Lost You by Haylen Beck is a story about a childless mother who is obsessed with having a child. The woman decides to give money to a questionable fertility clinic in order to begin the process of finding a surrogate . Libby, the desperate woman who longs to have a child, signs all the paperwork behind her husband’s back . A woman desperate for money sees an ad in the newspaper and agrees to be a surrogate . She is picked to be a surrogate by Libby and her husband . The clinic has hired a forceful and imposing man to make sure that Anna, the surrogate, follows through with the surrogacy contract. As the novel progresses there are many events that take place that make the entire contract seem as if it will not be honored. Chaos erupts ! At this point I found some of the events that occurred to be highly improbable. I agree that surrogacy is fraught with legal loopholes and this novel certainly explores this. Overall, this was an easy and enjoyable read. I was given this novel by Crown Publishing and netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What. A. Ride. I couldn't put this down for the life of me. Once I got started there was no stopping. Libby and her 3 year old Ethan are on a trip when he goes missing. When he is found, the lady with him claims to be his mom. The way this thriller unravels will leave you on the edge your seat.

2 stars.

Yikes! An intriguing start that turned into a dramatic train wreck.

I was looking through my NetGalley backlist and this beautiful cover caught my eye. Turns out the cover is the only thing that I liked about this novel. Unfortunately, this story felt extremely far fetched, over dramatized and ridiculous. The characters didn’t feel real, nor did the situations they found themselves in. I was definitely not the right reader for this book, but there are many better reviews out there that you can check out for a more positive opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy!

Good story. The story had a great twist about halfway through, but there were times before that were it didn't quite catch and I almost gave up on it. My main reasoning for it was the writing itself, which sometimes seemed old-fashioned with really bad metaphors randomly thrown in. The ending was good, but I found that there wasn't a single likable character in the entire book. which may be why I almost gave up on it.

Lost You by Haylen Beck is a psychological thriller about a woman desperate to have a child but can't and a woman who is interested in being a surrogate...until she's not.

Being a mother myself, I could not put this book down until I finished it. Libby and Ethan are taking a vacation after Libby just sold her first novel. A single mother after she and her husband split, Libby is constantly on edge, looking over her shoulder, panicking 24/7 about Ethan and his whereabouts.

There is a mystery about Ethan’s birth, and Libby has never revealed it to anyone.

The worst happens when Ethan wanders into an elevator before Libby can catch up with him. In heart-stopping panic after the doors open and Ethan is not there, Libby is frantic. Many grueling hours later, Ethan is seen with a woman who is confronted by police. Who is she? She says she is Ethan’s mother.

The suspense of this novel has made me a Haylen Beck fan, and I am in the process of reading everything he has written. Beck, the pseudonym for the Edgar Award-nominated author Stuart Neville, has written a psychological suspense that I could not put down. I have to plan to read his work in one setting.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 10, 2020.

I highly recommend this book to those who like psychological thrillers that twist, turn, and shock so that you cannot put them down until you finish even if it is 3 o’clock in the morning and you have to get up at 6 a.m. to go to work.

I’d like to thank Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I absolutely loved this book!!!! I read way too late into the night with it!!! I thought I knew right away where it was going but it totally surprised me!!!! Highly recommended!!!

HOLY COW.

I loved this.

One of those tornado reads, where you finish the book, put down your kindle or hard copy and ask yourself...what in the heck did I just read?!?!

Put the fear of god in me re: surrogacy but definitely a fun read if you like this sort of novel for sure!

Would recommend!

Lost You is every mother's nightmare. Haylen Beck has written an unputdownable psychological thriller!

This is not your typical suspense thriller. In order to preserve the integrity of the plot, I will not give away any details as it’s best going in blind on this one. The first third of the book was absolutely riveting and tense. The second third was interesting as it delved into an ethical situation that I have yet to come across in a book. The last third was twisty but lacked the punch needed for a finale. It had a hard time keeping up with the first half of the story.

Overall, this book was just okay for me. I didn’t like and couldn’t relate to any of the characters, which resulted in some detachment from the plot. I also thought parts of the story lacked credibility and found myself having to stretch my boundaries of believability to remain invested. With a little more consistency and emotional depth, this could have been a five star read for me.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. There were some clever twists and turns in the storyline but I was never all in with this one. Something was missing that prevented me from fully engrossing myself in the story.

Thanks to netgalley for providing a free copy for an honest review.

First off I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for my advances copy in exchange for an honest review.
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I thought this book sounded very promising with the synopsis, unfortunately it fell completely flat for me and I was bored. I didn't like the whole plot of the book, didn't like any characters and I didn't feel any emotion. It had lots of promise but just wasn't the one for me. Couldn't relate to anything, I wanted something more for the story.

3.5

More than anything, Libby wants to be a Mom. When she is unable to get pregnant, she and her husband turn to surrogacy. What could go wrong?

This is quite the page turner. We get to see both sides of the surrogacy story - Libby's anxious anticipation of becoming a Mom and the surrogates' growing concerns over the decision she has made. There is a dark side to the story that adds to the intensity of the situation. From the beginning, all is not what it seems. This all leads to an unexpected ending!

My thanks to Crown Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC.

Imagine... your young child gets on an elevator the doors close and he is gone. This was a provocative thriller that took a look at how far a mother is willing to go for her child. Libby is on a much-needed vacation with her young son Ethan when he goes missing. When she sees video of the woman who took Ethan she realizes that her past has caught up with her. This is a dark story that focuses on motherhood, surrogacy, betrayal, and secrets. This was a story of two women struggling with two different demons. A story that will have you changing your opinion from page to page. Thought-provoking and twisted. Halen Beck really made me think with this one and I’m still not certain exactly what I think about the end?

