I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This book really did not seem like a mystery. It really reminded me of a typical lifetime movie about babysitter falling for husband and wanting to get wife out of the picture. Really disappointed

I’m such a sucker for psychological thrillers, and this one did not disappoint. Makes you want to think twice about bringing people by your children! Definitely thought provoking. I would recommend!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really, really, really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. I guess I'm not one for the obvious evil after all. Thank you and good luck!

The Baby Sitter Sheryl Brown

8 years ago young Grace watches as her house burns down. Her Mom, her sister, and her Moms latest husband are trapped inside. Grace doesn't care.

When a Police officer finds her hiding in a bush he takes her to the detective in charge of the investigation, DI Mark Caine.

Today, Mark and his family are living happily in a small town. The house next door suffers a fire and the new neighbour, a single young woman, Jade, is left homeless.

Mark and his wife Mel hardy know the woman but when they find out she is a qualified child minder they agree to take her in to look after their children so that Mel can start to concentrate on her art.

What could possibly go wrong

Anybody who has watched a film which includes a "bunny-boiler" will know what comes next, but strangely this book hooked me. Even though I thought I knew what was coming next, most of the time, it was written in such a way that I wanted to carry on reading, and at times its scary reading.

When Jade moves in things start to go bad. At first its little things that could be put down to other people mislaying things, but she is evil and her activity starts to intensify.

Nothing is sacred, pets, kids, wife, husband. What is he after? Why is she doing what she is doing, or more to the point, how will she be stopped and will everybody survive to tell the tale.

There is a lot to like about this book, the plot, the characters, the way it's written.

There were times when it made me cringe, in a good way. At the beginning I nearly put it down, ten pages later I was glad I didn't.

I finished it. I enjoyed it.

Pages: 384
Publisher: Bookouture

Thank you to Netgalley, Sheryl Browne and Bookouture for my ARC of The Babysitter by Sheryl Browne.

Title: The Babysitter

Author: Sheryl Browne

Publication Date: 8th March 2018

Page Count: 384 Pages

Review: 4*


Summary

Mark Cain is a detective inspector with the police, happily married to wife Mel with 2 children. When the house next door sets on fire he is first to the scene happy to help out new neighbour Jade. Devastated on Jade's behalf for all she has lost, Mark and Mel offer Jade the opportunity to become their live in Babysitter. And Jade is practically perfect. But when things start to go wrong in the previously idealistic marriage, it seems there's more to Jade than meets the eye and it seems like Mark might have met 'Jade' before.

Review

I'll be honest in the first instance, I read the first 2-3 chapters and I really couldn't get into The Babysitter it felt a little stiff, a little overly written with phrases like 'cognac coloured eyes' and 'chocolate brown eyes' and I considered giving up. Then I went onto Goodreads instead and read some of the other reviews, which said it was amazing, unputdownable. So I decided to persevere. I'm so glad I did. The other reviewers were right, all of a sudden The Babysitter got seriously fast paced, it was like Fatal Attraction meets a true life abuse story. If that even makes sense, it sounded better in my head!

Jade insinuates herself into every aspect of Mark and Mel's lives, turning them slowly against each other and tricking them into thinking it is each other causing the problems and not her. She is a proper psycho! But great with it, she's got a real femme fatal thing going on and even though some parts of the story seem a little far fetched it moves along nicely and is addictive enough for you not to mind.
An excellent thriller which will have you racing to the end!

Detective Inspector Mark Cain is married to Melissa and they have two wonderful children Poppy and Evie. Mark is haunted by a house fire that occurred sometime in the distant past, a vision of a child overcome by smoke inhalation never leaves him. The family become acquainted with a neighbour Jade when her property is destroyed by fire (there seems to be a theme developing here!) Mark and Mel are very impressed by the kindness and warmth that radiates from Jade who in turn develops a strong bond with the two children Poppy and Evie. They are delighted not only to offer Jade a safe home to live in but also employ her services as a babysitter for the two young girls. The parents compliment themselves to what on the surface seems an excellent decision as it allows Mark the time to concentrate on finding a missing child, Daisy Evans, and Melissa freedom to indulge her passion of sculpturing.

It is at this point in the story that the fortunes of the Cain family disintegrate alarmingly. and in particular the mental health of Mel gives great reason for concern. There are questions over her ability to remain as a respected and caring mother. Thank goodness that the ever smiling, helpful Jade is able to step into the role as a surrogate mum. However is this supposedly wonderful young lady as helpful as the personality she projects? Is she linked in any way to the disappearance of Daisy? What is the reason behind her fascination with Mark? Is there any connection between her arrival and the rapid mental deterioration of Melissa Cain?

What an enjoyable fun read with a beautiful manipulative villain. The author and the reader have a bond, they know who is responsible for the misfortune within the Cain family, yet both are powerless and unable to help. They can only stand in the sidelines and watch in horror as Mark Cain stumbles from one crisis to another. Will the responsible and caring father be successful using his cunning and detective skills to win back his family, save the lost Daisy and by so doing find the perpetrator before it is too late? Significantly The Babysitter also explores themes of loss (baby Jacob, Mark and Melissa's first child, died at only 6 months old) the power of the family unit, sexual abuse and how the fallout from such abuse can affect many people. Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher bookouture for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

DNF about a 1/4 of the way through. ☹️

I knew who the antagonist was in the 2nd chapter, and everything after that was straight out of a Lifetime movie. I couldn't take it. Just too predictable. I did jump to the last few chapters to see if I called it right, and I did. Right down to the 'not really an ending' ending.

