2.5 stars…. This unfortunately didn’t work for me at all 🙁

To start off, let me just say, I've enjoyed both The Best Day Ever and The Favorite Daughter immensely. With that said, this book felt like it was written by a completely different author. The characters were all superficial/shallow and super one dimensional.

The book alternates POV's between the family that has just sold their home and the buyers of the home. Julie and Jess are moving in, but there is one small problem, the previous owner's son Tom still lives in the carriage house. They move in on a Friday and he is to move out on Sunday by noon, so the entire book takes place in that time frame. Julie is a wanna be real housewife and besides that there is nothing else you need to know about her and honestly her character brings nothing to the table. Then you have the storyline between Jess and Tom which kind of gave me whiplash. One minute Jess wants to run away with him but then scared of him two seconds later. And they JUST met 24 hours earlier! There is another POV told from Sandi, Tom's stepmother which didn't seem to do anything to move the storyline ahead. I'm not even going to talk about Roger and Doug - basically women are their property. They were quite repulsive actually.

Nothing really happens until after the half way mark - just more of a slow domestic suspense. Then when things get going everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in and not in a good way :(

Being I really enjoyed the previous works by this author I'm going to chalk this one up to a hiccup and would still be interested in trying again.

PS - It seemed all the men in the book were women haters......like.every.one.of.them

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Everyone is leaving everyone, and trouble is brewing for Roger Jones, Julie Jones, and Jess Jones.

Trouble is also brewing for Doug and Sandi a pastor and his wife and their son Tom.

Julie has left her controlling, wealthy husband and bought the house that Doug and Sandi owned.

Doug and Sandi left because Doug was reassigned to another parish because of his infidelities. Doug is an abusive husband, but Sandi was taught to stand by her husband and be submissive. He is also an abusive father who doesn’t show either side to his parishioners.

The two families are connected by a house on Cherry Hill Lane and the cottage at the back of the house where Tom lived since his father wouldn’t let him in the house.

Tom must move out since the house has been sold, but he vows not to leave. It's his house, and it has been his home since he was a young boy. He will make sure he won’t have to leave…he has a plan.

There is a lot of trouble for all of the characters and a lot of tension.

Jess gets caught on social media for being at a party spouting white supremacy, and her father is arrested for being part of a prostitution ring.

Tom is involved with a very bad gang and has a very bad plan.

The characters are mostly unlikable and pretty sketchy except for Sandi.

What is going to happen to all of them?

What is Tom going to do is the main question since his father left him to fend for himself?

SOMEBODY'S HOME is intense and well written but the story line was upsetting for me with all the hatred, sneakiness, and lying going on.

The ending will have you on pins and needles.

Thriller fans and domestic thriller fans will enjoy this book. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Buyer beware.

Next time you consider a home purchase, do be quite sure to fully read the fine print from the seller. They just may include an unexpected surprise that you might not be able to get rid of.

Julie has finally found the courage to leave her marriage. She packs up her daughter Jess and leaves her million-dollar home on the beach in Oceanside, California for a more modest inland home.

But of course, nothing goes as planned. And one major hick-up…the sellers’ son is living in the carriage house on the property and is expected to be out by the end of the week. Sooooo, what if he doesn’t want to leave💁🏻‍♀️

Now, just to add to the heaping mess, Julie’s soon-to-be ex-husband just got caught up in a scandal big enough to make national headlines.

And the hits just keep coming. Though her daughter Jess is due to attend University next fall, one mistake that went viral threatens to derail those plans.

Kaira Rouda always writes clever, captivating thrillers with characters we absolutely love to hate. And yes, she did it again!

A large cast of characters with plenty of action from all sides. But Ms. Rouda wove the storylines together seamlessly to take the reader on a fabulous, thrilling ride.

A buddy read with Susanne.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

This story initially started out as a slow burn but then quickly picked it up and became a fast paced ride.

