Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack in her small Minnesota hometown, but still has PTSD 15 months later. Her best friend Mackenzie is struggling because her husband disappeared the same night of the attack. Were the events related? And why is Shelby now receiving threatening notes? This mystery was a fun ride, and I loved the senior citizen characters. But I think I wanted more character development from the two main characters. Otherwise I really enjoyed it and loved all the twists and turns. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shelby Dawson survived an attack fifteen months ago in her small Minnesota town. She was left for dead but thankfully was found in the nick of time. On that same night, Shelby’s friend, Mackenzie, discovered her husband had gone missing. As both women attempt to move on with their lives, many questions remain. But if they go digging for the truth, they might not like what they find.

NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE was my first Seraphina Nova Glass thriller and I was pleasantly surprised by the humor as that’s not something you usually get with this genre. It was an added bonus and helped balance out the darker bits of the story.

The plot had me invested but there were some bumps along the way. It was tricky keeping track of some characters in my mind even as the story was hitting the home stretch. The author did keep me on my toes though and had me constantly second guessing the different theories I came up with in my head.

Overall a decent thriller that has motivated me to check out other books by this author.

3.25 stars

Shelby was out with her friend, Mack, and Shelby's young daughters. When it's time to leave, one of the girls remembers that she left a treasured toy at Mack's restaurant. Mack gives Shelby the key and Shelby arrives, leaving the girls in the car with the heater running. As soon as she's in the restaurant, Shelby realizes that there is someone else there. He leaves her for dead.

When she survives, he's threatened her loved ones if she even tells anyone what happened. But she has no clue who he is but she is terrified. She learns that there is a lot of strange and scary stuff going on in this small town.

It was a story that kept my attention, but the pacing was uneven - like real life. Definitely a book to put on your TBR list.

Nothing Ever Happens Here is a popcorn thriller with cozy mystery vibes, a winter setting and the best elderly side character sleuths. This story is multigenerational, told through multiple POVs, had a good twist, and even better side characters.

I love good side characters and this book has some funny, eccentric, lovable seniors who really helped drive the story. I laughed multiple times at these “silly antiques sitting around” as they navigated their way through learning about the world of podcasts and social media. Don’t get me wrong, there was a good blend of thriller, murder mystery, sarcasm, and humor. The plot was interesting, it caught and kept my attention from the first chapter, and had a twist I didn’t see coming. I enjoyed hearing the POV of the three strong, well developed FMCs, but those silly seniors made the story for me.

This was my first book by this author but won’t be my last. I really enjoyed her writing style. I have On a Quiet Street on my backlist TBR, and hope to read it this month.

The audiobook made for a pleasant read/listen, and it wasn’t hard to follow along. The story is told from three women’s POVs and the audiobook gives all three their own narrator making it easy to distinguish between characters. I’m a big fan of Brittany Presley’s work so I was excited to see that she was one of the narrators. All the narrators had great pacing, dialect, and inflection, doing a fantastic job creating suspense but also making the sarcasm and humor really pop. Overall, the narrators created a great listening experience and delivered a flawless performance from start to finish.

This started strong with huge plot points right off the bat which really hooked me. The small town setting worked well with the cast of characters. I did not figure out who the culprit was (in fact I had no clue!) which made for a suspenseful novel. I went between reading and listening and I preferred reading but that isn’t to say the narration was bad.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of both the print and audio of this title. I love listening and reading as it helps me get through a book much faster. The narrators did an excellent job with this one. Though parts of this novel reminded me of a cozy mystery, I enjoyed the quirky characters, especially those at the assisted living center who created the podcast and got involved. Had it not been for their intrusion, the story would have ended a lot differently. I also had the husband pegged for all of it (it's always the husband, right?) I guess you'll just have to read it to find out! Overall, I really enjoyed it. Part mystery, part cozy and very entertaining.

