This was a wicked fun book to read this fall. Suburban drama at its finest was served up on a silver platter and I loved every second of it. Laskowski's book had a "Desperate Housewives" feel to it. All the characters were unreliable, making it very difficult to trust anyone. The Mother Next Door was oozing with secrets galore and the Halloween atmosphere added to the mystery making this book a quintessential October read. I look forward to more books by this author.

This was another fun suburban drama to read. I'll be honest....my guesses were wrong most of the time while reading this story, which I absolutely love.

The Ivy Five is the elite group of mothers on Ivy Woods Drive. There are involved in absolutely everything surrounding their children. Mess with one and you will surely encounter the wrath of the others.

Enfolding someone new is always risky, but the Five has been Four for so long that it feels like its time to become whole again. Having their lives turned upside down, suspicions thrown around and secrets threatened to be revealed is something none of them ever saw coming.

Thrilling and thought provoking. Sometimes embracing the new girl comes with it's own set of challenges.

A great “spooky” story to read, but there were times I thought this book would never end. It got bogged down in too many details. Otherwise worth the read.

The Ivy Five! A pretentious and cliquish gang of suburban moms who live in the Ivy Woods subdivision where an annual Halloween block party is their signature event.. They have spent years planning and throwing these block parties and mostly to the excitement and jealousy of the outsiders. This year, a new neighbor, the new principal and his wife, Theresa, have moved into a home on the cul-de-sac and she is initiated into the Five. She has secrets and they have secrets. Years before, a young woman, who was babysitting following the trick-or-treating, left the children and jumped off of a bridge. Her ghost is said to haunt this area and reports of spotting her are rampant.
The story is written in a unique way. There are multiple timelines, one being present day, one being the night of Halloween then, and one being current Halloween night. The author uses this writing style well and it adds to the tension in the story. I appreciated the characters although many are unlikeable. I found the story itself to be compelling and to keep me interested and turning the pages. A terrific Halloween themed story.
Definitely recommend.
#TheMotherNextDoor #NetGalley #Harlequin

Well this was a fun and juicy read for the week before Halloween! This was the second book by Tara Laskowski that I’ve read and she has solidified her spot as one of my favorite domestic suspense/thriller authors.

The Mother Next Door centers around the exclusive Ivy Woods neighborhood in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their renowned annual Halloween Block Party. Part of the book takes place in the weeks leading up to Halloween, the actual party on Halloween, and flashbacks to the party years before. It had all the spooky Halloween vibes, a little bit of a ghost story, and the domestic suspense surrounding a cult-like group of moms who all have their secrets.

It took me a little while to catch on to what direction the story was going, but despite that the story never felt slow or off track. I was so intrigued by the moms, but one of the narrators is unknown and that kept me guessing all the way to the end. It was atmospheric, twisty, and full of drama and secrets!

If you are a fan of Megan Miranda or Sally Hepworth or looking to read a domestic suspense for the Halloween weekend, I recommend The Mother Next Door! I look forward to seeing what else Tara Laskowski writes!

Thank you so much to HTP Books, Graydon House Books, and Netgallet for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Favorite Quotes:

The women stood between two cafeteria tables, four of them with slight smiles, heads cocked at the same angle, a united front. An army with moisturizing sunscreen and Kate Spade purses, doused in St. Yves perfume.

... she was about as clever as a pipe cleaner.

We passed gossip around our group like a bottle of wine— plenty for everyone.

The perfect house on the hill that I’d had to have. The perfect house in the perfect neighborhood. I’d built a castle on top of a snake’s nest.


My Review:

This was cleverly paced and shrewdly plotted with just the right levels of humor and irony to temper the intrigue and needling angsty suspense that kept tickling my gray matter. The author is new to me and I enjoyed her writing style and hope to read much more of it in the future as her prose was smartly provocative yet easy to follow and called up sharp visuals behind my eyes. She craftily stuffed agile narratives with uniquely compelling characters they kept me a bit on edge and curious to know more about each one, although I wouldn’t want to share air with any of them.

While I didn’t quite fit this one in before Halloween, it is definitely a perfect choice for spooky season!

This suburban suspense was compulsive, eerie and quite entertaining! A domestic thriller with an affluent neighborhood, an abundance of juicy secrets, scandals and lies AND murder?! What more could I ask for!!

I found it to be fun yet creepy too and I really enjoyed that it had a Desperate Housewives vibe but with some truly sinister neighbours! With multiple POVs and short chapters, this one kept me intrigued from start to finish!

