Blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources

http://ramblingmads.uk/2024/02/26/blog-tour-the-perfect-parents-j-a-baker/

After the death of their parents, the Hemsworth children return home to try and make sense  of their death.  The story is told from multiple points of view allowing  us insight into each siblings perspective, as behind closed doors all is not as it seems. This was full of family drama, secrets and mystery

Jackson and Lydia Hemsworth are considered to be pillars of their community. They live in a grand home called Armett House and have 3 grown children: Ezra, Flo, and Jessica. So, the whole town is shocked when Jackson and Lydia jump into the rough river in a suicide pact. Jackson’s body was found but Lydia’s was not. It is assumed she washed out to sea. After the memorial service, the 3 children are faced with clearing out the house - a project they dread.

As the sisters begin clearing out the house, they find more information about their parents and things that they did not expect. Each day is filled with more revelations and truths that they never realized.

This book is one shock after the other. I was taken aback at each chapter. How can one family have so many secrets and dreadful ones at that? I was rather glad when the book was finished. It was exhausting to read and very tense. However, I’m sure readers will like this story. Enjoy!

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

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Perfect Parents' by J.A. Baker.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for J.A. Baker, Rachel's Random Resources, Book And Tonic, Boldwood Books, Poison & Pens and The Bold Book Club

Publication date 26th February 2024.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely wont be my last!

This novel consists of a prologue and 48 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

'The Perfect Parents' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Baker discusses/includes suicide.

Wow!!! This book is fantastically written and had me hook, line and sinker from beginning to end. The descriptions were so in depth and vivid that the hair on my arms was standing on the ends and my heart was pounding throughout. The synopsis, title and cover were perfect for the storyline.

I was absolutely absorbed throughout this page turner. It is filled with tension, suspense, secrets, lies, twists, drama and omg the ending!!! I DID NOT see coming!!! A MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS JA Baker!! It is getting harder and harder to shock me but by God you did that over and over and over!!! What an ending!!! One of the most gripping unputdownable nerve wracking domestic suspense books that I have EVER read!!! You lady have one hell of a talent and I cannot wait to get hold of your previous and future books. I cannot remember the last time I was so hooked by a book but you managed that big time!!! The storyline is filled with drama, shocks, secrets, twists, suspense, tension, deceit and more. There was so much going on and it was very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I'm not going to go too much into the storyline as I don't want to give anything away and everything you need to know is in the incredible synopsis. However I do want to say that I absolutely LOVE the fact that this book we get to see the story from both Flo and Jessica perspectives and that it is set over multiple timelines! This book really does go to show that you never know what really goes on behind closed doors and that appearances can be very deceiving indeed. If your on the other side of that closed door the Hemsworth family couldn't ask for anything more. they have money, a good reputation and standing in the community and are well known. However, when you open that door things are very, very different!! Flo, Jessica and Ezra's parents Jackson and Lydia jump off Newport Bridge in a joint suicide pact. There is only one funeral to arrange which is of their father's as his was the only body recovered, Lydia being presumed dead. During Jackson's funeral there is no sympathy for the deceased and only the Coop family seem to be on the family's side. Why did their parents end their lives? What did they do to upset the community so much? Who are the people who turn up at the house unannounced and what do they want? You will just have to grab a copy of this gripping psychological thriller today to find out for yourselves! I have never read a storyline like this one and considering I have read hundreds of books that is quite a feat so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Baker on constructing a unique, intriguing and captivating page turner! Baker's fantastic evocative writing skills and descriptions really draws the reader into the storyline putting them in the middle of the suspense themselves with the characters, emotions and surroundings coming to life in front of their eyes! i am definitely looking forward to reading more books by this fantastic author!!

Clear your schedule before you start as I read this in one sitting as I could not put it down!! Practically every chapter ended on a cliff hanger so no way could I put it down!! Absolutely hooked!! I would absolutely love to see this turned into a movie!!!!

I was completely invested in both the storyline and the characters. Each of the characters had their own unique personalities and I felt differently about each of them. Baker has managed to create several realistic, flawed and questionable characters that she brings to life with her creative and evocative writing skills and puts them into what should be an everyday storyline but makes the reader question everything and everyone they are seeing, reading and meeting throughout!! As with the storyline I won't go into any details about the characters as I don't want to run the risk of giving anything away and spoiling this incredible storyline for future readers. I will say that I did not have a clue who to trust and I never did work out who was up to what. Baker has done an amazing job with the multiple protagonists and multiple timelines and weaves all the different timelines and characters stories together perfectly not causing any confusion into whose point of view I read from or what timeline the chapters were talking about. If you want to know more you will just have to click the link below to get a copy!! All in all a great mix of characters that worked well with this storyline and regardless of whether you love them or hate them they all played their parts perfectly along with Baker's fantastic writing skills making each of them jump out of the pages coming to life in front of your eyes.

Congratulations J.A. Baker on an absolutely gripping, suspense packed and addictive page turner!! I cannot wait to get stuck into more of your books and I would definitely like to welcome you to my favourite author list!! here is to your next guaranteed success!!!

Overall an absolutely thrilling and unputdownable addictive domestic suspense!!

356 pages.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 in paperback at time of review via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

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I have read a few of J A Bakers books and have enjoyed them. Perfect Parents tells the story of three siblings and their parents. Florence, Jessica and Ezra are attending the funeral of their father.

Jackson and Lydia Hemsworth had for whatever reason made a suicide pact that they would jump from the Newport Bridge. They do this but only the father's body is found. Did Lydia survive? If she did where is she?

The three siblings have gone back to their home to just try to have some semblance of normalcy. They know that they need to decide what to do with the house. For each of the siblings, the house brings back memories of their childhood. Because Jackson was such a controlling and mean person their childhood memories are best left alone.

As the story goes on we learn about the sibling's childhood years plus their adult lives and the issues that they have as a direct result of how they were treated as children. Until their mother's body is found they are kind of in a limbo, they cannot sell Armett House or anything else that is in the will but as they go through things in the house, they find that here were secrets of which may or may not explain the father's cruelty.

As with all of JA Bakers novels, there is a twist at the end that you would not have guessed. Like I said, I have enjoyed all the books that I have read by this author.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #Boldwood for the copy of the book for review purposes only. I was not monetarily compensated for my review.

The Perfect Parents certainly weren't. They have committed suicide together and left their children to clean up their messes. Theirs was not a happy childhood. But their mother's body is missing. They can't sell without her being able to finally be declared dead. Plus, there is rumors of missing girls. Seems dad didn't worry about age. The ending was good. It explained a lot of why their mother behaved as she did.

I liked this story. Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

This was a good read, it started off slow at the until the twists and turns came into it. The characters were interesting, the story itself was enjoyable and the style of writing was perfect. I have read a few of this authors books and I have enjoyed them all.
I would recommend this book and It’s author to anyone who likes reading psychological thrillers.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

The Perfect Parents had me hooked from the description alone, I could feel the tension dripping off the words, and the book did not disappoint. It was packed full of twists and turns, secrets and lies and was quite the rollercoaster of a book. I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

An intense psychological thriller concerning the Hemsworth family & their home ‘Armett House’. This story is told mostly from the POV of sisters Flo & Jess.

Siblings, Flo, Jess & Ezra try to present a united front at the funeral of their father. Their mother is also presumed dead following an apparent joint suicide pact but her body has yet to be found. The locals are definitely anti-Hemsworth, apart from Coops, the family handyman & confidante. The children discover why as they start to clear the house & uncover hidden secrets both physically & those told to them by various unwanted visitors.

An extremely twisting tale which had so many reveals that I was exhausted, let alone the characters. The father came across as a vile character & I couldn’t help but feel for those left behind. Starting off as a slow burn, this soon picked up pace until I was rattling through the chapters eager to know how it would end. A great read.

This opened with such a dramatic scene - an unknown girl slowly dying on the floor of an unknown room in unknown (but clearly murky) circumstances - immediately followed by a married couple throwing themselves off a bridge in an apparent suicide pact, but with the added intrigue of obvious hostility between the pair - they clearly weren’t doing this out of all consuming love for one another!

Turns out mum and dad have a whole bunch of sordid secrets they’ve been hiding…and their children have a few humdingers of their own 😳

I loved the format of this book, flipping between different characters and their POVs, going back and forth between past and present. Short, snappy chapters and a rising tension made this a true “just one more chapter” read for me.

