Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino (Book Review)

 

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Publisher: Celadon Books

Publication Date: November 25, 2025

Format: Hardcover - 288 pages

               Paperback - 288 pages

               Audiobook - 8 Hours 38 Minutes

               Kindle - 275 pages / 3.9 MB

               Nook - 288 pages / 3 MB

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250400543

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1250400567

ASIN (Audiobook): B0F55BWVY7

ASIN (Kindle): B0F4SLKT6D

BNID (Nook): 978-1250400550

Genre: Thriller

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Disclaimer: I purchased a hardcover edition of the book from my monthly Book Of The Month (BOTM) subscription. This book review is from my personal honest opinion.

Book Description:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.

Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

My Book Review:

In her debut novel, Best Offer Wins, author Marisa Kashino weaves a riveting thriller that easily draws the reader into a dark storyline that follows a woman's determination to buy her perfect house at all costs.

Margo Miyake and husband Ian Tanner have been living in a cramped apartment for the past eighteen months. After being outbid eleven times in a very competitive housing market in the Washington DC suburb of Bethesda, MD, there hasn't been any new listings that spark her interest until her real estate agent calls with a tip that a house will be listed at the end of the month. Margo is determined to make an offer to the sellers with the hope that they will accept the offer before it is publicly listed. What ensues is a woman that is so determined to buy her perfect dream house, that she becomes obsessed and on edge, desperate enough to go to any lengths and make unhinged tactics to ensure that her best offer wins! 

Best Offer Wins is a complex and multi-layered tale told in the first-person narrative by Margo Miyake. Margo takes the reader along for the ride as her obsession to purchase her perfect dream house is so extreme that it will leave the reader shocked by the unhinged tactics that she applies to make sure that their best offer will be the winning bid. As Margo's story unfolds, there is a dark intensity with riveting twists and turns that kept me engaged, even though I was not a fan of Margo and kept thinking to myself that this is one batshit crazy lady! 

The author does a phenomenal job in her debut novel of delving into Margo and Ian's lives, interweaving her troubled past with the secrets in their marriage, and her dark and desperate mantra: no house, no baby, no life, that kept me turning the pages until the shocking last sentence of the story. 

Best Offer Wins is one heck of an adrenaline rush of a thriller; it just doesn't get any better than that!

Rating: 4 Stars

About The Author

Marisa Kashino was a journalist for seventeen years, most recently at The Washington Post. She spent the bulk of her career at Washingtonian 

magazine, writing long-form features and overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. She grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in journalism and political science. She lives in the DC area with her husband, two dogs, and two cats. Best Offer Wins is her first novel.

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Book Spotlight: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

 

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Publisher: Celadon Books

Publication Date: November 25, 2025

Format: Hardcover - 288 pages

               Paperback - 288 pages

               Audiobook - 8 Hours 38 Minutes

               Kindle - 275 pages / 3.9 MB

               Nook - 288 pages / 3 MB

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250400543

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1250400567

ASIN (Audiobook): B0F55BWVY7

ASIN (Kindle): B0F4SLKT6D

BNID (Nook): 978-1250400550

Genre: Thriller

Buy The Book:

Amazon - Hardcover

Amazon - Paperback

Amazon - Audiobook

Amazon - Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Book Description:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.

Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

About The Author

Marisa Kashino was a journalist for seventeen years, most recently at The Washington Post. She spent the bulk of her career at Washingtonian magazine, writing long-form features and overseeing the real estate and home design coverage. She grew up near Seattle, graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in journalism and political science. She lives in the DC area with her husband, two dogs, and two cats. Best Offer Wins is her first novel.

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Penitence by Kristin Koval (Book Review)

 

Book Review

Penitence by Kristin Koval

Publisher: Celadon Books

Publication Date: January 28, 2025

Format: Hardcover - 320 pages

               Audiobook - 12 Hours 13 Minutes

              Kindle - 5.7 MB / 316 pages

              Nook - 5 MB / 320 pages

ISBN: 978-1250342997

ASIN (Audiobook): B0D35YWD2X

ASIN (Kindle): B0D1PB5V1M

BNID: 978-1250343000

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover copy from my monthly subscription to Book Of The Month.

Book Description:

For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.

My Book Review:

In the debut novel Penitence, author Kristin Koval weaves an emotionally complex story of tragedy, forgiveness, and redemption.

Two families are linked together from a series of tragic events, and they are forced to confront their shared pasts and guilt, seeking forgiveness and redemption.

