Member Reviews
This book was a slow burn. When I saw slow burn. Very very slow burn. This book did not keep my attention and the twist was I guess a twist but made no sense. There was really not alot of character build up. I will say the best part of the book were the pool girls. Their parts in the book were the best and funniest. There was two different story lines going on at the same time and the end of one made me very confused.
Great Read! I loved the setting at The Sycamores and all it's interesting characters. I was hooked right in and read it straight through. Twisty, murdery and some white knuckle moments! Loved it
This is a very interesting whodunnit, or maybe I should say whodunnwhat, with a great ending! I really enjoyed this book and will check out more from the author.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!
This is a solid thriller, although not my favorite book by Nova Glass. I did enjoy it and it was easy to go through!
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass in exchange for a honest review, I hate when I don't love an ARC. But I really, really, didn't love this book.
Goodreads is full of positive reviews so I have to wonder what is wrong with me, this is a “must read” for 2024 but I was so disappointed in this book. My main annoyance with this book was the "Gotcha" factor. It tries to hard. Instead of just great storytelling unfolding, it has to throw drama in your face to keep you reading... so I kept rage reading to see how it ended.
For the most part, the book is so over the top, maybe that is the appeal, it's a popcorn book, it wasn't awful, it just wasn't good. I didn't care about any of the characters, except Sinatra, and it was all just trying to hard to be shocking and twisty, it was never ending with shock value (undelivered).
3.5 stars!
I think unfortunately I am in the minority of not absolutely loving this book because at the time of writing this review, the Goodreads average is a 4.35.
I was so drawn in by the cover. I still think this book has one of the best covers I have seen in 2024. Unfortunately, I think the plot and a bit of the writing is what ultimately let me down.
Starting with the positives. I felt like the scenery and the descriptions of the motel were SO good. I could really picture what it looked like, and there was so much sensory description I felt like I was there. I also really liked the "Pool Ladies," and thought they were fun additions to the story.
Unfortunately for the negatives, I felt like we had a lot of build up and then things just fell apart. One of the characters was holding back vital information (one of my huge pet peeves in books) and decided only to reveal it when we got to the third act. I also felt like the main POVs had very one note personalities, and although I could differentiate between them, neither were that interesting. The end was giving "twirling mustache" villain, and although I don't mind at times suspending my belief, this was too much. It got even worse that the author just kinda wrote out the final conflict and was like "we all lived happily ever after."
I still have The Vanishing Hour on my TBR so I plan on reading that, but unfortunately this was not the book for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I knew this was going to be a great book and after reading it exceeded those expectations. Truly a great book for 2024.
Always into a murder mystery vibe. This one was a little spooky but also a solid thriller. A who done it. I breezed thru it. I was definitely couldn’t put it down.
I really enjoyed this book! It’s not my favorite book by seraphina Nova Glass but I enjoyed it. I found a few errors that I’m sure the publisher will catch before publishing. I predicted the outcome about halfway through the book. I was hoping for a different twist. I still give it a 4 star! I look forward to reading her next book. She’s one of my favorite authors. My favorite book by her is still “On a Quiet Street.” I like how she goes back and forth with the two main characters. I get a real feel of what each looks like and what to expect from each character. I would like to have learned more about the character of “Eddie.” I was hoping it would reveal that he was working with Cass’ ex boyfriend. Way to go Seraphina Nova Glass! Keep writing those great mysteries!
This story centers around two women: Cass and Anna, each of whom has come to the Sycamores, a grungy apartment building in Santa Fe under different circumstances. Cass was unceremoniously dumped by her live-in boyfriend for a younger model and abandoned by all of her so-called friends. Desperate, she took a job at the Sycamores as the “Handy Ma’am.” Anna’s husband, Henry committed suicide, so she moves into his studio at the Sycamores to try and gain some clues as war drove him to his final act. As both women learn the secrets of this eclectic community, it turns out they’re in more trouble than they ever imagined. And to find the answers they seek, they’ll have to find a way to keep some secrets of their own as well as survive.
The story alternates between the two women’s POV’s.
Anna and Cass are both great characters, so it makes sense to see the story through their eyes. And as their stories begin to intersect, things get way more interesting and exciting. The central mysteries of the book that unfold are really interesting and I was really drawn into the story. I had my suspicions about the villain but the big reveal and the twists were really great and I enjoyed them immensely. This is one excellent thriller!
