This took awhile to get to the "thriller" part. Most of the book is about how hard it is for new mothers and post partum depression. I liked The Favor better.

I wouldn't call this a thriller. Natalie is a new mother who feels totally inadequate...and we are taken on a journey of her sufferings of post partum depression. This fills so much of the book, it was hard to really "like" and get into the story. But then a murder happens behind Natalie's house, and some interesting events unfold.

I really enjoyed Nora Murphy's first thriller, The Favor, however, The New Mother doesn't hold a candle to it. You can sympathize with Natalie and what she is going through, but it just took up too much of the book. I needed more thriller and less depression.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

Natalie and Tyler Fanning are both lawyers and loving their work but Natalie is now a new mother and she had been so excited through her pregnancy and she read every book on parenting that she could get her hands on plus she tried to plan for all the unexpected details that she would read about. Well, Natalie fell madly in love with her son Oliver at first sight but she also felt terrified at the feel of his fragile, tiny body and the inner knowledge of the responsibility that she must forever protect him from everything and anything. Labor and delivery were extremely hard on Nat and she can barely walk with the soreness she feels plus she never envisioned that nursing a baby could also be so painful (who knew?) but she refuses to use formula because Natalie needs to be the best and most perfect mother for baby Oliver.

Night after night there is no sleep for Natalie because the baby is colicky and fretful and nursing him every hour seems to be the only way to calm him down. Soon Nat feels resentful of her husband, Tyler since he can sleep all night and then go off to work just like before Oliver was born. Nat planned to go back to work but now she feels torn about leaving Oliver with strangers yet she misses her fulfilling work life that she loved but she also is so exhausted all the time and just doesn't know how she will do it all, so her resentment starts turning to anger towards her husband who loves her so much but he has no clue about how Nat feels or what she is thinking because she won't talk to him and her negative feelings towards him and everything in her life and bad thoughts continue to brew and boil while they fester under the surface.

One day while walking the baby in his stroller she meets her new and attractive neighbor Paul, a stay-at-home dad who seems to understand and have compassion for new mom issues and let's her know that he went through many sleepless nights as well but assures her with time it will get easier. Paul then becomes a good friend to Nat and they begin visiting each other often while their spouses are at work but Nat doesn't see anything wrong with their friendship even though she has kept it a secret from Tyler. Nat has no sexual attraction to Paul because she has no sex drive at all right now and just cringes at the thought of it so she should be able to have a comforting companion in Paul who holds her baby and rocks him to sleep so Nat can get some breaks here and talks to her like a woman not some insecure failure as a new mother yet Natalie still doesn't get any sleep and her moods are getting darker and sometimes she wishes that she was still pregnant where Oliver would still be safe and she could still get sleep and also go to work everyday and she wonders if all new moms feel this way or maybe she wasn't meant to to be a mother even though she does love Oliver more than her own life but why can't she be happy like other moms or are they also pretending that their life is perfect.

Poor Natalie! Poor Tyler! Who is neighbor Paul really? Natalie hasn't a clue but a Paul has an agenda all set up for Nat and he only wants her to continue being dependent on his help and kindness and keep coming to his home because the time for his master plan to play out is very, very close now and it's working out even better than he could have anticipated. Will Natalie somehow wake up from her sleepless fugue and get a grip on her reality at hand or will her life continue the course of driving straight off the edge of the cliff where it's headed with Paul in the driver's seat taking her to an unforeseeable hell before he bails out while Nat crashes all alone?

I just loved this book! I considered it a slow-burn psychological thriller that was extremely well-written so my interest and curiosity never wavered. The characters were very flawed and detailed so it was easy to envision all their feelings and interactions. Natalie was just a full-blown mess. It was sad that none of the people in her life saw what was happening to her, even her pregnant best friend who also happened to be a pediatrician. Paul knew what was going on with Nat but he counted on her fragile state of mind to perfect his plan.

The last third of the story brought non-stop excitement and I couldn't put the book down. I just needed to know how everything would play out since Natalie became so dependent on Paul and he could do no wrong in her eyes, but her mental instability became so acute that she couldn't even trust her own thoughts or memories so she also started putting Oliver unintentionally in harm's way. I enjoyed how the twists kept coming towards the end although, I really would have liked if the author had included one last chapter about Paul with his thoughts and feelings about Natalie and how everything turned out inside of his mind in the end of the story. For me, that would have been the even more delicious icing on the scrumptious cake that this book had become for me!

