I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. The best part of this book was the cover. There were characters and plot that fell flat, and it didn't even feel like there was a mystery to solve. In the end, it was a did not finish for me.

Let me start by saying I waited until all three books were out to start the first.

This book was a slow start but just kept getting better. I kept thinking what was meant by Cabin Number Five, and it was nearly until the end that I found what it was.

Annie Parker is a young lady growing up in a family with a Taiwanese Father and a German/Norwegian Mother and an older sister Loni. Alyce Murphy was an only child. In her early childhood she lived with her parents and Grandfather until her Father went to war and returned a very different man.

Annie and Alyce's stories are told in parallel to each other. It took me until I figured out about Cabin Number Five and when Annie and Alyce met to fully understand the story of these two women. Annie being very docile until her life took a dramatic turn and she fully started living the life she was meant to and Alyce much the same.

Two women and the sad lives they both led, one so much stronger than the other but also very dependent on themselves to finally live a life to fullfilment.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to starting the second book "The Girls in Cabin Number Three".

Thank you to Netgalley, Books Go Social and Chrysteen Braun for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3 stars for The Man in Cabin Five by Chrysteen Braun. The blurb sounded interesting, but this book was not for me. Overall the book was well written with good character development.
Thank you to Chrysteen Braun, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you read the blurb of this book it sounds very interesting and I myself began reading it looking forward to a good dual timeline mystery.

The problem with the book, however, is that what is promised in the blurb comes to pass only towards the end of the book (in the last 2-3 chapters + the epilogue). The dual POV chapters of Annie Parker and Alyce Murphy are also not evenly distributed with Annie's story covering the chunk of the book, interspersed with Alyce's story in between. We only get to know the complete picture behind the mystery of Alyce's father's death in the epilogue which is told in John Murphy's POV. Annie's story reads more like a day to day diary/autobiography of a woman who is starting out afresh after her divorce with detailed descriptions of her interior designing business. If this book had been solely a fiction about a woman's journey of building her life and career after a personal setback, Annie's story would have been good to read about but since there is a mystery involved, it just drags the story.

This is book 1 in a trilogy which will consist of plotlines based around the mountainside cabins that Annie buys and restores into a B&B. I hope that in the next two books the plot focuses more on the secrets/mystery connected with the cabins and the characters introduced and less on Annie.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher BooksGoSocial and the author for the e-Arc of the book. This is the author's first book and I had no issues with her writing style, only the uneven intersection of the two stories.

Rating: ⭐⭐✨💫

I received an advanced copy of this ebook from the publisher for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book is so fast paced. It keeps your attention from the first page.⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING Underage ALCOHOL ABUSE ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️. This book is in Lake Arrowhead, California. This book is in stores for £2.99 (GBP). I would recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. I enjoyed the different points of view in this book.

This book sounded so interesting but I really didn’t enjoy it. With two very different stories being told I couldn’t see where the cross over would be, and when I found it I was completely underwhelmed.
I enjoyed the building of relationships and community in Annie’s story…but was never really taken with it all.
Whereas throughout, Alyce’s story didn’t really make sense until the very end, but even then I was underwhelmed by it all.

I am honestly hoping that because this is Book One, the best is still to come! 🤞🏻

Lovey book to read. It was very well written and flowed well. Reading about escaping sounded idyllic. Almost wishing it was me, Great plot

This was a fantastic start to the trilogy it definitely made me want to read the whole set of books. This book was a really page turner. I loved how the story had a great female protagonist and I loved how her character became stronger throughout the story. This book had a brilliant storyline that had me throughly engaged throughout not to mention the wonderful edge of your seat moments. I loved the theme of the story as the main character is an interior designer this was a winner with me as I love reading the development of the house she develops. This definitely kept my interest peaked throughout. This meant I just couldn't put the book down as I was always excited as to what was going to happen next so I basically had to stay up late to finish this book. The main point of this book is that when one door closes another more exciting one will open and that jumping in with both feet when you gut is telling you go with it. This really gave me confidence in my own life decisions. Hence this book was very relatable. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who loves a strong female protagonist development book and those who love those lighthearted feel good books with a hint of romance. I definitely will be looking out for more books by this talented author. I have my fingers crossed they show up to be read and reviewed. 

I just have to Mention the ending and how it left on a brilliant cliff hanger for the next book.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishing team for creating this fantastic debut novel that I am sure you will really enjoy. This book just has to become a big hit .

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-man-in-cabin-number-five-by-chrysteen-braun-booksgosocial-independant-author-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Annie Parker and Alyce Murphy are both tied to cabins in the Lake Arrowhead Mountains in Southern California.

Annie's family had summer cabin at Lake Arrowhead until she was a teenager - her family sold it. She returns to Arrowhead Lake after discovering her husband had been having an affair. She escape to a small cabin at the lake to rethink / regroup on what she wants to do with her marriage and the rest of her life. What she finds is a new life and love at the Lake. She decides to purchase the cabins and renovate them all.

Alyce is searching for closure for a crime her father committed years ago at cabin number 5. Alyce was told her father died from a heart attack - the truth was that he killed himself after killing his his best friend, and business partner, along with the his best friend's family.

Starting over for both of them is hard - but rewarding in the end.

The story switches between the two women and their lives that lead them both to come closure in their lives in the end of the story we learn why Alyces's dad killed himself and the other family.

I really had a hard time - reminded me of Virginia Wolfe's writing style. the Stream of consciousness / first person singular might bug the reader a bit. There were several words that were misspelled - or repeated in this uncorrected proof. If the reader can stay with the story past the 50 % mark it then becomes interesting.

