Book Review ~ "Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead" - Saralee Rosenberg

When I received notice from Gather that I'd been chosen to get Saralee Rosenberg's Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead to read and review I was thrilled. I had previously read and greatly enjoyed her book Fate and Ms. Fortune. So I looked forward to seeing what this creative mind had come up with this time around. However, even if I hadn't already experienced any of her books, the title of this one alone would have captured my interest immediately.

In Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead we meet Mindy Sherman and her next-door neighbor, Beth Diamond. A more unlikely duo may never have been seen. Mindy is your somewhat typical mother. She's slightly frazzled and often finds herself wishing for more for her family. She loves her husband and her children and she works hard to juggle the daily life of a working mother. Her house may not be immaculate and her shirts may not be designer, but Mindy makes sure that her kids have a good life. Yet she can't help but eye up the neighbor and her impressive lifestyle. Beth is Mindy's opposite in all appearances. She's the perfectly made-up mother that never breaks a nail and always shows up in designer labels. She has a seemingly wonderful life with a successful husband and beautiful children. Beth clearly has it all, including a bad attitude toward anyone she deems is beneath her, which is pretty much everyone. The only thing these two women have in common is the fact that they both have mean little nicknames for one another and they agree upon their mutual disregard. Mindy's and Beth's worlds co-exist next to one another, but only intertwine for carpooling the children to and from school and very little else. The two women soon, however, find themselves being forced together as drama hits both families.

Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a tale of family and friends, a story of relationships ending and beginning, a lesson of appearances not always being what they seem.... and it's a tale of finding a confidant where you might least expect it.

This novel is filled with both laughter and tears for the reader as well as the characters. The cast of characters is unique and wonderful, albeit rather quirky in some circumstances. Perhaps it is the quirkiness that makes everyone so relatable and very likeable (even the mean neighbor from you-know-where is rather likeable in her own little way). Saralee Rosenberg masterfully combines fun and wit with drama and seriousness to bring us a novel that is a real page-turner. As events unfold, Rosenberg throws a curveball or two in order to keep the readers guessing. Who will stay together? Who will split? What will happen next? The pages didn't turn fast enough for me and I often found myself on the edge of my seat wanting to hug someone or slap someone... sometimes both at once. When an author can make you strongly love, hate or hate-to-love their characters, it's a winning book in my opinion. Saralee Rosenberg accomplished this and more with Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead. By the end of the tale, I wanted to join the Sherman and Diamond families myself! Closing the book on the last page left me with a bittersweet feeling because I had laughed and worried with the women and I felt as if I was a part of their lives. I hated to say good-bye to both Mindy and Beth and everyone else in their crazy families. Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a book that never disappoints from beginning to end. It is a book that I plan on recommending to family and friends, and perhaps even to a few select neighbors.

Be sure to check out Saralee Rosenberg's website and her Gather page.

For those of you that have already enjoyed Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead, I do recommend that you pick up her novel Fate and Ms. Fortune. I think you'll really enjoy it.   And of course I plan to check out her other works too (Claire Voyant and A Little Help From Above), but I can vouch for that one in particular having already read it.