This is a slow burn drama with a tinge of suspense. Theresa and her family move into the Ivy Woods community just in time for the Halloween block party on the cul de sac. Really cool that I picked this up during Halloween and I also live on a cul de sac and yes this is very relatable! Theresa becomes obsessed with “The Ivy Five”, but hold up there’s only four where is, who was, and what happened to the fifth one? This is where the story picks up, secrets come out & there’s drama and threats. Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

Just spend a little time around an elementary school and THE MOMs will out themselves. There will be a group of super high-achieving moms who wield all the power. They plan all the events, they decide who gets the coveted volunteer spots. They rule the school. In The Mother Next Door, they are the Ivy Five.

Theresa is newly married and has moved with her teenage daughter, and her husband, the newly minted principal of the high school. She knows right away who the moms to get tight with are. In fact, they all live on her street. The thing is, it’s not a coincidence. Theresa isn’t completely new to town, she pulled strings to get her husband her job, and while the Ivy Five plans their famous Halloween Bash, it’s hard to tell who will be burned more by this information, Theresa or the Five.

As it turns out, the Ivy Five also has secrets. Laskowski paints a tale of women we all know but with a more sinister plot than we’ve hopefully encounter in our own lives. It’s a quick thriller and a fun read for the spookiest time of year. Special thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

Paced at breakneck speed with twist after twist after twist and an abundance of red herrings. The plot was very similar to several others I’ve read recently revolving around neighbors and neighborhoods but a worthwhile read nonetheless.

This thriller centers around an exclusive Halloween block party, so it’s the perfect time of year to read it! In the vein of Big Little Lies, the reader knows something big happens on Halloween night, but it’s not clear what happened to whom or who exactly was involved.

I really like this method of storytelling, everyone’s POVs coming together to a point. It felt more like a neighborhood drama than a thriller, with a hint of suspense. Nevertheless, it was interesting and I was hooked right from the beginning. I’m a sucker for these stories of catty moms behaving badly. The Mother Next Door focuses on a group of “it” wives and the new woman on the block. She’ll do anything to fit in with them.

I loved that it was centered around a Halloween block party. I was a little bit jealous of their Halloween plans, since I worked over my Halloween weekend (ugh). The audiobook made me feel like I was right at the center of the drama. This is the perfect cozy, suspenseful story to read this fall.

What a fun Halloween read! I picked this one up without knowing how prominent Halloween was to the storyline, and I ended up binging the entire book on Halloween! This book gave major Desperate Housewives vibes, and also reminded me of the book The Hunting Wives that I read earlier this year. I loved the alternating POVs between Thersea and Kendra. Having Kendra's POV made me know that she was involved in the storyline in a very important way. Through the beginning of the book, I did find it a little slow-moving as it was building up the suspense, but the last 100 pages were fast and entertaining. Some of the twists were a bit predictable, but still a fun Halloween read!

Just in time for Halloween and all its spookiness. The Mother Next Door is a thriller about the Ivy Five – a group of women who live in an exclusive neighborhood where the party of the year takes place on Halloween. This year a new neighbor will be part of the festivities.

The Mother Next Door is about secrets, power, and frenemies. The story is told from several points of view and the suspense slowly builds as it becomes obvious that all the women have secrets they are guarding. The story is well-developed as are the characters. it would be easy to imagine this story playing out on screen. With that said, I found that I didn’t like any of the characters, except for maybe a few of the spouses, who are somewhat incidental at best. The main characters are shallow, catty, and possessive of their status, their power, and their secrets. I wanted to like it more than I did but will give it 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

I’m glad I read this book during ~Spooky Season~ because I didn’t realize how prominent Halloween was to the storyline when I received it (several months ago-oops!). I read this novel pretty quickly, as it was well-paced and intriguing enough to keep me interested during the back and forth narration between Kendra and Theresa (along with the “unknown” narrator who gives readers a glimpse of the past). If mystery/thrillers that prominently feature gossip, blackmail worthy secrets and affluent neighbourhoods, The Mother Next Door will be right up your alley and you’ll definitely want to pick it up.
A strong 3 stars, closer to 3.5 for me for the Halloween spin (something I’m surprised isn’t done more often in the genre?).

Big thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for this ARC!

