Rosella Marlow is not a likeable person. She is the "Karen" in neighborhood, obsessed with finding and exposing everyone's secrets. Especially if she does not win 'best house on the block'. So when she is found dead by the newest neighbor Shannon, everyone is a suspect.

I really enjoy domestic psychological thrillers. I liked the mystery surrounding Rosella's death and how everyone in the neighborhood had their secrets, but unfortunately, I could never really get into this one. There is a large cast of characters and having Shannon and Chloe become amateur sleuths trying to solve the murder on their own was a bit silly. I don't think I would be out there trying to solve a murder after thinking one of the neighbors did it.... that's just putting a target on your back. The writing style, including the dialogue, was a little cringey at times. It was an ok book, but I may think twice about picking up this author again.

This book was drama to the max! I did enjoy it and felt like it was a fun read- I finished in one evening. I have a feeling the general consensus for this one is going to be engaged, happy readers!

The story takes you on a full on thriller ride - if you
Think you have it figured out.. be prepared for the rug to get pulled out from under you.😂 which somehow worked for me, I enjoyed being shocked! Very well done by the author!

It was a good story just not my favorite. I’m hoping on final edits someone catches the times in the book where the wrong names are used which can get a bit confusing and made it challenging at times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this fun arc in exchange for my honest review!

The gossip. The secrets. The murder mystery..... I wanted to really enjoy this book but there were some things that fell off for me.

There are a lot of characters in this book - which makes sense given the plot - but it made it impossible to really become invested with the characters. I felt around 40-60% of the book, I am just reading just to read it and hope that it surprises me in the end.

I was not surprised. I wish there were more clues to actually LEAD the reader to help be apart of figuring out who murdered one of the characters. Instead, I was just being told information as I went along with the book. It wasn't until 95% that we started getting the answers. We were just told things. Yes, 1-2 things were uncovered that could be considered "shocking" or a revelation. It may have had a bigger impact on me if we could be more invested in the characters. BUT I feel like as far as the "main" plot, I still didn't fully get to understand Rosella's full intention or what her goal was.

Overall, my initial thought is that the story was an easy read but fell flat for me.

I wanted to love this book but felt it dragged on in certain places. While i enjoyed the characters and the suspense buildup i was overall bored most of the time

I really enjoyed this one! It’s about a woman named Shannon, who just moved into a nice neighborhood, and she quickly connects with her neighbor, Rosella—a famous journalist. But, of course, Rosella isn’t exactly what she seems and there's a lot of mystery with the neighborhood in general. Rosella is bitter and obsessed with digging up dirt on her neighbors, and things get really messy when someone turns up dead.

The plot is solid, with plenty of twists that kept me guessing. Even though some of the conversations between characters felt a little off or unnatural at times, it didn’t take away from the overall vibe. The pacing was great—it moved fast enough to keep me hooked but still gave me time to absorb the story.

I also liked the characters. Rosella was a perfect mix of creepy and unpredictable, and Shannon’s curiosity felt real. The ending tied things up nicely, which I appreciated.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book!

There has never been a back I haven't found exceptional by T.R Ragan ! She has done it again this book is so twisty and good. Great stay up all night read!

A kidnapping, a murder and a neighborhood full of secrets, what’s not to love about this book! I really enjoyed this book, the only downside for me was the large amount of characters you had to keep track off. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Book: Best House on the Block
Author: T.R. Regan
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pub Date: actually two dates listed - January 1, 2025 as well as November 5, 2024
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 287

Why, this title? Journalist Rosella Marlow lives in a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento and for several years was the winner of the ‘Best House on the Block’; however recently the award went to Chloe and Wesley Leavitt who live across the street.

Now Shannon Gibbons, a hopeful investigative journalist, her husband Trey and their daughter Mackenzie (Mac) recently moved into a home in the neighborhood. Shannon is delighted when she finds out her neighbor is journalist Rosella Marlow-then is excited when Rosella befriends her.
However Rosella is not liked by the neighbors, which doesn’t bother Rosella- in fact, she enjoys being loathed and actually revels in the hate directed towards her.
So when Rosella is found murdered, everyone in the neighborhood is a suspect.

With the help of a Chloe, Shannon begins an investigation.
As a thriller fan I enjoyed their conversations regarding possible whodunits.

Although this story wasn’t a big WOW it certainly held my interest.
Plus the adoption situation was interesting.

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 1, 2025.

I’m really struggling on what to give this book. I did like it. I didn’t love it. Will I remember it down the road and think I need to tell ppl about this book. Probably not.
It started out with a bang. Then it fell off. I found it very slow and all over the place to be honest. There is so many characters to keep track of. And none of them really cling to you. I found it hard to keep track of who was who at first. There was so much going on and yet so little. It started off with a kidnapping and then nothing about it till closer to the end. A murder takes place 4 years later that is the main plot of the story. Everyone on the block is a suspect. Everyone had reason to want her dead. Yes there is a few twists and turns. But nothing you really don’t see coming to be honest. If you’re a fan of desperate housewives and drama this might be up your alley.

🏡Book Review🏡
Best House on the Block by TR Ragan

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, a renowned journalist, Rosella Marlow. However, Rosella is bitter and has a weird obsession - watching her neighbours and wanting to expose their dark secrets. Revealing a neighbor’s deep secrets and dark obsessions turns to murder in a shocking novel of psychological suspense.

