Nora begins a new job at Jane’s company. Jane comes to Nora’s home too often because she has such “a beautiful family.”

This was an enjoyable quick read; some characters you don’t like nor can you understand how or why they acted that way. This phrase occurs often “fearless, unwavering, ferocious.” You develop a sense of foreboding.

Many thanks to Netgalley for permitting me to read this.

Thereʻs always something fun about seeing your hometown featured in a book or a movie- those little moments of recognition that make you point and go, “Hey, I was just there!”

When said book is a fast-paced thriller, the little moments of recognition are met with just a few extra peeks over your shoulder and an extra pep talk or two to shake off the shivers.

After a lightning-quick opening, “Such A Beautiful Family” follows Nora Harmon- a happily married mom of two teenagers, and in search of a new career move. Enter Jane, who is offering Nora everything she didn’t know she wanted- a raise, a chance to travel the world, and all the flexibility she needs to finally spend time with her family. But if there ever was a human representation of “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” it’s Jane Bell.

I breezed through this in a single day, partly because of it’s lightning-quick pace, and partly because I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of all the red flags popping up every time Jane entered a room. While I found the writing to be reminiscent of a screenplay - with short, formulaic sentences - it did help to make the read that much quicker and it added an extra feeling of tension to an already uneasy situation.

This book was a fast-paced and quick read. It centers on Nora, who gets offered a dream job from a woman named Jane that she had never met before- it's the job of her dreams, but she soon becomes concerns when Jane gets a little too close to Nora's family and seems to be telling lies about many things in her life.

The story moves at a fast clip and there was always a lot happening. The ending was pretty predictable (although I wasn't 100% sure what the end game was when it was all said and done, as there was some conflicting dialogue), and while not many twists, there was still action. The thing I didn't love about the book was the fact that there is no way actual people would be as clueless as Nora and her husband David about what was really going on. Nora accepts a job from a complete stranger without even digging in to how she found out about her, and didn't connect the very obvious dots with what was really happening, and David didn't see anything weird about his wife's new boss infiltrating his family. The son, Trevor, was by far my favorite character in the book and the only one who seemed capable of problem solving.

Overall, if you are able to suspend your disbelief regarding these characters, it's a quick and fun read. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great thriller. Never heard of the author but gave the story a try and really enjoyed it, the plot, characters, all of it. Highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

This was a fantastic read! I really enjoyed the mystery behind the story. I also felt so bad for the anguish that Nora felt for years. I do wish a few things were touched on from her past, but still I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to others! This was an easy and fast read!

publish 12/06/2022

Loved this book I will def be picking up more by this author. Loved how the story all came together. Thanks #netgalley for the ARC

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the electronic copy to review…this is a cannot put down mystery……intrigue…secrets…friends and enemies…family and devastation…some can be trusted…others not…some likable characters and others who are devious…what will happen next? Who will die? What happened In the past? Why? This is a talented and gifted author. I enjoyed this book…no language…no scenes that are too explicit…no dual time lines…just a good mystery that reads like Mary Higgins Clark…fantastic reading…

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really liked this novel. It was definitely a slow burn but escalated in the final chapters. This is the story of Nora Harmon who, as a teenager was unknowingly drugged at a party and ended up in a car accident that killed a family of 3. Fast forward to present day and Nora is happily married with two children and a reasonably happy career. Enter Jane Bell, who seeks Nora out to work for her company offering more money, flexible hours and other perks. But is it the dream job too good to be true? So many twists and turns along the way. Great read. Highly suggest at 4 stars









https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4830176968

Let me start by saying I am a fan of T. R. Ragan so this will be a bit difficult for me to review.

The positive of "Such a Beautiful Family" is that it's a quick and easy read. I liked the premise but with that being said, this book was disappointing to me. The characters drove me crazy. I literally wanted to scream at them several times throughout the book. I found Nora to be quite frustrating and the whole family completely clueless with the exception of Trevor! Despite all of Nora's instincts and all of the red flags, she would remain wishy washy and completely contradict herself from one sentence to another. The husband David? Don't even get me started on him! I would have screamed at my husband in several different situations in this book but not Nora, she had the patience of a saint apparently.

