When she finds out that she is pregnant after a one night stand Roz is in shock. She has no job and shares a flat with her friend.
She decides the best thing for her child is to have it adopted. She joins an upmarket group online to find a suitable match, looking for a rich family to pay her expenses and take her baby when it is born.
Roz is about the regret her decision.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting premise, around adoption/surrogacy and the influence of power. I could relate to Roz, and felt her despair as she became more and more aware of her reality. Overall, a good read with an enjoyable ending.

I read the synopsis of this book and thought I'd enjoy reading it. Unfortunately I couldn't get interested in this book at all. I didn't like the characters or felt any sympathy or emotion towards them! Probably just not for me at this moment.

This is my favorite Caroline Mitchell book yet! I was hooked from the moment I read the first page and the twists just kept coming! This was a fast paced story that kept my interest the entire time. In this story the main character, Roz, is pregnant but cannot keep her baby so she decides to join a website that helps mothers find suitable families for their babies. Roz gets contacted by a prospective couple and feels like she's hit the jackpot when she finds out more about them. When they finally meet things seem a little off but it's nothing too alarming so Roz decides to stick it out. This book was a roller coaster ride all the way thru. The final big revelation in the book had my jaw on the floor! I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of the detective series books that Caroline writes, so when i saw this book by Caroline which was something a bit different, i had to read it. I am so glad I did. This is a book that i quickly got into and loved the strong character Roz. A fast paced book with lots of twists. This is one of those books that you will still be thinking about days after you have finished reading it. Be careful who you trust!

A very good psychological thriller, well written with interesting characters although a bit 'far fetched' in places in my opinion but overall it was a well developed story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Amazon Publishing UK and Caroline Mitchell for a chance to read this book.

Oh my! My heart is still galloping at breakneck speed. What a terrific thriller this turned out to be.

Roz is pregnant and penniless and to provide the best possible life for her child she takes a decision that destroys her freedom and her peace of mind. A celebrity couple contacts her thru an online adoption agency and it is like all her prayers have been answered. Knowing that her baby will never want for anything she flies to New York and meets Sheridan. Then the journey to hell begins. Things turn sour and Roz realizes she has no one to turn to. Meanwhile her best friend Dympna in Dublin becomes increasingly worried and with the help of her father starts looking into Roz's move to NY.

The chapters alternate between Roz and Sheridan and occasionally thru Dympna. This is an excellently written psychological thriller that keeps the reader glued to the pages. Caroline Mitchell has definitely worked wonders with the each and every character in the story. Highly recommended!

Caroline Mitchell’s last two books were wonderful. Truth and Lies and The Secret Child quickly elevated Mitchell to one of my favorite authors.

When I began reading The Perfect Mother I wasn’t disappointed. The story caught my interest almost immediately and ran with it. It felt like a book that I needed to keep reading because I was nervous about Roz, the protagonist.

However, as I read on I became a little concerned that the story was pretty far fetched. And a little bit of that is just fine. I figure it’s a thriller don’t over-analyze everything.

So with a bit of concern, I continued to hurriedly flip through the pages. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to end. Unfortunately, I was so right. The ending was a complete letdown. And one part was so unexpected. Nothing at all led up to a certain conclusion. (Sorry, I just don’t want to give away too much.)

That said, Caroline Mitchell is still right up at the top of my favorites, she just missed the mark with this story.

My Concerns
The ending was abrupt and part of it was a complete surprise. There were no ah-ha moments because nothing led up to the reveal.

What I Liked Best
Mitchell’s writing is very good and the first part of the book totally captured my interest.

This is a very well written psychological thriller with all the right elements! I really enjoyed it, and Roz, the main character is very well written. A really solid novel.

I have a real mixed bag of feelings about this book. I started out really enjoying it, it was a bit unbelievable from the start but most thrillers are so I was more than willing to keep going. I really enjoyed the story and it kept me really captivated for the first 50-60% and then suddenly it took a turn. It almost felt as if it wasn't supposed to be the real ending? It just didn't fit with the rest of the book, the writing, the pacing, all of it was a bit off. Regardless, I kept going, I always hold out a lot of hope for a great twist.

This twist/ending was the most disappointing part of the book for me, I had to put my iPad down and come back to it to make sure I read it all right. I felt like there wasn't enough explanation or fleshing out of important characters and major plot points of the book to properly wrap it up and the reactions to major plot points by different characters were so far from being appropriate or realistic. I'm not sure how else I can explain that while remaining spoiler-free. The ending of this book just felt so massively unbelievable it felt like a totally different book from the first 2/3 of the book that I enjoyed so much.

I do think I will give other Caroline Mitchell books a chance after this despite my feelings on the end because I really enjoyed the first 2/3 so much, I have a lot of hope for her other work!

This is a really good read. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. It is predictable in places but that adds to the suspense. Sheridan is a great character. Totally unlikeable but powerful. This book is definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This book sounded right up my street, set in Ireland and New York, thrilling and mysterious.

Roz unexpectedly finds herself pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to a loving couple through a website called Miracle Moms. She is hooked when a "diamond couple" show interest in her baby (ie a couple very wealthy and/or famous). Without too much interaction Roz packs her bags and lured by the money hotspots it to NYC to go stay with them for the duration of her pregnancy only when she arrives it's a radically different set up for her than she was led to believe.

