, wouldn't you want to meet face to face with the person supposedly handling things including your best friends assault)?

I also would have liked the overall time period of the story to be longer than just a week. I understand that things were chaotic and spiraling out of control, but a week felt rushed, especially for the severity of the events taking place. On that note, the "poisoning" of the women happened suspiciously close together for someone supposedly this smart, another detail that stretched my suspension of disbelief a bit too far.

Somehow, despite the numerous red herrings thrown into the mix, certain plot points were glaringly obvious, while others felt like they were shoehorned in just to provide a "good guy or two" to ride to the rescue. The pacing felt uneven and at times contrived, which didn’t help. And then there was the last-minute potential romance plot, which, honestly, made me pause and think, "WHY".

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.