Julie packed up her and her daughter, Jess, from their sprawling oceanside mansion and moved into a quaint house on the other side of the tracks. She'd had enough of her philandering, disrespectful, selfish husband and wanted a fresh start. Pastor Doug, Sandi and their two boys sold Julie their quaint home but they left something behind....their eldest son, Tom. He lives in the carriage house on the property, and in the contract he was given an extra few days to pack up and vacate the property. Tom, however, doesn't seem so keen on these terms. By the time the weekend is over everyone's lives will be turned upside down in ways none of them saw coming.

Somebody's Home is definitely more of a family drama than full blown thriller, but definitely has it's fair share of intense and suspenseful moments. Its told via multiple POV's - each so different from the other. Truthfully, I didn't really care for any of the characters - so much entitlement, selfishness and ignorance (save for Sandi, she was fairly likeable). Please do check the trigger warnings on this one before picking it up!

This story is intense, and I had strong opinions and feelings about the characters. I had to keep reading to find out what happened.

The first chapter of this book had me so excited. A mysterious narrator waits outside of a house, watching. There’s someone inside who shouldn’t be, and a woman is in there with them and in danger. The narrator rushes into the house, and fade to black…. So good! I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t wait to see how we got here and what happened next. The book then goes back to two days ago as we spend time in the POVs of the new owner of the house, her daughter, the husband she’s leaving, as well as two of the previous occupants: the ne’er-do-well son who has no intention of leaving the house his family has sold out from under him and his stepmother.

Based on that, did you expect this to be about incels, domestic violence, child abuse, corrupt church leaders, neo-nazis, prostitution, and social media scandals? All with a large dose of religion thrown in? Yeah no, me either. Apologies if that description counts as a spoiler, but I’d have included them as content warnings anyway. I also want to note that while that opening chapter may have you expecting lots of thrills, this was very much domestic suspense, and light on the suspense until the very end.

I’ve read two other Kaira Rouda books (Best Day Ever (which I loved) and The Favorite Daughter) and in both of those my favorite part was that Rouda was able to create deliciously evil, over the top, love-to-hate characters. Here, I just hated nearly everyone. And not in a fun way. In an “I can’t wait to put this down and get away from these people” way. This simply wasn’t fun in the way I’ve come to expect from this author. I do have to give credit though for the last 20% or so really sucking me in. My pulse was pounding and I did enjoy the callback to the opening scene once we got there. I truly disliked a lot of the resolution and how preachy the whole thing felt, but some of those issues come down to personal taste and beliefs.

Other reviews are much more positive, so make sure to check out those as well for a balanced look at this title. I *may* give the author another try because I did enjoy the first two books I read quite a bit, but I skipped her last and wish I’d skipped this one too. I’ll be waiting for reviews next time to see if she’s gotten her devious character spark back.

This is the first book of the author that I have read. It turned out to quite different from what I expected, and not in a very satisfying way.

Roger is a pompous and successful businessman. His wife Julie has decided to part ways with him and buys a property to move to with her daughter Jess. Tom does not get along with his dad (a pastor) and his stepmom Sandie. While he had promised to clear out from the shed at the back of the house, he has nowhere to go. He works in a pub, has not been to college and probably cannot afford most places. Jess, having lived in a luxurious house is not excited at this move and cannot wait to get away to college. Roger is arrested as part of an investigation, and as luck would have it at the same time photos of Jess & her friends become public suggesting they were playing games fuelling hate. There is also Tom, who is getting desperate as the date to move nears.

On the positive, the multiple threads come together quite well. But, the characters are all shallow, it is a weak story, and did not make for a very engaging read.

This book is one to read during the day, not late at night. Whew...it is frightening at times...really though it is an enjoyable quick read by an author who weaves a tale that might be true...might not...The book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review...it is a mystery (I like those)....with much intrigue...who did what? Who can you trust? Who not? Enjoy this one...I look forward to more books by this author...