The secondary characters, the other residents of the Sycamores, also made the story that much better! The community they’ve created at the apartment complex is endearing and quite heartfelt. They provide comedy and entertainment in an otherwise serious novel, which was enjoyable. It provided some little comedy breaks throughout the book.
Overall, this was a great mystery/thriller. Big on the mystery and thrills, but also with a lot of heart. I’m a fan of Serafina Nova Glass, and this is another fine addition to her canon of work!
This slow burn thriller really had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. When Anna last talked to her husband, Henry, he kept saying that he "had killed her." Anna did not know who he was talking about and later was told that he had committed suicide. She moves to his art studio apartment at the Sycamores and learns how truly rundown and crappy the place really is. As she talks to other residents, she realizes there are a lot of things that she did not know about her husband and she is determined to find out the truth about what really happened.
I went in blind and really could not put this book down. Anna and Cass were both compelling main characters with the struggles they had faced recently and once they realized they were on the same side, it was game over. I will definitely be going back and reading previous books by Glass.
Thank you Graydon House for my free ARC of The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass — available Apr 9!
Read this if you:
❤️🔥 love a slow-burn thriller with complex characters
🏚️ have ever stayed in a run-down motel and questioned your life choices
🦹♂️ would jump at the chance to stick it to a bad guy
Anna ends up living at a motel-turned-apartment building after the unexpected suicide of her husband, whose last confession has shaken her to the core. She's trying to piece together Henry's last few months by questioning the other residents, but she's getting threatening messages in return. What is going on at this place? And what is Cass, the supermodel-esque handy-woman who manages the building, hiding?
This was SUCH a great thriller! I don't think it's necessary, in this genre, to have likable, complex characters that the reader empathizes with and roots for. But Seraphina Nova Glass excels at these kinds of characters, and that's what makes her thrillers stand out for me. I absolutely adored Cass's relationship with little Frank, and I was rooting for Anna and a few others who I won't name because I want you to go into this book at least a little bit blind. My absolute favorite scene (I was cackling out loud) was the group heading to and exiting the formal dinner/party — I was dying, such great mental images!! Definitely pick this one up if you appreciate a good thriller, you won't be disappointed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed this book! It was so, incredibly, gripping that I couldn’t put it down. The perfect amount of thrill, mystery, suspense & drama that left me on the edge of my seat until the final pages.
I love stories like this where there’s a “cast of unlikely characters” who for various unfortunate events lead them to one another. In this case, Anna and Cass both find themselves living at The Sycamores, a rundown motel turned apartments, filled with a very odd, mix-matched group of gossipy tenants!
Anna is in search of answers for her husband, Henry’s untimely death and Cass is forced there after being cheated on & kicked out of her upper class style life.
As the story unfolds there is murder, unlikely suspects & alliances and twists you’d never believe. I’d 100% recommend this!
This is my first read from this author but I think I will DEFINITELY be picking up more. This kept me guessing the whole time and I was hooked from page one
🌀 T W I S T Y T U E S D A Y 🌀 featuring “The Vacancy in Room 10” by Seraphina Nova Glass!!
BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
Anna Hartley receives a life changing phone call from her husband Henry. Little does she know that this will be their LAST conversation before his body is found 😵!! Henry had called her in sheer and utter panic apologizing for something that he had done wrong. Anna is determined to find out WHAT her husband meant and what he was really up to.
Anna moves into The Sycamores, a shady & rundown motel that has turned into cheap rental apartments. This place is dirty, sleezy, infested with mice and is always in need of constant repairs. Henry had rented out a room there that he used as an art studio. He spent a lot of time there, so Anna sets out to poke around and talk to the other residents about Henry. She soon finds out that her husband had a lot of secrets and what seems like a separate life away from her at the Sycamores 🤐!!
THIS BOOK!!!! I could not put it down!! The suspense, the twists and turns AND the outstanding roster of shady/quirky/colourful characters had me completely HOOKED! I kept picturing the sleezebag motel setting while reading and this added to the overall SHADY VIBE of the plot!
Thank you kindly to @seraphinanovaglass @graydonhousebooks @harpercollinsca @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This 5 star S T U N N E R releases on April 9, 2024 and should be moved to the top of your TBR list!!
Everyone needs to add this to their TBR immediately. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED, I promise! The author is one of my absolute favorite authors, and is always an auto read for me. This is why I was so excited to get my hands on an ARC for this book. I started this book before bed time, and I finished it before I could go to sleep. I was hooked from the first chapter!
