The Baby Shower by S.E. Lynes

Jane and Frankie are a happy couple, they may not be able to conceive but Jane has her coffee shop and Frankie has his plumbing business, they have great friends and everything is wonderful until Lexie Lane steps onto their lives and their lives becomes a living hell.

I loved this book! I could not turn the pages fast enough to see what will happen next.

This is the first book I have read by S.E Lynes but I already have a long list of her books that I cannot wait to read.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Oh WOW ! Another fantastic story by S. E. Lynes What a fab book with lots of twists and would definitely recommend. I cant wait for the next one from this talented author.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC

The stinging sorrow of being unable to bear children still torments Jane Preston. Years after she and her husband Frankie moved to South London for a fresh start, Jane still mourns. Her solace comes from her successful café, her best friend Sophie, and the small group of mates she finally learned to feel comfortable around.

When chic and savvy Lexie is introduced into the tight circle, the balance of the easy camaraderie is thrown off – especially for Jane who feels on edge whenever Lexie is around. As Lexie squirms her way into Sophie’s life, Jane is certain the shiny newcomer is purposely causing a rift between her and Sophie. When Lexie announces her pregnancy and throws a lavish baby shower for both herself and Sophie, Jane’s shocking discovery convinces her that Lexie is not who she says she is. But will anyone believe her?

A brilliant, suspenseful, nail-biting read. I’d like to thank S.E. Lynes for another sleepless night due to the voracious need to read this book from start to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the read of S. E. Lynes’, The Baby Shower.

Opinions expressed in my reviews are my own.

Oh wow this book wasn’t just good it was fantastic. I had to go and find a quiet place to gather my thoughts after I’d finished this amazing book. You know when you start a book and after the first chapter you just want to keep on reading, well The Baby Shower is this kind of book. This is a psychological thriller full of toxicity, jealousy and revenge. This book will reel you right in and have you literally shouting at the book. I highly recommend this book.

My thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and SE Lynes for the opportunity to read and review . My review is my own honest opinion.

SE Lynes did an amazing job with some very serious themes such as consent and infertility, while keeping the tone of ‘The Baby Shower’ light with moments of humor that made me smile.

This story is an exploration of friendships – both toxic and positive - and how they can bloom or perish. The insight that Jane gains about herself and the people in her life was bittersweet and realistic in the author’s portrayal.

Jane was a likable character in a bad situation, and her stay classy approach saw her through, until she eventually breaks.

The suspense elements of this story hold tight, and make for a compulsive read. It was a well-crafted and satisfying read. I’d definitely recommend reading this book if you’re a fan of a story that looks behind the façade of relationships and human motivation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! Told from various points of view it is a real page turner and kept me entertained right to the very last page. It is fast moving, well written and would make a brilliant Netflix film! I have since downloaded another book by the author which I loved just as much.
Huge thanks to Netgalley for allowing me read this and for introducing me to a new author!

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I started this book at bedtime which was my first mistake as I was immediately drawn in and couldn't stop reading until WAY past my bedtime. This book was so, so good! It was truly thrilling and an outstanding read! You will never be disappointed by anything written by S.E. Lynes. Do yourself a favor and read this right away (but start earlier in the day!)

This novel exactly fits the bill if you are looking for an entertaining thriller. This story would make a perfect Netflix movie.
The story revolves around Jane and her friendships. The dynamics of her friends are at a risk when a new friend joins her group. How are friendships measured? How much do we know a person even if we call them as our friend? Are friendships really measured on the give and take of gifts? Are we always in search of that picture perfect life to post on social media? The author dwells into these subjects and feelings for Jane, Frankie and Gareth comes naturally.
Who, why and how are not too hard to really predict but even after knowing that this book is hard to put down.
The book dives into really tough subjects like fertility, rape, PTSD and toxic friendships so a caution.

WHAT. A. BOOK! S.E. Lynes has proven herself to be the psychological thriller master with this tense, mind-blowing and crazy book. It was so addictive that I read half of it in one sitting and would have read the whole thing if it hadn’t have been 2am and my eyes were betraying me.