This book is slow to start. I paused this at around 10% and it took me a few days to continue reading. It might be me, but I wasn't that invested in the story.

The large number of characters also does not help. I'm not sure why thriller authors love to include so many characters nowadays. It probably is to throw us off our course and increase the number of suspects in the story. If well written, it might work in favour of the author. Unfortunately, this is not the case for this novel.

The characters are under-developed. I prefer thrillers with well-developed characters as they give me insight to their motives and characteristics.

I also feel like author is trying to achieve too many suspense and threads that they got tangled after a while. The plot subsequently, became messy and the plot hole became bigger. 😅 At around the third quarter, I almost didn't care about the storyline.

Overall, this is a weak thriller and I didn't really enjoy it. Sad to say, this book is not for me. However, don't let my opinions keep you from trying it. After all, one man's meat is always another man's poison.

Thank you NetGalley @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

#arcreader #thriller #trragan #besthouseontheblock #netgalleyarc #netgalley

Neighborhood drama meets murder mystery.

The book opens with the kidnapping of a toddler, then flashes forward to a young women moving into one of the nicest neighborhoods in town.
If you’re from Sacramento, you know about the Fab 40s. Being familiar with, and having frequented this neighborhood myself, made this a fun and engaging read.

A woman on the block who nobody likes is murdered, which means the suspect list includes pretty much everyone. Two women are determined to do their own investigation to find out who may have killed her. But along the way there’s plenty of drama amongst the neighbors, including fights and arrests made by police.

In investigating this crime, the two woman who had been strangers not too long ago are brought much closer than they ever could have imagined.

Definitely recommend if you like a murder mystery sprinkled with family drama and adultery. Well written.

I did not finish this book and I will tell you why. The premise seemed interesting, but the style of writing was forced; I felt like I was following someone’s thoughts instead of reading a crafted story. It was starkly different from the level of writing talent I am used to experiencing. I hope the author heavily revises the writing before publishing. I feel bad writing this, but it needs a major overhaul before it is ready for a seasoned reader.

What if someone in your neighborhood threatened to expose the secrets of everyone living on your street!? Would you kill them to keep them quiet? Probably not you, (at least I hope not!) But someone was murdered and everyone in the neighborhood is now a suspect.

It’s been a long while since I’ve picked up a T.R. Ragan book. I enjoyed the first few books of her Jessie Cole series but had never tried one of her stand –alone books.. So when seeing this latest, a neighborhood thriller, (one of my favorite sub genres) I was all in.

Unfortunately this book failed to grab me. I had little connection to the characters and storyline. I always like to get caught up in the drama of the neighborhood…like a fly on the wall. But I just didn’t feel it.🤷🏻‍♀️

Hoping you will have a more positive experience!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in the Fabulous Forties neighbourhood of Sacramento, California.

Starts off strong with that prologue but dnf at ~20%:
• Handles the cast of characters by listing first and last names, at best some hair colour, but mostly just names we gotta remember. There’s nothing to anchor them in our minds or give us first impressions. [This might only be a mind’s eye reader problem]
• This is made worse by peripheral/seemingly one-off characters being referred to the same way. ___ is ____’s golfing buddy and they met via ____, who’s related to ___. I’m slightly exaggerating, but my character notes were a mess.
• This is made much worse by how the characters all sound the same and feel robotic or stilted in how they speak
• Too much info dumping the plot with little room for intrigue, immersion, or inferring for ourselves. If you like that style or want a basic easy read it could work except that character problem makes it not that.
• I was looking forward to the world building but other than what reads like a list of facts I already Googled, this story could take place anywhere with big houses.
• Instead of the reader being thrown in the story the story is thrown at the reader. ___ does this, then that, then thinks this, that says that.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

This book by T.R. Ragan is a psychological suspense novel following aspiring investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons as she tries to untangle the web of lies and secrets around her. I have really enjoyed previous books by this author and although I really enjoyed it I feel that it started out a bit slow as it took me a while to truly get engrossed in this book. After the initial impact at the start with a toddler being kidnapped it slowed right down and didn’t really get going and suck me in until the murder. After that I was so engrossed I couldn’t put it down. There are a fair amount of characters in the book and it took me a while to get my head round who everyone was and the parts they played but once I got everyone sorted out in my head it wasn’t an issue at all.

I’m giving Best House on the Block 4 stars because although it started out slow I did really enjoy it.

BEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK started out strong, with a flashback that promised some intrigue and mystery. However, this one fell short as it was way too character heavy, without enough development done to distinguish them from one another. The various families and storylines blended into each other and was confusing, and the ending didn’t redeem the convoluted path it took to get there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review BEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK.

Oh this book was FANTASTIC! It kept me on the edge of my seat from chapter one, and I just could not even get over the ending. Wonderfully done!

This was a middle of the road read for me. Not amazing, but not terrible either. Halfway through starts to get a bit muddied with so many plot lines going on at the same time. I didn't find the characters to be super relatable, believable, or full fleshed out. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to be honest, with so many other more memorable and engaging stories out there. Ultimately, this one falls flat in comparison.

Mystery and twists, my 2 favorite things in a book. I couldn't put this book down, it was soooo good! This truly is the Best House on the Block.