After surviving a near-death experience fifteen months earlier, Shelby Dawson rebuilds her life in a small Minnesota town with her best friend Mackenzie. When she discovers a threatening note on her car, she faces new peril as treacherous conditions intensify. Meanwhile, Mackenzie’s husband Leo’s sudden disappearance and financial discrepancies hint at his possible role in the threat. Senior citizens Shelby cares for, along with their podcast, accelerate the investigation, while suspicious accidents targeting those near her add urgency. The vanishing of another friend pushes Shelby closer to uncovering the truth before she becomes a victim herself.


Wow, this was an incredible ride! Every chapter ended like a cliffhanger or twist, keeping me hooked until the very end. The fast-paced story kept me turning pages nonstop, needing to know what'd happen next. I highly, highly recommend this mystery thriller. Intriguing and relatable characters drove the story forward, and a little humor sprinkled in added much-needed lightness. Please give this book a read, you will not regret it!

My review will be on amazon, goodreads, and instagram 2/12/2025

It’s been too long since I’ve been sucked into a good thriller, but I can always count on Seraphina to do the job. She is one of my favorites, and I loved her newest release! Her writing is always so entertaining. From the humorous meddling senior citizens of small town Rivers Crossing, to the clueless police department, the possible serial killer wreaking havoc, the captivating multiple point of views, the pacing, and plot twists, I was fully invested from page one. I became connected to the characters and felt for them throughout.

I couldn’t wait to get to the end and find out if my guess on who was causing all the craziness was right (it wasn’t)!

Thank you HTP Hive, HTP Books, Graydon House Books, and Netgalley for the ARC!

This novel is like a roller coaster ride going around curves and downhill the entire time. The twists just keep coming and kept me guessing as a small town is faced with disappearances, money laundering and even a possible murder. Two friends, Mackenzie and Shelby, both face unimaginable crises. Mack’s husband is missing and Shelby is attacked the same night that Leo disappears. There are so many creative and original page-turning and head-spinning twists that I cannot explain without giving away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that the story was engaging, fast-moving and written with an edge that kept me reading. There is also the comic relief provided by the elderly residents of Oleander, a residence operated by Shelby. These residents are smart and protective of Shelby and want to help solve the crimes going on around town but end up getting themselves in trouble for their efforts. I really enjoyed the characterization because it was spot on fascinating and totally realistic. The elderly were quirky, Shelby was terrified and Mack was understandably frantic about her missing husband and her financial situation. Even the secondary characters like the Shelby’s children and husband Clay were believable and authentically portrayed. I enjoyed the story with its intense suspense sprinkled into the drama of the friends. With a complex plot and a mystery to try to solve, the author did a fantastic job of pulling me into the story and not letting to until the satisfying ending. This would be a great book to discuss in a book group since the characters are so varied and the plot is so memorable.
Disclaimer
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

📚: Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass
⭐️: 3/5

Shelby Dawson was left for dead. Fifteen months later, she’s trying to move forward with her life - doting on her daughters and working at the local senior center. Then she sees the note on her windshield reminding her to keep quiet, or else.

This was a *very* quick read that had a great hook at the start. However, over time, this plot dwindled. A few issues I encountered - while I loved (loved!) the senior center crew, they brought some comedic relief… but the comedic relief felt a bit out of place? It was clear that two different stories were being told that would converge, but even with the (sort of) twist at the end, it fell flat for me.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing & Graydon House via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Nothing Ever Happens Here is out today!

Loved this fast paced mystery with a cast of quirky characters. Florence is a big hearted geriatric woman who wants to help her two friends by starting a podcast. Shelby and her family are being targeted by an unknown person who is threatening their safety, Mack has a missing husband who has taken all their money with him. Both women are terrified but are lucky to have Florence and her friends to help. Told from multiple points of view, this book is beautifully written with a great twist.

The plot had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, this one didn’t quite hold my attention as I’d hoped. It started off with great promise, drawing me in right from the beginning, but by the middle, I found myself dragging my feet. The book wasn’t overly long, but it took me far longer than usual to get through, it just didn’t have that pull to make me eager to pick it up.

