Happy (day late) Pub Day!

**Why I enjoyed the book:**
I loved The Best House on the Block by T.R. Ragan because the twists and turns kept me hooked, and the neighborhood’s secrets unraveled in such an engaging way. The characters were well written, noting all had secrets they'd prefer not to get out, and their tangled relationships made the story even more compelling.

**Summary of the book:**
Shannon Gibbons, an aspiring investigative journalist, moves with her family to the Fabulous Forties in East Sacramento and starts working as an assistant to Rosella Marlow, a famous but bitter journalist. Rosella is fixated on uncovering her neighbors' darkest secrets, dragging Shannon into her schemes. When Rosella is murdered, Shannon begins her own investigation, only to discover shocking truths about the people in this seemingly perfect community.

T.R. Ragan has several series I've read and absolutely loved! She writes about fierce and independent women who overcome obstacles no matter what. I highly recommend checking out this four star read then binging her other books!

Thank you NetGalley, T.R. Ragan, and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read this ahead of its release in exchange for a candid review. It was sincerely a delight!

I had such high hopes for Best House on the Block. It sounded incredibly promising, but alas…

Don’t let my three-star rating put you off though. Mystery buffs and amateur sleuths will have a field day reading this book. It’s filled to the brim with drama and suspense. The pacing is rapid, and the plot is inventive, with everyone being a potential suspect. Though I didn’t have the whodunit figured out halfway in, at 83% into the story I knew exactly the who and the why. Still, there were several other twists I couldn’t figure out.

The big issue I had was that I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. They were all rather superficial and though it was obvious the author tried for emotional depth, it just didn’t work. The one reveal about Shannon’s life was so ridiculous, it made the rest of her storyline after that particular reveal absolutely unbelievable. The “villain” in this story was incredibly one-dimensional, it was clear very little thought was put into her character. Combine this with the fact that I found the majority of characters superficial, a few gaping plot holes, not to mention the stilted, unrealistic dialogue, and the eye-rolling ending, this was clearly not what I had expected when I read the very intriguing book description.

However, I do think readers who have read any of this author’s previous books and loved it, will probably also enjoy this one. I also recommend it to fans of Frieda McFadden’s books as this is very similar to her style of writing and plot development. It’s an overall easy read, so if you’re looking for a pallet cleanser after having read something heavy, this would be a great choice.

Shannon and her family have moved into a prestigious party of town and she's been offered an opportunity to with with Rosella, a renowned journalist.

But when Shannon meets Rosella, her impression is that she is an angry, bitter and paranoid woman, especially since the death of her son. Rosella thinks all the neighbours are out to get her as she knows all their secrets. When Rosella is found dead soon after, Shannon is determined to get to the truth and realises all her neighbours have something to hide and therefore there are many potential suspects.

This was a book filled with neighbourhood drama! Although it was a very easy read, I couldn't connect with the characters as I felt they were a little superficial and didn't find any of them particularly empathetic. The plotline came together neatly and a little predictably in the end with a twist I suspected.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an incredible book! I thought it was a fun read and had a good amount of thrill and fun in it. I really enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed the premise of this but felt there was something missing throughout. While the mystery and the story were very easy to get into, the characters seemed stiff and two dimensional. They felt likes names on a page and lacked a backstory. There was also a side plot of I felt was inserted randomly and ramped up towards the ending. IMO, this took away from the momentum of finding out the who murderer was and seemed a bit unnecessary. All in all, kind of weak in the thrills department but not the worst I’ve read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this advanced copy!

This book kept my attention and was well paced. It was a little disjointed, though, and the big twist was odd…the ages didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. And there were a lot of threads to follow with this one! But I did enjoy it.

Best House on the Block
by T.R. Ragan
Pub Date: Jan 01 2025

"Best House on the Block" has an intriguing storyline with so many twists, turns and lies! It's very well developed with interesting characters. With a short 282 pages, a fast easy read! This is my first book I've read by author T.R. Ragan and I'm so looking forward to reading more of her books in the future!