I highly recommend this book to just about everyone except Pregnant Women!

I want to thank the publisher "St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 4 DELICIOUSLY DISTURBING 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

PUBLICATION DATE: May 30, 2923
Author: Nora Murphy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

I love this author, and her, she doesn’t disappoint, even though this book is more centered on a new mom with what the internet calls the “baby blues,” this book was awesome. I felt so bad for Natalie, and what she was going through, it was hard to read sometimes. Her family is the new one in town and when she gets befriended by Paul, who is a stay-at-home dad and understands what she is going through, she’s loving the help. But when we later find out that there is something more sinister going on here. Paul is not what he seems. This is what I love about this author, we know who the bad guy is already but now what keeps us still reading is, how he’s going to do this thing he has planned out. Never underestimate the underdog for sure. The twists and turns were worth it all.

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

the new mother has a slow start. I wasn’t hooked from the beginning but I’m glad i read this. The first few weeks of being a new mom are brutal and Natalie’s honest thoughts are something that really need to be talked about more. Half way thru the story it just takes off. Natalie’s neighbor Paul a stay at home dad is helpful and understanding of Natalie’s status as a new mom. Then he wife ends up dead. Looking back at the book as a whole what starts out slow explodes into a gripping thriller all while exploiting the truth of being a new mom, Thank you to Nora Murphy for writing this story for moms who don’t always speak up.

I had seen mixed reviews for this one but I honestly really enjoyed it. A slow burning thriller that follows a mother postpartum in a new neighborhood. She just wants to do everything right, everything perfectly. Even if that means no sleep

She tries to go back to work too soon, she refuses to bottle feed her baby, and insists that he only stops crying when he’s in her arms. The lack of sleep starts to play with her mind

Then she meets Paul. The stay at home dad across the street who seems to be her savior. He’s perfect around kids, especially her fussy baby Oliver

But is he as perfect as she thinks? Or is it just her lack of sleep and undiagnosed postpartum depression that is blurring her thoughts of him?

The author does an amazing job of describing a struggling postpartum first time mother. This is a quick thriller and I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy psychological thrillers

I really was not sure what to expect when I started reading this book. I must confess that I did not read the blurb. I just knew it was a type of mystery. Natalie Manning is a new mother who feels as though she has lost a part of herself. Before she had Oliver, she was a high-powered attorney on the fast track to becoming partner in her firm. She is having a very difficult time adjusting to mom life, but it is obvious that she loves her son. She will not even allow her husband, Tyler, to feed him. Due to lack of sleep and other things that go along with being a new mother, her mental well being is definitely down in the toilet at this point. She is having memory lapses, panic attacks and is just generally not herself. To make matters worse, Oliver is a colicky baby which means he cries a lot. She is at her wits end until she meets her neighbor, Paul. Paul seems to have the magic touch with Oliver. Paul is a stay at home dad to his 10 year old daughter, Petra. He is saves her several times from losing it entirely. I have to confess that I did not see where this story was going at first. I do not want to share anymore because I do not want to ruin it for anyone. Suffice it to say that Paul is not the knight in shining armor that he appears to be.

This was definitely a slow burn type of plot. There is a lot of backstory for both couples, but it is actually necessary for you to fully understand their state of mind. Even though it is a slow burn, it hooked me. I knew something weird was going on, but I just did not fully understand what direction we were going in the story. Once the action, per se, ramped up, it moved along quite nicely.

I really felt for Natalie. Anyone who has been a parent will feel for her. Her adjustment to her new lifestyle is something any parent can relate to. I think the author did a great job of addressing an issue that a lot of mothers have and suffer through quietly alone. I appreciated her candor in sharing these thoughts even though it was a fictional story.

I really enjoyed this book. Now I will have to go back and read her debut novel.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First, I read her book The Favor and absolutely kept me glued till the end. Now, back to The New Mother. First I have had three children and never had the difficulties Natalie is having. Then her nastiness to her husband and then enter her neighbor Paul who is there to help out but he has his own agenda, I really don’t want to give away spoilers but I did not really enjoy this book. In fact I found it tedious to read. I want to thank net galley for this ARC and the publisher for my honest review.

