J.P. Delaney impeccably crafts twists and turns and his latest is no exception. He delves deep into how an unimaginable circumstance might really play out and makes a farfetched scenario seem possible. Well-layered plot and effective integration of documents from legal proceedings into the narrative made this one impossible to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pete Riley and Maddie Wilson are expecting their first child, when the unthinkable happens. Their baby comes much too early. Mother and baby are shipped from the private hospital to St. Alexander’s NICU unit. The same thing is being done for Miles and Lucy Lambert. In the process of all of the chaos, two years later, both families find out that their babies had been switched at birth. Pete and Maddie have been raising Theo, while Miles and Lucy have been raising David. Unfortunately, David has a mental disability, and isn’t able to speak or act like a normal 2 year old, as he had brain damage at birth. Both couples met and talked and decided that they could work it out in their own, by visiting each other’s child. It seemed to be the best thing for everyone. Miles decides to sue the hospital, and Pete goes along with it. Pete and Maddie seem to think that things are going well, until Miles decides he wants to send Theo to a boarding school. Pete is totally against it. That’s when all the trouble starts. Miles begins to show up at all different times, with gifts for Theo. There are no boundaries in place, and it gets to be very difficult for Pete and Maddie. Pete confronts Miles and tells him there needs to be specific times for visitation. Miles seems to be okay with it; however, that same day, they are served legal papers from the Lambert’s that they are fighting for custody of Theo and David as well. Miles seems very calm, but his actions are bordering along the lines of physical violence. People who are involved with the case, all seem to either be maimed or killed? Who is responsible for all of this? Who was involved with the switching of the babies? Will Pete and Maddie ever get their lives back together after all of the legal battles? What will the courts decide? Will the boys stay with their current families? This was a very intriguing psychological thriller. There was mystery all throughout the book. The plot was very thorough and kept the reader's attention completely. The character development was great. The writers style was very easy to follow and had a great flow throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Great story of a scary situation. What if you opened the door to a stranger who tells you that you brought the wrong child home from the hospital and that he has your child and you have his? What if he's right?

Alternating chapters feature the husband, the stay at home dad and the wife, the primary paycheck and how they can both be on the same page about issues, but maybe arrived there by very different thought patterns and actions.

The reader feels what the parents are going through and it's hard to imagine a situation that will work out great for either couple. I had to put the book down earlier in the evening when I found myself too angry to sleep after a certain chapter.

Thoroughly interesting story. I had one instance in the last chapter that I didn't like, but otherwise, I'd give it a 4.5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Pete, Maddie and two-year-old Theo are a happy family. Pete and Maddie aren’t married but they’re still a committed pair. Theo has some speech delays and some behavior issues, which may be due to his prematurity, but it’s all going to be ok. Or is it? Theo is asked to leave his day care after hitting another child one too many times. While Pete and Maddie figure out what to do, a man comes to the door. His name is Miles and he says he has proof that Theo is really his child, and that the child Miles and his wife have been raising is Pete and Maddie’s. What Pete originally thinks will be a amicable solution to a horrific problem turns out to be anything but as they realize Miles is not the charming, successful, caring man they think him to be. JP Delaney has crafted a great psychological thriller that has a few twists and turns along the way, with a satisfying ending.

Edge of your seat psychological thriller. I didn't know exactly what to expect from this story and boy did it take me on an emotional ride. This one left me thinking and I will continue to think about it! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow, what a horrible thing to happen to a family, to two families! Two years after Maggie and Pete have the agonizing time of their son Theo being born months early, and all the heartbreak that goes with such a tiny premature baby, a man enters their life and tells them that Theo is his son, that their babies were accidentally switched not long after they were born and sent to the ICU for babies. Miles and Lucy, who have baby David, have had him DNA tested so they are positive he is not their son. Miles has also secretly had Theo tested and they know that Theo is their son. Miles claims that they want to work with Maggie and Pete, to not disrupt the life of either boy, but allow both sets of parents to play a role in each boy's life. 

Theo is very headstrong and seems to lack any trace of compassion or kindness to others, but he's just two years old and Pete is a fantastic, stay at home, hands on father, willing to make any changes in his raising and guidance of Theo, to ensure he learns healthy social skills. Theo looks like Miles and even seems to take after Miles in other ways. And little David looks like Maggie and reminds her of her favorite brother, when he was David's age. David has mental and physical challenges from his very premature birth and Miles and Lucy have the money to give him the special care he needs, although their huge home and their life, seems so sterile and cold, to Maggie and Pete. 

