Neighbors

New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns to the 1930s era of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room with a dazzling portrait of two very different couples whose friendship and fast times are no match for shattering betrayal. A solid marriage, a thriving business, and the esteem of their close-knit Alabama community-Joyce and Odell Watson have every reason to count their blessings. Their marriage has given well-off Joyce a chance at the family she's always wanted-and granted Odell a once-in-a-lifetime shot to escape grinding poverty. But all that respectability and status comes at a cost. Just once, Joyce and Odell want to break loose and taste life's wild side, without consequences. When their new neighbors turn out to be high-steppin' bootleggers Milton and Yvonne Hamilton, the Watsons plunge headlong into good times and fast living. For Joyce, Yvonne is someone she can show off too-and look down on. And Odell won't introduce crude, unsophisticated Milton to his friends-but is happy to let Milton ply him with free booze and good times. Milton hates being slighted and disrespected and he's determined to do something about it. When Milton inadvertently discovers Odell's scandalous double life with a long-term mistress, he decides this is the perfect chance to wreck the Watsons' perfect world.

In this page-turning novel set in the Depression-era South, bestselling author Mary Monroe transports readers to a small Alabama town where home is not always a sanctuary, and two neighboring families let pleasantries mask increasing resentment. . . Bootlegging was Milton and Yvonne Hamilton's ticket out of poverty, prison time, and plain bad luck. Now they've moved on-to a bigger, richer pool of clientele-right in their own respectable new middle-class backyard. And their growing friendship with seemingly-perfect couple Joyce and Odell Watson is proving golden in more ways than one . . . As Milton soon learns, Odell is hiding an outside family and dubious business dealings. It's the perfect recipe for a blackmail scheme that will help Milton hide his own dirty secrets-even from Yvonne. Better yet, he can take ever more dangerous risks to ace out his liquor-smuggling rivals-and add a lucrative temptation to his illicit services. And Yvonne, emboldened by her husband's new gravy train, delights in tormenting Joyce about everything the snobbish matron doesn't have-especially children. But even a winning hand can be played too far. Pushed past their limits, Odell and Joyce will play on Milton's careless boasting-to get him and Yvonne out of their lives for good. And soon, a devastating frame-up will plunge one couple into a living nightmare-and set the stage for explosive retribution . . .

In this captivating Depression-era set novel by New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe, two couples find their grudges endangering more than their Alabama small towns deceptive peace When good-time couple Milton and Yvonne Hamilton moved one house over from the respectable-but-restless Odell and Joyce Watson, it was a fast friendship of shared secrets and secret jealousies and betrayals. Their alliance was bound to crash and burn, but the Hamiltons won’t quite let the flame die out, even after scandalous accusations get them arrested Odell would do anything to be free of his bootlegging, blackmailing, money extorting neighbors and recover the peaceful and financially prosperous life he and Joyce once had. But Milton and Yvonne seem to always bounce back from bad luck, and this time they’ve returned angrier, and greedier, than ever. Determined to get what Odell owes them, the Hamiltons have a big surprise for Joyce too, one that shows how far they will go to get revenge Now pushed past his breaking point, Odell is sure he’s got a foolproof plan to end the scheming once and for all. But it soon spirals into lies, shattering violence, and permanent damage that will roil their tranquil community, and alter his and Joyce’s world forever