I’m a regular reader of. Nicole Trope”s domestic thrillers and wow, this is one of the best of her best. The lives of two women become intwined as neighbors in rural Australia, seemingly helpful to both Gabby, the mother of a rebellious teenager and Andrea, mother of a three year old with another on the way. Both husbands always seem to be working so the two women bond over the trials and triumphs of motherhood with Andrea benefitting from the advice of the older woman and Gabby feeling relevant again with her growing bond with Jack, the youngster. Both women have secrets which threaten to destroy the lives they have made for themselves. As they inch to the surface, cracks become crevices and these crevices can swallow you whole. Can be read in one or two sittings - it’s that good.

Such a great book with amazing twists! Love a good unreliable narrator and we definitely get that here. Will definitely be reading more from this author!

3.5 ⭐️


🦕 “ On being a stay at home mom: Half of the time, I feel like I’m running an insane asylum… the other half, I feel I belong in one.” — Unknown 

🦕 The story follows Andrea Gately who has moved to a new neighbourhood with her husband, three years old son and a new baby on her way. She soon befriends Gaby who lives across the street. Gabby is a SAHM to a 16 years old boy while her husband travels around the world for work. Gabby offers Andrea to babysit Jack so Andrea can get some rest. But Andrea has no idea of Gabby’s real intentions….

🦕 Pick this up if you like/don’t mind:
📌 dual POVs
📌 missing child troupe
📌 slow paced plot
📌 unreliable narrators
📌 unlikeable characters hiding secrets of their own
📌 struggles of motherhood
📌 predictable plot twists
📌 one of the MC suffering from mental health
📌 unexpected & shocking epilogue

🦕 The synopsis of the book instantly grabbed my attention however it was too slow paced. Throughout the book I kept on waiting for something BAD to happen. ( It’s not that I enjoy when something bad happens or the characters in the book suffer. The “BAD” was bound to happen but it took ages 😴) But once it happened and the story took pace, it literally kept me on the edge of my seat. And that shocking epilogue, never in a million years I would have been able to guess it. It definitely stole the show for me. 👏 This was my first book by the author and I am definitely gonna read more by her.

🦕 Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

It’s true what they say, you never really know anyone. When it comes to your children, it’s hard to know who to trust. But who do you turn to when you don’t have many options? Stay at home mother is relatable as the story can truly happen to anyone one of us.
I found parts of the story to be predictable and other parts to be a total surprise. For example, I had a feeling right away that Flynn wasn’t real, however I thought Ben may be Gabby’s child. The final chapters were a total shock of who Richard and Gabby really are. Certain sections of the story felt hyped at the beginning but turned out to be minor details to the story, such as the beginning starting off with the phone call yet it turned into a minuscule part of the book at the end. Overall this book was a quick, page turning read that shows to be careful who you trust.

I enjoyed this one right from the start.

Money and marital problems cause heavily pregnant Andrea to move into a new neighborhood with her husband and very active 3 year old son. Exhausted and feeling alone Andrea is beyond thankful when her new neighbor Gabby befriends her and helps her with her son. When Andrea starts having contractions and can’t get a hold of her husband Gabby comes to the rescue and takes her son so she can go to the hospital. When told it was just Braxton hicks contractions Andrea is sent home to find her son gone but where could he be?

This page turner will have you wanting more! I hope there is a sequel to this one because I’m still wanting more out of these characters!

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for my ARC!

This was such an exciting thriller to read and I really was not expecting the ending! This author impressed me so much I've already looked for more books written by her. A must read if you love a book that will kewp you wanting to stay awake for one more chapter!

I really liked this book even though I could see one of the main twists coming from pretty early on. I liked the final twist and overall it was a fun read.

I really liked this book! I found the twists very interesting and was totally, all-in! I am interested in reading more by this author.

I found The Stay-at-Home Mother to be a bit of a slow burner to begin with and did struggle to get into it but once the twists and turns started I flew through it and really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

I love it when I see Nicole Trope has a new title coming and this one certainly didn't disappoint. There were lots of surprises and even when you think it's all played out, the end really took me off guard. Definitely recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC

The story is set in Australia where Andrea and Gabby are both stay at home moms and live across the street from each other. Gabby’s husband works away a lot leaving her to raise their son Flynn, while Andrea is heavily pregnant, exhausted, a mother to a young son, and wife to a husband hiding secrets.

Gabby befriends Andrea in the street one day and more or less pushes herself into Andrea’s life by luring her across the road with baked goods, and the offers of childminding so she can catch up on some much needed rest. All of which appeal to to a vulnerable Andrea.

But Gabby isn’t who she seems and Andrea makes the biggest mistake of her life one afternoon, leading to a game of cat and mouse and dark secrets being revealed.