The Man in Cabin Five is a dual timeline story that takes place around some 1920s-era cabins in Lake Arrowhead, California. One story is about Annie who is divorcing her husband and ends up buying the cabins. That side I really did not get into. Annie's chapters dragged on for me, partly because they seemed to be repeating the same thing over and over again ( her unhappiness in life) and partly because I really did not like the character. The other part of Alyce was much more interesting and was about her life growing up around the cabin in summer and her dad killing himself in one of them later on. Digging into the histories of the cabins should be interesting.

Do ever feel the need to escape?  It could be for a vacation, a fresh start, to run from your problems, or maybe to dig up the past. 

🍨 The Scoop 🍨
Annie's childhood was spent at her family's summer house in the mountains of Lake Arrowhead.  Now Annie, an interior designer, is starting over after discovering her husband's infidelity.  She purchases and renovates seven 1920s-era cabins in the Lake Arrowhead area.

Alyce Murphy was only twelve when her father died.  She was led to believe he was found alone in a cabin dead from a heart attack.  Thirty years later she discovers the truth of her father's death and travels to Annie's cabins for answers and closure in this parallel story. 

💁‍♀️ My Thoughts 💁‍♀️
The Man In Cabin Number Five is the first book in a trilogy.  It is a beautiful story that takes the reader through two different women's lives from childhood to the present which is written in a parallel narrative.  I enjoyed reading about these two women beginning the story as children because it gave me an adequate understanding and I was able to connect to them on a deeper level.  We learn about their upbringing, family life, relationships, friendships, love life, struggles, and accomplishments.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the Author's descriptive writing style which gave me the ability to visualize the beautiful Lake Arrowhead region.
I recommend this story to anyone that appreciates women's fiction. 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5

Thank you Netgalley, BooksGoSocial and ChrysteenBraunAuthor for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love this book! It's really good. Great character development.
This is a story of two women whose lives intertwine by fate. Annie and Alyce live in two separate worlds but eventually meet in the cabins.
I can't wait to read her next book!

Thank you so much, Chrysteen Braun, your Publisher, and NetGalley for
giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!

I really enjoyed the man in cabin number five. It was well written with a very much 3d protagonist. The author wove an intriguing story that really doesn’t get solved until the last chapter. It was easy to read and I really enjoyed it.

The book is about over when the title finally made sense. The book has several stories intertwined. Annie is the one that I found most interesting. She had made a life for herself before her marriage falls apart and she moves to the mountains. There is meets Sam, Noah and Laura who become her main friends. She also finds a way to fit into the mountain town full of homes for people escaping big city life. For an interior designer that is a huge thing when city life is just down the hill a hour or so away. The remodels she does is interesting. Her marriage drama sure dragged out tho and it was amazing Noah stuck around. The Murphy part of the story was a bit sad. The book started out reading like a memoir but turned out to be a good story. It helped that I liked the cast of characters..well not David but the rest of the cast.

This is a tale of two women who's lives intertwine by fate. Annie and Alyce live in two separate worlds, but eventually end up at the cabins. Annie is starting over her life and begins to restore seven 1920's era cabins. You can only imagine how each cabin holds their own story. Alyce returns to the cabin where her father ended her life. This is a somber but engaging story. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

3.5 rounded up.
Interesting characters. Good story. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Annie is looking towards her future while Alyce needs to put the past to rest. In parallel stories, both women are drawn to the rustic mountainside cabins as they search for the missing pieces—but they soon discover that the cabins have their own stories to tell…
Such a wonderful book. Utterly unique, exquisitely crafted and quietly powerful.

A charming story of heartbreak and hope.

This interesting novel follows two narrators as they navigate their journeys into adulthood and the triumphs and disasters of their lives. The two narratives are seemingly unconnected, but fate ties them together at the end.

The voice(s) of this novel confused me at first. Written in much of a journalistic style, I was unsure if this was fiction of biographical. The cadence was f the book was less narrative and more the style of a diary, so while the story was quite entertaining and touching, some of the chapter endings seemed like an opportunity to be a cliffhanger, but instead ended with a bit of a thud.

Despite my disappointment in some of the missed opportunities to grab the reader, I thought this was a lovely and charming novel and a story of triumph over adversity, and a heartwarming tale of hope.

The Man in Cabin Five tells the stories of two women in 1980’s California.
Annie grew up in a stable and loving family. For several years during Annie’s childhood her family owned a beautiful vacation home near Lake Arrowhead. Annie grows up, marries the wrong man and, when her marriage disintegrates, she returns to the Lake Arrowhead area to start her new life and continue her decorating career. Annie buys a group of cabins and renovates them to turn into a B&B. And she starts a relationship with charming and sexy Noah, a local contractor,
Alyce had a loving, if poor family until her Dad was drafted to fight in WWII. He returned a changed man; aloof with nightmares, and quick tempered. He and his war buddy Smitty, open a garage together and do pretty well. Alyce’s life was forever changed when her father died of a heart attack as her Mother told her. She grew up, married the wrong man and, as her Mother lays dying, finds out that her Father actually murdered Smitty and his family and then committed suicide in a cabin near Lake Arrowhead. Alyce comes to Annie’s B&B to see the cabin where Father died and try to find answers to explain his behavior.
The intersection of these two women’s lives is poignant and sad but an engaging story.

#netgalley #themanincabinfive #booksgosocial publication date 19 April 2022
An intriguing story perfectly set to curl up with a blanket on a winter night. I enjoyed this book alot,it is a story of love, betrayal and mystery all rolled in 4/5 stars