Initially, I found this a bit of a slow starter but when it eventually picked up, I really became engrossed in the read and it became difficult to put down.
Heavily pregnant Andrea has just moved into a rented home with husband Terry and 3 year old son Jack. She is befriended by Gabby, an older woman with a teenage son who lives opposite. On the surface, Gabby has everything. A lovely home. A sixteen year old son she adores and a husband who works abroad. She has a huge social media following where she blogs and dispenses advice to other women. But both Andrea and Gabby have secrets that as their involvement with each other develops, come to the surface. Andrea’s husband is an addictive gambler; something that has led them to the situation they are currently in, having lost their home due to debt to a gambling syndicate. The continual presence of a stranger in the road makes Andrea suspect the problem appears to have followed them to their new location, making her feel unsafe. Gabby eventually confesses she is, in fact, divorced, although in regular contact with her ex- and currently having difficulties with her son Flynn. The woman Andrea thought had the perfect life seems to have her own problems. And then Flynn disappears.
A cleverly constructed novel, written from both Andrea and Gabby’s points of view. It's a story that leads you in one direction and then right the end delivers a massive twist. Recommended.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Bookouture and Nicole Trope for an ARC of The Stay at Home Mother in exchange for an honest review.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

A fantastic, edge of your seat, dual perspective thriller! I will be reading more by this author for sure!

I enjoyed the premise of this story but I found it to be lacking in some areas. Overall a good story of two woman Andrea and Gabby who face the challenges of motherhoods across the street from one another. Andrea is heavily pregnant and managing care for her young son while her husband spends large amounts of time away from home. Gabby who has a teenage son lives across the street and befriends Andrea and her young son. Andrea is a bit naive of a character and trusts too easily which Gabby takes advantage of throughout this story. I enjoy the plot twist ending where we find out the truth about these characters.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nicola Trope’s books, The Stay At Home Mother was an excellent read, showing just how easy it is to put your trust in the wrong person.
Riddled with red herrings, this book kept me glued to its pages until the tense end. I loved it. Highly recommended.

The Stay-at-Home Mother is my first book from Nicole Trope. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and the twists and turns in the book. This one is written in two voices and kept me interested in what was going to happen. I'll surely be picking up another by Trope.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

I've enjoyed other books by Trope, so I was excited about this one. Sadly, it missed the mark for me. I did enjoy the multiple POVs (Gabby and Andrea). I expected a solid mystery, but I didn't find that to be the case. The pace was too slow for the genre, and many plot points were predictable. I will likely check out future books by the author.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC from one of my favorite authors. I love when I see Nicole Trope has a new title coming and The Stay at Home Mother did not disappoint. There were lots of surprises but the end really took me off guard. Definitely recommend.

This book highlights how we tend to just see people the way we perceive them, not necessarily based on reality even. Just like how many post simply the highlights of their lives on social media, presenting a false front. In this book, two neighbor ladies fall into this trap. But as it turns out neither of their lives are perfect. And one of them is harboring an enormous secret. Even when you think the plot is all played out, there is an unexpected twist. Recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy.

This was a fast paced story that did such a great job of building suspense! Several twists and turns - some more predictable than others, but all were well thought out and engaging.
The emotions Andrea felt were palpable and there was a roller coaster of emotions about her husband!
Overall, very suspenseful and well written - I am eager to read other books by this author.

And damn Nicole Trope did it AGAIN !!!
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
this author keeps writing books that blow my mind!!!

I'll never get tired of recommending her!!! She is just such a queen for this kind of creepy thrillers!!! Book I pick of her, book I can't out down, book with great twists, book with the most cringe characters, book with unique plots... she just writes the kind of books not many other authors could even think about.

This book!!!! I kind of guessed the end but I'm perfectly fine with that because the ride was INCREDIBLE!!!! I couldn't put it down and those characters!!! The plot was so good!!!!! Enjoyed the writing because it just grabs the reader without making anything complicated!!!! The dual pov had me on the edge every chapter. This was the first book of her that I can a bit of know what was happening but damn those twists were unexpected!!!!

Thank you much to Bookouture, the author and netgalley for my arc!!! Felt so lucky when it was approved!!!! I'll read anything Bookouture publish and I'll read any book Nicole Trope writes, PERIOD!!!!

This was quite a fast and easy read. I can't say any of the characters grew on me, both the main ladies seemed..... just wrong lol. One is just incredibly uncomfortable to be around with very alarming behaviour and the other is clearly just a master at overlooking the most insane, brightly lit red flags I've ever seen. In saying that, it's a fiction so sometimes you have to overlook characters making terrible decisions so moving on.... there's a few twists and turns. Its a bit predictable in places but a few times I was still genuinely surprised so that was nice. Overall I'd say its a decent enough rrad but not reinventing the wheel

The second book by Nicole Trope I've read and, again, I liked it! I received it from Bookouture via Netgalley and it will be out on the 3rd of January.

Moving house, meeting a new neighbour who happens to be extremely friendly and helpful, problems that catch up on you, your son goes missing. What would you do next? What can you do? Who can you trust?

This was one rollercoaster of a thriller which I just couldn't put down. The authors manages to mess with you with the different characters. As a readers you constantly worry about which character to trust. Who is telling the truth. And, it ends with a big shocker!

