The Forever Home by Sally Royer-Derr is a twisty psychological thriller immersed in two time lines that will keep you guessing and leave you utterly shocked.
Aimee and Archie move from the city to the countryside to start a new life in their forever home, a farmhouse where they can cultivate their own food and grow old together. But immediately they are left to question the safety of their new town upon finding out their realtor was murdered. And when an old photograph shows up tying her to her hidden past Aimee's future is threatened. Who has found her and what do they know?
This fast paced dual time lines will keep you guessing to the end, if you love a good, twisty, psychological thriller this one is a solid read.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an easy quick read, I liked it that it’s wasn’t to long, but loads was packed into the book. It’s creepy and an intense read.

Aimee and Archie are starting a new life in a lovely country farm, it’s like a dream come true, but there are secrets yet to be exposed. There was a murder recently and Aimee is scared.

The story is before and after, Aimee lived on a commune, but nobody knows in the new town, not even Archie. Chapters are told by Aimee, Archie and Aimee in the commune. Really enjoyed it. A creepy 5 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

Aimee and archie move from the city into a farmhouse. they find out their realtor has been murdered. Lots of twists and turns, hard to put down/

FIRST OFF, WOW!!!! WOW WOW WOW!
That plot twist was amazing and i did not expect that at all!!!!! This book was a major page turner, i was eager to know more and more as i read on. Thank you net gallery for the opportunity of allowing me to read this book, i loved it!

This was new author for me so didn’t know what to expect and wow I now can’t wait to read more. It was such a well written thriller which had me gripped from the first page until the very last. I enjoyed the characters and the story which just flowed throughout. It was one of those thrillers where I could not guess what was going to happen next. I will definitely be recommending this thriller to everyone and I will be looking out for more books from this very talented author.

There were so many twists and turns. I literally had a hard time putting the book down cause I just needed to know what was happening

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This one was an ok read for me. I didn’t love it and it was a bit of a struggle to get through. I think that is due to the multiple timelines and having to weave them together. The ending does pick up but not until the last maybe 15% of the book. I definitely did not expect the reveal at the end. Some very unlikable characters in John and also Archie. Something about Archie rubbed me wrong from the start.
While not a favorite book it still was well written and thorough.

Aimee and Archie are moving out of the city and into the countryside, where they can relax, grow their own food, and enjoy the large property they were able to buy after the death of Aimee’s aunt. Archie will be teaching at the local elementary school, and Aimee has decided to open a small market, selling local items and the produce she grows at home. It’s a pretty idyllic situation; at least, it seemed to be.

As soon as they get to their new house, they find out their realtor, Angela, was murdered two days prior. Then Aimee has the feeling someone has been in their house. They thought they were moving to a safe, quiet area, but the murder has them on edge…but then they meet more people in town who assure them of their safety, and settle in. Aimee becomes quick friends with Robin, a teacher Archie works with, and Archie made a friend with John, a local farmer who gives Aimee the creeps.

This is all only half of the story - the other half is set in 2016, when Aimee (then named Sunny) lived in commune with her boyfriend, Dream. He was the love of her life, but the commune’s views on polyamory were different from hers, and soon Dream cheated on her. She fled Listening Lark and started a new life, and a new relationship. I can’t say she never looked back, though…

For most of this book, I was trying to figure out what Aimee’s past and present had to do with each other. I felt like the constant switching between the chapters made the book less cohesive. I was enjoying both stories, but as the book went on, I was getting annoyed at not being able to find the tie between the two. Then finally, the ending put everything together, and it was pretty shocking, including the mind-blowing epilogue.

I was torn with this one. I’d say the first 75-80% of the book was good, but disjointed. Then the ending knocked it out of the park - it’s actually one of the better endings I’ve read in a while. This book was a solid 3.5, which I was going to round down, but that ending has me rounding up instead. I wish this book had been laid out differently, but it all ended perfectly.

(Thank you to Storm Publishing, Sally Royer-Derr and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on July 16, 2024.)

This may appeal to some mystery readers but I found it to be moderately interesting and lacking intensity. Some of the dialogue sounded unnatural and I felt the narrative could have flowed more smoothly. I couldn't warm to any of the characters and as the story came to a conclusion I decided I didn't like them at all.

I received this arc from netgalley and Storm Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

The Forever Home
By: Sally Royer-Derr

4 Stars

When Aimee and her husband Archie move to a little country town, she believes her life is finally changing for the better. When small things begin happening to her, she knows her past has come back to haunt her. No one knows her true past. The truth will rock her happy life to its very core.

Wow. This a fast-paced book that keeps you guessing and keeps you wanting more. The characters are likable and easy to follow with the way the book was laid out. The drama is well spread throughout the story and kept me enthralled. This story is not your normal thriller. Many can be predictable. I found a new shock around every corner. It was never predictable. I love a good book that keeps you turning the pages. It was a well written and captivating story that shows you can never really know people.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

Really enjoyed many aspects of the book. Loved Aimee and Archie's settling into their new home and lifestyle, and the creepy goings on that surrounded it. I didn't enjoy the commune chapters as much, even though they were of course vital to the story, but it just meant I didn't love the ending quite so much. Still, a good well written book

What a brilliant fast paced thriller novel this was. I couldn't put it down, it had me hooked from the very first page and I couldn't put it down until I finished. It had plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested and reading until the end.
Overall, a brilliant novel that I highly recommend. I can't wait to read more by the author.
💖 Thank you to netgalley and storm publishing for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, the narrative style didn't work for me. I found some of it repetitive and the long descriptions of unnecessary things jarred a little. I wish the author well. This just wasn't a book for me.

