𝑺𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇, 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆. 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑺𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏.

Sarah and Adam Morgan had the perfect suburban life with beautiful house, an adorable daughter, a baby on the way, and a love only written about in romance books. They were the couple everyone envied–until Adam died.

Sarah is deeply struggling with her grief when to her astonishment, the mother that Adam said was dead turns up at Sarah's home to offer her condolences. Sarah is stunned and in disbelief, and while I get that she's overwhelmed with grief, I was screaming at her when she inexplicably moves into this woman's home. This is where the plot started to unravel for me.

While this was a decent read, the actions of the main character were just too unbelievable to salvage the plot. Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this early read. This title publishes February 6, 2024.

Sarah is reeling from the loss of her beloved husband Adam they have a toddler name Ellie and shes also expecting again on the second to last day of her husband Shiva Sarah is approached by Ava, Who is the wife of Adam‘s business partner Gram she tells Sarah that Adam wanted her to sign over guardianship papers for the new baby due to Sarah’s mom‘s history it takes Sarah threatening to punch Ava in the mouth for the other woman to move aside so Sarah can answer the door. At the door is a woman claiming to be the mother of Henry and after a bit of confusion she learns the woman means Adam and as far as Sarah new Addams mom was dead.. it doesn’t help that Sarah has her own mental disorder and she hasn’t even buried her husband yet. Eventually Sarah will learn that her husband who switched to to The Jewish religion before their marriage that Adams for their Peter was a preacher of Christianity and that he and his father had a falling out when Adam who was 18 which caused him to leave home and never look back. This is one of just many things that Adams mom Candace tells to the overwhelmed Sarah. Candace however seems very sincere about the loss of her son and wanting to get to know the pregnant widow in Little Ellie. This is why when the older woman learns about Graham in Ava’s underhanded harassment and blackmail just so Sarah could get the money due to her from her husband‘s company she invites Sarah and her daughter to move in with her until she has the new baby. Sarah is a smart and levelheaded woman but she is also basically alone in the world with her own parents dead and now her husband’s Business partner and his wife turning on Sarah she feels after some thought that this may just be a good thing… But OMG is she wrong! This was such a great book and a bow it may look like I told a lot of the story trust me when I say I did not! This book was so good and there is so much more to the story I do want to say in the story the two women can this and Sarah get in a little tiff about Judaism and Christianity in each woman points out negatives about the other but here’s a newsflash for anyone who thinks their religion hasn’t historically been on the wrong side of goodness, religion is run by human humans or fallable there’s no one religion that is better than any other religion and anyone who is a strict religious person and follows the Bible or Quran can’t be a bad thing after 911 a famous rabbi said any road to God is a good one it’s just what people do with those religions that make them look bad. But that is just a small part of the book and I totally went off topic this is an awesome twisty read and I mean twisty because I didn’t even mention honor Who is the woman that lives with Candace and doesn’t like the new income or Sarah. I want to thank the publisher a NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The twists were much too easy to guess, and I couldn't really connect with any character. Not terrible, but not great. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

This book was just ok in my opinion. It centers on Sarah, whose husband Adam dies, leaving her with a young child and a baby in the way. When Candace shows up and says she is Adam’s mom, Sarah is skeptical because he said his mom was deceased, but doesn’t feel like she has much choice other to trust her.

The whole situation with Candace was bizarre and I felt somewhat frustrated with Sarah at times because I didn’t understand why she didn’t ask more questions. I also thought that while there were some good twists, many questions were left unanswered when all was said and done. I did like the ending, for the most part, but wish some more loose ends has been explained.

Overall, decent book that kept me reading but not my favorite psychological thriller. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for letting me read this arc copy. The storyline was fantastic and genuinely kept me hooked! Characters were well developed and the storyline was interesting. Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers

I am really sorry to say that the writing is just not for me. I just can’t get through the book. There’s not enough thrill and the characters are not convincing enough.

Thank you, Crooked Lane Books, for the advance reading copy.

My first Mina Hardy book but definitely not my last! This was an intimate and dark look into the secrets we keep. Huge on the creep factor. Captivating characters that kept me flipping pages long into the night.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

★ ★ ★ ★ //5

Like A Mother
by: Mina Hardy

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you love a thriller with lots of twists, turns and secrets then this book will be for you! This book will absolutely keep you page turning and at the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. There are some light religious aspects in this book but I wasn’t bothered by that. The ending left me hanging a bit but other than that this book was so good and kept my interested the entire time. Aside from how the ending left me, I think this book is an amazing read and should be on all TBR’s.

