Couldn't put this down! It's full of twists and keeps you guessing all the way through. Very clever!

Shortly after moving into a new home, Jenna and her husband discover that they are pregnant. This isn't exactly the right time for this, but she is excited nonetheless. Jenna becomes close friends with the neighbor Peyton who also soon discovers that she is with child. These two form a close bond although Jenna's husband and another neighbor are skeptical about the friendship. We are brought into the story 2 weeks after Jenna has the baby when she is constantly told that the baby was stillborn. Jenna can remember holding him and hearing his cries, so how can this be true? Told from different times (moving in, after baby is born, and before coming to the neighborhood) you aren't sure who or what to believe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

At first I was sure I knew what was going to happen in this book. There are parts that are predictable, but getting there is a great journey. I highly recommend this book for domestic thriller lovers.

I live a good psychological thriller with mystery too it. The Homemmaker decides all of that and more. Shari Ryan really really knows how to write a book that has you on the edge of your seat. This is not her first time and I sure hope it's not her last. This is the story of newlyweds Jenna and Oliver. When they find the house of their dreams in the perfect location they jump at the opportunity to buy it. It's not long before they meet their neighbor Ginger . She is an older woman who is now an empty nester. She and Jenna hit it off and are fast friends. Soon when she becomes pregnant everything goes perfectly til she wakes up to find her son River missing. Her husband says he was stillborn but Jenna knows better . There are so many twists and turns and you never know really who to trust. Even her own husband holds some serious secrets. I loved reading this book. I was hooked from beginning to end and held my breath so many times. You do not want to miss this book.

This is a real stunner of a novel, heart rending, thrilling and creepy, all rolled into one. It's written really well and I really loved it, Shari is an excellent novelist.

#TheHomemaker #NetGalley
Jenna and Oliver have moved into the house of their dreams on Sapphire Drive after a private exchange with the previous owner rushed through the sale. They cannot believe their luck. A house in the much sought after neighbourhood they could only dream of living in...up till now. But their house has come with a history they know nothing of. And then Jenna finds a bouquet of flowers in the fridge with a sympathy card attached that stops her in her tracks. How could she find out more about the previous owners without seeming too obvious?
Not long after the new residents moves in, neighbours Ginger and Peyton are quick to introduce themselves and seemingly vy for Jenna's attention. Ginger is an empty nester after the last of her four boys has moved out of home while Peyton is thrilled that someone closer to her age has moved into the street. Jenna and Peyton hit it off immediately with the younger woman confiding in her a secret from her past and how it has affected her. Ginger watches the pair with growing interest whilst hiding her own pain. Now that they have bought their dream home, what comes next is family and Oliver, a physics professor who is ten years older than his wife, is keen to start as soon as possible. But Jenna is a child-law attorney and wants to focus a little more on her career hoping she'll make partner before upping roots for motherhood. Until Jenna unexpectedly falls pregnant. And she doesn't realise how much she wants this until now. Oliver is of course delighted and after discussing options, the couple decide on a home birth with a midwife recommended to them by Peyton, despite her mother's advice to the contrary. The pregnancy progresses well and without any cause for concern. Mother and baby are doing well. Until they're not. After a long labour, Jenna gives birth to her baby boy. So what went wrong.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an advance copy.

My first book by Shari J Ryan & it definately won't be my last! This was a great read, I'm off to find my next book by this author!

This story had my mind racing and my heart was in overdrive. Imagine you wake up and discover your baby is missing. I really had no idea what was happening but that made me all the more eager to continue reading.

Thank you Netgalley. This was intense and I loved every second! The author absolutely nailed every aspect of a great psych thriller. I am looking forward to so much more from this author!! Highly recommend

TRIGGER WARNING: stillbirth, mental illness
Jenna and her husband move to a new house. New house, new baby! But after the birth, Jenna is struggling physically  and emotionally while her husband claims their baby was stillborn...
The Homemaker is an intense psychological thriller set in America.
Jenna and Oliver are excited about their new home. Jenna is a little worried about her unexpected pregnancy but delights in her new son River. Except her husband says that River didn't survive the birth and she is suffering from post partum psychosis. Her neighbour Ginger's narrative has a focus on her empty nest and there are suggestions about secrets and lies that she may be harbouring. She is jealous of Jenna's blossoming friendship with another neighbour Peyton.
The book is written from three first person perspectives Jenna and her neighbour Ginger a year ago and Jenna in the present day. These skewed, vulnerable and unreliable narratives make it difficult to guess the truth as the plot threads weave together.
The strength of the emotion and the content is difficult to read at times as it is very powerful yet utterly heartbreaking. The style of writing was easy to read and I felt engaged with Jenna's story as I tried to work out what was happening. There were plenty of hints and twists to keep me guessing and interested in the plot.
The Homemaker is an emotionally intense but enjoyable psychological thriller.