It begins with a woman waking up in hospital after a car accident. Though in pain she is full of rage towards another woman who she needs to find before the woman finds her. Only one of them can leave the hospital alive and she’s determined it will be her. I was full of questions: who is this other woman? What did she do? And why does one of them have to die? From there the story moves between timelines, shifting from the hospital to events leading up to the crash, telling a story of lies, betrayal and toxic female friendship that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

The story is told by multiple narrators but it was Jane who resonated most with me. Over the course of the story we see her whole world get turned upside down and it all begins when Lexie Lane is brought into her close friendship group by Jane’s best friend, Sophie. Sophie thinks Lexie is golden and doesn’t see the callous and spiteful things she does to push her and Jane apart, instead choosing to believe her lies and turn away from the person she’s been closest to for years. Jane’s heartache through all of this is palpable. She is shocked that her best friend doesn’t believe her and that another grown woman seems intent on wrecking her life for no apparent reason. You feel her internal struggle to believe it is even happening herself and her pain as she wonders why. Her heartache is compounded by her early menopause and infertility, especially in the face of Sophie and Lexie’s pregnancies. Having been through infertility myself, I know that pain of longing for something so much that it hurts and being happy yet also jealous when it happens for those you love. It is powerfully but sensitively written and really pulls you close to Jane while wondering what on earth Sophie is thinking.

Lexie is a fantastic villain who is brilliantly written. She is friendly and charming when she chooses, a facade that masks her true character, which is sly, calculating, cruel and manipulative. The game she’s playing is so obvious to the reader and I immediately sided with Jane, yet I could also see why Sophie liked her and found it hard to believe she was doing such terrible things. But I think it ultimately says more about Sophie when she refused to listen to Jane’s side of things than it did about Lexie. After all, you can’t turn a true friend against someone with lies. I think this will resonate with so many of us as I think most of us have unfortunately experienced these toxic kinds of female friendships at some point in our lives and will recognise someone we knew in Lexie’s character.

Brimming with tension and foreboding, The Baby Shower is a compelling, twisty and surprising psychological thriller that will make you feel all the feelings. Trust me when I tell you this is a book not to be missed.

Let's just say there was very little else done whilst I read this book! Gripping to the point of everything else can wait till I'm done. Excellent read from S.E Lynes

The Baby Shower is the first book I have read by author S.E. Lynes and most definitely will not be my last. The Baby Shower is an unputdownable, gripping, psychological thriller full, of twists and turns and shocking revelations. Jane is the main character of the story. A happily married young woman who runs a trendy coffee shop. Her life is full with her coffee shop, a fabulous group of friends, her dotting husband and her beloved dog Des. But that all changes the day Sophie, one of Janes friends, introduces Lexi Lane to their circle of friends. Lexi is the polar opposite of Jane. She’s over the top glam, oozing wealth and sophistication, she’s domineering and down right rude to Jane. Yet know one in the group seems to notice, except Jane. Lexi is a master manipulator and seems hell bent on making Jane look bad and banishing from her own group of friends. Jane has no clue why Lexi has it out for her but she fears her perfectly content and happy life is going to be turned upside down.

For me, I fell in love with Jane’s character. She was so likeable, laid back, faithful and loyal. She was a gem of a friend, wife and employer. Enter Lexi, the foe, I loathed her. She was despicable, a bully, a liar, an abuser and a master manipulator. I have never had such disdain for a character in a book before. So kudos to S.E. Lynes for creating the perfect villain.

I admired how the author touched on so many heavy yet important topics such as bullying, infertility, sexual abuse and addiction. She handled the issues with grace and compassion and really makes the reader think about these issues. I can see how this book could be a trigger for those struggling with infertility or sexual assault so this might not be the book for you.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley UK and S.E. Lynes for my electronic arc copy of The Baby Shower (out March 1, 2022), in exchange for my honest review. I definitely give this heart stopping, plot twisting, edge of the seat book 5/5 stars.

Jane Preston lead a simple life. She has a loving husband, close friends, and own a successful café. That is until Lexie Lane barges her way into the friend group that Jane holds so dear. As Lexie begins to split the group up, Frankie (Jane's husband) becomes distant from her. Jane's simple life slowly starts to unravel in front of her eye, but something about Lexie doesn't feel right. Jane will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of what is going on Lexie, and win both her husband and friends back.

This fast paced thriller was exactly what I needed. Creepy, twisted, and brilliant! Go pick up a copy of The Baby Shower today!