The story is told in third person from dual perspectives, and I liked that the chapters were short. I found the characters all had a lot of depth and were well written. I especially enjoyed the mystery that came with Gabby’s character, and the twist at the end was something I hadn’t foreseen—it was the best part of the book for me.

However, I didn’t like that there was more narration than conversation, this became tiresome as the book progressed. I also found the pace of the story quite slow, with the exception of the last four or five chapters which made this section of the book a page-turner for me.

If you’re a fan of unreliable narrators and short chapters then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.


Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

This story was an ok read! It didn't grab me & took me a little while longer than normal to finish! Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read for an honest review!

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The novel follows two women, Andrea and Gabby. Neighbors from across the street, Andrea moves in with her husband Terry and son Jake. Both women have secrets that start intertwining together quickly as they become fast friends.


The first half of the book took me FOREVER to get through. The writing and story felt highly repetitive. I flew through chapters by 60% of the book and finished the last half in less than two hours. The book is told in Dual POV which I usually enjoy. I liked getting both Gabby's and Andrea's perspectives on events happening. The ending shocked me which bumped up my overall rating. I would recommend this book to new readers in the psychological realm of thrillers.

Reading Between the Wines book review #111/115 for 2022:

Rating: 3🍷🍷🍷
Book 📱: The Stay At Home Mother
Author: Nicole Trope
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | General Fiction (Adult)
RELEASES January 3, 2023!

Sipping thoughts: This book gave me two C's: Crazy and confusing. The blurb is definitely misleading to the actual plot but I think was purposeful. I couldn't believe how many times what I thought was happening was dispelled. You have to really pay attention to what is read because it gets really Rollercoastery about 60% in. The ending was a huge 🤯 moment.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for an advanced copy of @TheStayAtHomeMother.

#TheStayAtHomeMother #NicoleTrope #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

It took me a bit longer to finish this book than usual. I figured out the big twists rather early, but there were more surprises to come and I enjoyed that.. This is the perfect before going to bed book that you won’t want to put down.

Nicole Trope has a really interesting writing style and I have a hard time figuring out her final twists which I really appreciate. This one was no different. There were so many things going on that I was trying to figure out how they were all related the entire book and I just couldn't. The two women main characters were just fascinating and I almost wished I had gotten a little bit more of their interactions because I found them so interesting. I really didn't know where this one was going to go and I was shocked to see the ending. This was another commonly used trope of the "stay at home mother becomes friends with a neighbor she cannot trust" but takes it so much further than that and the drama with the husband also added so much to the story. I can't wait to read more from this author. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy and exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley , bookouture and Nicole trope for the opportunity to read the advanced readers copy of “ The stay at home mother.” The book is due to be published January 3rd 2023 and is a 286 paged standalone like her other books she’s written.

Summary:
Andrea a young pregnant mother of a rambunctious 3 year old little boy named jack had to recently move to Sydney Australia due to some unfortunate circumstances. Terry her husband gambled away thousands of dollars to American football and now owes some really sketchy men. Andrea soon befriends the sweet woman across the street with a teenage son who runs a Facebook page that gives tips and advice for all mothers to follow. Both women are harboring secrets about their lives that soon come to light slowly throughout the novel. And one day Andrea goes into labor and has no one to watch jack she trusts gabby to watch him and that’s when everything goes wrong and all the lies come to light.
This was not the first or the last book I’ve read from Nicole. I’ve loved all of the books I’ve read so far and this one is by far my favorite thus far definitely a five star read for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a book with a good twist and not able to pinpoint what’s going to happen from the beginning.
I have received an Arc for free and leaving this review voluntarily.

In truth, I spent a lot of the book feeling conflicted. I didn't care much for Andrea and thought she was incredibly thick for failing to notice Gabby's obvious red flags.

But I was curious enough to keep going to find out what happened and why.
The underlying logic was so frustrating. Unfortunately, the gotcha element was also rather annoying and obtuse.

Overall, the experience was an OK read.

You think you know... but you have no idea... and then you think you know again... but you don't.... there's twist after twist of craziness ... ahhhhh books like this are the best part about reading!

This book is narrated through 2 points of view- Gabby- lonely, social media obsessed, stay at home mother of a teenage boy, Flynn; and her new neighbor, Andrea, a pregnant stay at home mother of a 3-year old boy, Jack. They both have a past they don't talk about, secrets, lies and an unknown future. Neither of them really have any friends, so they find a friendship in each other.... that is, until something happens and their trust is rocked. The less you know about the plot, the better the experience for you, so I will leave it at that.

Slow moving in the beginning as we get to know the characters a bit better, but once it gets going it's non-stop page turning through the end!

Any fan of Nicole Trope will devour this one.
Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review!

Publishing date: January 3rd 2023

I enjoyed this book, it was interesting and a bit different. It's a fast read, yet not a super fast paced story.
Thank you to netgalley, the published and the author for the chance to read this arc for an honest opinion.