I love it when a book is unpredictable. This book certainly was. I love books about neighbourhood gossip. My only disappointment was that the ending was confusing.

I do love it when new thrillers are announced. This one has delivered on every level. I absolutely will be adding ALL of this authors other books to my TBR.

A good author can write any genre and pull it off. Ryan has definitely done that. This is unputdownable and completely addictive.

This is a book that has left me speechless. I’ve devoured page after page of this one with admiration for the author’s talent.

Heartache, dramas and suspense fill the pages of this book. The characters are questionable at times. This is definitely one of my favourites of this year so far.

I’m so excited for what May come next from Ryan. This is brilliant.

I highly recommend.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Jenna and Oliver have recently moved into a neighborhood that feels almost like a dream to them. It seems like everything in their newly married life is right on track and things couldn't be better. Yet there are secrets around every corner with their new neighbors and things definitely aren't what they appear to be.

The book is told from multiple viewpoints and also goes between the past and present to give the reader much of the background information this is needed. The story centers around Jenna's apparent break with sanity after the loss of her infant son at delivery. Stillbirths definitely happen but Jenna is insistent that she remembers her young baby, River and questions his death.

This is a very well woven story with a great plot and some clever twists. A truly enjoyable read that had me quickly flipping pages.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

A cunning exploration of deception and danger, this thriller challenges your assumptions and keeps you engaged with its relentless pace!

The Homemaker, by Shari j. Ryan is a compelling psychological thriller. It is about a newlywed couple, Jenna and Oliver, who purchased their first home, sight unseen, in a neighborhood they had been wanting to move into. Jenna made a close friend in Peyton, who lived across the street. The book begins following the birth of Jenna and Oliver’s first child when something is wrong with Jenna and the story evolves from there.

This book is told from the perspective of Jenna and Ginger, a neighbor who lived across the street. The author used a non-linear timeline when telling the story, which added to the mystery as the reader slowly receives more pieces of the puzzle. The author weaves the details of the story in this way to keep the reader guessing about what was truly happening until the very end. There were many little mysteries happening in the background of the main storyline, that of Jenna and her son, River. Ginger’s story seems strange and erratic as does her relationships with her neighbors and her own children. A number of troubling things had happened on her street and she seemed to be at the center of much of it. I have read quite a number of this author’s books and have observed her writing evolve over time from a pretty typical romance novel to this last title, which was exquisitely crafted and had me riveted almost from the first sentence. Lovers of psychological thrillers should definitely pick up a copy of The Homemaker. I am confident that you will not regret it! I am voluntarily submitting this honest review after reading an advanced complementary copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and Bookoture.

The Homemaker by Shari J. Ryan
Release Date June 12, 2023
Publisher Bookouture

Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Suspense: 5/5
Overall Enjoyment: 5/5

OMG! I love psychological thrillers and this one is one of the best. You cannot go wrong with this one. There are twists and turns that keep you trying to figure out what is going on but you won’t be able to. This is one hell of a ride. With 3 characters, you will ultimately have your favorite but that does not mean they are all good. Watch out who you root for.


5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

The Homemaker by Shari J Ryan was such an intense thriller! I really enjoyed it. A woman Jenna and her husband Oliver have a baby, but it is a stillborn birth. Yet, the mother can't accept that because she is sure that she heard him crying, held him in her arms, and saw his eyes. Her husband has Jenna admitted to Psychiatric Hospital. And that's just the beginning of the story. It has so many twists and turns. It's an edge of your seat thriller. I don't want to give too much away, but the ending blew me away! Wow! I highly recommend it. Check it out for a great thriller. I want to read more of Shari J Ryan's books.

My favorite domestic thrillers are the ones that involve new mothers. This book, with its description of a new mother who is told that she doesn't have a baby, works extremely well. That back cover copy is vague and had me expecting something else but once I started reading it really was as "unputdownable" as the book's Amazon listing promised. It wasn't until halfway through that I started to even suspect what was really going on.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. This is the hardest kind of book review to write because I don’t want to include any spoilers. It’s a thriller/mystery and it’s important to keep the reader guessing until the very end. That’s pretty much what this book does. Of course, pretty close to the end, the plot begins to coalesce and it becomes clear what has happened, and who is responsible, but the tension and confusion throughout are very well written. Characters are realistic, and some are terrifying. It’s told from the alternating POVs of Ginger, Jenna, and Peyton in the third-person, present tense. This was my favorite line, something Jenna thought when speaking to Peyton after overhearing a fight with her husband: “The urge to ask her if everything’s okay feels like holding a fly in my mouth.”

