Mother May I is a gripping novel, I read it in two days carrying my kindle everywhere with me to keep reading. It's every mother's nightmare, Bree's son is kidnapped by an old woman seeking revenge for events from long ago. At first just Bree is involved but quickly her oldest friend is also pulled into the plot. It was a twisted tale that easily could happen as well as a study is what a mother will do to protect her child. I just finished this book but it will stick with me for a while. Some books are forgettable, this one is not. The characters are well developed even the kidnapper. When I finished this book I wanted to tell everyone I know to read it. It would be a great book club book!
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for my advanced reader copy, all opinions are my own.

This was definitely a book that I didn't want to put down! Bree is a mom and wife who came from nothing and married a successful, wealthy lawyer. Her life is perfect until the day that a mysterious woman steals her newborn son and threatens to kill him if she tells anyone. She has to stay quiet and do an unpleasant deed to get her son back alive. Nothing goes as planned. Deep dirty secrets are revealed that change her perspective on everything and make her question who she can trust.

This would make an excellent book club book. My only complaint is that I didn't love how nicely something were tied up in the end.

Mother May I is Joshilyn Jackson's second foray into the thriller world, and she doesn't disappoint! You won't want to put down this book, and when you have to it will keep calling you back. Characters are well-developed and plot is fast-paced.

Bree Cabbat grew up with a cash strapped and anxious mother obsessed with protecting her own security and that of her daughter. Bree had never met her father, who by all accounts was a piece of work, but as a gifted performer in amateur theatre she hoped that this might provide a gateway to the future life she dreamed of. But one day she met a man from a rich family and the mutual attraction was immediate. What followed was marriage, children and a privileged life in a nice house a few miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.

When we pick up the story, Bree has two school aged daughters and a brand new baby boy. Her own hopes of a career in musical theatre had never gotten off the ground but it seems that she’s passed her abilities on to her oldest daughter and today she is to attend a rehearsal for a production at her school. Her husband, Trey, is a lawyer and he’s going to be away on business for a few days. The day had started badly when Bree had woken to find a what she thought was a witch staring at her through her bedroom window. However, she’d tried to dismissed this thought as potentially the over active imaginings of a sleep deprived mum. But this was to be a fateful day. Later, as Bree sat enthralled by the action on stage, her sleeping baby is stolen and in place of Robert is a note instructing her to return home immediately and not to inform the police if she wants to see him again.

After a slow start the action had suddenly ramped up tenfold. A panicked search of the school confirmed Bree’s worst fears and hadn’t she spotted a figure suspiciously similar to the witchy woman from her bedroom window in the school car park earlier? With Trey away she is forced to lean on the help a male friend, whose daughter is also in the school production, for support. But what is she to do – to comply and return home might protect her son but shouldn’t she really ignore this and contact the police immediately?

I have to say that I was quite unprepared for the emotional rollercoaster ride I was now to be launched on. There’s a lot of raw emotion here and I was never quite sure how this was all going to end. Added to this there are a number of twists that stopped me in my tracks and made me re-evaluate the ever changing picture I was seeing. And the sense of urgency, of time passing too quickly, became a real thing for me as I found myself rushing back to the book at every opportunity such was my desire to track events, my brain working overtime trying to assess whether the actions being taken were the right ones.

I’m almost never totally satisfied with the ending in mystery novels and to some extent I’m still evaluating how I feel about this one. What I will say is that there’s a secondary narrative that makes its way into this tale which requires a degree of interpretation, though it’s pretty clear where the author is leading us. How readers react to this will, I feel, colour their feelings regarding the final outcome. Either way, I definitely found this to be a well-crafted and gripping story – in fact, it's one of the most interesting and absorbing books I’ve read in a long time.

This is definitely a 5 star book when delivered with twists, and shocking details from Joshilyn Jackson. A chilling tale on how a mother will go to no end to protect her own child. It begins almost as a fairy tale with young mother Bree Cabbot sees what appears to be a witch peering in her window. Dismissing it as seeing things, the mysterious woman appears again at her daughters’ school when Bree is waiting for them. She looks away briefly then notices her infant son Robert has been taken and replaced with a letter stating she will never see her son again if she calls the police or tells her husband and asked her to complete an unthinkable crime to get her son back.
Bree joins forces with an old friend as she hunts for her son. The puzzle comes with a deadly price entangling her in a deep dark web of disturbing secrets and lies. Shocking, but delivered well this book is full of psychological twisted details and will surprise you when you just think you know the person who resides with you. Thank you for the copy NetGalley in exchange for my opinion. #MotherMayI #NetGalley
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A pulse pounding thriller that keeps the reader in suspense from the very first pages. Why would a mother kidnap another mother’s baby? Why would she ask her to drug a man ? There were so many questions that kept me guessing and I couldn’t put the book down. Excellent read for fans of suspense.