I think I need to take a break from Bookoutore for awhile. I have always loved what they published, but lately they seem to be pumping out luke warm versions of them. Even their book covers have been the same. You've seen it before: the lone woman standing with her back turned under a dark, gloomy sky. Most times with a coat on that changed colors from book to book. I think that's why I went for this one-the cover was different.

I've had a good run lately, so I was due for a 💣. On to the next one...

ARC provided by NetGalley

I have mixed feelings about this book. I was super excited to read it based on the cover and the description. A husband and wife with a preschooler and an infant and an evil live-in babysitter thrown into the mix sounds like a perfect recipe for a page turner.

Unfortunately, while this book was decent, it wasn't as good as I expected. Jade's intentions and motivations are revealed basically from the first page, so there's no mystery there. All of the characters take so long to catch on to her schemes that it made me want to scream. Also, the ending (last couple paragraphs) didn't make sense to me and I don't understand who was in the car wrapped up in blankets with Dylan. Not sure what that meant at all. However, this was decent if you want something to hold your attention on the beach or in a waiting room. I'll definitely be checking out her next book that comes out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book for review.

First, I want to thank Sheryl Browne, Bookouture, and Netgalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

The Babysitter A Gripping Psychological Thriller with Edge-of-your-seat-suspense was written by Sheryl Browne. One of my favorite genres to read are Psychological thrillers. The description of the book, the title and even the cover of the book made me want to read it. Even though I had never read from this Author before. I am now an instant fan after reading this book!
After reading this book I totally feel that it would make a huge box office hit at the movie theater! One that I would definitely go to see. I think others would agree with me after reading this book too.
I absolutely loved how the story started out Jade acted all sweet and innocent. However, as the book developed you saw her character develop into how twisted and sick her mind really was. Not the type of person you would trust with your children!

One of my favorite characters was Poppy the little baby. She was adorable throughout the book.

This was a tense psychological thriller it kept you wanting to read it to see what would happen. That being said it was also difficult to read at times, because as the reader you wanted to scream at the characters to make them see what was happening. I would recommend it but not for the faint hearted.

It seems like a match made in heaven. Mark and Melissa need a babysitter and Jade, the perfect candidate needs a place to live after her own home burns to the ground. The couple happily move Jade in, but what seems too good to be true, is. Melissa becomes very depressed, her business isn’t doing as well as she hoped and she just doesn’t seem to be able to cope with anything. Luckily, Jade is there to take over. Meanwhile, Mark’s training as a cop has kicked in and he begins to investigate Jade. It turns out that he and Jade have met before and now his “babysitter” has come back for what she believes is hers

I really enjoyed this book. Although it was easy to figure out, the writing still kept you wanting to read at the end.. It also makes one think about how what we say to people, may be taken very literally. Grace/Jade was something else. Very good read and I do recommend. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publsher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

This entire novel focuses on how live-in babysitter Jade ingratiates and insinuates herself into the lives of Melissa and Mark Kane. She arrives at exactly the right time. Melissa has two young daughters; one a tiny baby. She has built up a home-based business and is juggling too many balls, trying to keep them all in the air, so she is absolutely delighted when Jade arrives with her ample qualifications and calm and supportive attitude. Mark is also busy trying to track down an evil child kidnapper or maybe by then a child murderer. Nobody knows. There are no clues left behind and no trace of the little girl. As a father himself he knows he must act quickly to retrieve the little girl who has been taken and return her to her family. Time is the key. He is hardworking and driven; a credit to the police force. He too is relieved Melissa has the support she so deserves and can have a little extra help with their young family while he is at work such long hours. She has orders to fulfil.
Each narrator tells their own story in this engrossing novel. It seems Jade has them all fooled as they all think she is a little gem, but worryingly, despite having Jade living in, everything deteriorates until everyone and everything becomes chaotic. Jade narrates her own story and she makes it abundantly clear what she hopes to achieve from the very start. In fact she wears her heart on her shoulder and is determined to emerge with what she wants. She plays her cards superbly well and waits to see what will happen.
Jade is very damaged although she is like a chameleon and hides her plans from everyone. She juggles all of the balls in her hand skilfully but with pure evil intent. Despite knowing everything there is to know about Jade, the twists and turns in this engrossing story are malicious and shocking to the core. She is like a master Poker player, holding her cards to her chest but willing to bluff, gamble and deceive. She must win. There is no other alternative.
Mark is my favourite character in this superbly crafted, skilfully engineered novel. He’s the typical heroic good guy, a great detective, a wonderfully caring father and a loving husband. But he is no match for what is happening in his home, where feelings are running out of control and are not nuanced at all. The lives of his family ultimately depend upon him, but he is fraught and vulnerable. Will he be man enough to protect them?
I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Bookouture for my copy of this novel, sent to me in return for an honest review. Although the motives and facts of the story are laid bare by the characters in the novel, it is a terrific read; a real page turner. It’s a 4.5* review from me.

I would not recommend this, when there are many better psychological thrillers out there. I'm not even sure why I finished, but I ended up skimming for the last two thirds or so. There wasn't much that was mysterious or thrilling about this, as the babysitter's motives and intentions were revealed pretty much right off the bat, so there was really nothing that was surprising or suspenseful, in my opinion, though it did veer into rather over-the-top territory as things ramped up at the end. And I found the characters all rather flat. Jade wasn't an interesting or compelling villain, and Mark and Melissa were boring. There are better thrillers out there than this one, so I'd steer clear!