Book Review: The Perfect Neighbors by Sarah Pekkanen

The Perfect Neighbors by Sarah Pekkanen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is my second read by Pekkanen (the first being The Wife Between Us co-authored with Greer Hendricks (who's her editor here).



The setting here is one of those delightfully bucolic neighborhoods with the promise of secrets simmering beneath just waiting to explode out of the hedges and upend everyone. I think had I read this a few years ago, it would have carried more weight with me but I think I've read a few too many books where the secrets and stakes are bigger and the resolutions are less... happy. That's not a bad thing but these days, if I'm reading about peeking over the hedges, there's got to be more in the way of payoff. In the end, I liked this well enough (read it in a day) but I was a bit sad this didn't much surprise me. The community ListServ posts were a good addition of wry humor along the way. I can say that I like Pekkanen's evolution with The Wife Between Us. Recommended if you haven't read Pekkanen's newest but if you have, don't go back, just look forward to her next.


Summary:  Bucolic Newport Cove, where spontaneous block parties occur on balmy nights and all of the streets are named for flowers, is proud of its distinction of being named one the top twenty safest neighborhoods in the US.

It’s also one of the most secret-filled.

Kellie Scott has just returned to work after a decade of being a stay-at-home mom. She’s adjusting to high heels, scrambling to cook dinner for her family after a day at the office—and soaking in the dangerous attention of a very handsome, very married male colleague. Kellie’s neighbor Susan Barrett begins every day with fresh resolutions: she won’t eat any carbs. She’ll go to bed at a reasonable hour. And she’ll stop stalking her ex-husband and his new girlfriend. Gigi Kennedy seems to have it all together—except her teenage daughter has turned into a hostile stranger and her husband is running for Congress, which means her old skeletons are in danger of being brought into the light.

Then a new family moves to this quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac. Tessa Campbell seems friendly enough to the other mothers, if a bit reserved. Then the neighbors notice that no one is ever invited to Tessa’s house. And soon, it becomes clear Tessa is hiding the biggest secret of all.


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