Angie DeLuca and Julian Dumont were high school sweethearts in Lodgepole, Colorado. When a tragic accident occurs on the ski slopes, their families decide to separate them. They carry the guilt of the accident with them through the years, and the secret that they were still together away from their families while living in New York City. Dealing with their shared past along with a series of issues: Julian's drinking and his preoccupation with his law career, eventually drove Angie to leave Julian and return home in September 2001. Fast-forward to October 2016, another tragic event brings Angie and Julian back together, not only to deal with the tragic murder in Angie's family, but also to deal with unresolved issues from their shared past: long-held secrets, guilt, and betrayal, in order to seek forgiveness and redemption. 

In Penitence, author Kristin Koval weaves a gut-wrenching tale that engages the readers to follow along as Angie and Julian's story unfolds with a strong emotional pull. There is plenty of drama, long-held secrets, trials and tribulations, life challenges, and unresolved family issues that they are forced to face. The story is told in the alternating past and present timeline, and the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride and will experience the full gamut of emotions as both tragic events unfold, and how it effects Angie, Julian, and their families. You can't help but feel for them as the trauma of their past resurfaces, and how they must resolve it with a hope for true forgiveness and redemption. 

Penitence is a compelling story of forgiveness, especially when people deal with loss, grief, guilt, and long-held secrets.

RATING: 5 STARS 

About The Author

Kristin Koval is a former lawyer who always wanted to be a writer but initially wandered down other paths. While writing Penitence, she completed a twelve-month novel generator class at Catapult Publishing. She’s an alumna of Sewanee Writers’ Conference and Aspen Summer Words, and her short story Inheritance was named a Finalist in the Salamander 2022 Fiction Contest. She attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Georgetown University and Columbia Law School. She lives in Boulder, Colorado and Park City, Utah with her husband, two sons and two Great Danes.

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What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange (Book Review)

 

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange

Publisher: Celadon Books

Publication Date: January 14, 2025

Format: Hardcover - 352 pages

               Kindle - 4.8 MB / 324 pages

               Nook - 4 MB / 320 pages

               Audible - 10 Hours 26 Minutes

ISBN: 978-1250328434

ASIN (Kindle): B0CGRYX114

ASIN (Audible): B0CKLYZV59

Genre: Women's Fiction 

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Disclaimer: I purchased a hardcover copy of the book via my subscription with Book Of The Month and also received an ARC copy from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

Book Description:

From New York Times bestselling author Tracey Lange, a poignant story about the resilience of family, the importance of community, and the magic of middle school hockey

When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.

The longer he’s home, the more Kyle understands the impact his departure has had on the people he left behind. When he’s presented with an opportunity for redemption as the coach of the floundering middle school hockey team, he begins to find compassion in unexpected places. Kyle even considers staying in Potsdam, but that’s only possible if he and Casey can come to some kind of peace with each other.

Full of love and hope, What Happened to the McCrays? takes an intimate look at both sides of a failed marriage and two people who must finally confront the awful pain of their past or risk being consumed by it.

My Book Review:

In What Happened to the McCrays?, author Tracey Lange weaves a wonderful story of family and second chances. 

Kyle and Casey McCray were high school sweethearts who were together for twenty-one years and married for sixteen years. But that all changed two and half years ago when Kyle walked away from their marriage. 

Kyle has been living in Spokane, Washington and working as a mechanic when he receives a call that his dad is in the hospital after having a stroke. Kyle knows it's time to come home to Potsdam, NY and face the past and seek redemption. 

Casey has been trying to move on with her life since the divorce was finalized. She's a sixth-grade social studies teacher and also manages the town's local junior hockey program. But there is a sadness that she deals with every day. 

As Kyle and Casey's story unfolds, they have to deal with their past, and hopefully rediscover the true meaning of love, friendship, and family.

In What Happened to the McCrays?, author Tracey Lange easily captivates her readers' attention with this beautifully written tale that engages them to follow along as Kyle and Casey's story unfolds with a strong emotional pull. There is plenty of drama, long-held secrets, trials and tribulations, life challenges, and family issues that they have to resolve. The story is told in the alternating past and present timeline, and the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride and will experience the full gamut of emotions when the reason behind the end of Kyle and Casey's marriage is revealed. You can't help but hope that Kyle and Casey can put the trauma of their past behind them and hopefully rediscover the love they once shared. 

What Happened to the McCrays? is a compelling story about the resilience of family and community, especially through loss, grief, redemption, love, and second chances. 

RATING: 5 STARS 

About The Author

Tracey Lange was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in psychology before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. She currently lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, two sons, and beloved German Shepherd.

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