Three women looking for a fresh start living in Pine Road. Their budding friendships will change their lives, reveal secrets they never imagined and can they give forgiveness were it might not be due?

Martha: since moving with her husband and two daughters to Dublin under sudden and mysterious circumstances, she can't seem to find her bearings.
Robin: she's back at her parents' with her four-year-old son, vowing that her ex is out of the picture for good.
Edie: longs to be popular, and to figure out why her husband seems to be avoiding their perfect future.

The story mainly focuses on Martha and how she and her family are coping after their horrific ordeal; Edie who desperately wants to have a baby and cannot work out why her husband has changed his mind and Robin is trying to make things right in her life. We follow each character and some of the neighbours and activities at the school all the local teenagers go to. Everything comes to a head when the community Easter party is thrown in the street and everything that the story has been building up to is revealed.

Overall the story is just okay, I didn't figure out the ending, thinking it was obvious but in the end it wasn't, which was a good twist. Some of the story in the form of WhatsApp messages between the neighbours and at least twice, we see conversations from only one side, which is a little annoying for me to read - where's the harm in putting in the questions or gestures, otherwise it becomes a tell and no show section and totally loses it's impact.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun having insight into the gossip of this road in Ireland, it felt like desperate housewives but tamer!
This book follows the residents of Pine Road, their lives, their whatsapp chats and their interest in their new neighbour. We get to hear about the families from the perspective of different characters, so we get a chance to get into their houses and also see what they think of their neighbours.

There were several people's names you had to keep track of which did get a bit tiresome but it was needed in order to really give it the full effect of a road with busy-bodies, for brevity sake we had Martha (the new neighbour), Trish (headteacher of the local school), Bernie (lawyer?/alcoholic), Ellen (no idea what she does), Carmel (retired) and her daughter Robin (mum to Jack) and Edie (receptionist and all-around deer in the headlights kind of girl). There are a few other characters but we never hear things from their point of view.
The story mainly focuses on Martha and how she is coping after a horrific ordeal her family went through, Edie who desperately wants to have a baby and cannot work out why her husband has changed his mind and Robin trying to make things right in her life. We follow each character as they try and make things right and also see their thoughts and feelings about their neighbors, everything comes to a head when Pine Road as an Easter party and everything that the book has been building up to is revealed there.

The book has some great twists, one I did see coming but was still masterfully done. Overall it's a pleasant read, it's got some good drama and it makes you laugh.

I actually loved this book! It's funny, thought provoking, full of fun characters, and also complete with twists and turns. The story follows the residents of Pine Road and their on-street dramas. Martha has just moved onto Pine Road with her husband and two daughters under mysterious circumstances, Robin is back living with her parents on Pine Road with her young son after leaving her bad-boy ex behind, and Edie is desperate for a baby whilst her husband does not seem so keen. I would say that we see the most of these three characters, but we do also see into the lives of some of the other residents of Pine Road, including Trish the local school's headmistress.

I loved the way that the lives of the Pine Road residents weaved together. Shortall did a great job at connecting the characters together and telling the story of Pine Road as a whole, rather than just multiple individual storylines. The characters all had their own issues and demons to face which gave the story depth, amongst the more lighter elements such as the Pine Road whatsapp group chat.

One of the main reasons why I loved this book was the twist. Don't you just love it when you think you've sussed something out and you're not really expecting a big shock in the book, and then bam.! However, upon reflection, I'm not entirely sure the resolution of the story worked for me as I wasn't keen on certain characters' responses and actions to the unfolding drama. If you've read this, please chat to me about your thoughts!

Overall it was a fab read and I would defo recommend it. Thanks to Atlantic Books and Netgallely for a free copy of the e-book in exchange for a review.

This wasn't quite what I expected, but I did enjoy it. Lots of twists and turns and evidently the author tried hard to keep the reader guessing. An enjoyable read.

I would describe this book as Desperate Housewives set in Dublin, in the best possible way!

We follow a whole street of characters, focussing on three women. Edie is desperate to keep up appearances, as well as to become a mother. Robin and her four year old son have just moved back in with her parents. And Martha has moved to the street with her family to escape the demons of their past life. All of the women's stories intertwine, mixing with their neighbours' in surprising ways

The characters were also really enjoyable to read about and felt well fleshed-out. I also enjoyed the sub-plot which threw light on rape culture and issues in high schools. I thought all of the perspectives and storylines were weaved together really well

This is the story of Pine Road in Dublin and its residents.

Robin has returned to her parents’ home with her son after a relationship breakdown.

Edie, married and desperately wants a baby, but her husband doesn’t seem so keen. Why?

Bernie, the ‘matriarch ‘, the top woman who rules the Road.