*** Big thanks to Crown for my copy of this book ***

WOW!!! This book blew me away! I have never read a book by Haylen Beck before, and I am a new fan after reading Lost You. This book was amazing and fast-paced, I did not see the twists coming. I read it ravenously in one day, and yelled “WHAT?!” a lot. Loved it!

I enjoyed this book but guess I was wanting a little more from it. It was twisty, which I love, but the twists weren't that surprising.

Lost you is about women and surrogacy, It is about decisions that women can make and then regret making. Sometimes, the experience can change the perception.

Quite an interesting plot and gripping turns and twists. However, I felt like women protagonists were flat. One was baby-crazy woman, who struggle with infertility for so long and now decides to have a baby via surrogacy. Another, in desperate need of money, and surrogacy seems quite easy but with a huge profit idea. Little both of them know, that no matter what they plan, 9 months is a long time and minds can be changed.

Infertility and surrogacy are very delicate issues and I think they were handled ok, not great, but ok. The protagonist though were on two extreme opposites (as I assume they should be) but it just didn't feel right.

Thank you Negalley and Crown Publishing for Lost You by Haylen BeckARC in return of my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review

3.5 stars - rounded up for rating

This is my second book by Haylen Beck and I definitely wasn’t disappointed! I read HERE AND GONE in 2017 and that was a quick thriller that kept me completely engaged. This was a solid thriller and kept the tension up and threw a few twists at me as the story progressed, but I think HERE AND GONE came out ahead for me by just a tiny bit. I personally think it was more a me thing and my crazy schedule than it was not being engaged by the book. If that made sense.

We all know the “hell hath no fury” about a scorned woman, and we also know that a mother will go to any lengths to protect her children. Well, imagine these two forces coming head-to-head with one another. You’re in for quick the ride with this one! Two women claiming to be Ethan’s “real” mother – but who is actually considered to be the real mother?

This explores the topics of surrogacy and the illegal side of adoptions. Two things that aren’t always talked about or explored much – or maybe I’m just not reading the right thrillers! I really enjoyed seeing this play out and the twists and turns that Beck threw at the readers. I would warn you to suspend some reality, but this won’t take away from the reading experience. Like I said, the pacing is great, it is a captivating read, and the only reason I dropped it half a star was because I found myself setting it down a couple of times (definitely could just be me and my schedule right now and not the book itself).

I will continue to pick up more from Haylen Beck and would highly recommend both LOST YOU and HERE AND GONE!

The premise for this novel sounded interesting. I had always wondered what would drive a woman to agree to be a surrogate mother. I know of course that infertility and the deep desire to have a baby would make a woman choose to use a surrogate. What I wasn’t prepared for was the fact that I didn’t like any of these characters.

Libby is a woman who has tried for many years to get pregnant. After ten years of trying and 3 miscarriages she deeply desires a baby, at any cost. This is where believability comes into play. Throughout the book I saw how this woman became incredibly obsessive, manipulative and entirely selfish. She didn’t care about her husband, the surrogate mother, even what would be good for the child. She was completely unlikable and quite unbelievable.

Anna is the down and out young woman who agrees to be a surrogate mother. Her friend Betsy sees an ad in a local paper willing to pay $500 just to interview women. When she first answers the ad from the Schaeffer-Holdt Clinic she isn’t quite sure what this is all about. She quickly begins to understand what she will have to do, allow herself to be inseminated, bear a child and then give it up. She desperately needs money and $75,000 is enough money to entice her to sign away her unborn baby.

The novel starts at the end of the story and then we are swept back to the beginning and follow these two women, both of whom are deeply disturbed. Libby knows that she has gone too far in her determination to have this child and Anna knew what she was getting into when she signed the numerous contracts.

Into this mix we meet Mr. Kovak, an ex-military man who is the intermediary between the clinic, Libby and Anna. He keeps incredibly close records and checks on Anna’s progress. He is willing to use any type of influence even physical force to keep the woman on track for delivery of the baby. Several times Libby has doubts about what she is doing but when the baby is finally born she is sure that she can’t give him up.

I think if the characters were more believable this may have been a better story. It is a page turner but I constantly felt that none of this could possibly happen. The author states in her notes “While the story presents some questions about the commercial exploitation of women and those people who have no other path to parenthood, and the legal uncertainty they often face, the author fully recognizes the good done by surrogate mothers around the world”

I don’t think I can recommend this book simply because it is a page turner. Please also read a variety of reviews as there are some people who love this novel.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

Two women locked in a desperate fight over a child each believes is rightfully hers. Suspenseful and emotional. I'm a fan of Haylen Beck and this did not disappoint.

Libby is raising her son Ethan on her own. Working hard, never taking time for herself. But her luck seems to be taking a positive turn when a trip of a lifetime suddenly presents itself. Well come on... it’s just impossible to pass it up! So what has Libby so concerned? Why can’t she let her hair down, relax and enjoy herself? The answer is about to come to light as Ethan steps onto the hotel elevator... alone.

This book had some clever turns and the characters were the kind you’ll love to hate...or hate to love! Yet I never got that “all in” captivating feel with this read. I wanted something more. Like any other avid reader, I want to lose myself in a thriller. It just never reached that point.

This is my second book by Haylen Beck and unfortunately it lacked the intrigue I felt in his previous book Here And Gone. But, as a devoted reader, I’ll try again and look forward to his next release.

A buddy read with Susanne

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Haylen Beck for an ARC to read and review.