Just when I thought I had this one worked out the rug was pulled out from under me!
The books is written in past and present and added to the depth of the story.
A really smart mystery with great pace and characters.
Highly recommend

The Forever Home by Sally Royer-Derr follows a married couple who move into their dream home, a gothic farmhouse. Archie is a teacher and Aimee plans to open a store to sell her fresh farm produce, but soon strange things begin happening, and we find out that maybe these newly weds don’t know all that much about each other after all.

I liked the premise and was excited by the farmhouse setting, but unfortunately this book did not work for me. I had a hard time believing the dialogue as it didn’t seem to reflect the plot at times, feeling unrealistic and full of cliches. The transitions from paragraph to paragraph could be very jumpy, some scenes seemed to begin out of no where without proper set up, and many ended abruptly, where you feel as though further explanation or internal dialogue is needed.

As a reader, I struggled to relax into this story and believe it at all. If you like short chapters, fast pacing and twists, this may be the story for you, but it did not work for me.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for my ARC.

I thought I had it all figured out and boy was I wrong! This book is jam packed with unpredictable twists.

I love how this book jumps from past to present, it really adds to the mystery and depth of the characters and to the story. The writing is excellent and I always look forward to reading books by Sally Royer-Derr.

If you enjoy a good thriller, this one's for you!

Archie and Aimee, a couple seeking a fresh start, find themselves in a new home nestled amidst the cornfields of Poplin, Pennsylvania. As they step into the historic farmhouse, Aimee envisions a new life with her husband, a life that could help her bury her troubled past, a past she has never shared with Archie.
Soon, strange things begin to happen when Aimee is alone in the house. She is outside working in her garden when she notices a strange light on in the attic and music playing inside. Her feeling of safety is shattered when she receives an anonymous envelope with a photograph of her taken on a summer day several years ago. Has the person she has been running from found her? Her life with her new husband in their dream forever home is now threatened. There is only one way to protect her new life, but does she dare to do it?
It's a riveting psychological thriller with a shocking ending you’ll never see coming.

This was a solid 4 star read for me and had everything I like in a good psychological thriller.

Told from dual POV over duel timelines, the story follows Aimee in present time and Dream her ex love from the past.

Aimee has the perfect life. A husband who loves her, a new home, a business. Aimee also has a lot of secrets. Her past begins to show up in her present life and that is just the beginning.

This book was fast paced, had several twists and a great ending.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and revise this ARC.

The Forever Home by Sally Royer Dare, The story is told with two different POV‘s one is Amy and the other is dream Amy lives in Philadelphia with her husband Archie they’ve been married a year and she is totally enamored and in love with her husband they’ve just moved to their new farm house which is marred by the murder of their realtor but her murder is just the first of mini strange events that happen. Archies new friend John gives Amy the heebie-jeebies something he professes he doesn’t see John being strange but many other people in town do. Then Amy started receiving Momentos that only her ex could know about The other POV is from dream a cult member in California who is in love with his girlfriend Sunny but secrets they have from their past is on track to ruin their future and win the two POV‘s in a roundabout way cross it turns into a murderous event. I really enjoyed this book from the beginning to the end it was a totally great read. I cannot think of anything bad about this thriller each POV move the story along in a quick fashion and although certain people seem like someone you can root for in the end no matter who you pick you will be rethinking it. In any event this is still a great reading one I definitely recommend I have read another book by this author that I really enjoyed but I must say this one was much better. It totally great read a water thing NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Aimee and Archie have just moved into their dream home out in the countryside of Pennsylvania. Everything is going great until Aimee starts receiving little gifts recalling her past that she has left behind and told Archie nothing about. Now she will do anything to keep him in the dark while simultaneously silencing whoever is tormenting her.

That’s the basic gist of this story told in the present from Aimee’s point of view and in the past from a previous lover’s point of view. At first, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to get into the story because Aimee describes everything as so perfect – she and her husband are a golden couple, their new house is a beautifully redesigned historic farmhouse and they’re ready to just settle in and start working the farm while both maintaining full-time jobs. Umm, no. But I stuck with it and while I can’t say it gets any more realistic, it’s an easy read that I breezed through in a few hours while staying mildly entertained, waiting to see where the story was headed.

There probably won’t be any surprises to prolific mystery readers but others may love the twists that are thankfully thrown in. The sections in the past narrative may grate on those who don’t care for the free-spirit, free-love vibe so just be warned that there is plenty of that. Along with nearly every character being naturally beautiful with a perfect figure who also loves nude yoga. Ugh.

Honestly, there aren’t too many suspects who could be connected to both timeframes in Aimee’s life. I would have preferred less of the past narrative and more of what happened towards the end of the story where a major part of the plot is merely summarized and brushed over. But overall, it’s a fun story you can’t take too seriously and can finish quickly.