She thought she was giving her baby a good life by giving her up, what she didn't realize is that she would fall in love with her and not be able to give her up. Or that the lovable star she chose would be a complete and total monster. Caroline Mitchell did again. Twists and turns from page one, I couldn't put it down.

Once upon a time, I was a huge mystery/suspense fan. I gobbled up as much of it as I could, often devouring a book a day in the dark, twisty lives I found in their pages. But at some point, either the authors started letting me down or I became immune to them. It was like I’d caught on to all their tricks… I went years always knowing how a story was going to end, whatever the mystery might be, I figured it out.

And it put me off the genre altogether.

Last year, I decided to give it another try and I found some great suspenseful reads that I loved! But so far this year, I’ve been disappointed.

Until now…

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell has renewed my hope for the mystery/suspense genre! I can’t go so far as to say that’s it was everything that I ever wanted in a thriller but despite the few annoying bits, I absolutely loved this book. Outside of Agatha Christie, there aren’t a lot of books in this genre I would even consider re-reading, but this would be one!

The Story:
The Perfect Mother is the story of a young woman named Roz, who finds herself pregnant after a drunken one-night stand. She’s recently been fired from her job and she can’t tell the father of the child that she’s even pregnant. All we know is that, whoever the father is, she’s mortified about it and won’t even tell her best friend and roommate, Dympna, who it is.

I was pretty sure I knew who the father was throughout the book. I literally made a note that said: “It’s pretty obvious the father is…” BUT I WAS WRONG! For the first time in what seemed like forever, I was thrown more than one curveball and what I thought I knew was completely wrong! I LOVED IT!

Sorry, I got a little sidetracked there. Who the father is or what all Ms. Mitchell managed to throw me on has very little to do with the actual story at this point, so let’s move on…

So Roz decides her only real option is to give her baby up for adoption. She signs up to this adoption site where couples basically buy your baby. At least, that’s how Dympna sees it. Roz is super excited when a “diamond couple” is interested in her baby. Things proceed rather quickly from there and, despite her misgivings, she finds herself moving to New York to live with the couple until the baby is born.

Once there, Roz finds herself in a horrible situation. Nothing is as it was supposed to be and she realizes too late that she’s made a horrible mistake. No one knows where she is, who she’s with, or why she’d even be in America. So it’s all really dreary.

I feel like that’s about all I can say about the story itself without giving anything away, so hopefully, I’ve made it clear that I LOVED IT!!!!

The Characters:
And here’s where we come to my issue with the book…

I loved most of the characters in this story. Dympna is amazing and funny and well-developed even though she’s a secondary character. The diamond couple, Sheridan and Daniel, who want Roz’s baby and will go to ANY lengths to get it, are complicated and I never did figure them out. I mean, they were the bad guys but I had a really hard time figuring out who was the REALLY bad guy here and there was just so much going on and backstory that started coming out and a whole rabbit hole of “THAT’s CRAZY” that pretty much every character in this book was surprisingly awesome.

Except for the main one.

I loved the book and I loved all the characters except for Roz. Which was very unfortunate considering she’s the MAIN character!!!

Roz was way too naive. I mean, it was unrealistic and I wanted to strangle or smack her way too often. She was likable (eventually) but even if I could get past the naivety, she’s whiney and has this attitude like the world owes her something because she had a crappy childhood. I mean, does anyone have a perfect childhood? Sorry, but that doesn’t keep you from accepting responsibility for your crappy actions now that you’re an adult. (That may have been a little harsh, but she seriously annoyed me and I”m still upset about it.)

Yeah, so basically every character is great except the main one.

Conclusion:
I definitely recommend reading The Perfect Mother if you’re looking for a good thriller/suspense book. But you’ve been warned that the main character might drive you a bit batty and make you want to punch someone. It’s worth the read anyway though!

**I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK. This did not influence my opinions or review.**

I’ll just start by saying this book is amazing. Seriously. As soon as I started reading I honestly could not put it down.