The last book I read by Kaira Rouda was a huge disappointment but I wanted to give this one a chance. Again we have multiple POV with all mostly unlikeable characters. It is hard to get into a book if you can't root for one single person.

There's Julie who left her controlling husband Roger- Julie is a plastic surgery addict and her husband seems like a controlling rich dick. Julie is Jewish and there's a spoiler about white supremacy, or the daughter getting mixed up in something hateful.

Then there's Tom whose dad and stepmother sell the house he grew up in and basically kick him out. Tom is a 23 yr old part time laborer and incel. He wants to claim the home to himself.

I wish I could enjoy this book and the mystery but I just can't do anything around white supremacy right now.

Another heart pounding read by the ever amazing Kaira Rouda 🥳. This book was fast paced and kept me on the edge to the very end! You just can’t put it down!

I absolutely love Kaira Rouda's novels and this one was a winner! Psychological thriller to the core. Great read!

At first, the story sounds mysterious and promising based on the blurb hence why I pick this one up. I find the entire storyline to be both engaging and intriguing due to it focuses more on multiple characters that tells the story from their own POVs which gives a lot more depth to the storyline.

Tom, Sandi, Roger, Julie, Jess are the main five characters in this book and the entire storyline are told from their views. Each of them have different problems to face but it all align as one in the end despite their problems didn't have a strong connection to each others. The only thing they all have in common is Tom's childhood home which is the one and only place Tom felt like belongs to him. But sadly, Julie and Jess moved in there after Julie bought it with a reason that she was leaving her husband, Roger. Sandi who is Tom's stepmom moved out with her family leaving Tom behind which only fuels his anger. And then, there's Roger who came to take his wife and daughter back it wasn't as successful as he hoped for.

From the blurb alone I knew Tom would do something dangerous and it wasn't surprising to me when I found out. The only surprising elements I find in this book are how fast things went from good to bad, and that the problems the main characters had to face is a lot bigger than I could've imagined which brought them back to Tom's childhood home. It started from there and it ended there too.

I enjoyed learning about everyone's pasts and how their lives was like before, to me that gives me a clear understanding of the characters. I totally understood the reason why they did what they did, but the more those flashback scenes made an appearance in the story, the more bored I feel. It would've been so much better if the author cut the scenes short. Just give a clear but simple explanation as to what happened to everyone in the past without having to show a full scene of it. Those flashback scenes are what putting the pace of the story slow and as a fast-reader, I always have a hard time reading a slow-paced story and stories with slow as a snail's pacing often made me feel bored and I just give up on trying to finish the book entirely.

The only thing that made me push myself to continue reading this book was Tom's character. I did not like what he did in this book and I never support his actions at all, but I do find his character mysteriously intriguing and I wanted to know everything that he kept to himself. His childhood wasn't good ever since his mom left him and his dad. He grew up to become a dangerous and violent person, and add to that his dad isn't even a good person at all and always set a bad example which made Tom a lost cause when he grew up. He couldn't separate good from bad, and the friends he made is a bunch of young men who like him is full of anger and hatred which made them do things that can harm others. He got what he deserved in the end for the crimes he committed. He wasn't a confused guy or a misunderstood one. He was already long lost to the world of evil.

Julie literally lived a fake life and she didn't know how to be a good mother to her daughter but she tried so hard to be one and I can see how much effort she put into becoming one in this book. Her life was full of fake appearance and fake happiness, anything about her life before she moved out is fake. She wanted to live a life without a controlling husband and she got it but it come with a heavy price which was a house who belonged to someone who is dangerous enough to commit murder. I felt bad for her, getting dolled up just so it would make her husband look good for having a wife and then not knowing the things he did behind her back and she gets ignored because her husband always too focus on his growing success until he had no time for his own family, it sucks. I get why she felt lonely and felt like she wasn't important in her marriage and why she needed to get away to try living a new life. I definitely loved seeing the growth of her character.