Then things start falling apart. Miles is demanding, thinking he's going to send Theo to boarding school when he's older, dropping by Theo's house at night to spend time with him, interfering with Theo, Pete, and Maggie's routine and lives. Miles practically demands that Pete, Maggie, and Theo go on a week long vacation with his family and when Pete and Maggie revolt, all hell breaks loose and their life explodes into a huge legal and moral mess. There is even a suspicion that someone may have swapped the babies on purpose. People have been hurt and murder may even play a part in this story. Things look hopeless for Pete and Maggie and they realize they may not ever get to see either child again. What at first seems like a domestic drama definitely turns into a thriller. 

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

Wow! This was a nail-biter that kept me guessing until the end. If you like psychological thrillers, this is for you.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, this one…

I paused this one halfway through. The parent in me just couldn’t take it. I was having these disturbingly homicidal urges toward a certain fictional character and I realized I just needed a break.

And that’s how intense this thing is.

You may not like our characters. I didn’t. While I liked the fact that our dad was the stay at home dad who was online on daddy forums talking about snack time and costumes, I thought dad was kind of weak. And while I liked the fact that our mom was the working parent, she was so…cold. And as for set of parents #2, just oof!

But, oh I was invested in the story.

So after a brief break, I was back and I finished this at breakneck speed. It did not end the way I expected and, as I often do with this author, I found myself so freaking impressed by how they craft a story.

5 Stars – even though it brought out my homicidal mommy bear.

• ARC Provided via Net Galley

This story is like an oncoming train wreck. You see it happening and you want to yell "get off the tracks" but you can't. Playing Nice is a train wreck. Imagine opening your front door to strangers and one of them tells you your child of 2 years is not yours. There was a switch at the hospital and all this person wants is to make the hospital pay for this negligence. Initially, the two couples seem agreeable to working out a plan that keeps both sets in the other son's life. Here comes the train wreck followed by lots of twists and derailments. Playing Nice was a fast paced read that kept me engaged and entertained the entire time! Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC for this story! It was a great read!

Wow, this book was intense and I could not put it down. A compelling tale of 2 families who were given the wrong child at the hospital. Full of twists and turns,I loved and hated the characters all at the same time I literally could not put it down!

Delaney's new novel would be every parent's worst nightmare. Imagine a knock on your door to find a seemingly nice couple that tells you your children were switched at birth. This is the premise of Delaney's new thriller. Although Pete and Maddy are surprised, they really try to make it work and do what is best for both of the kids involved. Unfortunately, what seems like a nice couple in Miles and Lucy, turns to a far more sinister reality.

This was a page-turner for me. From Pete and Maddy's kind, yet flawed characters, Delaney helps the reader relate to them. What begins as an unfortunate plot, turns sinister and twisted. I loved every second of it! Thank you NetGalley for the arc of such an amazing book.

The only bad part about reading an Advanced Reader Copy of a book is that you want to to tell all of your friends to read it, but it’s not out yet! So I’m telling my friends instead ... get on the hold list at the library NOW!

This was a another wonderful domestic thriller by J.P. Delaney. There was a wide range of characters from good to evil ... hmmm ... but is that good character REALLY good?? That’s part of what makes this such an exciting read ... the author keeps you guessing until the very end! Who switched the babies? Will you ever know? And who’s truly a psychopath? How will it all end??

This was a great book to read during a shelter-in-home period - no place to go, so you can read! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC - I hope I can help sales by telling my friends not to miss this book!

I adore how this left some ambiguities open at the end making it feel even more thought-provoking. This has some fascinating insights into psychopathy (what does it say that I related more to the women here than the men...) and a really interesting thought experiment about what it means to be a parent and to love a child, and what makes family.

A big thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Delaney’s most recent book. I have really enjoyed previous works of his- I always end up liking them more than I initially anticipate and Playing Nice was no exception. Following a family who finds out their son was switched in the NICU shortly after birth, this story had so much substance behind that main story line. I devoured this book in a few days and would recommend it to others!

<i>Playing Nice<i/> had me from the first chapter. What if you discovered the child you’ve loved and raised for 2 years was not your own? Pete and Maddie were confronted by a stranger on their doorstep one evening with undeniable proof that their babies were switched at birth.

Wanting to try for an amicable ablution, Pete and Maddie begin down a road with Miles and Lucy, the other set of parents — parents of their own biological son.

Delaney’s novel is wonderfully written and as a parent, you feel the guy wrenching pain these people are going through. I couldn’t put this book down either, and read it in one sitting.

Both gripping and honestly touching, I highly recommend!

