2.5 Stars

When Eve’s mom Lydia comes visiting, she is really worried as she doesn’t want her husband Dom to know about some of the childhood trauma that Eve has endured – but why exactly is Lydia here and does she have a hidden agenda?
Eve’s childhood friend Chloe also warns Dom not to listen to his mother in-law and at the same time Lydia tells Dom not to believe everything that Chloe tells.
As we go deeper into the story we learn that Eve’s son Kai might have health related issues and it could be genetic and could be the same as what happened to Eve’s brother.
The story started well, being told in multiple POVs but somewhere in between the author lost track of her story telling and some open ended questions started forming. Right when 2 people are attacked in this book, the story kind of lost it’s plot – I am still a bit unsure of what really happened as eventually the story felt a little all over the place.

The narration by Tamsin Kennard kept me going, thanks to Netgalley, Sheryl Browne and Bookouture Audio for the copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is one of those authors that I always enjoy and have started looking for her new books. I listened to the audio version and the narrator added tremendously to the story. The book was interesting with tons of details and twists and turns added in. Highly recommend!

Book Title: Her First Child
Author: Sheryl Browne
Audiobook Narrator: Tamsin Kennard
Publisher: Bookouture
Audio Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pub Date: November 24, 2022

This was my first Book by this Author and I absolutely enjoyed it! I will definitely be reading more of her books. Definitely a suspenseful thriller that keeps you guessing the whole time. I rate this book a 5⭐️ and recommend to those who enjoy a great pshycological thriller!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the pleasure of listening to this early eGalley. Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 24, 2022

Featuring ~ multiple 3rd person POV, dual timeline, family drama, childhood bullying, controlling husband, abusive husband, infidelity, secrets a plenty, psychological thriller, suspense

Our narrators are ~ Eve, Lydia and Chloe.

Eve and Dom have a baby, Kai, in our present timeline.
Lydia and David are Eve's parents in the past timeline. There are some on page scenes of domestic violence by David.
Chloe has been Eve's best friend since childhood and she's married to Steve. Chloe wasn't a great friend and wasn't always nice to Eve.

Despite all the unlikable characters, infidelity, secrets, lies and cover ups, I liked this one. The dual timeline allows for everything to slowly unfold to keep up the suspense. As I said the characters were all unlikable, with Chloe being the cream of the crop for awfulness.

Narrated by Tamsin Kennard for 9 hours and 25 minutes, easy to follow at 2x. She did a fine job, but I do wish for multiple narrators when there are multiple POV's, since she didn't even try to differ her voice between the women. She did give a go at male voices and that was fine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so twisted! I loved the multiple view points and the shifts in time throughout the book as both helped to make the story so twisted. The plot twist was great and overall the story was gripping.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. The plot twists are definitely the shining light for this one. Just when you think you have something figured out, the author proves you wrong. Suspenseful and satisfying read

WOW WOW and once again WOW! what a cracking listen this was. Emotional, sad, scary and heart breaking.
I will have to admit that I cried a few times whilst listening to this incredible book. It brought up some memories that made me cry and feel sad but I knew I had to just put my emotions to one side and listen until the end. How many times I changed my mind about what was going on, who was stringing who along, I lost count. The twists just keep coming and all the while a helpless baby lies at the heart and I just keep praying that he would be safe. When I finally thought, "oh thank goodness he is with ( whoever it was, not going to spoil that)" then bam, nope he is absolutely not safe there at all..
The drama builds continually throughout the book to an utterly heart breaking finish, Nothing is left hanging, which I love. You find out who did what to whom and why.
Eve is a complex character who has an over whelming need to protect her son from everyone, including her partner., but why? Her childhood was full of danger and threat, her parents emotional abuse was incredibly cruel and I had some sympathy with Eve.
An utterly gripping psychological tale that will keep you flipping the pages at a pace. I listened to the whole audio in two evenings and was left feeling drained from the emotional ride I'd been on.
The narrator was brilliant and really brought each character to life with ease. I felt I was right there with every situation, fully immersed in the drama. I loved this book and 5 stars just doesn't do it justice. BRILLIANT!

Book Title: Her First Child
Author: Sheryl Browne
Audiobook Narrator: Tamsin Kennard
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pub Date: November 24, 2022
My Rating: 4 Stars

Evie and Chloe have been best friend s since primary school.
Now as adult they are both married and have children- Chloe is married to Steve and they have two children – Thomas and Rose.
Evie is married to Dom and they have a baby son Kai.
Eve is very protective of her baby she did not have a happy childhood her father was a nasty and mean. Her mother Lydia was not able to stand up against his bulling. When Evie was a nine years old she just loved her baby brother Jacob. It seems Jacob was a sick little boy; he cried a lot and didn’t sleep. Mom Lydia is exhausted and at wits end with baby Jacob. When big sister Evie finds baby Jacob isn’t breathing, she cried for help. Lydia had some nursing training so is able to resituate him. But he does dies later. Evie believes her mother was responsible and had never forgiven her.

