The premise of the novel was engaging and certainly topical. Surrogacy and all the legalities surrounding this procedure are still experiencing complications and controversy as a result. This young Irish woman certainly sees this a solution to her unwanted pregnancy. Ireland does not condone abortion. The internet has become the source of so much information and she seeks it out to offer her baby to an American couple. The repercussions are dire and the novel certainly holds your interest as she struggles with the complications of her decision. However, it became unbelievable as it reached the inevitable conclusion. A little too much of a Hollywood ending to a well written original book.

Roz was pregnant and not financially secure to think about keep her baby. She elected to give her baby up for adoption. The process of adoption goes through a website where potential parents meet women who want to give up their baby for adoption. Roz agreed to move to New York and live with Sheridan and her husband, Daniel. Sheridan and Daniel were a powerful celebrity couple. This seems to be like the perfect family for Roz's baby. Things are not always as it seems.

This story can hardly be categorized as mystery or thriller. From the beginning, around the first 3 chapters, everything was revealed. The reader can tell that something is not right with Sheridan and Daniel. It's not that there were hints. It's so call mystery was outright stated by Sheridan.The rest of the story goes to paint a picture of what is happening to Roz and how she found out that Sheridan and Daniel is not who they said they are. Sheridan was described as a glamorous movie star that has lost her lackluster in the movie world. However, I never can picture her as this amazing, glamorous woman but rather just crazy. Her character wasn't convincing. It was boring and really hard to read start to finish.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If something sounds too good to be true -- run away!

When 24-year-old Roz Foley discovers that she is pregnant after a one-night stand with a most unsuitable baby daddy, she decides to investigate the possibility of adoption. Broke, jobless and sharing a flat with her best friend, Dympna, is not what she wants for her baby. She impulsively signs on with an exclusive agency, Miracle Moms, and immediately gets a hit. A "diamond couple" has offered to fly her to New York for a meet and greet if Roz is certain that she wants to go through with it. Off she goes, first class all the way, and arrives to find that absolutely nothing is what she'd hoped. In fact, she and her baby are in terrible danger. NO SPOILERS.

This was an easy, quick read that I finished in one sitting. Most of what transpired was a bit far-fetched and required a great effort to suspend disbelief, but it was an entertaining couple of hours. I've read other books written by Caroline Mitchell and much prefer her police procedurals. I never fully bought into the story or the characters and can't say that the writing created much tension or suspense as the twists were not completely unexpected. I know it's awful, but I was kind of hoping for a different end to Roz and her situation -- you know -- just to really surprise me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing UK for this e-book ARC to read and review.

When Roz a young Irish catholic women becomes pregnant, she has no job and no money.
Does she decide to keep the baby or help a couple that cant have children whom are wealthy and loving?
Celebrity couple Julie and Greg desperately want Roz's baby and fly her out to New York, but on arrival nothing is at it seems.
Roz is stuck in a basement flat with no contact to the outside world.
She knows that she has to escape for her own safety and that of her unborn child.
There is something very wrong with Julie and Greg but how can she escape and get back home.

Dont you just love it when you read a book that excesses all your expectations! Well this book is without a doubt just that. I am a massive fan of Caroline and have read all of her books, so I never read the blurb. So I went into this book knowing it would be a good read. But holy freaking hell what a story, it has totally blown me away.

I was hooked from the start and simply couldn’t put it down has we follow Roz on one terrifying and pulse racing journey. Who I emphasised with.

But I could also feel the emotion and terror through the author’s writing keeping me on the edge of my seat. Giving me plenty of OMG moments. I sat reading this with my hand over my mouth through most of it. Talk about building up the tension. Then the tension flys off the richter scale has the ending draws in.

This book is just so damn good, and I am very excited that I have read a story so early on in the year this amazing. Needless to say it is one of my top reads for 2020!

If you are looking for a story that is going to blow your mind and keep you up all night reading this is the book for you. I cannot recommend it enough. It definitely deserves ten gold stars.