The plot was predictable and I thought there would be some kind of additional twist at the end, but there wasn't. The ending was a bit far-fetched as well. I did enjoy Trevor and Tank though.

Overall, I still wanted to finish the book as I was invested by that point. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy THIS T.R. Ragan book, I would still gladly read more from her.

I would like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

This was a quick, exciting read. A plot that's definitely been done before, but Ragan did a good job at keeping you on your toes. I definitely became invested and had a hard time putting it down, as I was anxious to see how it all played out.

Such a Beautiful Family by T.R. Ragan Not as suspenseful as would have liked. Unanswered questions and the ending was a bit of a disappointment. Not able to relate to the characters, Nora especially. Not a favorite for me.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book was a fast and enjoyable read with an interesting storyline. However there was not a lot of suspense with the plot being pretty predictable from early on. A good beach read for those who like a mystery read.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Such a Beautiful Family
A Thriller


I was not impressed with this book, which sounded like a winner from the description. I found it predictable, and it used language that was awkward and not at all as people speak. The ending finally came and was just as it was meant to. Just odd in ways, I was more trying to finish, and that I did. I would not read or have any thoughts a week after.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

This book was not a hit for me. It begins in the past with an unknown character receiving a call from her friend that she’s at a party and needs help. The unknown character goes to help, but instead she gets roofied and tries to drive away to safety and gets into a car accident.

Then we get to present day and meet Nora, David, their 2 kids Hailey and Trevor, and dog Tank. Nora received a job offer that is too good to be true, and her new boss, Jane, begins to infiltrate her entire life.

While this is the first book I’ve read by T.R. Reagan, she has obviously had much success in her writing career; however, this book needs some work.

Firstly, there were glaring spelling errors, including “camradery” for camaraderie. The book isn’t due for publication until December, so maybe those edits are still being worked out. Also, some turns of phrase were used in subsequent sentences. For example, when recounting a near-drowning accident Trevor experienced, she used the phrase “human ladder” twice in a row. It was kind of jarring and just didn’t make for smooth reading.

The characters were pretty flat and no one acted in a natural manner. David seemed to be totally cool with a weird but generous stranger being at their house all the time, not to mention it was his wife’s BOSS. Where are their boundaries? The dialogue was also stilted and unnatural which is a HUGE reading pet peeve of mine.

I think the revenge premise could absolutely have worked, but the fact that Jane had to be playing some kind of DECADES LONG game, including going into an area of business that was the same is Nora’s, starting a company and hoping it would get off the ground in order to later employ Nora….it was too ridiculous.

There is a suspension of disbelief in every book you read, but I simply couldn’t suspend that far to make this book work.

The title, cover and description drew me in and wow, this book grabbed me and ended up being a quick read as I wanted to know how the story line would play out. This was such a good book written by a new to me author. The storyline was unique and I didn't feel like anything was forced or too unbelievable. A solid book that anyone who enjoys thrillers or twists and turns would appreciate. A special thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and T.R. Ragan for the advanced copy to review.

Synopsis of book:
Nora Harmon has a lot to be thankful for: two great kids, a stable marriage, and now, a dream career. Software consultant Jane Bell wants Nora on her team. She’s offering a fantastic salary, flexible hours, and a chance to travel the world. It sounds too good to be true, but Jane won’t take no for an answer.
Jane acts more like a friend than a boss, and Nora’s personal and professional boundaries begin to blur. Jane is smitten with Nora’s perfect family—particularly her daughter—and far too attentive to Nora’s husband. Nora can’t help but feel insecure and unsettled.
Maybe Jane is everything she says she is: a lonely woman in need of feeling the love of a kind and decent family. Maybe Nora is just being paranoid.
Maybe not.