You’d think you might know what characters are thinking, but they only share as much as is necessary to move the plot forward—never enough to elucidate exactly what is happening. Everyone is a potential liar and/or murderer, and even in the end, there are still a few floating questions—no loose ends, though. It’s more like when you reach the end of a book and the ending haunts you and you ask yourself questions and wonder if you should have seen it coming. It’s a rollercoaster ride and so very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

A thoroughly enjoyable read that has you flying through myriad twists and turns trying to figure out just what is going on! Interesting characters add to the depth of the story.

Devoted wife..loving mother...trusted neighbour...liar...

My first read by Shari Ryan and wow...I'm impressed. Her name is synonymous with historical fiction centring on the Holocaust so when I saw she had a psychological thriller, one that whetted my appetite, I just knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed.

What begins as an emotionally-charged tale of Jenna, a woman suffering from post natal psychosis after the birth of her son, readers are thrown headlong into a tumultuous situation and a neighbourhood where the neighbours know a little bit more than maybe they should. Jenna's heartbreak was raw and no one felt it more keenly than she. But how did she end up here? And why?

Jenna and Oliver have moved into the house of their dreams on Sapphire Drive after a private exchange with the previous owner rushed through the sale. They cannot believe their luck. A house in the much sought after neighbourhood they could only dream of living in...up till now. But their house has come with a history they know nothing of. And then Jenna finds a bouquet of flowers in the fridge with a sympathy card attached that stops her in her tracks. How could she find out more about the previous owners without seeming too obvious?

Not long after the new residents moves in, neighbours Ginger and Peyton are quick to introduce themselves and seemingly vy for Jenna's attention. Ginger is an empty nester after the last of her four boys has moved out of home while Peyton is thrilled that someone closer to her age has moved into the street. Jenna and Peyton hit it off immediately with the younger woman confiding in her a secret from her past and how it has affected her. Ginger watches the pair with growing interest whilst hiding her own pain.

Now that they have bought their dream home, what comes next is family and Oliver, a physics professor who is ten years older than his wife, is keen to start as soon as possible. But Jenna is a child-law attorney and wants to focus a little more on her career hoping she'll make partner before upping roots for motherhood.

Until Jenna unexpectedly falls pregnant. And she doesn't realise how much she wants this until now. Oliver is of course delighted and after discussing options, the couple decide on a home birth with a midwife recommended to them by Peyton, despite her mother's advice to the contrary. The pregnancy progresses well and without any cause for concern. Mother and baby are doing well. Until they're not. After a long labour, Jenna gives birth to her baby boy. So what went wrong?

Immediately following the birth, Jenna finds herself understandably exhausted. Only this fatigue doesn't go away. With every passing day, she grow more and more tired and she knows her baby needs her and how can she care for him if she is always sleeping? Surely he must be hungry by now. She asks Oliver to pass her the baby to feed and catches the pain in his eyes. What's wrong? Where's her baby? "There is no baby" Oliver tells her. NO! He's here, she knows he is. She birthed him. She held him. She looked into his beautiful eyes as he blinked at her. He's real. He's definitely real. So where is he?

Struggling to stay awake even for a minute, Jenna fights to uncover the truth. But Oliver, worried for her health and sanity, checks her into a psychiatric centre for treatment. There, Jenna continues to demand to see her baby. And it is there she is hit with the shocking truth. And her whole world shatters.

Oh. My. Gosh. This domestic-slash-psychological thriller is packed full of secrets, lies and deception of a whole other level. Hard to believe that this is a thriller debut for this author. The story was so addictive and filled with all the hallmarks of a stellar thriller - complex characters, unreliable narrators, secrets and lies and everything in between. Added to that it also addressed issues such as mental health, post natal depression and psychosis, pregnancy loss, sexual assault, drugs and coercive control. Added to that, we have neighbourhood friendships that border on toxic and the appalling behaviour of family. I'm sorry, but nothing excuses the way Ginger's four sons treated her or behaved.

The story unfolds through the recent past and the present timelines via narratives from Jenna and Ginger. It is clear from the outset that Ginger has her own issues but her story had me just as intrigued as to its outcome and how it related to the main one involving Jenna. But the author cleverly weaves each thread from each of the characters together to form a bigger clearer tapestry. It wasn't long before I figured out what was actually going on and I was eager to find out if I was right...as indeed I was. But guessing the outcome never ruins the story for me, as the thrill is in the ride and what a ride we are given!

My one complaint seems to be the consensus of many other readers - what was the author trying to say with that ending? I re-read it several times and I still can't quite figure it out. I'm all for a twist in the tail but at least make it a tad clearer because that final line is rather confusing.

Nevertheless, THE HOMEMAKER is a stunning addition to the domestic suspense genre and one I'm sure most of this fanbase would devour as I did. It has all the hallmarks and everything you could want in a thriller.

I would like to thank #ShariJRyan, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheHomemaker in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.