Synopsis: Aspiring investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons and her family have moved into a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento, where Shannon finds a fast connection with a new neighbor. Renowned journalist Rosella Marlow appears to have a genuine interest in giving Shannon’s own career a boost—as personal assistant on Rosella’s new project. Appearances are deceiving. Revealing a neighbor’s deep secrets and dark obsessions turns to murder.

Many thanks to #BestHouseontheBlock #NetGalley & #Thomas&MercerPulishing for providing me with an E-ARC of this exciting read!

I liked this book, however, this is more of a cozy mystery than a thriller/psychological thriller. Figuring out who the culprit was a little difficult, but I was a bit underwhelmed with the reveal. Apart from that, the characters were interesting and relatable. This was more of a 3.8 thriller for me.

I wanted to love this book so badly, but I just couldn’t. As a whole, it was just underwhelming. I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters, though there were MANY of them. I wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of our story was. It felt like we strayed off the focus of solving Rosella’s murder and instead just followed Shannon and Chloe when they hung out.

Nothing was particularly “shocking” or “thrilling.” It felt like most of the story was telling, not showing, which I think can be done well but did not particularly work for this story. I also wasn’t a fan of how the characters spoke. There was one instance when Mac, a teen, spoke to her mom, but the way she spoke was very unnatural. It took me out of the story because it was so jarring.

All in all, I’m not really sure what the point of the story was. It started off great in the prologue, but it fell off so far that I genuinely forgot the prologue was apart of this story.

2 stars

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, T. R. Ragan and NetGalley for my copy!

Shannon Gibbons has just moved to a highly desirable neighborhood in Sacramento, drawn there by the promise of working with renowned journalist Rosella Marlow, who is also one of her new neighbors. But their first meeting doesn't go well: Rosella is a snoopy, bitter, vindictive woman who recently lost her husband and only child in a car accident and she seems bent on ruining the lives of everyone around her. Rosella wants Shannon to help do her "dirty work", uncovering the secrets of her new neighbors. But someone has a secret worth killing for, and after someone on the block is murdered, Shannon's task shifts to finding the killer, with plenty of suspects to choose from. Who is hiding the biggest secret of all? The story focuses on the perspectives of Shannon and one of her neighbors, Chloe, as they work together to identify the killer and restore security to their neighborhood. The story held my attention from the first chapter and although I was pretty sure I knew "whodunnit" early on, there were enough red herrings that I wasn't sure and learning everyone's secrets along the way kept the plot humming.

I really struggled with this book. I was never pulled in, and I felt no connection to any of the characters. There are number of characters, and sometimes they are used incorrectly. Perhaps this will change in final copy as I read an advanced copy of the book. Some dialogue felt stilted or unrealistic. The book started out strong, but it fell apart for me as it went on.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc of this book.

This was a a fast paced thriller. I thought the first half was better than the second half, but it was still pretty unputdownable.

This is my first book by TR Ragan and I would consider reading more books by them in the future. \

Thank you again to Netgalley and the publisher for granting access to this book.

I had trouble putting this one down. It’s multi-POV, which works for the story. The people in this neighborhood have been so awful there’s no telling who’s a kidnapper…or a murderer. An easy and fast paced murder mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This will be out January of 2025.

Best House on the Block is a twisty, psychological suspense novel that will keep you guessing until the last page.

Shannon Gibbons and her family move into an idyllic neighborhood, where she bonds quickly with her new neighbor, renowned journalist Rosella Marlow. What starts as a promising career opportunity for Shannon soon spirals into a chilling tale of obsession, betrayal, and murder. As Rosella's deep-seated resentments and dark secrets unfold, Shannon is forced to confront the terrifying reality that no one, not even her friendly neighbors, can be trusted.

T.R. Ragan expertly blends psychological tension and compelling character dynamics in this page-turning thriller. If you're into domestic thrillers with complex characters and shocking twists, this is a must-read!