I want to thank Netgalley, and Bookouture for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First, I want to thank S.E. Lynes, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review!

WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! S.E. Lynes outdid herself in her latest 5 star must read The Baby Shower! Ohh this one is oh so twisted and will also find a way to pull on your heart strings as well.

Bookouture finds talented graphic artists to create beautiful covers. I was instantly drawn to this cover and title. Not to mention I am a fan of S.E. Lynes writing.

S.E. Lynes instantly drew me in with her fast paced and addictive storyline!

My heart broke in a million pieces for Jane! She has failed to conceive for quite some time and just learned her good friend is pregnant! Just as Jane was dealing with so many mixed emotions I too could empathize with her.

Early on there was a character that rubbed me the wrong way. Never in a million years did I see this character evolve the way she did. Ohh her storyline was sick, twisted, evil, and just oh so wrong!! So many times I was yelling at my kindle over this person!! So many lives she hurt!!

Having never read anything by S.E. Lynes before, I have to say 'The Baby Shower' was one darn good curtain-raiser to her long-list of mystery thrillers. Jane and Sophie have been the best of friends forever, lots of joking and silliness on the periphery, but thick as thieves, a relationship disparate from all others, at least Jane thought it was.

From the first instant Lexie becomes acquainted at the weekly Friday night get together for drinks with the gang, I immediately thought there was the beginning of a chip to the normally amiable girls night out. Lexie acts like a dictator, commanding all the attention, and is frankly, quite rude. She acts like she has "private jokes" just between her and Sophie, and this despite the two of them barely knowing each other.

Make way for Natasha, further along into the plot and adding another (equally) disturbing twist to the storyline. It has often been said that nothing good comes to those who are money hungry, and for some reason atrocious people are pulled towards those people they assume have affluence.

Before I realized it, Lynes seems to be virtually bamboozling me as I continued to flip through my Kindle pages at rapid-fire speed, in complete shock that Sophie refused to believe Jane's misgivings and observations about Lexie. I so admired how Ms. Lynes retained the characters authenticity, consistently keeping their responses and feelings extremely believable.

I know from having many close and fleeting friendships over the years, how precarious they can be, especially when you have been close someone for years and years. It is not uncommon for it to become cumbersome when a new person throws the happy harmony into confusing disorder. The older we get the quicker we take into account that things are not always how they seem at face value. Jane is still young and has a bit of people-pleaser in her - not wanting to rock the boat for fear of losing her well established friendships. However, not all stories have a hqppily-ever-after, fairytale conclusion.

This book was fabulous and provides lots of food for thought. It touches on bullying, materialism, shallowness, abuse, loyalty, and much more. Highly recommend.

Much thanks to Bookouture, NetGalley, and S.E. Lynes for the free download in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. #Bookouture, #NetGalley, #S.E.Lynes

I was beyond excited to receive an early reading copy of The Baby Shower by S.E. Lynes after devouring The Housewarming. Let me tell you right now, The Baby Shower is one book you MUST read this year! It was all I could think about until I finished it, I was consumed by the story line and could not read fast enough to get see how it would all unravel.

Based on a web of lies and deceit The Baby Shower follows the life of Jane and her close-knit group of friends, that is, until one friend Sophie brings a new acquaintance into the fold. The interloper Lexie is not well received by Jane which causes much anguish between her and Sophie and this is where the story heats up.

The Baby Shower addressed some real issues, like bullying, infertility and gaslighting and while they were prevalent in the story there was so much else going on that you didn’t feel overwhelmed by them. I loved the multiple points of view including the one titled ‘Hospital’ which really does tie the whole story together and keeps you turning the pages to see just what happened.

A red-hot thriller that I found unputdownable, a rock-solid plot and terrific character development with brilliant twists, The Baby Shower is the whole package. Congratulations to S.E. Lynes on this outstanding novel, a huge 5 stars from me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this early reading copy it is one I will be recommending to everyone who will listen

Wow. A thought provoking, intelligent thriller. Addictive. Brilliant. Loved it from start to finish. Couldn't put it down. Do read this one.

this was a good story that keeps you wanting to know what is going to happen, I read it in two days, coudn't put it down.

A well plotted storyline. Great characters which are well thought out. A book that will keep you turning the pages.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see an ARC

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Baby Shower' by S.E Lynes.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for S.E Lynes, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 1st March 2022.

