The New Neighbours

by Diney Costeloe

Dartmouth Circle is a quiet cul-de-sac on the edge of a university town. Its residents take pride in their little community. All gates are painted and front gardens weeded, and nobody ever forgets bin collection day.

So when the news breaks that a neighbour has sold his house to students, the residents are aghast. Students are loud, irresponsible and messy. They have all night parties, dabble with illegal substances and revel in questionable hygiene.

When Madeleine Richmond and her friends move in, their greeting is less than warm. But a few ruffled feathers soon reveal there's a lot more going on in the Circle than appearances suggest...

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook

496 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 2013

About the author

Encouraged by my publisher father, I have been writing all my life. When I was five, he took my first effort to his office and brought it back in a cardboard cover with the label, 'Tom's Party'written by Diney, published by Daddy.
I've never looked back and always have some writing on the go.
To date I have written 10 romantic novels under the name of Diney Delancey (I liked the shape of the name and it sounded like a romantic novelist) and four novels as Diney Costeloe.
All are also in large print and several recently published as e-books.
See my reviews on Amazon and on my website, http://www.dineycosteloe.co.uk or http://castlehavenbooks.co.uk

Reviews

[Marsha Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best

I, like other readers was really disappointed with this book. It just didn't seem to go anywhere and there were far too many characters, all with similar names to keep track of. Found the whole book quite boring

[Karen Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The quote on the front page from The Bookbag says 'Compelling.... Very hard to put down'. I beg to differ - I found it hard to pick up. Lots of characters but not really any compelling storylines. Won't be rushing to read any of this author's other books.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it was free through Kindle Unlimited, so...

Do you remember the Primetime soap, Knots Landing? Theres your synopsis. Basically, it is a soap opera. Everyone is sleeping around, underage drinking and sex, statutory rape, thieving, cheating, divorces, affairs, an old busybody...

The only reason I read it is because I read her WWII period novels and liked them. But I didn't exactly expect this crazy story.

I am not really sure there is a redeeming character in the bunch, except maybe 90 year old Madge. I live on a cul de sac, and thankfully it is nothing like this.

It kept me reading to see what would happen but it was pretty cliche. Complete with the poor put upon wife and stay-at-home mom who has an au pair but doesn't work because her husband 'won't let her' so she has a torrid affair with the hot student who just moved in and does yardwork for her...

[Kate Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! It reminded me of A Vacant Situation by JK Rowling which I also loved. This book centres round a group of houses that form a community and gives insights into each household, they feel a little superior and smug for their fortunate location but behind the curtains it's a different story, the book drew me in quickly, it's an enjoyable story, I like this genre and the book delivered everything I wanted.

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and it was a pleasure to listen to.
The narrator really made the characters come to life and I enjoyed every word.
I will be looking for more books by this author because I enjoyed this one so much.
Recommended.

[isabel wain-smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it so gave up halve way

[Laurie-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow. But a nice enough read. I felt for the characters. And became quite attached to them towards the end.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting things happen to the residents of Dartmouth Circle when a home in this quiet cul de sac is purchased to be a student house, for a group of 5 attending university. Circumstances bring unlikely people together to form bonds you didn't think possible. Emotional and thought provoking--just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover because you never know what's inside. 7 out of 10.

[Tannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you enjoy a good soap opera? Then you will like this story.
This book is well written, I appreciate the authors writing style. She expertly gave the gift of drawing me into the characters lives and I genuinely cared. Thus my reason for the 4 stars.
However.
For myself, I DO NOT enjoy a soap opera at all. I don't want to spend time reading about dysfunctional human beings destroying their lives. It's ALL in there. Affairs, divorce, gossip, teenage pregnancy, alcohol abuse, juvenile detention, trauma, crime, grief, head games.
Not to my taste at all, but now having read Diney Costeloe for the first time, I am very curious to see what else she has to offer.

[Lady Fembo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a page turner

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It started off as boring but get to the middle I couldn't put it down because that's when everything started happening in Dartmouth circle which sounds like it's residents were most middle age and it was quiet and peaceful until one of the residents sold his house and was rented out to university students and they put their stamp on it . They threw a party to remember, husbands were no longer enough for some married women and no locks were good enough to keep underage girls from the party.... I didn't want this book to end

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book completely drew me in. 1 negatice: the ending was extremely abrupt as in milisec. almost😏🤔 as though she went for a coffee/pee and forgot to come back to it😠😡. Ending is completely unfinished and so half arsed but whether or not that was intentional is unknown. Quite frankly its the only thing that stopped me putting 5 stars

[anita l lung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expected better

After reading about sisters hiding Jews in a convent I expected a little more out of this book then I got. She did her best to milk a story out of the lives of the people in the neighborhood it was lacing and ended very badly.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, enjoyed another one of Diney Costoloe’s books. Yes, In the beginning a little confusing because of the large cast of characters, but gradually you get to know them and really want to know what happens to each of them! Another 5 star 🌟 🌟 ⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️ winner!

