Was really surprised how into this I got ! I am usually hit or miss with his writing so I was happy when I couldn’t put this one down!

This story intrigued me and I couldn’t put the book down! I can’t imagine the terror of having been told your child isn’t actually yours. The ending fell a little flat for me, but overall it was a good read

After reading The Perfect Wife by this author, I was eager to read this one.
Peter Riley and his partner Madelyn Wilson live together with their two year old son Theo. Pete is a stay at home dad while Madelyn works in advertising.
One morning he answers a knock at the door to a stranger who introduces himself as Miles Lambert.
Miles gives him the devastating news that their sons were switched at birth and that Theo is really his biological child.
Both boys were born prematurely, with complications. Unfortunately Pete's son David who is living with Miles and his wife Lucy, has special needs due to lack of oxygen at birth.
Apparently the hospital mixed up the babies in the chaos of their early arrivals.
At first Miles is accommodating and wants to keep the boys where they are and not switch them. They can be involved in each other's lives and hopefully become one big happy family.
But soon it becomes apparent that something is very wrong. One of the father's is a complete psychopath and will stop at nothing to get his boy back.
This psychological thriller had me so filled with tension, I could hardly bear to find out what would happen next.
I loved the characters, they were so realistic.
A riveting and powerful story that I could not put down.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

JP Delaney became one of my favorite authors, granting him an auto-read on my list forever and always. So far he's never disappointed since reading his first novel and continues to please. If you enjoy psychological thrillers at all, this is definitely for you.

J.P Delany books are one of the few books on any book platform that I recommend to anyone without even needing to think. If You love thrillers or an outside of the box concept these books are truly for you. I started my reading love with The Girl Before and never really stopped. Now lets talk about Playing Nice. The story begins with Pete and his partner Maddie have an adorable and precocious (get into everything) son named Theo. Pete is a stay at home dad after his job as a freelance reporter disappears. Miles and Lucy Lambert are the wealthy parents of little David, not precocious, in fact barely aware of his surroundings. Pete and Maddie don’t believe any of this until they decide they go to the home of the Lamberts and meet David.
After meeting they make a pact not only to try and have a good relationship for the sake of the kids but also to make an alliance against the hospital who made the mistake. The more pages I turned the more I realized that I wasn’t sure if the hospital had made a mistake or there was another evil entity that is at play here. I love the couple dynamic that occurs with Maddie and Pete. I also have a soft spot for both kids they are innocent in this whole story. This was a very good slow burn book for me. It gave me the creeps and was layered with deception and questions all the way through. I want to apologize to NetGalley and everyone involved in my delay with this review I did actually finish it in July just never realized my review never went through. Hands down a five star review I can not wait to see what is next.

Wow.. The premise of the book, babies switched at birth, was enough to make me want to read the book. The story-telling behind the action and the descriptive writing of the emotions and the characters kept me wanting to read more! The author draws the reader in right from the start with a ring of the doorbell...and it all goes downhill from there! To me, there is one main character in this book and that is Pete, the "father" to Theo, but the birth father to David. This was the character who was not afraid or ashamed to show the true emotional aspect of what happened, and the one who seems to have the most to lose. The other parents, Pete's SO Maddie, and Theo's birth parents Miles and Lucy, definitely kept the story moving along and added to the twists and turns of the story making the already dramatic storyline into the psychological thriller that it is. The story becomes about more than the baby-switch as the initial amicable agreement turns threatening. It was also frustrating as the reader can see where the story is going and Pete remains clueless and trusting. The double-ending of the story was delightfully surprising and appropriate. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the advance copy of this book in return for an honest review, which this has been. #NetGalley #PlayingNice

My son is just a little older than the kids in this book, and that made it particularly terrifying for me to read. I cannot even imagine such a situation, how I would handle it, or how devastating it would be for both families. I loved the twists and turns, and the reveal was definitely a good one. So good!

4.5 Stars

What starts out as a story of two babies switched at birth took me in directions I did not see coming. Playing Nice kept me engaged page after page, devouring this book in just one day. I have enjoyed some of Delaney's prior books but I dare say that Playing Nice is his best yet.

Thank you to Random House for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Psychopaths do not play nice. They may charm you, woo you, be on your side until they are not.

Pete Riley is a stay at home dad in England. His partner is the breadwinner of their small family of one rumbustious 2 year old boy Theo. He is unaware that his day is going to unhinge the life that he knows. He starts his day taking his son to day care only to be reminded that his son needs to learn to play nice. He is somewhat of bully in his classroom. Being the dad that wants to be involved, he goes home making a plan to teach Theo right and wrong. At home, he gets the visit of two men that challenge his family. The son he knows has Theo is not his. The men Miles and his attorney share with him that Miles is son and that he has Riley and Maddie's son. This revelation unravels secrets and the test of what you would do to keep your family.

The narration is done in 3 parts. Pete Riley whose character development is solid thru out the book. Maddie whose narration reveals the real status of their relationship and the courts filing of the legal papers. Riley and Maddie deal with the truth and come to terms what must be done however, Miles has his own agenda.