These are the three main characters and the story revolves mainly around them with hilarious asides from other residents WhatsApp messages. There’s a rat hole, stole newspapers and wheels. We hear gossip and secrets, affairs, petty minded people and neighbourhood disputes but also a close community, love, laughs and family.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a free copy of the ebook. This is my honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book!
Being set on one upmarket, suburban cul-de-sac - Pine Road, it felt like an episode of Desperate Housewives crossed with Neighbours set in Dublin!
While the focus of the story is on three main characters and their families, the surrounding community and especially the messages in their Whatsapp group were what I most enjoyed about this story. It gave a real feel of community and everyone will be able to recognise at least one or two of their own neighbours within the group!
I highly recommend this as a fun and easy read that also addresses some serious issues really well.

This is the first book I’ve read by Eithne Shortall and on the whole I really enjoyed it. The characters on Pine Road were varied enough to keep the pace ticking along nicely, and the playing out of the back story of Martha and her family and how they came to live there kept me interested.
The only problem I had with the book was that I found Edie really annoying. Had she been a secondary character it wouldn’t have irritated me as much, but generally I prefer to like the main character rather than wanting to shake her! Nevertheless, a pleasurable read.

I have been reading thrillers for a long time now and I do find the majority of them predicable.

I have been picking new material up and I was happy when I got accepted for this novel on netgalley

However, I was a bit disappointed by this book. Whilst I read it the whole way through, I wasn’t hooked on the book and found it quite hard to get into

Sadly this one was not for me. I found it quite trite and I wasn’t really interested in the gossip on the WhatsApp. So there are weeds in the garden and rat holes. I just didn’t care enough.

The only story I was really interested in was Martha’s but even that was a slow read.

Sorry this was it’s not you, it’s me.

This book was very difficult to read, due to the fact that five or six words are frequently strung together with no spaces, throughout the portion that I read. It completely ruined the flow of the narrative. I understand that this is a reviewer’s uncorrected copy, but what writer doesn’t type individual words with spaces between?
In addition, the way the novel is written, with social media messages interspersed with dialogue, and not always punctuated to show which was which, I eventually gave up reading in exasperation.
The numerous characters, some with very similar names, added to my general irritation with the book.

Some readers may enjoy this novel. It just wasn’t for me, sorry.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

This was okay, but I think it suffered from too many characters, similar names (Rita Ann and Ruby, Edie and Eddy) and a nicknames to top it off. That made the book difficult to get into and quite a chore to follow. This might be a good choice for fans of Big Little Lies, as it's clearly influenced heavily by the novel. It's a light read with fun twists and turns, but overall it wasnt for me.

Enjoyed the way the story flitted between the different characters but wove the stories together into one story.

A good book, quite easy reading.

Like several other reviewers, I did find the large cast of characters and the whatsapp dialogue a little difficult to navigate. That said, I enjoyed the plot and the twists and turns of the storyline. It is a well written book and worth persevering with. Some highly emotive moments and parts that will make you smile.

Found this a little hard to 'get into', but that said, it has a great story line & definitely worth persevering with right through to the conclusion

This is an Irish home drama set in Pine Road in Ireland. For me, the characters were a pastiche and over the top.
I did enjoy the various twists in the last third though.thanks to #Netgalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review

This is not the type of book that I usually read, but when I was offered an early preview copy from Netgalley and the Publisher, I thought that it looked fun and interesting.
I thought that the book has a modern feel, with the use of social media. I personally would hate the idea of being in a WhatsApp group with my neighbours. For this reason I found it difficult to relate and enjoy the book as much as I thought that I would.
There were a lot of characters, and I kept having to go back and reread some of the book, to remind myself which was who.
I found the book difficult to get into, but once I did, I began to enjoy it more. This book has many 5* reviews, but personally for me it's a 3.5*

I enjoyed this book but I did find it a bit confusing at times...maybe a bit to many characters. Worth a read though & would read more by this author in the future.

What an amazing novel written about a group of neighbors.
But as you read and learn about the newest neighbor Martha Costello her husband Robert and daughters Sinead and Orla
They seem very normal but inside their house it's a very different story Martha is reliving hell, the reason she had to move to this small house with overgrown garden and slight smell of cat pee
Edie is quite new to here to but has made friends with some of the neighbors and is part of the what's app group which constantly feeds all gossip through to most of the ladies
But then Edie finds out Martha has a secret but what can she do who can she tell? Little does she know another neighbor is being asked to provide her ex with an alibi for a night he definitely wasn't with her she can't decide what to do
Will the secret be revealed who will it hurt?

Wow. Pine Road is exciting! Lots of fun characters and the book was fast paced. Not quite what I would usually read but nevertheless I really enjoyed it!