Release date: October 14, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Synopsis:
Love in the Time of Serial Killers meets The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window in this delightful romp about a recently broke divorcée who moves in with her housebound mother only to spend their days spying on her grumpy, mysterious and sexy new neighbor.
Zona never thought her life was headed this way, but here she is, newly divorced and moving back in with her mom, Louise. After her ex-husband lost all of their savings gambling, including the money in their daughter’s college fund, she doesn’t really have a choice. She’s cutting every coupon she can and she’s going to help put her daughter through nursing school, even if it kills her.
This wasn’t Louise’s plan, either, laid up at home with a broken leg after one unfortunate tumble on the senior singles cruise she’d been looking forward to for months. But if she’s going to spend all her time at home, at least she’s got her daughter there with her. And there’s some hot new eye candy across the street to distract them both from their troubles. He appears to be single and just around Zona’s age. Could his arrival be the universe making amends for everything it’s put her through?
Alec is just about as grumpy as he is goregeous, so maybe the universe isn’t feeling as generous as Zona hoped. And who’s the woman they can hear him in an all-out shouting match with one night? When the woman seems to disappear without a trace, and Louise sees Alec loading something big into his truck one night, imaginations run wild. Or at least Zona hopes it’s just her mother’s imagination…
Review:
Sheila Roberts is usually one of my go to authors for charming romances with warmth and heart, so I was curious when The Man Next Door took a slightly different direction. This story follows Zona, who’s recently divorced after her husband gambled away their life savings. Forced to start fresh, she moves back in with her mother, Louise, and you also hear from Zona’s daughter, Bree. What could have been a sweet second chance romance leans more into quirky women’s fiction, with Zona, Louise, and Bree spying on their mysterious new neighbor, Alec—a grump who gets into loud, dramatic fights with a hysterical woman the entire neighborhood can hear.
The premise had potential, but the pacing dragged more than I expected. With three generations of characters, there should have been more energy and momentum, but instead the story stalled in places and never fully delivered on either suspense or romance. It felt like Roberts was experimenting with a dash of mystery or thriller elements, but it didn’t create the tension needed to pull me in, nor did it lean into the cozy mystery vibe I thought it might embrace. That said, there were still some entertaining moments, and I enjoyed the family dynamics between Zona, Louise, and Bree.
On audio, Courtney Patterson’s narration was the highlight, she brought life to the characters and was an absolute delight to listen to, making the slower pacing easier to get through. In the end, while The Man Next Door wasn’t a favorite and felt a little “in between genres,” it still offered a quirky neighborhood drama with a multigenerational cast. Overall, I’d call this one just okay for me, but Patterson’s narration definitely elevated the experience.
Overall rating: 3/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
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