Now Evie is a busy physician; she is not on good terms with her mother so when Eve comes home from work and finds her mother there her first reaction is to ask her to leave. Lydia asks if she can please stay spend the night and Evie lets her.
However the next morning baby Kai isn’t breathing. Evie is a physician so is able to save him but is upset with herself for allowing her mother into her home.

Many things are going on in this story...domestic drama, affairs, murder, sickness, mental health, Factitious Disorder Imposed in another (FDIA) Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP) is a mental illness in which a person acts as if an individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick.
Although these character were not likeable and the story was sometimes difficult to read ~ it sure kept me interested and guessing.
IMO It sure seemed they were ALL a bit psycho!!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the pleasure of listening to this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 24, 2022

Loved, loved the narrators voice. I really, really enjoyed the storyline and the originality. Excited to read more from Sheryl Browne. Highly recommend!!! A special thank you to Sheryl Browne, Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A perfect mother. A loving daughter. A secret that could destroy them both.
New mother Eve is overwhelmed with love for her baby son, Kai. As she swaddles him in a fluffy white blanket, she shudders at a memory of her own childhood. She hasn’t seen her heartless mother Lydia in years, and she hasn’t told a soul about what really happened the night her baby brother died in the squalid little house she grew up in…
When the phone rings in the dead of night, Eve’s heart pounds as she hears the voice at the other end. ‘Hello Mother’, she replies, an ice-cold chill creeping down her spine. She grips her son’s tiny frame close to her trembling chest as she reluctantly agrees to let her mother visit.
But when Eve has to make an emergency call from Kai’s bedroom early one morning, she curses herself for allowing her mother back into her perfect little family.
‘Kai was fine when I checked on him a few hours ago.’ Her mother says, breathlessly as she watches her daughter’s face change from fear to rage.
Why was Lydia in Kai’s bedroom during the night? And as Lydia pleads her innocence, could it be that she’s not the most dangerous mother in this family?

I'm a big fan of suspense thrillers, and an audio book listener since the 1980s when everything was on cassette tapes, so I have some experience with the genre and the medium. This was my first Sheryl Browne book, and it was good. It wasn't great, but I think that is because there were too many characters and, as an audio, it was easy to become distracted and lose the plot. Plus throw in red herrings and lots of secrets and the audio made it hard to manage.

Also, I'm sorry to say, I did not care for the narrator on this one. I found the reading pace to have been slow, and when you speed up the content, nuance is lost.

Overall the story of a current new mom, a fractured relationship with her own mother, (trigger warning) child loss - it was an okay book, but probably not one for me.

Her First Child by Sheryl Browne had me hooked instantly. Between the three main characters and past and present timelines for each, it all worked together to weave a beautiful web. I was engrossed throughout to see how everything tied together and unfolded. However, I found the ending deeply disappointing for all the mystery and buildup.

Tamsin Kennard was pleasant to listen to. My only complaint is that she didn't have very distinct voices for the characters and Sheryl Browne didn't say the characters' names enough to differentiate everyone, so there were a couple times when I had to relisten to a chapter to make sure I was following along correctly.

Overall, I rate Her First Child 4 stars. Great story and narrator, it just needed more clarity of who was speaking in the scenes to make it less confusing and an ending that wasn't so anticlimactic.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Her First Child by Sheryl Browne (audiobook review)
Narrated by Tamsin Kennard (9 hours 25 minutes).
Psychological thriller

"A perfect mother. A loving daughter. A secret that could destroy them both." - Sheryl Browne

The first chapter introduces us to Eve, a first-time mother who has vivid memories of losing her little brother as a child. It has taken her a long time to come to terms with his death. Eve struggles with her newborn son Kai as she fears history repeating itself and she switches between the past and the present.

Red herrings are Sheryl Browne's signature trick for keeping her fans guessing. There are several characters to follow, all of whom seem to harbor dark secrets. Listening to the audiobook requires your full attention. Several plot twists kept me on my toes and made me rethink which character was the villain. Throughout the chapters, the story slowly unfolds and builds to an exciting conclusion.

Her First Child book and audiobook by Sheryl Browne are available on November 24th.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio, for sharing this intriguing audiobook with me. Your kindness is appreciated.

Eve has to leave work early when she learns her deadbeat mother Lydia is visiting. She doesn't want Lydia around her son Kai without Eve's watchful eye. Eve hasn't told Dom, her husband, about the traumas of her childhood. He doesn't really understand what's going on and neither do I.

We then go back to the past and find out from Lydia's POV that she was abused by her husband and let her daughter take some of it too. Her other son, Jacob, has a seizure disorder and stops breathing.

It seems Kai may have the same issue because not longer after Lydia arrives, Kai stops breathing as well. What a coincidence. As we unpeel the layers, we wonder whether Lydia is evil or if she was just incompetent. We also wonder how much Eve had to do with the Jacob situation, as he doesn't appear to be with us any longer.

This started off strong but I started to lose interest with so many characters. Even my synopsis probably isn't great because I got lost a few times. Her friend Chloe became an important player and she had marital issues and it was just a little too all over the place for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review. The narration was great.