She only looked away for a second. Just a second! But in the blink of an eye, Bree’s infant son was snatched away from her - car seat, diaper bag, and everything. In its place was a note: if she wants her baby back, she must go straight home, not call the police, and not deviate in any way from the instructions that will follow. When the kidnapper, a mysterious old woman, makes contact, Bree is shocked to learn that she herself is a mother - how in the world could a mother harm a child?! What could possibly motivate her to do something so heinous? And why was she targeted? If the kidnapper doesn’t want money, what else could she possibly want? But of course, Bree will do absolutely anything to get her baby back.

I usually feel like child-abduction plots are kind of “been there done that,” but this one somehow felt fresh. There’s more to the story than meets the eye, and it hinges on the fact that a mother will do anything to protect her child.

Mother May I is a fast-paced thriller with well-developed characters and a crackling plot about motherhood, secrets, pasts wrongs, and revenge that escalates in tension all the way up to the bitter end. There are enough characters and enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing about what is really at play, and there were quite a few elements that really surprised me! Overall, a fun thriller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️ CW: rape/sexual assault, child abduction, murder, cancer

Bree grew up in poverty, raised by a single mother in rural Georgia, but now her life is perfect. Married to a loving lawyer who comes from a wealthy family, she has two young daughters and an infant son. She loves her husband, her children, and her life. When her baby is abducted, however, her life becomes a nightmare and she will do anything, anything to see him safely returned.

Joshilyn Jackson brilliantly narrates this heart-stopping thriller as we follow the increasingly dark road that leads to revenge, murder, and the reason for her son's abduction. Themes of morality, poverty, class, privilege and the price of violence make this novel far more than a simple "who done it."

Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of the audiobook.

Non-stop, can't put down, edge of your seat thriller by Joshilyn Jackson delivers all the plot twists and turns to make a great book discussion!

This was a good book. I definitely wanted to figure out the end and how it all played out. However, I do feel that the book dragged on way longer than it should have. Some of the characters were annoying. I did like the plot and the story and some of the slight twists.

This was an ok read for me

I started this as an audiobook but it was very slow to listen to and the narrator was not very engaging and I was having a hard time staying involved in the story.

Once I switched to the ebook the story moved much faster and I found myself wanting to finish the book. I have to say the ending of the book was a huge disappointment after everything that Bree went through and the lengths she went to.

The story of this book, back turned for a moment and your baby goes missing and a voice on the other end of the phone is telling you what you have to do to get your son back. When the pieces come together and we find out why the old lady stole Bree's baby, some of the twists you do not see coming.

Good read

Mother May I is a suspense novel that dives into topics such as motherhood, mother-daughter bonds, revenge, class divides, and power and privilege.

There were definitely moments of this book that I enjoyed and times when I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. Overall, though, I felt that the plot was pretty predictable and there were lots of parts throughout that moved a bit too slow for my taste.

Review to be posted on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

You Know the Old Saying “Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold?” Well, it certainly applies here.

For Bree Cabbat, it’s clear that someone has enacted revenge on her family the moment that her baby boy Robert is kidnapped, and she is blackmailed into taking revenge on her husband’s law partner in order to get him back. The question of course is why.

Crazy convoluted and absolutely wild, when Bree uncovers the truth, with the help of her best friend Marshall, all hell breaks loose.

This of course begs the question, what would you do if you were put in this situation? I think the answer is anything.

A novel about actions and consequences, accountability and desperation, revenge, family, love and loss.

While I really liked the beginning of this novel, I felt as though it began to unravel some as we got towards the end. People’s actions became unbelievable to me and I therefore had a hard time continuing on. That being said, I enjoyed most of this novel and would recommend it to fans of mystery/suspense.

I listened to the audiobook of this and thought the author did a brilliant job narrating.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you Harper Audio, NetGalley and Joshilyn Jackson for the alc.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram.

I thought this was an excellent book. It keeps you wondering what will happen. I read a lot from this genre, so there were a couple of twists that I saw coming, but also still a few that I did not. I thought the story was interesting and different. I enjoyed it being told in a single timeline, although by dual narrators.