Jess is obviously a spoilt rich girl who thought she knew how the world works but in fact, she didn't. Her mom warned her to stay at home and help with unpacking stuff instead of going to her friend's party. She didn't listen and things went south real quick after that. She did something bad and it has to do with a nazi stuff. She's 17 and she should've known better. Dismissing her action as a joke was very poor of her. Like what the sayings said, "the internet never forget." Once someone expose you on the internet, there is no going back from that unless you make a public apology but then again, not everyone will be so forgiving. I disliked her character so much, not only is she rude to her own mom and calling her own mom crazy for wanting a mother-daughter bonding time, but she was also so spoilt saying she has money and her dad has more. I'm tired of her character and the only time I feel bad for her is when she ran away from Tom after seeing a gun in his room.

Sandi is a lovely woman who tried her hardest to bring Tom back to the path of light. I hated seeing her trapped in an unhappy marriage which only made her feel miserable. She's a good mom but in her marriage, her husband has a lot on control and selling the house where Tom used to live wasn't her plan, it was all her husband which is Tom's dad. As a stepmom and a new wife, she had to obey her husband's words despite how much she despised it. In the end, she was there to hug Tom one last time, and telling him that she never forget him and that she always love him even though he thought otherwise. Tom always thought Sandi cast him aside for her two sons which is Tom's step-siblings, but Sandi always love the three of them equally. I'm sad that Tom didn't see the care and love Sandi has for him because he was so full of anger and hatred. When Tom broke down in her arms, that teared me up. And the epilogue, when Tom said he still love Jess and thought of her as his own guardian angel then said, "I'm sorry my love," I cried. Despite all that darkness inside of him, Jess is the only little light that keep him grounded.

Roger is so full of himself. Just like his own daughter, he thought he knew how the world works and always thought the world works in his favor just because he's rich and successful. Turns out, he was wrong. The truth about what he did was revealed at the same time his daughter was exposed for the nazi stuff. Honestly, the problems this father-daughter had doesn't put a good look on their family. Like I said, things went south real quick. I just didn't expect the story to turn that way. Despite being a controlling husband and a judgmental dad, in the end he gets to show how strong his love is toward his wife and his daughter even though he never showed it to them before. He sacrificed himself so that his wife and daughter could live a happy life without any danger coming their way. That sacrifice redeemed his character to me even though he didn't have a proper character development in the story.

It was sad seeing two lives are lost but it was also very realistic for it to happened that way in the story. Also, it was really good seeing Sandi, Julie and Jess going on with their lives, starting new somewhere else without dwelling in the tragedy that hit them all. The entire thing felt so real and I loved seeing how everything is wrapping up for the characters. It was a cool story but not as enjoyable as I thought it would be but I liked where the story was going and how it ended.

When Julie Jones decides to leave her millionaire husband with their teenage daughter, everything starts to go wrong. The house she has purchased has a carriage home in the backyard where the previous owners son is still living. Although it is in the contract for him to move out, he has no intentions of doing so. Instead, he plans to take revenge on both his father who has written him off as a lost cause and the woman and her daughter who moved into his home. Julie is also dealing with her husband, who will stop at nothing to get her and their daughter back in his home.

This book was all over the place for me. There were a lot of different story lines I was trying to follow, and just didn’t feel like it fully developed in any of them. It felt rushed and I think just fell flat for me. I wanted to love it, as I have read and really enjoyed Kaira Rouda’s books before. I wish there would have been less development of the multiple story lines and more of the thriller part.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Julie lived with her husband and daughter in an extravagant ocean front mansion. She has been socking money away for years to escape her marriage.

With that money, she has secretly purchased a fixer upper home on the other side of town for her and her daughter.

She is finally away from her husband, she can start a new life. But.... he is rich and powerful and not willing to let her go…..

The angry son of the previous homeowners is living in the shed behind her new home. He has vowed to never leave …. 👀
_________________________________

Sounds like a collision course for disaster, right?

