I always look forward to reading the latest J. P. Delaney book so was delighted to be given the chance of reading an ARC of My Darling Daughter. Fifteen years earlier Susie Jukes gave her baby daughter up for adoption. She is now married to Gabe, they have a beautiful home and a successful singing career. Unfortunately she has not been able to have another child though she hasn't given up hope. Then her daughter Skye, now called Anna, contacts her out of the blue and naturally Susie is delighted. However Anna says she's unhappy with her adoptive parents and intimates that they are very controlling.and in no time at all Anna is living with Susie and Gabe. I can't say that I cared very much for Anna, who was very manipulative and her behaviour left a lot to be desired. Susie was too willing to believe anything Anna told her which put her at odds with the adoptive family and Gabe.

I wouldn't really describe this as a thriller but more family drama. It was an easy read but not the best I've read by this author.

I really enjoyed this. Having read books by this author before, I knew it was going to be very well written and structured, and it was. I loved the feeling of unease that permeated the early chapters - I knew what was going to happen, broadly, but that didn't matter. I was definitely along for the ride!

I found the main characters very engaging and interesting. The way the system swung into motion against them was so well done and had me turning the pages furiously in more ways than one!

I felt the resolution was maybe something of a cop-out, which ironically reinforced the attitudes of the social workers etc., but maybe this was deliberate.

All in all, a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book.

This is the second novel I've read by the author and I found it to be an absolutely gripping read !
Musician Susie Jukes gave up her baby for adoption, 15 years later Sky (now Anna) contacts her and My Darling Daughter looks at the impact the adoption had on the child, the adoptive family and the birth mother.
As someone with personal experience of adoption, I have found that many thrillers with a similar theme use adoption as a heavy handed plot device with no real understanding of the issues involved. However I feel that here, the author has researched the subject and their awareness comes across in the portrayal of how adoption impacts on all parties concerned and on the lack of ongoing support for many adopters.
The author has also written a gripping and page turning thriller that I would highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

YES JP Delaney has done it again! Whenever I see a book by them I always have to buy it even if I know nothing about it... will they ever fail us? Looks like they will not if this last book is anything to do by, page turning and nail biting as always!

This book mafe a sick day in bed 100% worth it. Its a very cleverly written thriller which is just leagues above a lot of others. It's so intelligently written and such a dark topic that it's impossible not to get sucked in. It's not got a load of things thrown in for dramatic effect, it doesn't need them. The suspense it built completely organically without resorting to shock tactics or seeming far fetched. Its just so much more than a thriller, its essentially about the bond between mother and child and how far you'd go to help your daughter. I think this will touch a lot of people as thebcharacters are very releatable and sensitively written. I'm not a fan of dramas or chic lit but even I was hooked with this one and couldn't wait to find out judy what exactly was going on and why. An absolute must read

JP Delaney's previous novel Playing Nice was a unique and brilliant thriller exploring the tensions between two couples after discovering their babies had been switched at birth in a hospital mixup.

My Darling Daughter taps into similar parental tensions. An adopted fifteen year old girl makes contact with her birth mother, against the wishes of her adoptive parents. While the adoptive parents are strict, her birth mother (Susie) and her partner (Gabe) are successful, liberal minded musicians.

Susie is desperate to form a bond with her daughter, but what if that daughter has serious behavioural issues?

Wow! This book is deep, dark, often bleak and incredibly tense throughout. It covers difficult (rarely seen in thrillers) subjects sensitively. Highly unpredictable, it goes deep into fostering and adoption, childlessness and issues around the music business concerning groupies, young fans and consent.

Not an easy read, but perfectly executed and an absolute must read if you love tense and involving character driven thrillers.

If you enjoyed Playing Nice or Lucinda Berry's classic The Perfect Child you will not be disappointed.

Sure to be amongst my psychological thrillers of the year, and another hugely popular bestseller for JP Delaney.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the other books by this author and this is no different, but I think it has become my favourite.
Past secrets all come to light when Susie is contacted by the daughter she gave up for adoption 15 years ago when she herself was not much older. After many recent miscarriages, her husband Gabe is cautious about Susie's enthusiasm to be the mother she has never been able to be. The age old adage, be careful what you wish for soon comes to mind..
A good expose of the complicated issues surrounding adoption and the limited powers of all of the parties involved.

It is no secret to anyone that knows me, that I am a huge fan of this author. No hesitation to read or buy his books without even reading the blurb.

This book is good, has the authors signature of loads of secrets and lies woven into the storylines. I found this book more of a slow burn than a lot of his others. That could just be down to me and my mindset while reading this book. But it just didn't have the same wow factor.

Regardless of this though, I will not hesitate to pick up his next book

Sorry but this didn't come across as a thriller.
Some sensitive subject matter which at times just upset me.
The action or lack of it by the police was somewhat lacking and overall i found it all quite depressing.
My thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
Sadly not for me.

Wow. Wow. Such a great book, I devoured it one sitting. My heart went out to all three characters, Gabe, Susie and Sky.,

I like the Sky character the best she felt so relatable even though I’ve never been in care or even put up for adoption.

Thank you Quercus for the opportunity to read the new JP Delaney

Oh. My. Goodness. Me. I have read other books by this author and have had mixed opinions. Some I have loved and some I wasn’t as keen on but this book was amazing! A game changer actually. I had already pre ordered the book on Amazon and after reading, have still pre ordered it so I can read it over and over again. The premise was like no other book that I had read before and it kept me hooked from the very beginning. It was so good that I read it in a day! I also loved that the relationship of Susie and Gabe underpinned everything & that they got their happy ending. All the twists and turns were tied up nicely at the end too. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks to JP and NetGalley for allowing me to read My Darling Daughter.