The only issue I had with this story was that some of the comments were repetitive and also didn't ring completely true to my opinion. I can't really explain because I think you should go into this one without any even subtle spoilers, but suffice to say that something was repeated enough to be annoying to me and that took away from my enjoyment of the book. Otherwise, I found it very engaging and just what I am coming to expect from Joshilyn Jackson, which is great entertainment in the form of a story.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was narrated by the author, which I think was a great choice. She often narrates her own books and I like the sense of the story she portrays.

I look forward to seeing (or hearing) what Joshilyn Jackson writes next.

I'm a big Joshilyn Jackson fan and this is one of her best. However, I'm new to audiobooks and it was great to hear the author narrate the book. Her acting training certainly comes through. I couldn't stop listening. Along with the mystery that kept me guessing,, comes a novel full of female empowerment and the importance of doing the right thing. Thanks for the welcome to audiobooks. They'll always be with me now on my daily walks.

Bree has built the life of her dreams after marrying her husband who she loves deeply named Trey. Trey just happens to come from old money in the south which she appreciates even more after growing up poor. They have three children together, two daughters who are in the early teens and a son who is a baby named Robert. Bree wakes up one morning to see a face outside of their bedroom window that she thinks resembles a witch. She is startled when she sees the same woman later that day at her daughters’ school where she is attending a play they are in. Bree looks down at the end of the performance and realizes Robert has been kidnapped. She receives a call from the witch shortly after with a set of instructions to get her son back. Bree knows she will do whatever it takes to protect her child.

I loved listening to this on audiobook and reading it at the same time! It’s almost like reading in double time. Does anyone else ever do this?? Thanks for the audiobook @netgalley and @harper.audio for my ALC. I thought this was extremely suspenseful and I was hooked from the minute Robert was gone. There are some interesting character dynamics as one of the supporting characters is Bree’s best friend’s husband, Marshall, who has fallen in love with Bree after the death of his wife. I’m sure he would be a heartthrob in real life. I never knew what was coming next and the backstory for the witch was heartbreaking (trigger warning for sexual assault). I sometimes disliked Bree with her indecisiveness with Trey, but overall I really enjoyed this one!

Bree wakes up to a woman watching her and her husband sleep. Later she see's the woman at her daughter's school and soon after her baby Robert is stolen. What will she do to get her baby back? If i was a mother with a baby this book woulda scared the crap out of me. I liked Bree, she was so relatable with the running around after 3 kids. This book grabs you from the first chapter, has you rooting for Bree. Joshilyn Jackson is a new author to me and i'm so glad this is my first book. So many readers like her, now i know why. If you like these books who grab right away then you will love this book..

I loved this book from beginning to end. It was extremely well-written and so believable. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I thought the plot was extremely original, and it makes you wonder what you would do in Bree's situation. I even thought the ending was so justified. One of the best books I've listened to in a while.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this advance listening copy for an honest review.

Mother May I will not be on the top of the Best of Joshilyn Jackson list, neither for its plot nor her reading of her own audiobook. Overall it was too far-fetched, from the first moments of witches and dreams, to the climax at an old abandoned amusement park. Readers of her women's fiction may not be as charmed by her recent forays into the thriller genre, and her voice actor work lent more absurdity than credibility. I found the romance creepy and introducing an extra-marital love interest so early in the book almost ensured that the marriage was doomed. Not her best, but I'll keep reading her earlier works as I've had many respected readers recommend them.

This was reading adventure that I loved to take. I was really rooting for the characters and the relationships were well written and relatable.

How far would you go to get your child back from a kidnapper? I know readers will read nonstop and I recommend this!

Audio Review!

Funny I had no idea the author narated this one until I got to the end, and I LOVED the narrator. I went to see who it was and what a great surprise to see the narrator did this one. She did awesome! Sometimes I don't like when a narrator reads a book that isn't an autobiography and find it was a disservice to the book, but not this time. She was perfection!

As for the story-This one will pull you in keep you gasping, and doesn’t really let up until the end. Those factors always make for my favorite books! Also so many of the things that happened in this book caught me off guard too. Full of surprises and twists definitely give this a shot if you like plot driven action packed domestic thrillers. This is a book you will love to discuss and share with your friends.