I enjoyed the start of this book. However I soon found the naivety of Roz and her absolute gullibility very unbelievable, and the hints at who the baby's father was even more so as that hinted at friendships that were not that strong to begin with. I found the story quite slow paced, Sheridan just needed a good slap and the big twist towards the end made me put the book down and not finish. The book had a great premise but unfortunately I found it couldn't keep my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell piqued my interest from the very first page. By the second, I knew that I was going to be well and truly hooked. This is an emotionally engaging tale that will have you tearing through the pages with your heart firmly in your throat.

Roz is young, pregnant and alone, save for her best friend Dympna, in Dublin, when she is seduced by an online adoption agency that promises to find the best possible placement for her unborn child. When a celebrity power couple respond to Roz's profile, she believes that her prayers have been answered as she jets off to New York to meet her baby's future parents. But, as we all know, if something seems too good to be true, it most often is, and Roz has unknowingly entered into a situation that transpires in a way that no one could have ever imagined.

This is a twisty, diabolical read that I just devoured in a single afternoon. The tension is almost palpable as events unfold and, like Roz, we are never entirely certain where to place our trust.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC.

Wow. What an amazing book. Full of suspense and enough twists to not know who was good and who was bad. Roz finds herself pregnant after a night of drinking and despair. While she has told her best friend she is pregnant she cannot tell her who the father is, dreading their friendship would be over. The only path is a trip to leave Ireland and go to the US to give the Baby away. What follows is several terrifying months. The author has done a wonderful job of creating characters with flaws but who you love. She had me feeling claustrophobic as she wove the threads of this book together. I was kept guessing and proven wrong more than once. A book you don’t want to put down, full of suspense, murder, movie stars and true friendship. Roz is a beautifully strong character. Thank you NetGalley, Caroline Mitchell and Amazon Publishing for the chance to read this book.

Fantastic novel. Couldn’t put it down And read in one sitting. Great tension throughout. Another fabulous book from Caroline.

A superb book. Well written, psychologically thrilling and full of twists and turns . In this day and age when truth is actually stranger than fiction the premise of this book is totally believable
. Roz, a naive young Irish girl, is pregnant and travels to New York to “give” her unborn baby to a wealthy celebrity couple. What happens to her is both chilling and frightening..
Roz and Dympna inspired empathy and I liked the constancy of their friendship. The portrayal of Sheridan and Daniel was really well developed and at some points I found myself actually feeling sorry for Sheridan. I have not read any other Caroline Mitchell books but I will certainly look out for her in future.
Thank you Caroline, Amazon Publishing and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

Such a good read! The premise caught my eye and once I got started I could not put the book down!! Would definitely recommend to everyone.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 mixed stars

This book started as a 2 star book, then after the first third I loved it, Sheridan pushes it to a 4/5 star book.

Then came the ‘twist’ which seemed so out of sync, and hard to believe given we had limited insight into the real bad guy.

The the big finale was like - ok let’s tie all this together as quickly as possible.

Disappointing sorry.

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell. A bit of a slow start but quickly turns into a somewhat unconventional, unpredictable and suspenseful drama. From the self absorbed movie idol to the unwed expectant mother and all in between, the characters are totally spot on. Another twist at the end is a surprise. Very good read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

And the unexpected twists just kept on coming!!

WOW!! I finished this rollercoaster ride of a story late last night after being engrossed for the past couple of days, so much so my housework and household chores went neglected which I’m usually strictly on top of because I couldn’t bare to part from this fantastic book!

Having read one of Caroline’s previous novels the silent Victim which was a fantastic read I knew I was in for a treat with the perfect mother and was thrilled when Netgalley kindly sent me a copy to read.

We are introduced to Roz who is a young woman full of life and personality, she is Irish and therefor has a bubbly and strong fighting spirit, she lives with her lifelong best friend dympna in a small rented flat and has a cleaning job, unfortunately Roz struggles to make ends meet and isn’t really secure financially, she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant which she has torn and mixed feelings over down to whom the babies father is which is a question that kept me curious throughout the story, I thought I had the father figured out and was extremely shocked when he was revealed at the end of the story, and also the fact she is financially unstable and estranged from her mother who was an alcoholic growing up, Roz therefore believes she would struggle to raise a baby in her current situation, she decides to put her baby up for adoption on a miracle mums site and is shocked and flabbergasted when a diamond couple shows an interested in adopting her baby for an extravagant fee which would change Roz’s life forever, after speaking to the mystery woman over the phone who wants to adopt her baby is she is flown to New York to meet them in person and is blown away to discover they are a very famous Hollywood couple Sheridan and Daniel who promise her many luxuries and an opportunity of a lifetime that will change her life forever.

Roz decides to go ahead with the adoption and the agreement is she will stay with Sheridan and Daniel until her baby is born and then return home, however upon moving In she soon discovers Sheridan isn’t all that she seems and is hiding many secrets some of which could be deadly, desperate to uncover what Sheridan is hiding Roz goes to great lengths to keep herself and her baby safe but will she make it out alive and escape? These were the questions that kept me reading late into the small hours. I really liked Roz’s personality, she is a very strong woman who is a force to be reckoned with, I also extremely empathised with her being a mother myself I really felt for her feeling that the only choice she has is to give her baby away.

The perfect mother was extremely entertaining, full of undesirable and quirky characters, there are many unexpected twists that left my jaw practically hanging on the floor and the story will stay with you well after you’ve finished the last page! I would highly recommend this book you too will be engrossed.

A big thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.