This is my 5th Nicole Trope book and I have enjoyed them all. When I pick one up, I know I’ll get a story that will draw me in and get me invested in the characters just to twist a little bit and change my perspective on everything. The writing is easy to read and flows well and despite being set in Australia, nothing seemed overly unfamiliar that it distracted from the story although I did consult a map to see where the different locations are. Recommended for those who enjoy thrillers with a slow, satisfying burn.

Andrea and Gabby become neighbors and quickly become friends. Gabby pursues the relationship a little more than Andrea does. Andrea has a three year old son and is pregnant and Gabby has a teenage son and is alone a lot. She gets bored and needs a friend.

Everyone has secrets they don’t share with anyone; especially a new friend. So far though, they seem to have pretty normal lives. Gabby even has a blog that she writes about teenage kid issues. Her son Flynn is giving her a hard time and she likes to chat about this with other mothers.

An event occurs in which Gabby is irresponsible with Andrea’s three year old son and now Andrea is starting to feel frustrated with Gabby. At one point they have a conversation and end up sharing some personal details of their marriages and lives. Who is telling the truth? We find out about three quarters of the way through the book that things are not as they seem for Gabby or Andrea but one of them is not a good person at all!

I really like this book and the story is good. The only thing I would have liked is to see a little more devious behavior throughout. It takes a while to get to the first twisty part. The ending is satisfying and explains it all. I think Nicole Trope is a great author and I am definitely going to be starting a collection of her books for my bookshelves!

Super fun cover that grabbed my attention right away.

I love any domestic thriller premise like this.

This fast paced book kept me on my toes. Yes, there is some predictability but the twists really surprised me. It was a fun and entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

I look forward to reading more from Nicole Trope.

Wow! As a parent, this book is relatable on so many levels. Social media is prevalent and nothing is what it seems. I could not put this book down!

The story begins with the intriguing opening of someone calling to ask, ‘Why are you using a picture of my son on a missing children’s website?’
Then we meet the two protagonists - Andrea who is pregnant and has a three-year-old son, Jack. Her family has just had to move into a rundown house on a well-to-do Sydney street because of her husband Terry’s gambling debts.
Gabby lives across the road and is a doting mother to teen son Flynn who she makes a central part of her Facebook page on parenting advice. Her husband Richard is away working in the US and is not so keen on her sharing Flynn’s life on social media.
Gabby immediately sees that the exhausted Andrea could use a helping hand with Jack. But can you trust someone you have just met?
This is a fantastic page-turner with an unreliable narrator, ominous tone and surprising end twist.

This is the first book I have read by this author and unfortunately, I was not impressed. It was a VERY slow read and I just couldn't get into it. At about the 50% mark, it started to pick up, and then at the 70% mark, it started to zoom by. The ending was good; it even included a twist in the epilogue. It's just a shame it took so long to get exciting.

Looks like I’m in the minority, and had high hopes. The story had me interested the first quarter of the book, but I didn’t enjoy the writing, conversations seemed unnatural and I figured out the twists pretty early on. I kept reading just to finish. The main twist wasn’t that interesting to me. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Nicole Trope is one of my favorite author’s. She grips you off the bat and you become immersed in her stories. This one does not disappoint.

Nicole Trope is one of my favorite authors, because she can do what very few authors can do- grab my attention page one and hold it until the very last word. Like every other book she's written, The Stay-at-Home Mother did exactly that! The plot was so interesting, the characters complex, and the ending absolutely shocking! I will be telling everyone about this book!!

Andrea and Gabby are new neighbors who find solace in each other’s company as Andrea’s husband is working all the time to try to get their family back on their feet financially after gambling away almost everything they had, and Gabby’s husband is always traveling in the United States.

Andrea finds comfort in the older woman’s calm demeanor as she helps her navigate her new lif in a new city with a three year old and another baby on the way. Surely Gabby is a great source of advice as she has quite the following on her parenting Facebook page. Gabby is just excited to have Andrea and her young son around as recently she feels extraneous as her own son is sixteen with one foot out the door and her husband is never home.

Told in alternating points of view, we the reader quickly discover how much each woman is keeping from the other. Their secrets will soon lead them down a path full of twists and turns. The Stay-at-Home Mother is a fast read in the psychological thriller genre, with somewhat expected plot twists until the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture, and of course Nicole Trope for the advanced copy of the book. The Stay-at-Home Mother is out now. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was a good page turning thriller. Lots of surprises I didn’t expect and never could have guessed the end at all.
A bit unbelievable but most thrillers seem to be that way now.
Enjoyable read.

