Monica and Rachel have been best friends since college. Their lives are completely entwined with their children attending the same school, Rachel picking up the slack in Monica’s childcare issues and even joint family vacations. So when Chloe, Rachel’s eldest daughter gets pregnant but chooses to tell Monica first, it sets off a chain of events that keep you hooked until the final chapter.

I’m giving this book 3 stars because I did enjoy it. However, I struggled to get over the supposed main plot point of Monica not telling Rachel her daughter was pregnant. Monica is a doctor. A fertility specialist. Surely, doctor/patient confidentiality would have kicked in? Even if Chloe wasn’t, strictly speaking, her patient, the fact that she told her at her place of work would lead me to believe this was the case. It ruins the believability for me as all Monica had to say was ‘I took an oath’ and there could be no comeback, no matter how much Rachel disliked it.

I guessed the main twist before it even happened as it was not exactly subtle in set up. Definitely used a sledgehammer there! The characters were under developed in my opinion and didn’t always behave in the way I‘d have expected.

As previously stated, I did enjoy this book, hence the 3 stars but it’s a flawed read. The friendship theme is well explored but I did feel it was a bit overworked. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

Monica and Rachel became friends at college, and have never looked back since - not through Monica's sometimes challenging marriage to an inordinately ambitious man, not through Rachel's unexpected pregnancy at college and subsequent dropping out as a result of that pregnancy, and not through their very different lives and schedules today, when Rachel is a preschool teacher and Monica is a highly regarded obstetrician.

Until Rachel's daughter Chloe swears Monica to secrecy about Chloe's unanticipated pregnancy with a boyfriend who may or may not be The One. Although she is deeply uncomfortable about keeping secrets from Rachel, Monica feels stuck. She agonizes about telling Rachel, and it affects their relationship deeply. What she doesn't expect is to find out that Rachel has been keeping secrets of her own...

Things are further complicated by Rachel's efforts to push her husband Chris to be more ambitious, like Monica's husband. But when Chris goes to work for him, and there are then rumours of financial corruption floating around, tensions begin to flare.

This is an easy and quite engrossing novel, but the pacing at times felt a little uneven. The characters are well developed, and believable. in some cases, they are even relatable. There are plenty of twists along the way, and though at times it can feel a bit slow, overall it was an enjoyable read.

I loved it! Great book focusing on family and friendships. It really made me think about what I would do in her position, loved the fact that Monica and Rachel were the main characters made me smile as a massive friends fan. The only part I wasn't a fan of was the way she pushed her husband to leave his job and wanting him to be better, this made me quite uncomfortable as she should be over the moon with what she already has! Will definitely look out for more from this author, thank you

This book was definitely an exciting read but it did feel slow at points. However the twists and turns did make me feel more drawn into the novel

3.5*

This book was a good read. Nice and easy for that twixmas period! It did feel quite easy going until we got halfway through and then it certainly picked up speed then! Really interesting 'what would you do' questions raised!

Best plot twist ever...I think my mouth hung open when what was revealed. A book about love, friendship, hardships, scandals.. thus book had it all. I definitely enjoyed reading this one kept me totally enthralled.

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

I found this to be well written but a bit dragged out . The characters are well developed and at times I equally hated and liked them . The story was a bit predictable but overall an ok read .

Rachel and Monica have been best friends since college. Always there for each other no matter what. Rachel ended up getting pregnant in college and her life changes. Now it’s Rachel’s daughter’s Chloe’s turn to go to college and she ends up pregnant. Everyone has secrets. Eventually things come out and then things change. Family and friendship gets tested. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to end the way it did. Monica’s husband really creeped me out.

I found this book to be interesting but also slow and long. I think the story was dragged out and I just kept waiting for her it to get better.

Thank you, NetGalley, Jen and Bookouture for the ARC!

Two women who met at college, and their friendship has spanned over two decades.
Rachel fell pregnant in college and Monica supported her decision to have the child and get married.
Now that child, Chloe, has fallen pregnant and she tells her Godmother, Monica first.
This decision is one of many that threatens the friendship that has lasted so long.

I did enjoy this book, but it was a little long. I feel it could have been cut quite a bit. It is a family drama, and I did correctly predict where the story was going.
The focus was on friendship and how friendships can be destroyed.
The characters were well developed, and I see a lot of true life problems in the book. For instance, a mother who is too busy for her family, and a friend picks up the slack. Rachel did a lot for Monica, while Monica seemed to put her career first.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for the opportunity to read this book.

This book focuses on the complexity of motherhood and female friendships. I genuinely enjoyed every single page. I enjoyed the author’s story telling approach. She in my opinion wonderfully explores the feelings and experiences of every mother in the world who one day asks them selves….Am just a good mom? As well as exploring the difficulty of maintaining adult friendships and communication. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book has a great plot and I enjoyed reading it because it was really engrossing. I liked the characterization and the plot progression and pacing was really good. In fact, I believe that the pacing and tension are the two things that made this book such a huge hit.

I really enjoyed this story – it was very well written and had a really addictive feel.

The characters in the story were brilliant. They were so well developed, I really felt for some, and not so much for others. There was a great mix and they all had their own negative traits which allowed others to have strengths and I loved the slight frictions that this caused.

There was an act in the book about half way though that made me guess where the book was heading but it didn’t detract from the plot for me, there were twists and turns and it still made for a gripping read.

I really enjoyed this book and I read it over the Christmas period, starting it on Christmas Eve and finishing it on Boxing Day – I think if it hasn’t been for certain festive activities I would have happily sat there reading the book from cover to cover!

It is 4.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 5 stars for Amazon and Goodreads – very highly recommended – this was my first book by this author, and it certainly won’t be my last – Jen has a new fan!

Her Daughter
by Jen Craven

Two close knit families. Two mothers are completely different points of their lives. Both with different values and roles. Rachel is the homemaker, Monica the successful daughter trying to handle motherhood.
When Rachel’s daughter Chloe finds out she is pregnant, it’s not her mother she turns too, but Monica.
Loyalties will be tested, secrets will come out… when everything comes out (and it will…), what will be left of the friendships and families?

This is my first novel by Jen Craven.
It was super easy to get into and I was hooked very quickly. The writing was fluent and straightforward. I love these kind of family dramas.

The first half intrigued me. It was building up the relationships between the characters. I don’t know why on earth I was expecting a thriller, when it’s labelled as general/women’s fiction. It had tension and some supersede though. At around halfway I noticed that this was not labelled as a thriller.

I liked how different the characters were, but so alike at the core. Rachel who works and runs the household and is the glue that hold everyone together, but she feels like she has not lived up to her potential and dreamed then we have her best friend Monica who has what Rachel secretly wishes for. We got to see how their friendship was before Chloes pregnancy and how that does not only strain Rachel’s family but also the friendship of the two women.

All in all this book kept me turning the pages and I found myself immersed in the story. But by all means, I knew exactly where this was going to lead to. Didn’t take a lot to figure out, but nevertheless, I did enjoy the story, the drama and the heartbreak.

Publication March 1st 2024 by Bookouture
Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Ken Craving for allowing me to read this ARC. I was under no obligation to leave a review, all opinions are my own.