I also struggled with the multiple POVs; at times, it felt a bit disorienting and left me feeling confused rather than engaged. While I can appreciate the attempt at depth, it just didn’t quite work for me in this case.

I would stuck recommend to the right audience

Shelby and Mack are best friends living and raising their families in the same small town until one night Shelby gets assaulted and left with permanent injuries. On the same night, Mack's husband Leo disappears mysteriously leaving a trail of theft and deceit in his wake. Months later, Leo still missing, more awful things start happening to Shelby and her family. The local police don't seem to be taking anything seriously so some elderly residents at the local living facility where Shelby works decide to take matters into their own hands. They begin to uncover some unthinkable secrets. Will they solve the mystery before anyone else is hur

Okay this one was FUN! I loved the residents at the living facility and especially enjoyed the banter and camaraderie between them. The story was twisty and interesting although I did find myself sometimes struggling to differentiate Shelby and Mack and often had to flip back to see which chapter I was in. I also found I kept putting this down in the middle but once things picked up again I was much more engaged and invested. This gives cozy mystery but it's absolutely far more sinister and a bit triggering in some places (minor child and elderly endangerment, suicide, poisoning). Overall it was a decent thriller with some laugh out loud moments.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review!

Ah, small towns—the land of charming diners, quirky locals, and apparently, the dumbest police force in fictional history. This book had all the ingredients for a solid thriller: an almost-murdered protagonist, an ominous small-town atmosphere, and a group of meddling senior citizens with internet access. Sounds promising, right? Well, much like Shelby Dawson’s sense of safety, that promise quickly went up in smoke.

First off, I spent the first half of the book trying to figure out what genre I was actually reading. Cozy mystery? Thriller? A sitcom about an elderly crime-solving squad that somehow trended on TikTok? Who knows! Every time the plot started to build tension, some baffling character decision or laughably bad detective work yanked me right out of the suspense. Shelby keeps getting attacked, and the police respond with, "Huh, weird! Anyway…" as if repeated attempted murder is just a mild inconvenience in this town.

And let’s talk about the characters. Between Mackenzie—the forgettable best friend—and the town’s collection of personality-free background extras, I genuinely struggled to tell most of them apart. I had to reread the first two pages three times just to figure out who was who. Where’s the context? Where are the physical descriptions? Give me something to work with! The only ones who left an impression were the elderly busybodies, but even they blurred together into one collective nosy grandparent.

But the absolute cherry on top? That ending. I’ve suspended my disbelief for a lot of things in thrillers, but this? This was a bridge too far. The final twist was so absurd, so wildly implausible, that I half-expected a Scooby-Doo villain to rip off a mask and yell, “And I would’ve gotten away with it too!”

In the end, this is a book where too much happens, none of it makes sense, and the police should probably consider new career paths.

I’ve heard great things about Seraphina Nova Glass, so when Nothing Ever Happens Here became available as an ARC, I knew I needed to grab it.

I’ve read quite a few thrillers set in Minnesota recently, and it’s the perfect frozen backdrop for a chilling, tense thriller.
This started off strong when small town life and the main character, Shelby, are devastated by a brutal crime and trying to recover, until Shelby receives a menacing message which brings her right back into the thick of her worst fears.
The star of the show was truly the unexpected heroes made up of a group of senior citizens, who inadvertently make the case go viral and become detectives of sorts. They brought such a lighthearted, chaotic side to an otherwise dark and twisty story, which made for the perfect balance.
Through a rollercoaster of emotion, drama, and fear, the answers everyone seek come out in shocking and unpredictable turns all the way to the final reveal.

If you love small town thrillers with a cast of unexpectedly lovable characters, that are full of twists and turns, Nothing Ever Happens Here is definitely one to pick up.

Thank you so much Harlequin Trade Publishing - Graydon House for providing me with this eARC via NetGalley.
Publication date 2/11/25

Happy <b>Release</B> Day!

This book was absolutely hilarious. Honestly it had me laughing to the point of tears.