I received an ARC of this book from Bookouture via Net Galley in exchange for my honest feedback. I found it to be a real page-turner that I didn't want to put down. The author did a great job creating an atmosphere of suspense. I found the characters very believable and well-developed. I did predict one of the twists, but not all of them. I was just slightly disappointed in the ending as it pertained to Andrea's future and her decisions- that part I found completely unbelievable. The very end as it pertained to Gabby left me in shock and definitely with some questions! Looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nicole Trope is my favourite author. I have read all her books, and they never disappoint. This book is, again an excellent read. Recommended.

This was definitely a page turner. The lives of two women, both hiding secrets, collide and the result is scary and unpredictable.

Excellent story and plot. Surprise ending was unique and unexpected. Hated the spineless and useless lying husband and this thought less of andrea.. Otherwise a good read..

This is the seventh book that I’ve read by this author and they just keep on getting better and better. As soon as I finished reading the prologue I just knew that this was my type of read. It’s one of those books that once you pick it up you’ll really struggle to put it back down again. And who doesn’t love a book like that. This is a fast paced read packed full of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book for fans of domestic / psychological suspense thrillers.

What a book! This had a great set up that led to a dynamite ending! My head was spinning throughout most of the book. It was very Well done. I love reading this author!!

Love these surprise reads that are like little gems that sparkle in the light! The Stay-at-Home Mother is certainly a gem. I had a hard time putting it down. Andrea, a young very pregnant mother with a three year old named Jack has recently had a run of bad luck and ends up in a new neighborhood. She meets her neighbor, Gabby, who writes Facebook posts offering parenting tips. The train takes off from the station after they meet and the reader is treated to a wild ride with many twists and turns, as well as derailments.
This read certainly touches on how very difficult parenting can be, as well as, the toll pregnancy can take on women. Both women have secrets that cause them embarrassment as well as heartbreak. Their secrets are revealed slowly little by little. The star of the book, for me, is Jack, a very precocious boy who steals your heart.
I really enjoyed this fast paced read and will definitely read more from Nicole Trope in the future. Many many thanks to Nicole Trope, Bookouture, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this just published gem.

I’m not sure if it is officially a trope or if it has a name, but I’ve been loving books where the plot centers around the reader knowing there is more to the story than they officially know at the start.  The small hints that we can guess about (and are most often wrong LOL) but that slowly unfold throughout the read. That describes this book to a tee.

This is not my first read by the author and I love her outrageous storylines.  You will not have read this plot anywhere else.  It starts off with a bang with the voicemail about using someone else’s child's picture in the missing post.  Then it casually switches to two neighbors that live across the street from each other that both harbor secrets.  They both seem so normal, but are they?  I had all kinds of wild ideas about the secrets the story hinted to and I can say I did have one right, but the rest were not even close to what I was imagining.  I love when I can guess something correct in a twisted book, but only when it was not an obvious guess.

And just when you are let in on all the secrets, there is one more ready to catch you off guard.  I really liked this one.  It kept me guessing (even what I was able to guess, I didn’t know for sure until the reveal), it was a quick read, and the writing style made it so easy to read.  I’m not a mom so I didn’t really associate with either main character, but that did not stop my enjoyment.

If you are looking for a quick, can’t put down book, you should give this one a try.

Andrea, her husband Terry, and their 3-year-old son, Jack have moved into a home that is badly in need of repair. Andrea is pregnant and due in a few weeks. Terry has made life miserable for her with his actions resulting in this move. While Jack is in pre-school for a few hours per day, Andrea struggles to get unpacked and the house in order. Her pregnancy has been fraught with lots of nausea and she’s exhausted.

Gabby lives across the street from Andrea and is happy to see a new neighbor. She takes chocolates to Andrea and invites her over for tea and cookies and has lots of toys to entertain Jack. Gabby does not work and is married to Richard who is currently in the U.S. She has a teenage son named, Flynn, about whom she writes a blog on her Facebook page. She gives advice to other mothers of teenagers and is quite popular.

Andrea is upset when she keeps seeing a red car driving slowly down the street and wonders who it is and if it has anything to do with Terry. He has gotten in over his head in the past with gambling and has sworn he has stopped. But, has he?

Andrea thinks that Gabby is a stable and kind woman until leaving Jack with her while she attends to a medical visit, shows her just how wrong she is. Who is Gabby really and what has she done?

I don’t want to give away any spoilers here but suffice to say this book is terrific. The ending surprised me so much as I was not expecting anything like it. A great story of motherhood and people out there ready to grab you when you are at your most vulnerable. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.