Publication Date: October 14, 2025
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 divorcee who moves in with her house-bound 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 gambling addicted ex-husband lost all of their savings, including 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 next door 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?
Maybe the universe isn’t feeling as generous as Louise hoped. There’s something lurking under that mans surface charm, something…dangerous? And who’s the woman they can hear him in all-out shouting matches with on the other side of the fence? When the woman seems to disappear without a trace, imaginations run wild. Or at least, Zona hopes it’s just her mother’s imagination…
The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts is a book featuring many women and their perspectives on love.
Three generations, mom and grandma Louise, who’s looking for a new love after her husband died years before, her daughter Zona, who is twice divorced and scared to love again, and her daughter and granddaughter Bree, who saw her mom suffer and pushes away a good thing, stating she’ll never get married.
We get involved in the details of their lives and get caught up in all the drama. Alec, the man next door whom the book refers to, brings layers to the story. Some of it is good, and other parts are downright scary. We get to know the characters gradually, and so much is revealed. There are some frightening moments, especially when they are taken out of context. There are also some heartwarming and heartbreaking scenes. The pool scene was a hoot once the evil was corralled. Louise’s dog, Darling, was a cute addition.
As each of them decides to take a chance on love, will they all get their happily ever after? There are multiple stories being told, with quite a few twists, turns, and surprises. There is some closure with an unexpected abundance of happiness, joy, and love. I’ve read many books by Ms. Roberts and enjoyed them all. This was an interesting read that I found different from her usual romances.
The Man Next Door is filled with anger, fears, romance, and love. We’re taken on a wild ride of what love should look and feel like, even if you’ve been hurt before, and why taking a chance might be the best thing you’ve ever done.
Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. To date, she has seen over three million books sold both at home and abroad. Several of her books have been adapted for film by Hallmark, Lifetime, and GAF, including her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas, The Nine Lives of Christmas, with a sequel The Nine Kittens of Christmas, and most recently, Christmas on Candy Cane Lane.
