Title: Roser Park

Author: Wendy Dalrymple

Release date: October 1st, 2022

Firstly, huge thanks to Wendy for reaching out regarding her novella ‘Roser Park,’ and sending me a digital ARC.

I’m a sucker for ‘somethings not right in this house’ stories and reading the synopsis had me intrigued. A housesitting gig that goes sideways always gives the author the means to go in crazy directions, but also sets the reader up for anything, really anything, to happen. From there, you get to go along for the ride.

What I liked: The story is fairly straight forward. A female college student needs some cash, applies for a position, and gets it. Dalrymple adds a few wrinkles into the plot: our character is a 37-year-old divorced female, the house she’s going to be watching is an old house from a well-to-do neighborhood and the old couple are creepy as hell when she meets them.

Of course, a number of things happen that have her second-guessing her decision to housesit, but the all too real fact of getting paid big cash keeps her pushing forward. Even as things go missing, things go bump in the night and the handsome landscaper next door seemingly is always there when she needs help.

I did race through this one, wanting to know where things were going to go, even after figuring most of it out around the time a vet visit is required and more odd things occur.

This one’s will be a read that I think will hook most folks in hard and keep them pinned to the page until its over.

What I didn’t like: I actually think I would’ve liked this one substantially more if there was no paranormal interference at all. If it had been a straight thriller/psychological thriller, I think it would’ve been more engaging for the storyline instead of the lack of character depth we get overall.

One big issue that really bugged me was the way the main character acted. She’s described as a 37-year-old woman, getting back on her feet and going back to school. Yet, whenever anything happens, she responds more like a 15 year old babysitter. Over and over and over again.

When things get really bad, at one point, she finally gets ahold of the home owners who say they’ll cover her costs and double her rate and hang up. And our character is just fine with that and doesn’t care about all of the horrible events that have occurred previously. It was infuriating for this reader.

Why you should buy this: At the end of the day, this is a solid, if not familiar, novella, with a storyline that raced along. Don’t go in expecting huge plotlines or in depth backstories. Instead, go in, knowing you’ll be able to read this in a single sitting and just enjoy the ride. Dalrymple will make you want to root for our main character, even if she frequently makes annoyingly jarring decisions.

3/5