Little Darlings is Melanie Golding’s first novel. I hope it will not be her last! Lauren has given birth to twin baby boys. While in the maternity ward an intruder tries to take her babies. She calls emergency services. When they arrive nobody is there and they think she is hallucinating. When she goes home she is convinced someone is watching her and her twins. Somebody wants her babies. Her husband, Patrick, thinks she’s making everything up. I don’t want to spoil the plot by giving too many more details. The story started out slow but then picked up very quickly. The sense of dread slowly grew until I had a very disturbed feeling while reading this. Definitely check this book out! You will not be disappointed! Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding was an enchanting story that is based on an old English Fairytale. The beginning of each chapter is preceded by a quote from other books. Lauren is a new mother of twins and she is exhausted. Have her spirited baby boys been replaced by something otherworldly or is she just losing her mind? Lauren's husband Patrick seems like a loving man but is he?
Harper is the Police detective that follows the case of Lauren's accusations. She does not give up and continues to search for the truth. She is relentless and I can see her being a featured character in other stories should Ms. Golding continue writing these stories.
This story reminds me very much of another book I read from NetGalley, The Good People by Hannah Kent. However Little Darlings is set in present day England.
If you are a fan of the t.v. show Grimm you may like this book.

This was terrifying and fantastic.



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2559894020?book_show_action=false

This book looked like the perfect spooky thriller, and it did not disappoint! It is an amazing debut novel for author, Melanie Golding. I zipped right through it, needing to know if the mom, Lauren was crazy or if something wicked was going on with her family?

This story starts as Lauren and her husband Patrick are about to give birth to twin boys. Even in the hospital while Lauren is giving birth Patrick is barely around. Lauren is left to take on motherhood and recovery mostly on her own! I was so annoyed with her husband!!😠

As any new mother would be, Lauren is exhausted and completely deprived of sleep, when something happens. I don’t want to spoil it, so I will leave it at that… But I had to find out if it was real or not!

I am not super into scary stories but this one had just the right amount of thriller and mystery, with maybe a sprinkle of Stephen King creepiness! If you want a fun and spine-chilling read look for this book in stores May 10, 2019.
This was posted as part of my book review of Little Darlings on October 11th, on Cole Campfire Blog at the link below. Thank you!

I received this advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author, Melanie Golding for this copy.

Little Darlings is a great psychological thriller that has great twists and turns. It will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. I loved it and can not wait for more.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this author. This was a fantastic, page turning psychological thriller.
I could not put this one down. I kept getting surprised, like draw dropping, what just happened surprised.

This book is so twisty I fell like I was on a roller coaster, and the end was fantastic.

Great book!

This book was amazing! I began reading and could not stop reading until I had finished it! It was a dark, twisted and unsettling read, but one I enjoyed precisely because of those factors. We follow the story of Lauren, who has just given birth to twin boys, and she keeps seing this horrible woman who wants to change babies with her. Everyone tells her she is psychotic, that the woman doesn't exist, that her babies are safe... but she keeps on seeing and hearing the woman, and weird things keep on happening around her.

I loved how twisted the story was, making you doubt Laure'ns sanity: is she crazy? Does the woman exist? What the heck is going on? And there were times in which the story was so disturbing that you had to keep on reading praying nothing of what was happening was real.

The prose is amazing, the author really know how to alternate being fear, being rational, being grimm fairy tales-que, telling the story from a new exhausted mom's point of view and then switching characters... it had me trapped and I couldn't put it down until I had finished it.
The characters are so well developed you could think they are real, they all have their things and manias and quirks and are very much alive, and you can feel what they go through easily.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers and dark creepy tales, because the author weaves an amazing story out fo the two. And it's her first book! I really can't wait to see what she does next!

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!
I am so glad that this book is going to be a movie, it'll be great to see the characters come to life on the big screen.

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

This is a creepily, clever dark story that will make you want to check on your little darlings constantly just to be sure they are safe and sound.

#LittleDarlingsBook by Melanie Golding
A huge thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC
Pub Date: 10 May 2019

A wonderful modern retelling of an ancient story. I was hooked from the beginning and went along for the whole ride in one sitting. I went back and forth with Laura and the truth. Is she crazy? Has someone taken her children? Pulse pounding story with incredible ties to the past. Loved all the folklore and ancient text inserts. Highly recommend.

The ending was interesting in that it didn't feel like closure. Is that a sequel I smell? Yes please!

This is not a book that you want to read if you are expecting a child or if you believe in folklore superstition. I was impressed with the detective for not giving up on the case because of her gut feeling. She knew something was not right and decided to investigate it further. I feel bad for the mom because she was just trying to protect her babies and now she is looked at like a monster. Never doubt your gut because it is generally right. Especially when you are a mom!!

Little Darlings is an excellent and unsettling read! I found this book to be totally unexpected in the best of ways and I could not put it down! I hope the author continues writing because I am now an instant fan girl!

This book was the perfect pick for a spooky October read! I grew up on the dark fairy tales of Grimm and Hans Christen Andersen, and this book had many of the same elements.

After Lauren gives birth to twins, she is convinced that a woman is trying to take them from her and change them into something else, as she warns. After a disappearance scare, she now believes her twins are changelings and she must return them to the river in order for her real children to come home. She's committed to a mental hospital, and things ramp up to scary as Jo Harper, a detective, tries to figure out what actually happened to the twins. The ending ties in some neat elements of realism and historical lore.