In 2019, I enjoyed J.P. Delaney’s The Perfect Wife (giving it four stars), but Believe Me was a disappointment to me, ending up with just two stars. But after I learned that J.P. Delaney is the pseudonym of Tony Strong, who wrote The Death Pit, Tell Me No Lies, and The Decoy (which was re-written and published as Believe Me), I was ready to give this author another go, and was happy to get a copy of Playing Nice from Random House Ballantine and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

This story, set in England, follows a thirty-something couple and their two year old son. Pete Riley and his partner Maddy are thrilled with their son Theo, and Pete loves his role as the primary caregiver while Maddy continues to work following her complicated childbirth experience when their son Theo was born very premature. Things are fine until Pete answers the door one morning and encounters Miles Lambert, who tells Pete that Theo is actually the Lamberts’ son, having been switched at birth by an understaffed hospital while their real son David was sent home with Miles and his wife, Lucy. To complicate matters further, David suffers complex disabilities as a result of being deprived of oxygen during his birth.

The two families seem to have good intentions about moving forward as a sort of unconventional blended family as well as suing the hospital. The resulting investigation uncovers some issues that lead Peter and Maddy to get into a treacherous battle for their own and their son’s (or sons’) safety.

Great fun. Good escapist fiction, well-developed characters, and good plotting. Four enthusiastic stars

This was unlike anything I could have expected! I new from the blurb that I was going to be in for one heck of a rollercoaster ride but nothing could have prepared me for what happened. From one moment to the next I had no idea what was going to happen and then when something did I was shocked. And this was what it was like for the whole book. And then that ending completely had my jaw hitting the floor!!

Thank you, Random House Publishing, NetGalley, and the author J.P. Delaney for the copy of, Playing Nice release date July 28, 2020.

When Maddie goes into labor at 27 weeks she is taken to the hospital to deliver a very ill premature baby. Her partner Pete accompanies the little boy to the NICU, where he is hooked up to a tangle of wires and tubes. Pete bonds with the baby that Maddie’s has decided to name Theo, Peters choice not hers. Upon Maddie’s tranfer to the NICU, she that finds Theo crib decorated with many stickers stating his progress. Pete has become the delight of the hospital staff, by his dedication to Theo’s care. Maggie is overwhelmed as a new mom as she cuddles Theo with his wires and tubes. Lucy, a new mom, talks to Maddie about Pete and babies. Miles and Lucy Lambert baby, David was born 29 weeks premature, on the same day as Theo. David had been transfered to the NICU from a private hospital.

Two year later, “just an ordinary day” as Miles and his investigator knock on Pete and Maddies door, altering their lives forever. Miles explains, "Theo is not their son", as he hands Pete a photo of David. David looks like Maddie with light hair and frail build. Theo looks more like Miles with his dark hair and build. Pete’s world disintegrates, his mind is filled is with questions, how were the babies switched? He had been with Theo at the NICU never leaving Theo side or crib. What would he and Maddie do now? How did Lucy and Miles find out they had the “ wrong child”? How would Theo and David’s lives change?

Playing Nice, is the best book that I have read this year! After reading this book in two day, inhaling each page as the details revealed became more shocking and exciting, the ending was still a shock. I gave this book 5 stars! To say that people are not what they seem is an understatement. The characters seem change from the beginning, of the book, when both families seemed worried about the boys. Slowly everyones darker personalities come out. I enjoyed this book, and looking forward to reading the next book by J.P. Delaney.

I love J.P. Delaney. The best part about books by J.P. Delaney is that you have no idea what is going to happen, but you know it's going to be good. She (I assume this author is a woman) takes the psychological thriller genre to a new level. In this one, Maddie and Pete discover that their 2 year old child isn't their actual biological child. What?! Can you imagine if someone turned up on your doorstep with proof that you have the wrong baby? Two years after it happened? The two families try to work this out, but this is a thriller, so obviously that's not happening. Who would even read a book where everything turned out amicable and everyone acted like fairly reasonable human beings? Where's the fun in that? It all comes down to who are the better set of parents? Who switched the babies? Was it an accident? What will they all do to get what they want? It's complicated. You should just read it.

The day Pete Riley answers his front door to find a stranger standing there will lead to a nightmare that any parent would unbearable.

Miles Lambert is the one giving Pete this news. Turns out Theo, Pete, and Maddies' son is actually not their son at all. He belongs to the Lambert family and their son is actually Pete and Maddies.

Stunned and shell shocked, Pete and Maddie go along with Miles' idea to sue the hospital as David, the other child will need life long care. And Miles is one pushy dude. He wants them to all get along and each get to know their own child. Or does he? Why can't they just swap the children back? What does Miles know that they don't?

Miles is a gaslighter. He gaslights his own wife, who is terrified of him. When Pete and Maddie begin questioning Miles's motives, he sues them, threatening to take both boys until someone steps up and does the right thing. No more nice guys here. Now they are going to find out who stole the baby and what horrible things are going on in that house!

Domestic Suspense at it's best!




NetGalley/ July 28th, 2020 by Ballantine Books