The story begins with the abduction of a young child. Then, we jump ahead in time to follow a woman who moves into a neighborhood, only to discover that her neighbors are all concealing dark secrets, including a murder.

Almost everyone in this tale has a motive for the crime. In fact, nearly all the residents were present or nearby when the murder occurred. It seems like trouble lurks around every corner in this neighborhood.



I found this story to be quite enjoyable. The only slight drawback is the large cast of characters, which requires you to stay alert and keep track of them in your mind to follow the plot. However, aside from that, it’s a truly unique, fast-paced, and thrilling read.

I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Best House on The Block’ written by T R Ragan in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Aspiring investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons is flattered when well-known journalist Rosella Marlow invites her to become her personal assistant, even finding Shannon and her family a house nearby in the Fabulous Forties District of East Sacramento. Rosella is obsessive about writing a book to expose their neighbours’ secrets and wants Shannon to help spy on them. Shannon likes her neighbours but is too weak to refuse the offer, but the following day she disturbs a murder and everything changes.

‘Best House on the Block’ is a psychological thriller of a woman who’s obsessed with rooting out her neighbours’ secrets and lies. The plot is well thought-out with enough action, suspense and twists and turns to keep the pages turning. It’s involving with characters that are nicely described, and the further I got into the story the greater the tension. This is an enjoyable thriller and while not my favourite by T R Ragan is still exciting and highly readable.

I've liked a lot of TR Ragan's books in the past so I went in with high hopes. Unfortunately this one was a bit of a mess. The characters were flat and hard to distinguish from one another. A lot of the actions and events were out of place. And the twist fell flat from predictability and a little bit of boredom. I was hoping for something intriguing and I got a bunch of people gossiping and playing amateur sleuth for no good reason.

Thank you to the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, author, T.R. Ragen, and NetGalley for the ARC of Best House on the Block, in return for my honest review.

I’m a fan of TR Ragan and had high expectations from the few books I previously read. The book started out very strange with a person kidnapping a small child who seemed to be neglected. You were left knowing nothing about the conclusion of that story.

Then we go straight to the main female character moving to an elite neighborhood and having meeting with a neighbor, who happens to be well known journalist. It’s a very odd & disturbing meeting in my opinion. I feel the whole book has a desperate housewives feel to it.

Secret meetings, nosy old neighbors, people dying suspiciously. It was disconnected yet cliche. Parts of the book didn’t make sense or seemed to be missing parts.

In my first initial read I gave it 4 ⭐️. After reviewing I’d give 3.5 ⭐️.

What an intriguing story.
You meet Shannon when she moves into an almost "perfect" neighbourhood to work as a PA to Rosella. But from the minute she enters the house things are not what they seem. Rosella hates everyone in the neighbourhood and is on a mission to destroy them all and expose all their secrets. Until she is murdered.
Everyone is a suspect.
I really enjoyed this book with all the twists and turns. Its not often that you get two plot twists in one book - one I saw coming, but one took me totally by surprise.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

Let me tell you, this is one neighborhood I would not want to live in. Everyone here has their own secrets to hide. Secrets that could completely ruin their lives. And unfortunately for all the neighbors, journalist Rosella Marlow knows all their secrets. So when Rosella turns up dead there is no shortage of suspects for her murder. Who did it? And why? That’s the real question, and thus begins the attempt to solve the murder, with neighbor suspecting neighbor. Fast paced, gripping storyline, with plenty of twists. You’ll think you have it all figured out just to get with a left turn you didn’t see coming.

I’ve been a huge fan of T.R. Ragan for a very long time now and while I will say this was still a highly enjoyable book, I’ll be honest and say it’s not one of Ragan’s best. Don’t get me wrong, this is solid and highly entertaining read. And I definitely recommend it. It’s just that over the years she has put out some absolute bangers, and this one just doesn’t quite life up to those top tier ones. Longtime fans will still enjoy this one, and new reader will just be getting a taste of what Ragan can do. I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Best House on the Block.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3Q7BD1VANLIEE/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv