First, thank you to the publishers at Harper and Netgalley for this e-ARC of The Surrogate.

The Surrogate takes place within 3 parts with 4 different viewpoints; Cally (the surrogate), Ruth and Hal (the parents), and Digger, Cally’s ex-boyfriend.

After waiting until her early 40s to have children, Ruth discovers she’s unable to have children. Hired by the Olson’s to carry a baby, Cally is a natural surrogate, meaning her egg will be mixed with Hal’s sperm. After the birth though, Cally changes her mind and runs away with the little girl. Devastated by their loss, Ruth and Hal set out to find their stolen daughter, but in Minnesota, the rules regarding surrogacy leave a lot to be desired. Did Cally really steal their child, or does she legally belong to her?

Set in the early 2000s, we’re looking at a time in history where cell phones weren’t common yet, and disappearing was a lot easier to accomplish. Taking place during a Minnesota winter, The Surrogate will have you scared out of your mind for the tiny newborn. As a mother of two, I really resonated with this story, especially with the feelings revolving around Nell/Elizabeth.

The climax was my favorite part, when everything comes to a head, and you think you’ve figured out the ending. I was wrong, but the ending is sweet and I think will be well taken by readers.

The Surrogate releases November 2! Preorder your copy today!

The Surrogate raises a lot of questions about fertility, motherhood and relationships. The author does a great shop of telling this story from the vantage point of all the characters which keeps the book moving at a fast pace. Since i could t wait to see the outcome, I flew through this book in 24 hours. My only gripe was an ending that seemed to wrap a complicated subject up, a little too neatly? Overall I would definitely recommend! Thanks for the advance copy, will look for more from this author!

I really enjoyed this book! Once I started, I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what happened! If you love fast paced books pick this up. I really loved the multiple perspectives and the moving timeline.

Argh! I need to calm down and find a way to lower my heart rate! This book exhausted the hell of me! Definitely it’s more compelling experience than running 10 miles long marathon! But it’s worth to try! What an amazing adrenaline rush!

The main story reminded me of Other People’s Children’s story with a small twist: at this book surrogate mother has change of heart and she decides to keep the baby by running away from adoptive parents!

It’s a quite heart pounding, action packed, thrilling cat-mouse game ( or literally adoptive parents vs surrogate mother chasing game ) you cannot put the book down, you keep changing sides between the characters because when you read their point of views you realize that none of them is the bad guy of the story. Everybody seems right from their perspective. You cannot get mad any of them and eventually you get sad, because one of the sides has to sacrifice own happiness for the baby. Nobody is the winner of this story!

Ruth is in her forties, a journalist,married with her lovely attorney husband with two teenage kids from his ex marriage. Only thing is missing from her life is pure happiness of raising her own kid. Of course her husband supports her decision which make them search about surrogacy.

They finally find a perfect candidate: 19 years old Cally who cannot raise a baby by herself, pursuing her dream to attend the college for brighter future but as soon as giving birth to her baby, she changes her heart, running away with her baby!

Of course Ruth and Hal go after her. Their chasing game drags them into sparsely populated upper reaches of Northern Minnesota in the middle of threatening snowy winter.
It was engrossing, nail biting, soul crushing, mind numbing journey!

If you look for something unputdownable, exciting, keeping you in your toes, planning to finish in one seat reading, this is a great fit for you!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Ok so I really really enjoyed this book!! I basically read this in a day and a half, super easy read & very easy to just keep reading ‘one more chapter’. I truly didn’t want to put it down. I’m at 4-4.5 star rating on this one, rounded down. Anymore I’m pretty picky about books I give 5⭐️ to & this wasn’t quite there. I really liked this book but it’s not one that I’m left wowed & adding to my top book list. I feel like some of the writing was somewhat adolescent or something you’d get from a new author. Maybe it was to give full effect to the character’s personality & demeanor but I think some of the writing could’ve been stepped up a bit (mostly in the beginning).

The story alternated between 4 narrators. There’s Cally who has decided to be a surrogate for a married couple to earn money for college, the couple/intended parents Hal & Ruth & then Cally’s on-again-off-again boyfriend Digger. I was drawn to Cally’s character right away she seems innocent..sheltered maybe. Even though she’s 20 she seems like a young child in some ways like you want to protect her & bring her under your wing. Ruth comes off as an overbearing uptight mother-in-law, and up until the end there was zero part of me that liked her. The author did an excellent job at making her very cringey! Her husband Hal is alright, for the most part he seems charming & laidback. Towards the end I felt myself switching who I liked between the two, I just felt that as her husband he should’ve handled situations differently & been more supportive of his wife. And then there’s Digger. Initially I thought he was trying to come off as a bad boy, hard a$$ on the outside & really a sweet softy. No. He sucks & is a perfect douche bag of a boyfriend character.