If you know me, you know I love a suspenseful mystery! This was a great read that kept me up at night (reading - not nightmares!). When Theresa and her family move to Ivy Woods, she wants nothing more than to just fit in and be part of the "power moms" - the Ivy Five. However, everyone is hiding secrets (including Theresa herself) and those secrets threaten to destroy the life that everyone is enjoying.
Ooh - I loved this book and its Halloween theme! It kept me guessing as well. Thank you for my review galley and for making me part of the tour!
Full review at drbethnolan.com

This was a fun little read. Not quite the thriller I was hoping for, more Lifetime/Real Housewives-ish type drama, but still enjoyable. There are secrets, a coveted cul-de-sac neighborhood, a group of snarky women....... what's not to love, right? The Halloween-based theme throughout was a blast, as I love Halloween too, although not as much as this group. The author did a great job in making me feel as though I could actually see all of the decorations in the neighborhood. Well done on atmosphere! I have been reading a lot of really dark, intense thrillers here lately, so this was a nice change of pace, but a little tamer than I have been used to. No fault of the authors, though. This is my second from her and definitely will not be the last.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Tara Laskowski and Harlequin/Graydon Books for this ARC!

Tara Laskowski’s book The Mother Next Door is the perfect October read. Why? The Ivy Woods annual Halloween Party put on by the Ivy Five is always a big occasion in the neighborhood. The original five ladies living in the cul-de-sac continually attempt to top their last year’s celebration.

As I said, these ladies are well noted for this activity, but each of them isn’t so well known for the secrets and lies they keep tucked away. And it seems they will stop at nothing to keep these secrets from coming to light.

But this year a new neighbor has moved into the elite neighborhood. Theresa is welcomed and soon feels fairly at home with her new neighbors, yet she also experiences a niggling from within. Though she longs to be one of these privileged ladies, she also feels the need to dig a little deeper into the group’s past history. In time she realizes that the group did indeed once consist of five members. But no one is eager to discuss the missing lady in the Ivy Five.

The story is told by various members of the Ivy Five. Then, interspersed randomly, at least it felt that way as I was reading, are chapters titled Halloween. These are flashbacks to previous Halloween celebrations in the cul-de-sac. It isn’t specified as to who the narrator is.

Though the story is centered around Halloween, in truth it was more about the ladies in the cul-de-sac. Their interactions and the secrets they are all keeping hidden away, or at least attempting to, make up the plot.

What Concerned Me
As I read, the story left me wanting the secrets to unravel. I was guessing and involved, but not as engaged as I’d like to have been. It began to drag.

My Final Thoughts
While the book was just fine, I didn’t find it memorable, and the characters didn’t really stand out. That being said, I would recommend you read other reviews and get their thoughts before deciding against it.

I found the text continually spiking. I would be excited that it was going to pick up speed, and then it would quickly die down. That repeated several times.

I’d toss a coin on reading this, though it wasn’t bad by any means./ 3.5 stars raised to 4

At first I thought this book was going to be a fairly typical domestic suspense about the secrets people are keeping in an affluent neighborhood, but I was wrong! THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR was a clever blend of folklore, suspense, and a Halloween setting that set it apart from other books in the genre.

Ivy Woods is an affluent community set in a cul-de-sac, and a group of women are known as "The Ivy Five". They run the bake sales, approve the scholarship essays, and most importantly, Kendra, their Queen Bee, organizes the annual Halloween block party.

But when a new family moves into Ivy Woods, strange things begin to happen. Messages with a chilling tone are sent, and the moms know someone is watching...the question is, does the anonymous sender know what they did?

Told from alternating points of view from Kendra, the new mom on the block Theresa, and the anonymous watcher, this book was the perfect Halloween read! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy!

3.5/5

This was a juicy and entertaining read about grown women behaving badly that I mostly enjoyed. I think I expected it to be a little darker and creepier based off of the synopsis than it actually was, but it was still a fun seasonal read. There were plenty of secrets and betrayals and although some of them seemed obvious to me, they were still entertaining. If you like reading about unlikable characters and specifically catty women this could appeal to you. It was almost a women’s fiction with a side of light suspense, nothing super dark which is what I was craving, but like I said earlier, it was still a fun read. The audio was great, multiple narrators kept me engaged much more than I would’ve expected and I’m positive I enjoyed this one more based on listening rather than reading. It definitely heightened the experience for me, so if you’re planning on adding this one to your TBR I would recommend the audio.

Overall
The Mother Next Door is a great Halloween thriller that brings a perfectly picturesque and eerie neighborhood, and secrets galore. It’s all about Halloween, past and present, and how the past, present, and future collide. While I found it to be a bit predictable and the characterizations lackluster, I adored Ivy Woods and enjoyed the slow peeling back to expose the various secrets of many of the characters. I really liked that The Mother Next Door focuses on a group of mothers who seem to rule Ivy Woods, and just how exclusive the group really is. Overall, this is a fun thriller perfect for Halloween.