I finished this book with a complete lack of clarity in my feelings about it. I did ultimately enjoy the ending, and I'm glad I finished it. The threads were tied off neatly, everything made sense, no gaping plot holes. But something about it also didn't make me want to keep reading at times. I do know, I was very offput by the truly never ending references to breastfeeding - and I say this as a mom who breastfed. Yes, it's constant, yes we have boobs and nipples, but it becomes much more "background noise" in the grand scheme of things as time goes on - constantly referring back to it was overkill IMO. I also struggled with the timeline - somehow Oliver was only (I think?) about three months old, but she went back to work at eight weeks, seemed to work at least a week or two, and returned home with enough days and times to develop a routine with Paul... Say what now?

Despite those challenges, as I said, I wasn't put off enough to DNF - I was just mildly annoyed periodically. While this could definitely use a solid pass through to reduce the focus on BF and clarify the timeline, it's a good story, and did seem like a pretty accurate portrayal of PPD and PPP. The multiple perspectives worked well for the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this fabulous advanced reader copy.
I felt for Nat as a new mother, I have felt some of her feelings after having my children and felt that loss of freedom and isolation. When she meets Paul she think this is just a neighbor who wants to help her, as he’s been through it as a stay at home dad. The book went in to such deep detail of her struggles as a new mother that it felt like it didn’t deal with the mysterious neighbor until well in to the second half of the book. Her struggles were real and were really strongly portrayed, to the point were it was really repetitious. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed and wouldn’t suggest this to anyone who was considering becoming a new mother or is a new mother.

Natalie finds herself in a new house with a new baby with a few weeks of maternity leave to adjust to her new life. But as her baby Oliver becomes harder to handle, and after returning to her old job doesn't go as planned, Natalie feels trapped in her home. Until Paul, her stay-at-home dad neighbor, comes to help her manage all of the difficulties with being a new mother. But as Natalie and Paul begin to connect she doesn't realize the grand plan Paul has created.

The New Mother was a lot of fun to read once I got into it. The first half of the book is a bit slower, going through the challenges of trying to balance a career at a law firm with a new baby, and it reads more like a memoir (and as the author's note describes at the end of the book is completely removed from reality). Then, as Paul begins to ingratiate himself onto Natalie, the book picks up in suspense and I did not want to put it down for the last third until the final reveals. The chapters delving into Paul's mind are a great contrast to the chapters from Natalie's perspective and give the book a lot of its driving narrative force. This book does not reinvent the wheel for domestic suspense, but provides a good examination of the particular anxieties and exhaustions of motherhood combined with a mystery with murder and betrayal.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of The New Mother in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie Fanning is a successful lawyer, who’s just brought her newborn baby Oliver home from the hospital. He proves to be a difficult, colicky baby who cries a lot and doesn’t sleep for more than short periods between feeds, so she quickly becomes sleep deprived and depressed. Her husband Tyler, also a lawyer who works long hours, isn’t much help, not that she lets him help, and because they recently moved into a new house they don’t have any friends in the neighbourhood. When Paul, a friendly neighbour and father, who works at home offers to help her out occasionally she jumps at the chance for some human contact and support during her lonely days at home. But Paul has his own agenda for what he really wants from her.

I would have enjoyed this book more if Natalie’s struggles with her newborn hadn’t taken up the first 50% of the novel. I think we could have got the picture of a new mother with postpartum depression, isolated in a new house and totally out of her depth with a difficult newborn in less than half that time. While postpartum depression is an important topic for new parents to be aware of, it became repetitive and downright miserable after a while, and it wasn’t until the second half of the novel that I realised there was a mystery element to the novel (no, I don’t read the marketing blurbs). The mystery element was well set up but turned out not to be all that complex and the police fairly inept at investigating the crime.

THE NEW MOTHER By Nora Murphy

thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for the e-arc!

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY:
Natalie is a new mom, in a new house. All of the anxieties of motherhood keep her up at night and she spends all day taking care of her baby. She's had to pause her own career, while her husbands is taking off. Frustrated and alone, she forms a friendship with her neighbor and stay-at-home dad Paul. Their relationship is purely platonic, but Natalie wants more and more to be around Paul because it's the only time she feels back to her normal self. What Natalie doesn't know is that Paul's intentions aren't good and he's planning something that will hurt her and her family.

MY THOUGHTS:
I am not a mom, but I imagine a lot of the things that Natalie feels in this book are very real. With that said, new moms should probably take caution reading this book.