This was far too slow paced to be a thriller and I know we all love a twist and expect them in these types of books the twists in this book just felt plonked in with no real reason other than to include a twist. The cover is eye catching

I really enjoyed this book and was gripped from the start.
The plot is unique and I found it really interesting. I’ve seen others mention the religious aspect may offend, however I certainly didn’t feel like that.
It’s a really good thriller, and one that I’d recommend.

When you find out your husband was keeping secrets
.big secrets...
Was a twisty kind of read but not that impacted a punch as much as I thought it would from the blurb.
I found the religious parts not really properly discussed. I can see how some Chriatians could take offense.
Was just an OK read from my perspective. But wouldn't atop me from reading more from the author.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Thankyou to NetGalley, and also Crooked Lane Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I really enjoyed this book - and it's premise. It follows a pregnant FMC (Sarah) and her daughter after Sarah loses her husband to cancer. Sarah doesn't have any family, so after meeting her husband's mother decides to move in with her in another state to avoid the danger/drama of her late husband's business partner.

There are a lot of religious undertones in this book, that become more and more prevalent as the story unfolds. Sarah comes from a Jewish background, and her husband's family is fundamental Christian. There were times that this story was a bit slow, but each detail proved to be important. Lots of twists and turns throughout - a VERY good story!! Would definitely recommend!

This was a brilliant thriller! It had me hooked from the very beginning and was super fast-paced, so it definitely kept my interest throughout the story.

The twists were definitely more minor than other books of the same genre that I’ve read, so they were therefore a little less impactful than I usually enjoy, but I loved the overall story and it was very creepy. I also felt that there were a couple of small unanswered questions left at the end of the book but the main details were wonderfully wrapped up.

I would thoroughly recommend this one for lovers of fast-paced psychological thrillers!

This book wasn't nearly as suspenseful and gripping as I had been expecting, after reading the blurb. It was fairly interesting, but also kind of offensive. As a Christian, I didn't appreciate the portrayal of Christians being psychotic. The book ended up being a big disappointment for me, and I don't plan to read anything else from this author.

Do you enjoy Lifetime movies that are steeped in family drama? Do you enjoy being thoroughly confused, yet invested? Then this is the suspenseful story for you.

Sarah is a widowed mom who's expecting her second child.

Candace, Sarah's mother-in-law, who was allegedly dead is come to find out, very much alive.

Unforeseen circumstances, and the promise of a more stable immediate future, has Sarah moving in with her new relative.

As we all know, not all that glitters is gold.

Like A Mother has several twist and turns, some that make sense and are predictable, and others that come totally out of left field and left me as a reader wondering WTF is going on? Like what next, hasn't everyone experienced enough?

At times there seemed to be one-to-many tropes going on, but overall Like A Mother, was a fast and enjoyable read. I think fans of Freida McFadden would enjoy this read.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the free digital ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 rounded up to 4 because it's more 4 than 3 for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the arc!
This was such an exciting read! The story starts off with Sarah, who is mourning the loss of her husband while caring for their toddler and having a baby (secretly) on the way. Following her husband's death Sarah comes to realize that her husband was not who she believed him to be, but was the reasoning worth hiding the truth?
Although it was predicable at times there were moments in the plot where I was entirely shooooook! And let me say that Sarah has MUCH MORE patience than I do! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Jewish Faith through the entirety of the book and thought that this aspect was well written!
I believe that we could had been given more with the ending as there are some questions that I would have liked us to get answers to.

This book had an interesting premise, but it didn’t really work for me. I feel like I have too many unanswered questions after finishing it and the ending was… strange. It was kind of slow through the middle and then the ending seemed rushed. I’m glad I read it but it just wasn’t a great thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC copy of Like a Mother. The story had an interesting premise but it was dull through the middle and the ending was a little silly. It seemed like the author tried to throw in (what she thought were) shocking twists, but that ultimately didn't make any real difference in the story. I'm not upset I read this, but I don't feel like it will be memorable. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for this ARC! My first book by this author and I was absolutely blown away.

I was gripped from the first chapter and couldn’t put it down. When Sarah’s husband dies of cancer, Sarah is shocked when her mother in law shows up to the funeral. The problem is that her husband told her she was dead.

This book definitely gave me flowers in the attic vibes! I loved it and couldn’t put it down. The twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more!

Mina Hardy's literary work Like a Mother deftly explores the complex experiences of Sarah, a recently widowed woman struggling with the loss of her husband, Adam. Sarah's mental health has been thrust into the spotlight in relation to the health of her three-year-old daughter Ellie. In this case, trusted friend Ava steps in and offers a thoughtful solution, paving the way for a convincing exploration of their dynamic. But the plot moves quickly and becomes more complicated as Sarah questions Ava's underlying motives. Within this narrative there is a fascinating exploration that delves into the depths of Sarah's story. Her husband's death accelerates the investigation and forces her to confront her past.