Such a dark, creepy, suspenseful book! It hooked me right away and kept me wanting more page after page. I will definitely recommend this one to people who like fast-paced psychological suspense with plenty of twists and turns.

Another great domestic thriller from Joshilyn Jackson that I read in 2 days flat! Lots of action, believable characters, and good pacing! I liked that the conflict wasn't resolved with a nice tidy bow at the end of the book and brought up morally uncertain situations that made me think about what I would do in the characters' places. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

I love this author and her mastery of the domestic suspense genre. While this was not my favorite of hers, it was still a quick and thrilling read about the lengths you would go to for the people you love and how the people you think you know through and through can still have secrets. Lots of twists and turns, loved it!

Thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow and Custom House and Joshilyn Jackson for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I love Joshilyn Jackson, so I was excited to read this book. I LOVED it. Fast pace story. Great thriller. I will be telling everyone about this one once it's out.

This was a really exciting and fast-paced thriller. I think books like this are really needed right now and I am glad it touched on a really important issue in a different way.

Mother May I
A Novel
by Joshilyn Jackson
William Morrow and Custom House
You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 06 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 01 Jun 2021

What a great psychological suspense. I literally could not put this book down for two days until I finished it.
I will recommend to our readers.

Thanks to William Morrow/Custom House and NetGalley for the ARC.
5 star

Bree is a woman with it all, a loving, wealthy husband, two beautiful daughters and a bouncing baby boy. One morning she thinks she sees a witch looking into her window. By the end of the day her baby has been kidnapped and Bree must follow instructions to the letter to get her baby back.

I could not put down Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson. From the opening line, "I woke up to see a witch peering in my bedroom window." to the very end was a thrilling read with unexpected twists and turns.

I highly recommend this title. Thank you to the Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

Did not see this coming!!! Great story, very well written. Making someone pay for hurting your family is not always the right choice. Considering that we all having family and most of us have our own issues. This was a very suspenseful book, I stayed up all night to finish this. I thought I had it all figured out, boy was I wrong. great story and will be recommending this to anyone who needs something new to read or likes a good mystery.

This book was received as an ARC from William Morrow and Custom House in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Usually I am not a fan of horror and thrillers but this one really got my interest especially since a lot of our patrons have been awaiting the release of this book. I was a little reluctant to get into it at first due to my past experiences with these types of novels being so negative but since my perception and mindset have matured since then, I decided to give this book a try. Halfway through the book my heart was thumping with anticipation wondering what will happen to Bree and whether or not she will have her child back and the story behind the old woman and how Bree was her ticket to freedom. Since finishing this book, I think my perception of thrillers has changed a little and I am willingly to become very open minded with them.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This book is a psychological thriller but there were points where it was extremely scary as well. I highly recommend it. I literally couldn’t stop reading it for two days.

I was given an advance copy of Mother May I by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and all opinions are mine.

If you are looking for a quick page turner that'll have you reading 'just one more chapter," this is it! Bree was raised in poverty, but her acting skills helped her reinvent herself and marry into a wealth socialite Atlanta family She becomes a content mother of three and enjoys her life with her husband. Bree's happiness and security is shattered when her infant son is kidnapped while her husband is away on a business trip.

Bree has been told to not call the police and to do one task in order to see her son again, but things do not go as planned. Bree must join forces with a friend from her rural Georgia past to discover the true motive of the kidnapping, to get her son back into her arms, and to save her family from more harm.

The obstacles and decisions Bree faces as she navigates this nightmare situation will take the reader on a roller coaster ride of suspense.

Let me start by saying I’m a Joshilyn Jackson fan, especially her earlier books. The premise to Mother May I sounded exciting and a little different with a witch looking through the window at the family within and I couldn’t wait to read it. But the whole book seemed implausible, as well as over the top, and I didn’t enjoy it. I found myself skimming ahead and not caring about the characters. To start with, how can you not see someone sneaking up to take your baby when you’re basically right there? I’m sure there are many Jackson fans who will love this book. I’m sorry I’m not one of them this time.

A woman who turns her back on her poverty stricken southern roots goes on to have the life she's always dreamed of. But her life is under threat from an old woman who steals her child. Jackson writes the rural south like no one else