What makes this a thrilling read for me is two fold. The subject of family and what keeps it together and the ironies that are throughout the prose. The two couples, the boys and the truth.

A special thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

JP Delaney is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. Heartbreaking, engaging, with characters who leap off the page, this is a great read.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Another suspenseful page turner from this author. Started out slow getting used to the characters but the plot just kept getting more intense. Definitely a book for discussion groups, what would you do if your child was switched. One to recommend to readers.

"Playing Nice" was an intense masterful psychological thriller. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that Theo isn't your son. He's mine." Those words from Miles Lambert to Peter Riley will irrevocably alter the lives of two families, as well as others who come into contact with them. Don Maguire, the private investigator who Miles had hired to find Theo, explains to Pete that both he and Miles had sons that were born prematurely and rushed to the NICU and at some point the wrong identification tags were placed on the preemies. As a result, Theo went home with Maddie and Pete, while David went home with Lucy and Miles. When Maddie had her emergency C-section, she was told that the baby was starved of oxygen and told to expect that the baby would not live. While the baby lived, he (David) has brain damage and is limited physically and mentally. At first it seems like an amicable arrangement can be made where the boys will stay with the parents they have known but the biological parents will have access and input. However, Miles is overly solicitous and overly intrusive regarding Theo, showing up at Pete and Maddie's home unannounced to see Theo, bringing him gifts, offering opportunities that Pete and Maddie could never provide him, as well as persuading Pete to join his lawsuit against the private hospital and the NHS regarding the baby swap. Pete's efforts to be decent and reasonable are for naught when he and Maddie are unexpectedly served with legal papers that will result in them losing Theo and access to David. Miles has manipulated Pete into taking actions and revealing information that can be used against him and Maddie to prove they are unfit parents for Theo, as well as taking advantage of actions that would normally be considered innocuous or that would not be unexpected given what Pete and Maddie endured with a preemie, but which taken together and portrayed in a certain light appear quite calculated and sinister.

As a father, the idea of discovering that your child, whom you love and cherish, is not actually your child and might be taken away from you, is terrifying and heartbreaking. The death of your child is probably the only thing that would be worse.

The author does a great job of exploring the emotions and reactions of Pete and Maddie to the experience of a having a premature baby, dealing with the NICU, and adjusting to lives as parents (especially going from an environment where Theo was intensely monitored for any signs that something might be wrong to the home environment where none of those monitors are there and you, as a parent, have to figure out what your baby's cries mean, is your baby actually in physical danger or just distressed by a world outside his/her control, are the sniffles just sniffles or signs of a potentially fatal infection, etc.). The author also does a great job of portraying the love a parent feels for a child and the lengths to which parents will go to protect their child. The manipulative behavior of Miles is artfully done, displaying how easily a psychopath can control a situation to suit their needs. The author has created some pretty good surprises and mysteries, including how the baby swap occurred -- freak accident or intentional switch, and if intentional, then who was the "guilty" party?

This probably could not have been included in this book without giving away some of the plot twists early, but it would be interesting to read a short story that focuses on Miles and Lucy reacting to the reality of David's developmental issues and health problems and how Lucy copes with raising David while dealing with the behavior of Miles.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I look very similar to both of my parents even though they look nothing like each other. I cannot image a world where they wouldn't be my parents. Pete is stunned to find out that his baby,. that he stays at home with, may not be his baby. Are Miles and Lucy lying? Is there something sinister going on here? Be prepared for tension and not being able to put this one down.

I had high hopes for this based on the author's previous work, however this was a disappointment. It was hard to sympathize with the protagonist who was boring and naive.

Switched at Birth?! I was reading well into the night trying to finish. I was hooked into a love hate thing with the characters and I loved/hated every minute.

First couple sentences i was immediately enthralled and needed to know what happened next! i could not put my tablet down. ⁣
What was different for me without saying much at all here are the characters. We all read books where we just didn't like the characters. Either no connection or you hated them so much that it ruined the remainder of the story for you. .⁣
For me this book has a little bit of everything! There are characters you will like and make that connection with, then you have others you wont like (due to reasons you will later find out) BUT that creates this awesome even playing field and it all just works. ⁣

Swapped baby cliche
It did work in this storyline however the character dynamic was weak. Pete and maddy seemed overwhelmed and whiney at times I couldn't find the connection
While i loved the story line, overall the character fell short

JP Delaney did not disappoint.. AGAIN. Have you ever wondered if anyone has ever been switched at birth? Would you want to know? Or would you want to continue on with life as usual? Imagine getting a knock on the door.. and you're told your son isn't really your son? His real family wants him back. What are you supposed to feel and think?

Who is to blame? The hospital? How do you ever continue with life knowing information? And what if you can't trust what this other family told you..

I was HOOKED from the first chapter and had to finish in one setting.

This was such a great book! It had me guessing the whole time. The characters were very well devleoped. Great domestic thriller!