When Florence decides she is going to be a podcaster who investigates a killing, and some other crazy stuff in her little town. Sylvia is afraid that the secret of her attack are going to be revealed and that she will be putting her family at risk.

What she didn't know is that Florence should have been in the FBI along with the other old people who lived at Oleanders.

Okay, so I used to work at a nursing home for 8 years and I could so see them doing something like this. Well, not this far but the scheming and mind blowing antics had me laughing. The killer/stalker/idiot was not who I thought it was and I was pleasantly surprised.

Only two things really caught my eye here which is why I only gave the book 4 stars instead of 5.

1. I hate when a book does not have a Prologue. This was like Lights, Camera, Action....Boom.
2 It was something about the phone. Don't really want to put it out there because it could be a spoiler.

Thank you to Netgalley and Graydon House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Small town thrillers are always enjoyable for me because I live in a small town and it adds to the creepy, this could possibly happen here, vibe. Nothing Ever Happens Here is such a relatable statement for small towns, so the title alone drew me in, aside from the fact that I loved The Vacancy in Room 10.

This was very different from her last and now what I expected at all. With the end of each chapter, I thought I knew who it was, then changed my mind, then bounced back. I had my guard up and one of my three culprits was the actual killer, but it was a fun ride. I loved the old folks and their wannabe detective game they had going on. While it felt highly unlikely it would ever happen, it was fun and cute and added something positive to such a fast-paced, tense thriller.

Nothing Ever Happens Here published today, just in time to snuggling up with on this cold winter day! Thanks to Graydon House for my eARC.

"Nothing Ever Happens Here" was a captivating, bingeworthy thriller that I could not put down. I absolutely devoured this book! The story is told from the POVs of Shelby, the victim of a violent attack, her best friend Mackenzie, whose husband is missing, and Florence, a senior citizen at the assisted living facility where Shelby works. The seniors at the assisted living facility stole the show and were my favorite characters. They set this book apart from other thrillers and were the perfect comic relief. This book was like "The Thursday Murder Club" meets "Only Murders in the Building," but darker and more suspenseful. The first 75% of this book was amazing and had me on the edge of my seat. The ending was just too over-the-top for me. Overall, though, I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing ever happens in small towns, except when it does.
Shelby Dawson has almost found a sense of security and safety after surviving a harrowing attack that left her nearly dead. However when she starts to receive messages worded the same way her attacker spoke, she fears not just for her life but also for her 5 year old twin daughters. Shelby fears her attack was not an isolated incident because the same night, her best friend Mack's husband Leo had disappeared, never to be seen again. With a lovable group of elderly senior citizens who accidentally make her case go viral, Shelby embarks on an investigation to find out what happened that night.
This story was very well paced and perfect for a wintry day. It almost felt like the snowy cold setting of Minnesota added to the tension. I especially loved the cast of elderly sleuths, arguing over editing and follower counts. With lots of twists and red herrings I absolutely recommend this page turner.
Thank you to NetGalley, Seraphina Nova Glass, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC. Release day is February 11th 2025.

This twisty thriller almost has cozy mystery vibes to it in places, with its amusing cast of characters and laugh out loud moments.

Shelby survived an attack a year ago, though the perpetrator was never caught. Now, she is suddenly getting messages using the same threats the masked person had used and Shelby and her family are once again in danger. She now manages a senior living facility, and a handful of the residents decide to start a podcast to find out who is after their friend.

Shelby's chapters are full of tension and anxiety as she attempts to keep her kids safe from the threat swirling around them. While I had multiple guesses as to what would happen in the end, I was absolutely wrong on every single one of them, and I love when a book manages to surprise me!

While Shelby's experience is harrowing and nerve wracking, the residents of The Ole provide so much levity to the story. Think senior citizens arguing over technology, follower counts, and editing, and you will be able to picture the humor of their chapters of this book. I was incredibly entertained by their group, led by the very brave and slightly reckless Florence.

This was a great wintry read, set in the cold winter of Minnesota. It was fast-paced and entertaining, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you HTP for the gifted ARC; all opinions are my own.