Roz is introduced at the beginning. She’s newly pregnant (a result from a one-night stand), barely making ends meet. An abortion isn’t an option for her so as she looks into other options the most appealing one turns out to be adoption. She soon hits the jackpot when she learns a very wealthy couple is interested and offers an all-expenses paid trip to the US.

As soon as Roz steps foot on American soil suspicions start to rise. As the story unfolds we enter the nightmare along with her. Just who are these celebrities?

Just when I thought I had the story figured out another twist took my by surprise. As with her previous books, the author has a way of keeping the suspense level at full throttle! But it’s not just the suspense that made me like this book. I liked all of the characters, no matter how flawed. Their complex personalities and troubled pasts just added to the suspense…not knowing who to trust.

Excellent read and highly recommended!

Although the basic storyline is somewhat unrealistic, in that no one would put themselves at such risk, I was drawn into the story, which has echoes of Rosemary’s Baby. It is an easy read but the characters aren’t portrayed in enough depth and I always felt it would turn out alright in the end. I also found the ending to be a little too neat and sugarcoated. A 3.5 rounded up to 4 if your looking for an easy read

A young woman with few prospects, an unwanted, pregnancy, and a website promising an excellent home for her baby all come together in The Perfect Mother. When it turns out the people who want to adopt her baby are celebrities Roz, the young mother to be, is overwhelmed. When the accommodations they provide is a windowless basement apartment accessible by a private elevator, an elevator she is not allowed to use, and for her doctor visits have the doctor coming to her still in the basement, Roz still doesn’t see a problem.

It’s hard to believe anyone could be that naive but recent real world events have shown otherwise. When it becomes apparent the adoptive mother to be wants the baby but regards Roz’s life as expendable it comes to Roz that she must rescue herself and her baby.

The Perfect Mother is well written and an easy read. I’d give it 4 stars.

This is one heck of a psychological thriller. Kudos to the author, Caroline Mitchell, who kept me guessing til the very last pages. I really had it figured out wrong and what surprises were in store. A young Irish girl, Roo, leaves everything behind—her home and best friend—when she discovers a one-night stand has left her pregnant. With no family support, she looks for a way out and finds it in an on-line adoption site. After what she things is careful due diligence she picks a couple described as wealthy and well known who need to keep the adoption secret. Flown to the States first class, met by a personal assistant and settled in at a grand suite in the Hyatt Hotel in New York awaiting the first meeting with the prospective adoptive couple, Roz is blown away by the possibilities she sees for her unborn child. As the story unfolds, doubt begins to rear it’s ugly head as Roz realizes all is not as it seems and she is not as eager to give up her baby as she first thought. If this genre is one you enjoy, pick up The Perfect Mother. You will not be disappointed.

This is my first book by this author and I found it to be a gripping psychological thriller. You get sucked into the creepy morality and complicity of the benefactors supposedly helping Roz and her troublesome situation. Thankfully Roz has some friends in her corner to help her out. The reveal of the father was rather anti-climactic. It seemed there should have been more reaction to this news than what was portrayed. But I will be looking for more by this author!

I really should of read this a lot sooner! Wow! Fantastic ride! Twist and turns galore! Not the most likable characters, but to be honest that's how I like my books! Can't wait to read more!

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this book. The premise is exciting but I couldn't help being angry and annoyed by the choices of some of the characters. They didn't feel real and ultimately come off as cheesy. Good story-Poor execution, in my humble opinion.

At times this book seemed far fetched but in our world today, I’m sure it is feasible. I didn’t want to stop reading and finished it in less than 2 days.

Roz is young, penniless and now she is pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own upbringing, the more she is convinced that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland. So she signs up to an elite adoption service and within days is on her way to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own.

Sheridan and Daniel are the perfect couple (or are they!) wealthy, good looking and very glamorous, with them as the baby’s parents surely it would want for nothing and have everything Roz is unable to provide everything Roz isn’t.

Things start to take a twist and a turn as soon as Roz moves into the plush basement suite in New York and all is definitely not what it seemed and alarm bells begin to ring for Roz as she realises she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman, whom we come to know as Kelly, has never been seen for months! Where is Kelly, is Roz safe, what will happen to her baby?