What are the lengths you would go to in protecting your family? I'd walk the ends of the earth to make sure my family and friends are okay. When you think about the situations you may encounter, you might think of driving at late hours, lending/spending money, or even just being an open ear to listen. But what about things that are a little bit more morally ambiguous? What secrets would you keep? What laws would you break? How far is too far? In her latest thriller Mother May I, Joshilyn Jackson grapples with that question.

As a mother of three, Bree rarely gets any quiet time. As she wakes up early in the morning, her two teenage daughters, infant son, and husband are all still asleep. This is her moment, a quiet time to just be with her thoughts, uninterrupted. As Bree stares out of the bedroom window, her solace is suddenly broken, giving way to first confusion and then terror. Staring back at her, just on the other side of the glass is a witch. The witch has all the notable features, wrinkled skin, wiry grey hair, cloaked in black, a look of pure menace upon her face. Hesitant to believe what she's seeing, Bree quickly glances away and back. In that instant, the witch is gone, like the remnants of a nightmare that managed a brief escape from the world of dreams.

That odd occurrence stays with Bree as she begins her day. She takes her daughters to school, her infant in hand, and tries to forget the scare that began her morning. But she sees the witch again, this time in the parking lot of the school. Her mind must be playing tricks on her. Bree turns away from her infant son for just a moment, distracted by the goings-on at the school. That's all it takes. When she turns back around, her son is gone. Just as panic sets in, she gets the call. The unmistakable voice of the witch is on the other line. She has her son, and Bree will do whatever she asks to get him back.

There's something both terrifying and relatable to any story involving child abduction. Recent thrillers like Adrian McKinty's The Chain and C.J. Tudor's The Other People have used a kidnapping to propel their stories, but Joshilyn Jackson takes things a step further. Mother May I sees the author not only explore the lengths a mother is willing to go to save her child but also forces that same character to come to terms with her own place in the world. Her privilege, marriage, and troubled past all come into question, adding depth to the novel that takes it beyond the typical thriller. I had the privilege of listening to the audio version of the book, a gift from the publisher, narrated by the author herself. The same passion and suspense that Jackson imbues in her writing come forth in her narration. Mother May I is everything I want from a thriller, suspenseful, quick to read, and with just enough extra depth to keep you thinking about it after you finish.

Joshilyn Jackson did it again!

Mother May I brought an action packed novel right to my fingertips. The entire book I felt as if I was in an episode of Criminal Minds.

This story is about how far a mother would go for her child. It brought action, love, betrayal and so much more. It is a must read

Wow! This book was so engrossing and kept me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. Joshilyn Jackson has such a great way of weaving a web that it's hard to figure out what will happen next. I love how she created perfectly flawed women for this story. Most of them were not likable but I felt empathy for each and every one of them. I connected deeply to the underlining topic (don't want to spoil it), so much so that I know I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

Bree Cabbat has the perfect life. The perfect husband, the perfect house, children she loves, and all of the wealth and social connections she could dream of. But then her infant son is kidnapped from right under her nose, which sets off a chain reaction which forces Bree to confront the secrets and truths she never wanted to know. But Bree is a mother, and will do whatever it takes to get her child back, no matter the costs. Even if that means ripping her world to shreds.

Mothers be warned, this book will bring your greatest fears to life. The reader can feel Bree’s anxiety and fear, and the pacing of the novel was on point with how Bree was feeling. I wouldn’t say the twists and turns were especially shocking, but all the reveals were very well done by the author. I would say this book is more suspenseful than thriller, and you can truly feel the emotion of the main characters.

Bree was such a complex character. There were parts of her I loved, and then other parts that just drove me nuts. She was both un-likeable and likeable at the same time. Nevertheless, it was hard not to root for her to succeed in her quest to save her son. So even when she lied or did something regrettable, it was hard to dislike her completely. The ending wrapped up well, but I think many readers are going to have some dissatisfaction with how some plot points ended. Again, this ties back to Bree’s character, and her thoughts/feelings.

I haven’t read any other of Joshilyn Jackson’s works, but I am definitely going to have to check out her backlist. Mother May I was an enjoyable, edge-of-your seat suspense novel that will have any mother constantly checking on the status of their children. It will also have all parents consider the lengths they would go to for their own kids. 4 stars.

I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley and Harper Audio in exchange for an honest review