If you're into fast-paced psychological thrillers, read this one.

4/5⭐

I've messed up really badly." Terry

Andrea and Terry are a typical young couple with a little boy named Jack. Uh maybe not so typical since Terry has a gambling addiction. The story begins with them losing their home and moving into a place less than desirable;. You see the house is a fixer-upper of a friend of Andrea's father, until he can get around to selling it. And daddy is paying the rent. On top of that Andrea is pregnant and quite far along.

Andrea is somewhat bitter and rightly so, about their losses, but ready to start over. How can she be sure Terry is not gambling again? For this reason, Andrea has trust issues but as she befriends a neighbor named Gabby, she helps Andrea transcends some of those walls. Gabby is older than Andrea with a teen son living at home and a husband who travels most of the time. Gabby seems to have it all together. Her home is immaculate, her snacks are delicious, she’s good with kids… well, maybe north so much with her son Flynn.

Andrea has a standing offer from Gabby to watch Jack. But whenever she does engage her services, Gabby seems to take him out and miss deadlines when he is due home. Is the neighbor just being a good friend or is she wanting something else entirely? To hear Gabby tell it, she's busy with her own somewhat rebellious son, Flynn, but something about that feels off too,

Then there are some strange occupancies that feel threatening. Andrea doesn't know if she's imagining it, or if Terry's gambling problem has reared its ugly head again. Can she discover the truth before losing her family for good this time?

This was a great read and Gabby’s epilogue was a shocker. I had to go back and read again… What just happened here? I thought the saga was over, but nooooo!

Trope knows how to yank on your heartstrings and create a suspenseful world in her stories that keep you turning the pages to reveal every twist. Gabby was interesting but I was particularly impressed by the complex relationship between Terry and Andrea.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

Meet Andrea, a heavily pregnant mother to a three year old son who is exhausted and overwhelmed. Andrea is a stay at home mother trying to make it work, but she has secrets that could turn her world upside down.

Meet Gabby, Andrea’s friendly neighbor with a surly teenage son and a traveling husband. But Gabby has secrets of her own, and things aren’t always what they seem.

What happens when a child goes missing? What happens when secrets are revealed? This thriller will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time and you won’t guess the last minute twist! I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

3.75 ⭐️

Oh man this book was wild. I finished this in a day because I just couldn’t put it down (it also helps that it’s a short book). The prologue hooked me and I was itching to see how the story would come full circle to it. There was definitely a lot of twists through the book - the epilogue especially!! I hate giving a .75 rating but the reason why it’s missing some stars is because I felt the ending tied up a little too neatly. Definitely still a solid read!

Thank you to NetGallery and Bookouture for this eARC!

Ooh…this gets the dreaded ‘It’s okay’ review.

I really spent much of the book kind of ambivalent. I was meh on our MC (her kid is adorbs though) and thought she was really kind of stupid to ignore the glaring red flags from our ick character.

But I read it and I was invested enough to really want to know what would happen and why.

And then (insert copious swearing here), I found out.

I hated the reason behind everything. The gotcha was kind of stupid and irritating.

While I didn’t want to throw my kindle at a wall, I was kind of…uninspired.

So, yeah. It’s okay.

Moving on.

This was such an interesting and riveting story. I love a good domestic thriller and this was just what the doctor ordered.

"I've messed up really badly."

Andrea and Terry are a young couple with a little boy named Jack. Terry lost their home with his gambling problem, so their new living arrangement is a little odd, the house being a fixer-upper of a friend of Andrea's father, until he can get around to selling it.

Andrea is somewhat bitter about their losses but ready to start over. She had trust issues but her neighbor Gabby tears down some of those walls. Gabby is older than Andrea and seems to have it all together. Her home is immaculate, her snacks are delicious.

Andrea has a standing offer for Gabby to watch Jack but whenever she does, Gabby seems to try and scamper off with him. Is she just being a good friend or is she wanting something else entirely? To hear Gabby tell it, she's busy with her own son Flynn but something about that feels off.

When strange things start to happen, Andrea doesn't know if she's imagining it, or if Terry's gambling problem has reared its ugly head again. Does she have time to discover the truth before losing her family for good this time?

This was great as always. Trope knows how to pull your heartstrings and create a suspenseful world in her stories that keep you turning the pages to reveal every twist. Gabby was interesting but I was particularly impressed by the complex relationship between Terry and Andrea. As someone who has dealt with a loved one in the weeds of addiction, it really rang true and my heart dropped for Andrea so many times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

Thank you, Net Galley, for the opportunity to read and review this book. The story is told by Andrea, a heavily pregnant mother to 3-year-old Jack and by Gabby a stay-at-home mother of 16-year-old Flynn. But nothing is as it seems. Alternating chapters of Andrea and Gabby tell the story of a blossoming friendship. But both are hiding huge secrets from each other. Andrea's husband Tony has a gambling addiction and Gabby has an addiction of a different kind. She posts pictures of Flynn and has an advice blog on Facebook. After a major misunderstanding Gabby confesses that her life differs from how it appears and Andrea falls victim to her manipulations. As Andrea goes into labor and Gabby and Jack go missing the story really takes off and the read to the end is a page turning treat. And there is a twist at the end that you'll never see coming. It's a very enjoyable book I would recommend itl