As a female & Mother this book gave me major anxiety since it was based on surrogacy. One woman spends 9 months growing a baby, her baby, in her body with her own egg (yes I know she signed up for that) & then to hand it over to someone else to raise. Ugh all the feelings here. As a mom I think I was biased the entire time & maybe that was why I was extra drawn to Cally & rooting for her. I really couldn’t imagine being in either of their shoes. This was such an interesting & suspenseful read seeing how things transpired between the four of them, especially once Cally realized that someone she thought she could count on she really couldn’t & some unexpected people she could. One of which is Vera who comes into the picture later & I just love Vera’s character!! As for the ending I don’t think I’d change much, for the most part I love how things turned out! This was one of those books that had me from the beginning & that I couldn’t put down until I was finished. Absolutely recommend this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley & Harper for the ARC!!

This was a wonderful book! In fact, once I started it, I couldn’t put it down, and I finished it in one reading. I just HAD To know how it ended, and what a surprise it was! I loved all of the characters, even when they were at their worst. I found myself constantly changing sides, and then thinking myself an idiot for doing so. I thoroughly enjoyed this roller coaster ride, but it was also a thought-provoking read. There are a myriad of issues involved in surrogacy, many of which I had never thought about. I’m definitively going to be watching this author for future reads! Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in return for my honest review.

I want to thank net galley for a free copy of Surrogate by Toni Halleen. The plot takes you through four points of view of surrogacy. One view is from the sperm donor, father. One view is from the surrogate mother. One view is from the surrogate herself and one view is from the surrogates boyfriend. You get every angle of the activity involved in surrogacy. The book was a little difficult to hang onto when it went from current to past. The author describes the characters well enough for the reader to feel close to them. There are a lot of scenarios going on in the background that affect each main character. I feel they just didn’t get blended in enough. It seemed like they all got dumped together at the end.

Saying that, I still would recommend any YA reader to read this book.

I knew The Surrogate was going to be an absolute page turner!

I can not thank NetGalley, Harper and author for this advanced ebook copy!
Just like the rest of the books I've read over the weekend I tried waiting till October to read this book but couldn't help myself!
Thank you again for giving me chance to read and review The Surrogate by Toni Halleen!

How far would you go to be a mother? Ruth wants nothing more than to be a mother! She has a wonderful Husband Hal And a step son all.she needs is a baby to make her family complete!
And Hal.wants nothing more than make Ruth happy!
So they find Cally. She is a 19 year old lady who has dreams.of.going to.college.... But going to college requires money that Cally doesn't have. This is a win-win for everyone.
So they think!
Ruth and Hal are beyond themselves throughout the pregnancy. Finally getting the baby they have dreamed about!
But the day before their new baby enters the world Cally has a change of heart and escapes from myth hospital with the baby girl!.
Ruth and Hal are devastated. And when secrets and lies start coming to light they start wonder what's right and wrong anymore!

I devoured this psychology thriller. The brilliant writing Toni has done here was fabulous and very intense.
Things I liked....
The story most of .... Its a nail biter, Its amazing, and its crazy!
The characters I felt for Ruth. And wanted to hug her at times!
The whole book as whole was so entertaining I wanted it to keep going!

Thank you again I loved it!

I'll post to my Goodreads and bookstagram account closer to pub date!

This book is absolutely fascinating thriller. There are a lot of points in this book or if I didn’t find out what would happen I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to take it. Well written and amazing plot.

"The Surrogate" by Toni Halleen was a quick, fun read.

Ruth and her husband Hal select a surrogate to carry their baby. All their carefully laid plans go up in smoke when Callie, the surrogate, leaves the hospital with the baby in order spend just a little more time with her.

As Callie runs with the baby, Ruth and Hal are quick to follow her to a freezing northern Wisconsin.

Although this book might be a little far fetched, I enjoyed the will written characters, the twists and turns and, ultimately the ending. I read the book in one read, I found that I was anxious to discover the ending.

Thank you Toni Halleen, NetGalley and Harper books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy cow.

Trigger warning: infertility.

This book was amazing. I read it in 24 hours - it was hard to put down. The characters are easy to relate to & the narration style is perfect. I love how it was told by each character’s point of view.

The details & descriptions are enough to paint a vivid image in your mind, but not so much that it’s overkill.

I truly didn’t know how this was going to end. It could have gone a few ways. My favorite books have some medical & some law & this was a pleasant mix of both.

Thanks so much Net Galley for the ARC. Can’t wait to read more by this author.