I loved this one! 🙌

I was lucky to receive an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinions. Kaira Rouda knocks it out of the park -- AGAIN! This book is even better than her earlier ones (how is that possible?). I sat down after dinner to start this and before I knew it my entire night was gone as it sucks you right in from the very first page. Full of lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing right until the end. I am already counting the days until she has another release! Do yourself a favor and read this ASAP!

Julie wants to start an authentic life on her own, away from her controlling and deceitful husband. She secretly buys a house for her and her daughter on the other side of the tracks. But whether her husband lets her leave is another story.

Roger finds out his wife has left him, but that's the least of his troubles this weekend, he comes to find out.

Tom's dad and stepmother sell the house he grew up in out from under him, giving him a couple of days to move out and find his own accommodations. But at least he has his new friends he met at the bar. They tell him that women are the cause of all life's problems. So when Jess and her mother Julie move into his parents' old home, he's conflict—he wants to get to know Jess, but women are good for nothing, and he doesn't need anything spoiling his plan for Sunday.

Sandi has known for a while that her husband isn't who he portrayed himself to be. She prays for their family each day, but begins to realize faith is not enough to save Doug from himself. To make matters worse, her stepson Tom is refusing to move out of the carriage house on the property they just sold, causing the new owners grief.

Doug had it good as the pastor of his church, but was forced to relocate to the country and start over. Of course it wasn't his fault. All he wants is a fresh start and a chance to prove himself again, but his wife won't stop nagging him about his adult son who is a deadbeat and won't leave their former property.

For all of these people, the house on Cherry Hill Lane is the tie that binds. What transpires in their lives as their stories intertwine this one weekend is nothing any of them could predict.

Somebody's Home, Kaira Rouda's latest offering, is an unputdownable page turner. I read this all in two sittings. I have read Rouda's other titles and this one did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this and its fast moving plot. Most of the characters were incredibly unlikeable, which made for a delectable thriller. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title.

This book didn't really do it for me. I thought it read more like a young adult book and contained a bit of every kind of scandal the author could think of instead of delving deep into a couple key themes. It centers on 2 families- one who is moving out of a house and the other who is moving in. Tom lives in the carriage house and is furious when his dad (along with his stepmom and half siblings) decides to move and tells him that it's time for him to stand on his own 2 feet. Julie, along with her daughter Jess, is moving into the house in an effort to escape her controlling husband. You get POVs from all of these characters, plus more, and there is a lot more going on than just the timeline on leaving the house.

I didn't find any of these characters likeable, except for maybe Tom's stepmother, Sandi. Jess was particularly spoiled and shallow. Though the book did move at a fast pace because there was so much going on, I wasn't all that invested in what happened to them. That being said, I thought the end of the book was decently done and packed some surprises.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite but I am sure there is an audience for it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Kaira Rouda and when she said her next book was set on Orange County, where I live as well, I was all excited!!

Except this book is set in Oceanside..

Oceanside is in San Diego County.

Major disappointment for me as I know its not typical for people to be affiliated with the OC when they live in Oceanside.. Its a 20+ mile drive to get to the heart of the OC like Newport.

That being said, the story, because of all of the POVs, is a little jumbled. Sandi's POV seems a little odd and it takes forever for things to happen. The climax is a little rushed, and the follow ups one month later seem shallow.

Still, its a quick read and has the ripped from the headlines feel with its underlying plots so its still pretty darn good!

Enjoyed this domestic thriller by Kaira Rouda. As the lives of two random families intersect the drama and suspense are amazing. And famous last words ‘I did not see that ending coming’
Great characters and some real life lessons. Highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Things are not what they seem and will have you guessing until the end. A joke between children gone wrong mixed with a bad choice made by one the children a father in a affluent town where image matters. When she goes to who she considers a friend for help - she gets more than she bargains for. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.