This has to be the best of his books which I have read to date and a real page turner.
The research which was undertaken into the subject is obvious in the harrowing storyline.
It would make an excellent choice for a book club as we learn about each of the characters and would undoubtedly initiative difficult discussions about the rights and wrongs of their actions.

Although it is a work of fiction, it delves into the issues which can be experienced by “cared for” children.

It looks at the situation from the perspective of the various people who are involved in the child’s life:

The biological parent and the reasons that the child has entered the care system.

The foster parents who continue to be supported throughout a placement.

The adoptive parents who are not entitled to know all the facts of the child’s background and for whom the support stops when the adoption is completed, potentially leaving them isolated and unable to cope with the demands of a disturbed child.

The social services who are in an impossible situation when they make a decision on whether to remove a child from their home as has been noted in recent court cases.

The complexities of Family Law where the defendant can be in the situation where they have to prove their innocence.

A gripping rollercoaster of a ride! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Darling Daughter is told from three perspectives, a stepfather, a mother, and her 15 year old daughter - who was taken into care and adopted as a baby. But she knows more about the adults’past than they do, and uses it against them. In true JP Delaney style, the book has clever plot twists and draws the reader in quickly, and is a satisfying read.
Despite a few bits on the way which weren’t very believable, I throughly enjoyed this book. Read it for the journey this dysfunctional family take, rather than over-analysing it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

**Potential trigger warnings - miscarriage, adoption, child abuse**

Looking at my fellow reviewers it seems that I am not alone in thinking it is not Mr Delaney’s finest writing. While the characters hold interest the twists and turns simply are there and no amount of Goan fish cookery can make up for that

I really enjoyed this read, Delaney is a great writer and is the characters in this book are well developed and written. The POV in each chapter is really good and the plot is fast paced and gripping. Anna is very believable as a teenager and Susie and Gabe are also great characters who you really empathise with. I can't wait for more from this brilliant writer.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this novel but by the end I was full engrossed. The first few chapters didn't capture me as much as JP Delaney's other books but as I continued, the pace switched and that kept me engaged. I liked the characters a lot and the dilemmas they faced were very cleverly set up. Another great book from a great author.

An okay read, but there was nothing about it to make it stand out from the rest.

Fifteen years ago, Susie Jukes made the difficult choice to give her newborn daughter up for adoption.

Now thirty-five, Susie is happily married to Gabe, living in a beautiful farmhouse, with a successful singing career. The only blight on her horizon is that Susie has been unable to have another child. So, when the teenager she gave up – Anna Mulcahy – contacts her out of the blue, Susie is elated, determined to get to know her biological daughter. From Anna’s descriptions, her home life sounds less than ideal, and after meeting them and noticing several red flags, Susie begins to wonder whether Anna would be better off with her and Gabe. But, is Anna being entirely truthful?

My Darling Daughter was a quick, easy read, utilising short chapters, and three alternating POV’s – Gabe, Susie, Anna – therefore required little concentration. So, if you’re pushed for time it’s light, entertaining domestic noir, that’s not to be taken too seriously. I thought all the character’s were particularly unlikeable, meaning I wasn’t really emotionally invested – Susie and Gabe were super naïve and trusting and sure did make some poor decisions – so I was all about just how out of control things were going to get.

They were some good twists, although a lot were pretty OTT. I enjoyed the first half more, as the second half was somewhat unbelievable. There was a family dog, and I’m happy to report he was not harmed during this novel, to spare you worrying. My Darling Daughter did touch on some serious issues regarding teenage angst, abuse of power, toxic masculinity, fertility issues, and mental illness, but the content wasn’t explicit, and was handled sensitively.

I did think the novel suffered from too much telling, and not enough showing. There was a lot of info dump and over explaining, and it slowed the plot down. An average read, but definitely not my favourite by J.P. Delaney.

I’d like to thank Netgalley UK, Quercus Books, and J.P Delaney for the e-ARC.

Publication Date: 15th September, 2022.

Susie and Anna, the child she gave up for adoption. Gabe Susie's husband and the man she is desperate to have a child with. Anna's adoptive parents warn them about Anna but Susie is convinced she needs their help. Manipulation is rife but by which protagonist?

I'm usually pretty fond of JP Delaney's books but this one didn't do a lot of for me. I absolutely appreciated how it tackled some really difficult subjects and I found a lot of the psychology interesting but overall it felt quite obvious to me from the outset the direction the plot was going to head in so I found myself feeling a little bored. It's definitely more of a family drama than a thriller and I think that might be why it felt a little flat for me personally - I wanted twists and turns. Character wise, I found it tricky to warm to any of the three protagonists and I found Susie especially frustrating at times for being so naive, although arguably that's understandable in the circumstances. The actions of the police also felt unrealistic, a lot of the accusations for example would be pretty easy to prove (or disprove) in reality. As for the ending, it was pretty abrupt and disappointing, lacking any real excitement unfortunately.

I don't often give out 5 stars admittedly but when I read a book that I'd happily read again and recommend AND read it in 2 days then I'm happy to give the full 5 stars. I love J.P Delaney books and this one was all consuming with a great plot and characters to love. Highly recommend.