I found Natalie frustrating because of the choices she made. I felt badly for her husband and the way that she treated him, preferring a stranger to him.

The buildup of the book was really slow and didn't pick up until a little over halfway. Lots of talk about no sleep and nipples... Then there was a murder... and then the ending was abrupt and felt rushed. I thought I had guessed the ending and I was wrong, but I honestly think it would've been a better ending. 😬

The new mother

Natalie Fanning just had her first baby and moved into this new, gorgeous house. So she should be so happy, right? Why doesn’t she feel it? When her son refuses to sleep and she refuses to let him have anything besides her milk, she becomes tethered to him with little her husband or anyone else can do to help. When she tries to go back to work, it becomes clear to everyone she cannot perform her job on little to no sleep. They decide on a sabbatical, which is how she meets her neighbor, Paul who is a stay at home dad. He quickly befriends her and takes her in to help. But Paul may have ulterior motives, that Natalie is too naive and sleep deprived to see.

This is my first Nora Murphy book and now I am dying to grab The Favor off my shelf asap! The New Mother is such a twisted domestic thriller that dives into postpartum mental health and how pregnancy and having children can change a woman significantly. I immediately connected with the MC as she is going through all of the newborn struggles, I was there! But it was a little slow at the beginning as we read about her nuances. Then when the book picks up, Nora Murphy is not playing! I found every chance to pick it up and read or listen to see what would happen and found myself yelling at the MC! I enjoyed alternating between audio and digital ARC, the audio was so well done! This is out May 30th, so get it on your list now!

This book is almost like 2 books in one. The first half is very focused on the main character’s undiagnosed post-partum depression after having her first baby. As a reader (and mother), I could see through her thoughts, feelings, and actions to assume she probably had it. Those closest to her didn’t see it though and just thought she was overtired from having a fussy baby. I fear that happens too often in real life. The second half turns into a page turning thriller. It’s not a mystery because the reader knows exactly what is happening before it even happens, but the suspense is with regards to whether or not the truth will come out before the lies are set in stone. I thought it was very well done and definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for gifting me with an advanced copy to read and review (Publication date – 5/30/23). And thank you to the author for shining a light on post-partum depression. Too many women suffer in silence, afraid to ask for help.

Unfortunately this is another misclassified thriller. There is not really any suspense or twists in this book. However, it is very well written. I could feel the anxiety of this new mother in every page.

Wow what a read. This was such a great read. When I first started it I was sure about it. But it grab me and sucked me in. I thought it was very well written First time author for me.
Hopefully you will want to read this book. It was very well written and I can't wait to see what is next for her.

Thank you net galley. Great book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the newest novel by Nora Murphy, wonderfully narrated by Dylan Moore and Lee Osorio- 4 stars!

Natalie is a new mother to baby Oliver. But nothing is as easy as she thought it would be. Oliver is colicky, doesn't sleep, and Natalie finds herself holding him all day and night. She's exhausted, angry at her husband who can go off to work, missing work and her old life. Then she meets Paul, a stay-at-home dad and close neighbor. Paul has the magic touch of soothing Oliver and Natalie finds herself seeking him out as someone who understands her like no one else can. But Paul has his own motives for getting close to her.

This is a slow burn, which I thought fit well with the storyline. You can feel Natalie getting more and more desperate as she tries to be a good mother, but is getting no sleep or support. There is definitely a mystery involved here but it is alluded to and no big surprise. I enjoyed the dual narration and could felt the book was relatable and the storyline intriguing. Good read!

I read "The New Mother" by Nora Murphy on NetGalley. Natalie, the main character, has just given birth. She is sleep deprived and lonely, with her husband working long hours at his law firm. Shortly before having the baby they moved into a new house so they don't have any friends close by. Then the neighbor, Paul, befriends Natalie. But Paul is not what he seems and tries to set Natalie up for the murder of his wife. I enjoyed reading this book and was able to finish it quite quickly.

I loved this book ! I am not a mom, by choice, but I still empathized with the MC and her struggles as a new mom. It was clear from the start, to the reader, that she was suffering from postpartum depression, but unfortunately it took her much longer to discover. This was a great slow-burn suspense, the foundation was well laid-out and even once you know the twist, you had to keep reading to find out how it all unfolds. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5