This was a fast, easy, suspenseful read. I was intrigued and interested until about 70% when things started falling apart. The big ending was predictable and a lot of it--how it came together seemed forced. A decent read but not the best.

Such a beautiful family by T.R Ragan
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This book opens up strong . A girl is called by her friend who is at a party. Shes afraid and asks her friend to come get her . She does . But when she gets there her friend is nowhere to be found . .
We flash forward some years later and we follow the story of Nora, who accepts a job with Jane. A woman shes never met met, but she wants her to come on board with the job of her dreams. Travel and more money than she could possibly need . The catch? Jane seems to think she can overstep boundaries.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book . It was a fast paced thriller that had you wondering until the very end . I read the entire book in just a day. I felt like all the characters were well developed . And you could sympathize with any one of them at any given time . You could also feel like you were threatened by Jane, just as Nora feels . And rightly so . I think if I was in Nora's situation, Id also feel jealousy and malice towards a stange woman trying so hard .

This was such a great read. Very fast, I highly recommend this one to any thriller lover .

Thank you @netgalley for the early release!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanna start with the positives: I read this book in one sitting and flew through it, was easy to read. I really liked the premise and the idea of the plot but was ultimately underwhelmed.
I was invested for the first third of the book but after that it just went downhill for me. The characters felt flat and the story got really repetitive.
The big "reveal" at 90% was so predictable that I actually got mad when Nora didn't figure it out right away(at like 40%).
The ending felt rushed and forced and the whole story could've used a lot more show instead of tell.
Only characters I liked were Trevor and Tank. David was the worst, how did he allow all that stuff to happen? Can nobody in this family set boundaries?

Overall, I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. While there was enough suspense to keep me reading, I predicted the storyline within the first 50 pages and at the end, there were just too many questions left unanswered. I felt it was just too obvious why Jane had entered Nora's life based on the prologue and how eager she was to be her friend. This storyline seems to be a popular one with authors but I enjoyed T.R. Ragan's ability keep me entertained, despite me knowing where we were headed.
There was something truly disturbing and life-like about Jane because in today's world, someone like her could absolutely exist, which made her character even more creepy and uncomfortable. As a mom of two myself, I found the main character Nora to be quite frustrating. I felt that she was weak and didn't do enough to truly protect her family, despite all of her instincts telling her to take a stand.

SPOILERS COMING!!!!


There were a couple of instances in the book where I felt like the author fell short in pertinent scenes where details and description were crucial...
Nora's car crash at the end - this scene was super confusing, so much so that I had to go back and re-read it two additional times and even then, I still couldn't picture the crash happening in my head. The details were too clunky to make sense.
Another scene I had to re-read a couple of times was when Nora and Jane were fighting on the deck. The axe and knife were thrown/drawn at the same time but then the axe landed on a chair despite Jane being out on the deck? It was just too confusing to truly make an effect. The scene either needs more specific details or less details, I am not sure which.

There are still some questions that need more answers:
1) What happened to Allina???
2) who was the guy in the black sedan that was following Nora and her son and why was he doing it? Why was there never any mention of him being seen by the dad or the daughter. While Jane did say he was a PI for her to find Nora and investigate her, this explanation was extremely vague and so quickly glossed over for this character and the amount he was mentioned throughout the story.
3) Why did Jane have it setup to have Nora mugged? What was the point of that?
4) Jane was mentioned to have screwed over a competitor at 'last years conference', and that guy was again mentioned at the end of the book. However, why was this even included? I was thinking he was going to turn out to be Shane, who was the person who drugged Nora (THAT would have been a great twist!!!!) but he was just a one-off character that seemed to get a good amount of mention with no true meaning.
5) Janes aunt and uncle - did they know who Nora was? Why did the Aunt kick her out? They were also mentioned to much, and had such a crucial scene but yet we never heard of them again.
6) Why did Nora, as she got older, never google her accident. She could have easily found out about Lucas' older sister.


Thanks to Net Galley for providing me the ARC copy to read and review.