Massive thank you to Sarah Hardy for the Blog Tour invite

Well HOT damn! This was a WILD RIDE! Caroline mitchell has twisted the twisted! A deliciously disturbing page turner that completely sucked me in. Roz is in her early 20s a little uncertain of what she wants from her future when she finds herself pregnant. The one thing she knows is nobody can find out who the father is and that she is not ready to raise a baby. Roz signs up to an elite adoption service and soon fines that a rich famous “diamond“ couple is interested in her baby. Convinced that she has hit the jackpot Roz soon finds herself jetting off to New York leaving Ireland behind. When she gets to New York she finds out the couple interested in her baby is the most popular movie star couple of the moment. But as soon as she gets to the couple’s house and signs the nondisclosure things start getting a bit strange. First of all she is living in a basement apartment where the only access is an elevator, to which she does not have the pass key. No phone, no Internet, no way out, completely cut off from the outside world. And to make things even more creepy Roz is pretty certain that somebody has previously worn the maternity clothes they gave her, and who is leaving these newspaper and magazine articles for her to read?

Yikes! The story bounces between the perspectives of Roz and adopting mother Sheridon. Roz really could be any of us a little naïve, but really just wanting the best for her baby. Sheridon on the other hand is a psychotic controlling bitch. And as the book goes on she becomes more psycho, more controlling, and even more of a bitch. The only hope I had for Roz was husband Daniel. I was not certain what side Daniel was on and if he had any idea about his wife’s behavior. There were some pretty crazy twist in the story, plenty of things I did not see coming. Fast-paced, addictive, twisted, disturbing, dark, mind blowing. This was a thriller that made an impression!

This book in emojis. 🤰🏻 ☘️ 🎬 🗞 🚨

*** Big thank you to Amazon Pub for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

This would have been a fine thriller, but for the cross-cultural element.

Roz is a young, single Irish woman who loses her menial job just as she discovers she is pregnant. She cannot reveal the identity of the baby's father, and this leads her into some desperate acts. She enrolls in an adoption website and is matched with a New York celebrity couple. She is lured across the Atlantic to New York City, where the luxury promised for her pregnancy begins to feel more like captivity.

It's an intriguing premise. The plot is well-executed, and most of the characters are fully-formed (one or two caricatures among them). The thing that dampened my enthusiasm was the British idioms that cropped up, even in the narration that is done from the American wife's point of view, or those of other American characters.

There is the Asian-American aide to the adoptive parents who tells Roz, the mother-to-be: "Best you compose yourself, though. You're catching flies." I couldn't imagine either of those sentences coming from a person who speaks American English. The language is English, yes, but the vernacular is British.

In another of many examples, from the interior monologue of American wife, "she could see him mentally doing the maths." On this side of the pond, we use the singular form.

If the U.S. publishing company had done a better job of cultural editing, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

Thanks netgalley for letting me read this great story for a honest review.
I really enjoyed this great book.
Roz is pregnant, she has no money a lousy job cleaning and lives with her best friend..
On the internet Roz found a website called miracle moms who would basically buy your baby pay your expenses and help you until you have your baby.
What would a good catholic girl from Ireland know about being a unmarried mother with a baby, the website seemed a good idea, instead of having an abortion.
But on finding a couple that wanted her baby things were not as simple as it first seemed.
Great story really enjoyed it.

This is a nice twisty thriller about Roz, a young woman who gets pregnant and, in her search for adoptive parents finds a power couple in New York who will fly her out and give her luxury accommodations until the baby is born. Of course she can't believe her luck and of course we the readers know that there must be something else behind it all. Alternating chapters tell us of her experience as well as the couple's odd relationship with each other and their young son, Leo. We witness Roz's delight, then suspicions, and later fear as she realizes there is much more behind the scenes than just a celebrity couple wanting another child. Sometimes implausible, it was a chilling novel that I enjoyed and read quickly.