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ummmmmm

I just couldn’t get into the book. I kept waiting for something to happen, like someone was going to get murdered or their was going to be some traumatic event. But nothing ever happened but the same boring every day stuff!

[Joyce tuffs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant story

I really enjoyed this story about the students who moved into the circle and the lives of their neighbours. I felt as if I knew them all and got involved in their lives. I love this author and will be reading more books by Diney Costeloe.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first diney Costelloe book that disappointed. Just didn't keep me interested.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

not one of the author's best. too many characters with each one of them having a story tell. gets too much to handle.

[Ann Winslett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok! Kept getting mixed up with the characters.
Soooo many typos - really spoils it for me!

[Dee B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The New Neighbours explores the lives of a group of families who’s common ground is that they all live on a Cul de sac together. Each families has their own issues and strife to overcome and sometimes this is interlinked.
I am 50/50 on this book. It’s a bit like watching a hidden camera show, I quite enjoyed reading about each of the neighbours antics and looked forward to finding out how it all worked out. The stories were interesting and moved at a steady pace.
However there was a lot of people living in this Cul de sac andi kept mixing the plot lines up. I was expecting at some point for the stories to merge together but it didn’t happen and it was challenging trying to follow 7 or 8 plot lines that crossed over at time but also were told in different time sequences . Also because there was so many plots it felt a bit surface.The love at first sight story was unbelievable as was the best friends become lovers one. But the end was the biggest disappointment as there was no real end. It literally felt like the author got bored and stopped writing.
Less characters, more depth to the characters , and a way of tying things up and this could have been much better
.

[Brenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. This was not good. It is especially disappointing when 2 other books of hers I’ve read were incredible.

This. Was. Lame. First, there were way too many storylines happening to far too many characters. Some were hardly in it, so by the time I read about them again I forgot all about them even existing! Also there was no mention of the X rated goings on of some of these neighbor people. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a phenomenal writer, I adore her skill of writing even in this. But WHAT she writes is just not there for me. It was essentially all about mostly normal happenings in a small little neighborhood. I honestly just felt bored. I did, however, get a big kick out of how the book ended. All in all, I will not be recommending this to any friends. :(

[Simone Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a light, enjoyable read so I borrowed a copy of the audiobook version.

Unfortunately, I gave up on it and couldn't finish it.

I found that there were far too many characters, and I didn't really like any of them apart from the 90 year old woman.

Nothing exciting happened and what did happen was predictable and cringeworthy.

I wasn't interested in what happened to them and despite affairs and many attempts at scandal and drama.

I wouldn't recommend this book and wouldn't be keen to read more by this author.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dartmouth Circle is a quiet cul-de-sac on the edge of a university town. It's resident's take a pride in their community and are very unhappy to discover that one of their neighbours have sold their house to a group of students. When feathers start to get ruffled, it appears that there was far more going on in the Circle than appearances had previously suggested.

I really enjoyed this story
The characters all had a purpose and there was a real sense of community and secrecy too. I could see the storylines being very possible real life situations.

[Lynn Lynn Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty interesting. Only thing I didn't like was it was filled with so many characters that the story kept bouncing to and forth between. So I had to constantly try to remember who is who and who's kid is what. Other than that it was was a pretty entertaining book as long as I didn't take too long of a break when reading it.

[Sarah Johnston]

The residents of Dartmouth Circle consider their cul-de-sac an exclusive address. But when one of the houses is sold to a builder who intends to rent it out as student accomodation, feelings run high. The story is an interesting insight into the lives of the residents and their relationships with each other. An entertaining read that deals with a number of social issues.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed getting to know all the characters in this story, some were MUCH nicer than others. I could picture them all in my head, so well were they written.

I'd love a sequel to find out what happened next to everyone and their homes.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a really hard book to read.

It seemed to have a cast of thousands and I found all the characters very flat and wooden, they ended up just becoming words on a page.

It was also far too long, it seemed to take forever to finish it.

[Courtney Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a fairly enjoyable, light read (just what I was looking for), the dialogue with the younger characters was often fairly cringe-worthy. It felt too forced, like the author was trying too hard to be seen as hip and modern.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book. It was a warm touchy book with all the characters in it. They all in twined together to make the story. The story line was well made and it was interspersing as well. Great book. I am enjoying the Diney Costello series.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite enjoyable and easy to read but it was dated. This version was published in 2017 but originally called something else when it was published in 2002. Why not update it before renaming and publishing?

[Susan Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing read

Enjoyed being immersed into this novel about a changing community. Ms. Costello incorporates many important subjects into the story which allows the reader to identify and bond with the characters. Great ending.