Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of The Surrogate . I really didn’t know how I was going to feel about a, book like this because I had never read a book about a subject involving adoption and having a surrogate. It was exciting from the beginning I was scared for the baby being just born and off and running in a car with no car seat, The book gives all points of view from each person which I really enjoyed. I was excited to read it and see how it turned out in the end. I would recommend this book.

This is a tail of a woman desperately wanting to have a baby of her own after marrying a man who came with two teenage sons. They have the money and are able to hire a young woman to carry the child with her egg. Cally needs the money for school and she thinks this will be her ticket out of her small town and life.

What she did not plan for is loving the baby so much the second she gives birth. She contacts a somewhat sketchy ex boyfriend to help her escape with the baby form the hospital in the middle of the night.

The story changes perspective from the characters and really shows you the big picture, leaving you to ask yourself--what is the right thing for the baby.

I enjoyed this one and the ending was rather unique.

The book started with an interesting premise and carried through with interesting adventures and how a married couple could grapple with the fact that their surrogate was missing, with their baby. Although I enjoyed the book, the conclusion came together a little too neatly for where I thought it might end. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

Like books written from different viewpoints ? This one might be for you as it alternates chapters with characters Cally, Ruth and Hal, and Digger. Each person brings their own flavor and texture to the story and I felt like the author did a great job of integrating their stories in this 3 part novel.

Callie agrees to be a surrogate for Ruth and Hal and this plot has some typical twists and turns, at times is predictable and at other time author Toni Halleen had me surprised.

I am not sure if others will pick up on some of the surrogacy stigma portrayed in this book but it definitely made an appearance . I can not even begin to imagine the emotions involved on both sides.

I did enjoy this book and thought the ending was perfect. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free advance copy for review.

I really enjoyed this book. This is one of those situations where a “worst fear” comes to fruition. This is the story about a couple, Ruth and Hal, who hire a young surrogate, Cally, to give birth to their child. Seems like a win-win situation. The couple gets the child they want and the young surrogate gets the money she needs to go to college. Everyone is holding up their end of the bargain and everything is going as planned. Then, the baby is born and Cally decides she can’t give “her daughter” up and so she flees with the baby. To make matters worse, Cally contacts and old boyfriend, Digger, who is a despicable character and an opportunist. This book is a fast-paced and easy to read novel. It held my interest from start to finish. At times, I felt myself siding with Cally and other times I was solidly behind Ruth. I disliked both male characters! The end result was a little surprising but also very good. I recommend this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity yo read and review this book.

I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. The plot was well developed and left you unsure until the end. There were flaws however, that left me questioning? When the baby went missing, they didn’t have a phone number to call Cally? It just seemed hard to believe they couldn’t contact her for days.
Although the huge group meet up at the hospital seemed far fetched, it made it exciting to read at the same time.
I highly recommend this book, and would definitely read this author again.

I really enjoyed this book.
Ruth desperately wants a child with her new husband but her doctor has told her that her eggs are old. The next best alternative for Ruth is to hire a surrogate so the child would biologically be her husband Hal's. Cally is 20, healthy and could use the surrogacy money to go back to college. Cally also has a ex-boyfriend who she calls after the birth, "Digger" comes up with a plan where he can make some money.

The story takes place in 2002 before everyone had a cell phone and quick, easy access to information. Told from each person's perspective in alternating chapters and set in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, this book takes you on a journey to the meaning of parentage.

The Surrogate was a quick, interesting read about the ups and downs of choosing to be a parent. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.

2 ⭐️⭐️. Okay this book was by far one of the hardest for me to write a review for. The more I kept thinking about the book, the more annoyed I got and kept lowering my rating. I won’t lie, it starts off with a bang and is a solid 4 stars in the beginning but then as I kept reading I could see where the author was going with it. This is going to be hard to write a review without giving spoilers but I’ll do my best. If it doesn’t make sense to you, then it will if you choose to read the book. It’s a story where at first you believe Cally is this awful person who wants to keep her baby. But then you start thinking that it’s such a tough situation for everyone. You feel for Cally and you feel for Ruth. But then the author makes it obvious that they want you to root for Cally more by making Ruth’s character obnoxiously annoying at times. At about 80% of the book I was annoyed with everything that was happening. It was unrealistic and kinda dumb. I did not like the ending and it has nothing to do with who or who didn’t get the baby. My issue was, that in my opinion, I feel as though the author portrayed surrogacy in a negative way. Families come together in so many different ways. I can speak from experience. I adopted my daughter at 9 months old. And while I know that all situations and all children are different, I was fortunate and my child bonded instantly to me. I feel as though this author has an issue with surrogacy and adoption (since a comment was made in the beginning about adopting and genetics). I just didn’t like the way many things were portrayed in this book. If you are someone considering a surrogate, I wouldn’t recommend this book at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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So what I expected and what I got was pleasantly surprising ! I was expecting the typical surrogate changes her mind and parents end of getting baby back but this book turned out to be much deeper and more unexpected. I really enjoyed the complexity of the characters and how the book pulled together at the end. Really great read!