So I actually went into blind reading this and barely glimpsed at the synopsis. The author is an auto read for me and I figured I could trust that it would be a good read. I have no regrets that I skimmed over the summary blurb! Going in blind was probably a fantastic decision and kept the book even more intriguing to me. There for, I will not be doing a summary of the read in this review. I want everyone to be able to experience this read with little spoilage. ;) let me just say, can we really ever trust our husbands?
What I did enjoy:
- when I say this is probably my favorite thriller of this year, I am not lying. I have struggled to connect with a good thriller in a while. I have read a few I loved. But this one takes the cake for my new favorite! I could not put this one down. I kept telling myself one more chapter, one more chapter, and before I knew it I was finished.
- I loved our two MCs, and a lot of the side characters. The book setting was fun and I had no problems imagining myself along side our MCs in the apartment complex. I myself would love to join one of their Friday pool BBQs.
- All the twists, turns, and other side plots were absolutely fantastic. I did not see of the twists coming or connected to one another. I was shocked over the ending!
- Dual POVs between our two MCs Ana, and Cass. I loved both of them and thought they were both really strong female characters. I couldn’t help rooting for them!
- A lot more but I don’t want to spoil too much about this book!
I will forever be a fan of this author and will absolutely read anything they write. I was so excited to be able to get an ARC for this book! I absolutely will be recommending this to everyone. This book is perfect for any thriller fan. 5 stars out of 5! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you Graydon House and Seraphina Nova Glass for the gifted copy!
This was my first book by Glass and I can absolutely see why she is a favorite for thriller lovers everywhere. I loved the intricacies of each POV chapter and I couldn't wait to see how their two stories intertwined (aside from just physically being in the same location).
There were some really excellent twists I definitely didn't see coming, which I'm always happy about as a thriller fan!
Excuse me while I go back and read Glass's entire backlist! This one is out April 9.
The Vacancy in Room 10
Written By Seraphina Nova Glass
Published By Harlequin Trade Publishing
Release Date April 9, 2024
Anna Hartley and her husband Henry seem to have a great marriage. But she gets a call from the police that she cannot believe this comes afte his call letting her know he has done something so terrible he cannot tell her everything. However, the police do. She learns Henry has committed suicide and they have found his body. What is she going to do now? She picks up the pieces of what is left of her life and decides to find out the truth. No matter the outcome. Putting her clothes in a suitcase, Anna leaves to the apartment Henry was renting for his art studio. The sycamores is a run down set of apartments and the manager Cass, becomes a part of the story. But why? Told by two different women, it becomes clear that both are searching for something. Yet the residents of the apartments have stories to tell also. Stories about Henry that Anna did not know. Who did she marry? Why is he so different than when they got married? What is it that he wanted to keep hidden?
This author, who has written another book that will have you on the edge of your seat as well, but this one will surprise you. It will make you wonder about your own spouse and could they pull off your biggest fear? Or better yet murder? It is not predictable at all and the author has done an amazing job of keeping the story entertaining and engaging. I was biting my nails while following along with the twists and turns. This is one my top 5 thrillers of 2023..
5 stars
Thank you to the author, publisher, and to NetGalley for giving me a copy to read in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.
This book is going to be published on my birthday (April 9th)! So I took that as a sign that I would enjoy this book, and I really did!
When Anna finds out her husband committed suicide she decides to stay at the apartment he used as his art studio to search for answers. What ensues is a mix of drama, comedy, and terrifying events.
What I loved:
👯♀️Strong female characters. Perspectives given from two main female characters whose voices are clear and distinctively different.
🗑️How the author portrayed the rundown motel turned apartments.
🎭 The comedic relief that some characters provided without coming across as trashy caricatures, but real people.
💨 Fast paced, drama filled.
What I didn’t like:
🤫 One character pulls a bit of information out of her top hat at the end which made everything make a lot more sense. I think this bit could have been put in the middle of the book and it would have had more impact.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was captivating! The ending is slower than many thrillers, but readers who enjoy endings that are neatly tied up, or at least acknowledged, will appreciate that aspect. I found Cass to be an intriguing character and I wanted more from and for her (I am extremely thankful for the epilogue, I needed that answer on her relationship with Reid!), but Seraphina Nova Glass does a solid job portraying a variety of everyday characters experiencing extraordinary circumstances (not paranormal or magical, just wild times).