This mystery was intriging from the Beginning. It was character driven with a plot that keeps the reader invested in the story. There were a couple of surprises which is quite unexpected in this genre.
The main character makes poor choices that put her life in jeopardy. There are no redeeming characters that one can relate to. Each person seems to be all about himself or herself. However, this was a good read and difficult to put down...the mystery is great!

What a dynamite read this was!!!!! I can’t say enough good things about this book. This is a stand alone novel and not my first read by this author. I’ve read a few of her books and loved them all.

This book was about a young woman who made a huge mistake and wanted to correct it. She didn’t mean to get pregnant at such a young age especially from a one night stand. So she decided to go to the United States and fix her problem but found out that was not a good idea either. Will she get out alive or will she permanently pay for her mistakes?

I want to start off by saying that I really loved this book. I especially the loved the main character Roz. I loved how Roz was very naive and living in a fantasy world at the beginning but turned into a brave kick butt mom who’s only want was to protect her child by the end. It was nice to see that growth and maturity. I also loved the plot of this book. I loved the fact that it involved a celebrity couple and how dark and twisted it got at the end. This is what made the book a fast and easy read for me. You have to have a great storyline and boy this was one. I couldn’t believe the ending. This could definitely be made into a movie. One of my favorite reads so far for this year.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

This book had me engrossed since I picked it up!!Its an interesting book regarding the story as I've never read it fiction wise. I have read other books by Caroline Mitchell and this is just as good.
The ending wasn't what I expected but it worked well.
Well worth a read.!!

Ive never been disappointed with any book I have read by Caroline Mitchell and this standalone psychological thriller is no exception. The plot involving a young woman selling her baby to famous celebrities is a real page turner. I had no idea as to what the outcome would be , but it. was certainly a taut, tense and intriguing journey finding out

I have been a fan of Caroline's work for quite a while now. In fact, I have been a fan since I had the good fortune to pick up a copy of Caroline's book called 'Don't Turn Around'. Since then I have read each and every book that she has released. I read the synopsis for 'The Perfect Mother' and it certainly sounded like the sort of dark and twisty read that I absolutely love. I couldn't wait to read it so without further ado, I grabbed a cup of tea, found my comfy spot on the sofa and started to read 'The Good Mother' on my Kindle. I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Good Mother' but more about that in a bit.
The two main characters of this book are Rosalind and Sheridan. Rosalind is a young Irish woman, who becomes pregnant following a short lived fling. She doesn't see how she can bring a child up on her own. Rosalind is Catholic and although she doesn't go to church every week, she will terminate her pregnancy. Ros decides to continue the pregnancy and give the gift of a child to somebody who isn't able to have children. The surrogacy website Ros uses, brings her into contact with Sheridan, who is a bit of a funny old fish who set off huge alarm bells for me. Sheridan was a child star who was exploited by her mother for financial gain. Sheridan is damaged by her childhood experiences and this damage has continued to influence her adult life. Sheridan already has a child but she wants her child to have a sibling. Sheridan says that she can't have any more children. Sheridan and Ros find each other on the surrogacy website and both are happy at first. However certain things happen, which cause Ros to wonder if she made the right decision and Ros also begins to fear for her safety and the safety of her unborn child. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to infd out as I am not going to tell you.
Oh boy, 'The Perfect Mother' was one hell of a fantastic book and easily my favourite of Caroline's books to date. As soon as I began to read, I just knew that I would not be able to put the book down and I was so right. To say that 'The Perfect Mother' was addictive reading seems to be a huge understatement. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I didn't want to miss a single second of the story. I could see that something huge was going to happen but there was nothing I could do about it except watch - a bit like seeing an accident or car crash happening imminently but you can't do anything to stop it. I had to keep reading to see whether or not my suspicions were correct or if I had the wrong end of the stick entirely. The pages turned increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened grew and grew. All too quickly I reached the end of the book which I was disappointed about. I don't mean that I was disappointed with the way in which the story ended but I was enjoying the author's writing style, the characters and the storylines so much that I just didn't want the book to end.
'The Perfect Mother' is superbly written but then I wouldn't expect anything else from Caroline Mitchell. She certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draw you into the story without you realising. 'The Perfect Mother' is well plotted and is compelling reading as a result. Caroline has a writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. I shudder to think about how Caroline's mind works as her books are always dark and occasionally very twisted. 'The Perfect Mother' is gripping reading and features scenarios and dilemmas that are all too possible. The book certainly kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat throughout. Caroline uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. I found that I wanted to jump inside the pages of the book to sort certain characters out and to give other characters a reality check.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Perfect Mother' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I look forward to reading more of Caroline's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, I needed to know what was going to happen next! I couldn't get enough of it.
Caroline Mitchell has a way of gripping you from page one and not letting you go and I feel that her books are just getting better and better!