A remarkable novel describing the pitfalls faced by those who wish to bring a baby into this world by using a method other than the traditional one. An emotional journey turns sinister upon the surrogate’s refusal to give the baby up. A great read!

I feel like this book tricked me in a sense. I was sucked in and in awe of what I was reading. I was angry and dumbfounded by the surrogate character Cally and I wanted to fly through the mumbo jumbo chatter and get into the meat of the story where I could find the glory answers to my nonstop questions. But that’s the trick of it! It was so well written, I was so invested in these characters I finished it in a sitting. The story rotated between the characters POV and I found myself going back and having to reread because I was getting ahead of myself trying to catch a glimpse of what was going to happen.

Hal and Ruth are older and married. Ruth is the second wife and Hal has already done the family thing but wants to give Ruth what she wants and what she wants is a family of their own. They find Cally and decide she’s the one to be the surrogate. The book opens with her escaping from the hospital with her brand new little baby and running away. She said she needs more time with the baby. She needs to think. But where does that leave Hal and Ruth?

It’s a big cat and mouse game and as much as I disliked the husband Hal and Cally drove me bonkers, it was a book that gave you a reaction and I respect and enjoyed that! Good read!

Thank you Harper and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review for The Surrogate

Full feature for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

Ruth and Hal Olson are a couple in their forties that want to have a child and with the help their surrogate, Cally, they believe that they can make this a reality. With the very generous amount that Ruth and Hal are willing to pay for her services, Cally plans to go to college. However, emotions and plans change when Cally decides that she wants more time after the baby after giving birth. As the Olson's are trying to get the family back that they wanted, secrets begin to unfold and we learn that people, and their emotions, can be unreliable.

I want to start by saying that I had completely mixed emotions on who I was rooting for in this book. The book switches POV from Cally, Hal, Ruth, and Cally's ex-boyfriend, Digger. As a mother of a biological child, it was easy for me to root for Cally for all the obvious reasons. On the other hand, Cally had a contractual agreement with Ruth, who was unable to have children of her own. Now, that being said I absolutely could not stand Hal or Digger. I didn't think that Hal's character was very well rounded, and it was hard for me to peg him as a supportive husband or just a jerk. It seemed to me as though he could have been both and I just didn't care for him or his chapters. He just made me side with Ruth more since I felt that she was in this battle by herself. On to Digger: This guy was awful! I don't think that I have ever hated someone so much! I just wanted to punch him through the book and yell "WHY ARE YOU THE WAY THAT YOU ARE?!?!?" UGH!

Overall, this was a very easy read on a difficult topic. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 because I wasn't able to guess the ending. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper publishing for gifting me this free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ooooh this one doesn't stop! This is a journey that doesn't slow down. You don't read many thrillers based around adoption and the horrors that can happen, for that I really enjoyed it. A mother puts her unborn baby up for adoption, but once she delivers, the surrogate changes her mind and runs away with her baby!

This is definitely an intense story of a nineteen year old girl that agrees willingly to be a surrogate.
The money she is to receive will allow Cally to go to college and pursue her dreams.
She abides by the rules of her contract, yet is not sure she can give up her infant once she arrives.
She impulsively does the unthinkable and runs from the hospital on a bitter, cold, snowy night without a trace.

This is the journey of four people. Cally, Ruth and Hal (future adoptive parents) and a little girl who is truly loved and wanted by all! The question is: where does she truly belong?
I read this book quickly to see how this wonderful story played out, and was certainly not sure myself of how this expedition would end.
It is very well done and had me on the edge of my seat throughout the pages!
A great debut story!

What a debut!! I was hooked from the very beginning and I HAD to know how it wrapped up. Even though it has moments of being suspenseful, it had a more serious tone that you might find in a domestic-women fiction type of book. I was pleasantly surprised how well the story developed and how attached I grew to the characters by the end, This would be a fantastic book club book.

I received The Surrogate for free in exchange for an honest review. It was a very interesting read. It is told through the voices of the surrogate, the adoptive mother, and the surrogates ex-boyfriend. I kept reading and reading as I wanted to find out how it turned out. At first none of the characters were very likable, but over time I did start to see the human aspects or each and see the good parts of them. There is a satisfying end to the story.

This was an emotional and action suspense filled book. Great pacing and dialogue that will pull at your heart strings.

This one is good! I went into the book thinking I would empathize with one character more and I was wrong. The Surrogate provides alternating views and I ended up feeling the most for Cally which I wouldn’t have predicted. I would call this a combination of a legal and psychological thriller and it was interesting learning a little about the laws (in one state) surrounding surrogacy.

What a great novel! Heartbreaking, yet heartwarming as well. Rich characters tell the story of surrogacy, a birth, the birth mother, the genetic father, his wife and all the messiness are hat unfolds. Being a former Minnesota gal, I loved the setting! I have enjoyed the sweet rolls at To it’s on the way north to Duluth!