Extended Thoughts
Years ago, Theresa was a college student on the periphery of Ivy Woods, a highly desirable street to live on. Now, she’s the wife of the high school’s new principal and the mother of a high school freshman. Now, she’s desperate to fit in, to be noticed by the Ivy Five, which has really been four for years, but she’s perfect for the last spot.

The Ivy Five is a group of four mothers led by Kendra, the one who has it all together and plans the most amazing Halloween party ever every year. They’re an exclusive group bound by motherhood and secrets, the kind of group you want to join. But, this Halloween, secrets are about to be unraveled, the past is about to come back, and Theresa might not be an entirely new and innocent face on Ivy Woods.

The Mother Next Door is a fun, eerie Halloween thriller. Set during the month of October, both in the present day and some years in the past, everything in and around Ivy Woods is centered around the incredible Halloween street party the Ivy Five plans and hosts every year. It’s the place to be, the thing to take part in. But something terrible happened years ago, an accident or a murder, who knows, but the legend of the Ghost Girl lives on, and someone has an idea of what might have actually happened.

As a thriller set during the Halloween season, I was a little hesitant to pick up this one, but I’m really loving books about moms and motherhood, so I decided to close one eye and jump. Ultimately, there’s a real creepy vibe throughout the book, one that might just make you think someone’s peeking in on you, but it was also a bit predictable to me.

Ivy Woods felt like the quintessential autumnal street. A cul-de-sac bordered by woods where there’s a creepy bridge and the story of a girl who died after being jilted, I could practically hear the dry leaves skittering around and wanted nothing more than to pull my sweater tighter around me. The autumn vibes were amazing and really made me believe I was there. The descriptions were spot on and kept me immersed in this little street. It also expanded to the high school and a university, but neither felt particularly fleshed out. Everything went into Ivy Woods, which was fun, but made the outside world a bit dull.

The story, too, was just a little too predictable to me. I felt the one behind it all was a little too obvious, even though a few small paths opened up and made wonder a little. Still, it was fun to find out more of their motivations and their story. Overall, there was a nice unfolding of the story, like pulling back layer after layer. I did feel it took a little too long and sometimes the story got a little hung up on some details, repeating them to keep the story going a little longer, but it was kind of fun to shuffle along and find out the big picture little by little. Even if it was a little predictable. And even though I felt like all the characters were forever hung up on another one to the point where it was boring and repetitive and I just wanted someone to jump out and say, “Boo!”

The Mother Next Door follows three people: Theresa, Kendra, and an unknown third who is telling about a Halloween. I enjoyed all three of them, but, between them and the rest of the Ivy Five, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of personality going on. One of the Ivy Five was a Southern sweetheart who only seemed to exist in one way and the other two were continually getting scrambled in my head. Since Kendra is really the only one of the original Ivy Five who gets to tell her story, it was easier to get to know her, but she’s so polished and put together that I felt like everything she gave was just a front. Theresa was fun as the outsider trying so hard, but she also lacked personality. It was hard to tell what was her and what was her trying to be one of the Ivy Five. It didn’t help she had so many secrets of her own that she took pains to hide from the reader, so it was really difficult to get to know her, too. The only truly interesting perspective was the unknown third narrator’s. For a while, I couldn’t quite tell if it was set in the future or the past, but it slowly came to light in a most chilling way. Even though I had no clue whose story it was, the whole thing gave me the shivers. It was dripping with hate and derision and said so much about the person behind it. I couldn’t quite tell if it was fictionalized or factual, which made me all the more desperate to find out what really happened.

Overall, though, the characters were lackluster. They never seemed to changed, never showed any growth. Most of the minor characters felt like cut outs. All the men behaved the same way, the children were just kind of wild, and even Theresa’s husband seemed perpetually in a good, clueless mood. Some felt a little too off-hand about things and some refused to take accountability for their actions. It was sometimes annoying and baffling at how they managed to get so far.

Ultimately, even though the characters lacked personality and the story was predictable, the peeling back of layers and secrets and watching the past and present collide really was worth it. I loved the Halloween vibes The Mother Next Door provided, and I’ll be looking at mother groups with a different eye. It was so much fun to read about all their secrets and the way they impacted their lives and decisions.

Thank you to Justine Sha for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.