My only gripe was the slightly repetitive way the characters spoke about their father. Every other paragraph seemed to have a sentence about what a bastard he was, and some point it just stopped adding anything to the story and just became tiresome. But that aside, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who loves a slow-burning thriller where the main question isn’t ‘who?’ but ‘why?’ 🖤

Thank you so much @rachelsrandomresources @theboldbookclub for my copy of The Perfect Parents to read and review 🙏🏻

Full of twists and turns, and a million and one loop-the-loops, The Perfect Parents is a rollercoaster of a book with so many plot angles I didn’t see coming - and just a few that I did!

This was such a good read, and I devoured it in only a couple of days. There is so much I want to say, so much I want to tell you about, but that would just spoil it, so you will just have to trust me and read it yourself.

Written primarily from two viewpoints, that of Flo and Jess - two of the Hemsworth children, the story alternates from one to the other with the odd curveball thrown in every now and again. There are lots of secrets, and lots of hushed whispers and gossip throughout the village, but is there anyone at all that knows the whole truth? Maybe, or maybe not?

If you like a good thriller, that will keep you turning the pages and get your brain cells working overtime that I would recommend you go out and buy yourself a copy of The Perfect Parent.

Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review The Perfect Parents by J.A. Baker.

This was an exciting book which made me want to keep reading. The characters were well written, and all had their own paths. The ending was surprising, but understandable that the family would stay together. Coop being the father was guessed part way through. Great book.

This was my first J,A. Baker book and I loved it. Perfect Parents?? Not quite! I thought I had figured it all out early, but I was wrong...well, partially wrong. I can't wait to read more of her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood for the ARC.

So this book didn’t grab my whole attention! I did have to go back to it a few times to be able to finish it…..so it’s supposed to be a suspense thriller but I’ve read better, it would be an ok read if u were by a pool and had nothing of your own left to read and u saw this on a bookshelf in the hotel!

Didn't live up to it's promise I feel. Not badly written but characters felt a little two dimensional. There was something very odd about the book that I couldn't pin point but then I realised that although set in the UK it felt very American so it didn't quite gel. Quite why that should be I have no idea. Not a bad read and if you found it in the bookcase at a hotel you'd happily read it by the pool. Just not great and more than a little unbelievable

The Hemsworth family, to the outside world they are the piller of their little community but behind closed doors there is lies, deception and secrets galore. Secrets that only begin to touch the surface after Jackson and Lydia Hemsworth throw themselves off a bridge in a suicide pact. But what could have happened to make the couple take such drastic measures?

When Flo, Jessica and Ezra arrived back to the village for the funeral they find they are no longer welcome with the other townsfolk turning against them, they have no idea what has caused this disdain towards them but they soon discover that all was not as it seems in the Hemsworth household after they all left home, and when the last catches up with them well all hell breaks loose.

secrets a plenty to keep the family on their toes, and with each child having made it clear that they detested their father, they also reasoned that their mother whose body wasn’t found may still be out there – alive?

First, I want to thank J.A. Baker, Boldwood Books, NetGalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

WOW!!! My mind was blown right off the bat with J.A. Baker’s The Perfect Parents. Oh they were not perfect by any means! This is a fast paced, gripping, twisted, shocking read!

One thing is for sure J.A. Baker is amazing with her eye for details, descriptions and characters' emotions. Some scenes I felt as if I were there!

J.A.’s prologue was jaw dropping, mind blowing, twisted and dark!! She grabs your attention hard and runs with the story! I could not believe this was how the story was going to start out. It was at this point in time I questioned the title of the book. However, it was the perfect hook for the story!

My heart broke originally for the adult children who lost both of their parents tragically. I had so many questions as to why and what was so bad that this was the only solution?! There were so many deep dark secrets, twists, turns, and jaw dropping moments in this book.

4 stars

This was an interesting book, that was well written, and fast reading.

The plot revolves around the drowning suicides of both parents of Flo, Jess, and Ezra, adult siblings, who are shocked by the deaths.

While police recover the body of their father, their mother’s body has yet to be found. When the siblings try to sort out their emotions, as well as their parent’s home, they reminisce about the hatred they had for their father.
Through chapters devoted to each sibling, we learn about their lives, and discover that their parents were very far from perfect!

I enjoyed the book, as well as all the twists and turns!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC.
My review is voluntary, and
honestly written.

A tense and suspenseful thriller that explores the dark secrets that can hide behind closed doors, with a gripping plot and an unexpected twist.

I went back to finish this and honestly, this book was just not for me. It dragged out everything and I the same stuff kept getting repeated about the house. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.