I found this book slow to get going, but as soon as I was drawn into the story I had to know what happened next and it definitely was not what I expected! A great plot with quite the twist!

A very quick and entertaining read, The perfect mother has a pretty good plot but the details made it very hard to believe, even when trying to suspend belief. I would have loved to have seen Roz enjoy at least a month at the house before being sent to the basement. The best friend and her father was a whole subplot that really went no where. The twist about who the father of the baby was kind of disturbed me and was tied up
way too neatly. All in all, a good book to read on a day at the beach.

Roz is a young Irish woman who is unexpectedly pregnant from a one-night stand. She has no resources or support to speak of, so she decides to put her baby up for adoption. She finds a wealthy anonymous couple on an adoption matching site that sounds perfect. She heads to NY to meet them and from then on, her life is upended.. The couple turns out to be a celebrity couple, Sheridan and Daniel, and they have more than a few requirements for their adoption agreement. Roz is quickly in over her head as she realizes to what extent Sheridan will go to get what she wants.

This book kept me interested and there was an unexpected twist or two at the end. At many points, though, the characters all seemed a little unrealistic and the events just tumbled forward. A good page turner, but some holes in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an extremely twisted psychological thriller! I had to finish quickly because I couldn’t wait to see what was waiting for me at the end.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a great book! The author weaves an interesting story about adoption and the lengths some people are willing to go to achieve it. A famous couple decides that a little girl will help their marriage and restart the wife’s career. The best-laid plans don’t always work. An intense thriller,this story takes you on a roller coaster ride.What seems like a blessing to this young Irish girl quickly becomes a nightmare. The author takes us along for the ride. It is definitely not for the squeamish,but a great Fidel nonetheless! I highly recommend this book and look forward to her next one!

Very enjoyable psychological thriller. Unpredictable story till the end. Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for allowing me to receive this ARC!

A fabulous start to the book, but after this, I found it slow and predictable and farfetched in places. Not my favourite book, but readable.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a complimentary copy of this book! Here is my honest review:

This book took me on a crazy ride of emotions! I sat on the edge of my seat the entire book! This book was insane!!!! Caroline Mitchell did a fantastic job with the police procedural details, the characters were credible, and the emotions, OMG, the emotions were through the roof for me! I was scared for Roz, I was scared of Sheridan, I was frustrated with Daniel, and felt for and tried to understand George. Just when I thought I had figured it out, Caroline Mitchell adds another twist. I love everything about this book. In fact, this book is the best book I have read so far in 2020!!!

Just what I was in the mood for, a fast paced rollercoaster ride that made me cringe, cry, and hide under the covers. Roz, a young Irish girl out of work and pregnant from a one night stand (with someone close to her best friend, Dympna) is very naive about life. She has an opportunity to travel to America and meet with a famous couple who want to provide her with a place to live and then adopt her baby , which will solve all her problems. Her best friend Dympna is very skeptical of this plan and counsels Roz not to do it. Her preparations save Roz’s life.
All is not as it seems at the couple’s house, but unfortunately by the time Roz realizes something is wrong it is too late. Sheridan plays her role brilliantly, but Daniel remains an enigma.
Many thanks to Caroline Mitchell, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this recently published thriller.

Roz, who lives in Ireland, young and jobless, is so lost and torn apart when she finds herself pregnant after one night stand. Contemplating her own dysfunctional upbringing, Roz is not confident if she is fit to be a perfect mother.
Searching around, Roz stumbles upon and decides to join an elite adoption service, where she is matched with a wealthy “diamond” couple who resides in New York, USA – the powerful distinguished celebrities, Sheridan and Daniel.
Thinking that she is blessed with this golden opportunity to give her baby the perfect life that she never had, Roz immediately flies the distance to New York to meet the potential adoptive parents, without realizing that her worst nightmare has just begun….
Roz just walked herself into a tangled web of dark secrets and lies…and great danger!
I have just discovered a very talented author, Caroline Mitchell, who cleverly spins this suspenseful thriller “The Perfect Mother” that is packed full of gripping twists and turns!! I am definitely going to read her other thrillers!!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this thriller, I definitely will seek out Mitchell's other thrillers.
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