This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Housewarming', 'Can You See Her?' and 'Her Sister's Secret' which I highly recommend.

I was originally drawn to this book by its gorgeous eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that ' If you like Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, you’ll be glued to The Baby Shower.' I am a huge fan of Lisa so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of S.E Lynes and if this is as good as 'Can You See Her?', 'The Housewarming' and 'Her Sister's Secret' it is sure to be an epic read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of a prologue, 52 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in London 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 , UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact visited London on many occasions including going there on holiday last and this year so am looking forward to possibly recognising name places.

This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Jane, Frankie and an unknown speaker. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.

'The Baby Shower' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book S.E Lynes discusses/includes loss of a child, rape and bullying.

OMG!!! JUST WOW!!! Yet another fantastic psychological thriller that will keep you hooked and on your toes throughout!! Well done S.E Lynes!!!

This book is extremely well written with descriptions that leave you hearing the nightlife and feeling your heart pounding away. The storyline is filled with suspense, friendship, deceipt, love, secrets, loss, lies and a shocking ending!!! I was completely gripped throughout this page turning thriller. I enjoyed seeing what was going on through both Jane and Frankie's eyes and I love at the end how everything is wrapped up neatly for the reader I must admit a pet hate of mine with books is unnecessary loose ends. I absolutely loved the explosive ending which I was not at all expecting!!! I was completely invested throughout the storyline and addicted throughout. S.E. Lynes covers so many topics in this book and she has done it extremely well weaving them perfectly through the storyline. The main one she explores is friendships and what it is like to lose and gain friendship groups. I found this to be very unique and strangely enough just a few days ago I seen someone asking for a book based on friendship for their 2022 book reading list. I will be trying to find that post again and definitely recommending this book. You see so many books that are filled with romance and couples but not many that explore the love and bond that goes into friendship groups and how it feels to have that ripped away. The book also covers topics of adult bullying and male rape which, again, are topics not often found in fiction or even non fiction books yet should be spoken about more regularly to help the victims of these events. A HUGE congratulations to S. E. Lynes for covering these topics and for the research that would have gone into them. I am sure your book will make a few readers feel better or seek help needed after reading this and maybe coming to the realisation that what has happened to them can be talked about and help is out there. Again to cover such unique topics in books and weave them into an addictive storyline could not have been an easy feat but SE Lynes has done it perfectly!!! It also covers in how our pasts can change and mould our futures and how we can sometimes linger on something that has happened which then fester into a posion or even low self esteem. I've said plenty in how many great topics have been covered in this book so I won't say anymore as I don't want to bore you but it definitely leaves you with food for thought and is a book that will stay with you for a long time after!

The characters were all very strong and realistic and there was a good range of personalities throughout. I became completely invested in Jane and my heart absolutely tore in half for everything that she was going through. Just the fact that her and Frankie were struggling with trying for a family while watching all your friends becoming parents must be hard enough but to do all that while your support network is being torn away from you and your feelings and confidence is being torn down must be soul destroying. It was lovely to see how she slowly build herself up bit by bit and came to realise what was important in life. It reminded me of a coming-of-age but with an adult. Another character my heart truly went out to was the lovely Frankie who was such a hard working man and you could see him falling into a crevice of depression which was just absolutely heartbreaking. I had mixed feelings about Lexie and although 90% of me thought she was absolutely horrid and an evil person there was the 10% that actually felt for her but I won't go into that as I don't want to give anything away. I quite liked Sophie at the start but my feelings for her changed throughout the book. I definitely agree with Jane's description of her being a collector of friends and I definitely believe she got what she deserved at the end. Although we didn't see a huge amount of them I really liked Kath, Hils, Carla and Penny and would say that these are a group of ladies I would get on with well, true friends. A great mix of characters to love and hate that made the book perfect.

Overall a must read, absolutely addictive gripping thriller filled with friendship with an explosive ending that will stay with you for a long time.

Genres covered in this novel include Psychological thriller, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery and Psychological Fiction amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena and anyone who loves an addictive book with an unexpected twist!

360 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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A twisted tale of toxic friendship. The tale is told from different view points, but the chapter titles mean it's easy to keep track of. I guessed some of the twists, but this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book overall, and I'd read more by this author.