With the mix of unreliable narration, a past history of mental illness, and a husband acting suspiciously, I was kept on the edge of my seat! I couldn't tell what was real and what was a side effect of psychosis, and the writing was so real and descriptive that it was almost hard to stomach in a few spots. I double-checked the locks on my doors after reading it!

Thank you netgalley for this sample copy in exchange for my honest review. GREAT BOOK! It was a page turner and had me feeling different emotions all throughout. I definitely recommend this book. Flow is great, story line is gripping, and it is psychological thriller perfect.

Excellent read. At the end I was surprised to see this was a debut novel. Wow, this author has great talent and I look forward to more novels from her. This one kept you reading and kept you guessing. Well done.

Little Darlings is a creepy page-turner. I love the way the author integrated folklore to her modern story of a mother’s nightmare of twins stolen and replaced with changelings. Is she experiencing this or has she lost her grip on reality? Well written and highly effective entertainment for fans of the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy.
Whoo... I must first say that I have been on a dark journey lately with reading adult fiction. I recently read Baby Teeth and was mesmerized by it. It stayed with me for weeks. Once it had cleared, I have been reading a lot of YA, so when I saw Little Darlings I thought why not. Well...Little Darlings seeps under your skin slowly and before you know it the book is finished. Seriously finished. Melanie Golding is a author to watch out for with this one. What I loved about this book is that it is dark and creepy, but not in the way you expect. It pulls at your gut, your instincts of what feels out of place, not necessarily what you see. The author plays on that perfectly. Do not underestimate this book because just when you think you know..maybe you don't. It made me glad to be a reader again. Reading a book should make your feel and think for a while sometimes. Sanity is a very thin line.

Little Darlings
By Melanie Golding
expected due date 4-30-19 (kindle & ebook) Crooked Lane Books and 5-2-19 (Hardcover) Harper Avenue

You don't need blood and gore to make a great horror story. Atmosphere, if masterfully done, will keep you creeped out and chill you to the bone.This eerie story will do that.This is done that masterfully. It will engage your mind on a wild ride and leave you so haunted, you may begin to question your own state of sanity, your own definition of sanity.
Lauren Tranter has just had twin boys-she is exhausted-but she is absolutely sure she saw a woman creep into the hospital and switch her twins with a different set of twins. No one takes her seriously. They think she's losing it. She is quite sure she is not. Soon she is home with her boys. She takes them to the park one afternoon and they disappear, but are soon found. They seem different to her...Lauren does not believe they are HER babies and becomes obsessed with getting HER babies back. She has a plan. Will she be able to carry off her plan?What's with her husband, Patrick?
This is so damn chilling and creepy. The atmosphere, the perfect pace and personable characters, make it hard not to get caught up in this story. Its that good.
I would not be surprised if its made into a movie or series.
Due late April / early May 2019. Put it on your must buy list.
I am keeping my eyes on Melanie Golding!
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and #NetGalley for this advance copy.
#LittleDarlingsBook

When Lauren reports having a visit in the night from a sinister character carrying a basket of twins that she plans to replace Lauren's twins with, the story is dismissed as ludicrous. Hospital staff, as well as her husband, think Lauren is just hormonal and exhausted after giving birth to twins.

Since the police can find nothing proving that this new Mama had any visitors, Lauren agrees that she is exhausted and maybe it didn't really happen. However, in her heart, she can't rule out that the visit in the night certainly felt like it occurred.

The only person who somewhat believes Lauren is the investigator, but her ranking officers want the investigation to stop. This part is a driving force in causing the reader to continue flipping pages.

Upon getting home from the hospital she is faced with a husband who needs his sleep so that he can work and support the family. He moves to another bedroom so the feeding of the twins all night won't disturb him. But because of Lauren's fear that the experience in the hospital was real, she locks up the house and only gets to sleep in bits and segments. She doesn't feel she can let the twins out of her sight.

In time, Lauren's friends visit her at her home and bring gifts for the new babies, but one gift is most unusual. One that is somewhat disturbing.

At her friends' urging, Lauren finally chances going out and meeting them in a park. She vows to keep a good eye on her identical twin boys. But will she be able to?

This story is framed in dark history and folklore.

My Thoughts

What Concerned Me: This story is a bit dark and foreboding. I'm not sure how I would have wanted it to end, but it didn't feel totally satisfying to me.

What I Liked Most: This is a book that was hard to put down. The writing was excellent and flowed beautifully. Was it kind of creepy? Sure. When I read the tag: Horror, along with Mystery, and Thriller, I wondered how I'd missed that important word, since horror is the last type of book I'd choose to read. (But maybe I'm confusing that genre with horror movies that I see advertised. Anyway, nothing gory, and nobody carrying a chainsaw! To my great relief! Teehee.)

I'd rate the writing and interest level a 5. The ending felt like a 3 or 4.

Suitably creepy and unnerving. Nothing new here in domestic horror, but great descriptive language and a fun quick read.

Lauren is a new mother of twins who claims that a woman threatened to steal her babies while she was in the hospital. Everyone else believes that she is having delusions. She continues to feel threatened even after returning home until finally the unthinkable happens. But were the babies really taken or is it just an elaborate setup created by an unhinged mind?
I enjoyed this story and found it mildly creepy, but I think it would be better as a movie. The babies were strange, but nothing really seemed threatening and I think the story lagged a lot in the middle.