The Perfect Mother is international bestselling writer Caroline Mitchell's third and latest standalone psychological thriller crossed with a domestic/family drama, and although the title and synopsis are both pretty standard when it comes to this genre this is actually a book with a lot more substance to it than it's competitors. Roz is barely surviving the day-to-day, and quite frankly wouldn't be if it wasn't for her invaluable friends looking out for her, so when she gets pregnant she naturally has quite conflicting feelings about it all from the start; on the one hand, she would love nothing better than to be a doting mother, however, she decides in the best interests of the unborn baby to try and find a suitable, loving home in which he or she will be adored. Because let's face it she can barely look after herself nevermind having a newborn baby in tow. After doing some digging she discovers and enrols with an elite adoption agency based out of New York where she swiftly meets affluent celebrity couple Sheridan and Daniel who just happen to be desperate for a child. The Hollywood stars cover her expenses to reach the United States and move her into their sprawling mansion for the duration of the pregnancy and then everything turns ugly.

The author builds the tension slowly in the beginning but as time wears on and the intense and gripping tale unfurls and has you quickly turning the pages. I genuinely had no idea what was about to happen or how it would end and I felt an incredibly rare pang of anxiety as the way it is written ensures you are kept on edge from beginning to climax. It was so very disturbing to see a vulnerable young woman being taken advantage of, and as a former police detective Mitchell fuses together a compelling and addictive mix of fact and fiction where she allows her previous employment dealing with vulnerable victims to inform her cracking, difficult to put down stories. Mitchell captured me from the outset and kept me well and truly hooked right through until the conclusion and every step of the way my heart was in my mouth. This is far-fetched entertainment rather than based in reality per se and is a superb escapist read but that makes it no less riveting and I gave no problem admitting to tearing through it lightning fast with no regrets. Nothing is as it initially appears and the bottom line and takeaway message is to trust no-one; that way you can never be disappointed and you may even get a pleasant, faith restoring surprise. Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK for an ARC.

This book had me gripped from start to finish. Very well written at a good pace to keep interest. I will be looking for more by this author. Recommended.

A gripping story from start to finish. A young and scared pregnant girl gets caught in the web of a manipulative celebrity couple. What seems too good too good to be true in fact turns out to be so. The story is nail biting and edgy as the neurosis of the couple is revealed. There are many secrets being kept by several characters which will be unexpected when revealed to the reader. The characters are well done and the plot is superb. It is a balanced mix of a psychological thriller and a drama.

This was a good original idea, I read it in 2 days and I definitely enjoyed it. I could feel the tension and the helplessness of being in the situation Roz found herself in. I marked it down a star just because of the perfectly tied up ending regarding the father of the baby and the other people in Roz’s life.

I read this book in one and a bit sitting, it's a stand alone thriller and very different to Caroline's crime thrillers. It is however a brilliant read even if you guess what's coming and shout at Roz not to be so gullible. You will obviously have to read to the end to find out if there's a happy conclusion for Roz. It got me all fired up in a stomach churning, nail biting sort of way but that's what thrillers are supposed to do, Caroline Mitchell, job done.