The Perfect Mother

What fantastic book. Really kept you on your toes and once started was hard to put down. Brilliantly written with some unexpected twists and turns.
Roz the main character was brilliant and her story was a fantastic insight into the real world that we find ourselves in.
Highly recommended read.

The Perfect .Mother is the first book I've read by Caroline Mitchell, but it won't be the last. A very enjoyable psychological thriller

The Perfect Mother by author Caroline Mitchell is a great thriller! It’s actually one of my very favorite types of psychological thrillers! It really reaches for the feels of a female having to make a tough decision, but at the same time it has has all aspects of a hearty psychological thrill! It did not disappoint!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have yet to read a Caroline Mitchell book that I didn't like. The suspense in this book is amazing! I powered through it in one day. I thought I had the father figured out, but didn't see that one coming at all.

Roz is a great character, finding herself pregnant and wondering what to do next she comes across a website that's exclusive where families "buy" babies. Roz sets off to New York to meet what sounds like a perfect couple, Sheridan and Daniel A list celebreties, they sound perfect but are they too good to be true!! Roz suddenly realised all is not what it seems but can she now back out. Her best friend in Ireland does all she can to help along with her dad, a few others in the house also try to help Roz.
Sheridan is obviously very troubled but how will it all end as Roz now wants to keep her baby, finding out about the baby's dad felt a bit random and didn't really add to the dimension of the story in my opinion.
A very good read

This was ok suitable amount of tension I just I guess knew the formula to these sort of novels
I did think shd I request this and maybe I shdnt as young pregnant girl in peril is a cliche however this did have its moments and didn’t quite follow the paint by numbers .The couple were famous so were risking a lot and the mans motives not overly explored .The actors motive was mentioned but didn’t really get into it and I had become more intrigued by him ,he just seemed to get bored himself and then left the plot plus he fell in love with the last one so what happened there I thought he saw them as objects to become dependent on him yet he was capable of love ....was interested a bit but didn’t really go anywhere
Also the idea her daughter would be a object too to her a machine to keep her on top good idea but didn’t go further than that
I knew all would be ok and work out so no real threat and all along I knew that
Not bad cd be better but yes the strict routine thecomplete lock down on this character was quick and blunt and u do feel for her I just found myself skimming
Thanks netgalley and publishers and author for this advanced copy

Roz hadn’t intended to get pregnant, but now she was is, she’s determined to give her child a better life than she had, a better life than she can provide. She’s thrilled when a private adoption agency pairs her with a wealthy couple in New York. Roz is flown to Sheridan and Daniel’s home and is happy to see all the things the couple can provide for her unborn child. Roz happily moves in, believing she’s making the best decision possible. But it’s not long before she’s questioning herself, she’s not the first pregnant woman Sheridan and her husband have invited in and it soon becomes clear that Roz is safe only as long as she’s pregnant. Creepy and claustrophobic

A superb read - full of suspense, mystery and drama!

Roz lives with Dympna, her best friend, in Dublin. Since losing her job, Roz really needs to make money. At 24 years old, she also finds out that she is pregnant. (The father is not known by the reader.) Roz finds a website where people are willing to "pay" for adoptions. A "diamond" (rich) couple in New York eventually choose Roz as the baby's adoption mother. Roz relocates to New York for the rest of her pregnancy. She finds out who "Julie & Greg" actually are...

As Roz continues through her pregnancy and gets to know Daniel and Sheridan - many bizarre and exciting events occur. Can Roz follow the intense road ahead of her?

A brilliantly written plot and cast of characters! Caroline Mitchell should be praised! HIGHLY recommend!!!

Many Thanks to Amazon UK / Thomas & Mercer for a truly wonderful read!

This book went from a 1* to a 4* and finally settled on a 3*

When I started reading I felt it really wasn’t the type of book I enjoy, however as the reading progressed I found myself drawn to the characters and really enjoyed the book. It does make me question just how possible this scenario is and how often people naively walk themselves into situations

Good twist to it too!

With thanks to the author and publishers for ARC in return for an honest review

A very creative premise that I have not come across before. Roz is a recently pregnant 24 yr old Irish girl that decides adoption is the best route for her unborn child. Caroline Mitchell weaves a terrifying story that shows the true dark side to internet interactions and trusting too quickly. A great thriller!

Okay so the plot idea is amazing, I was so excited to start The Perfect Mother but there was something lacking.

Yes it’s a terrifying situation that Roz finds herself in but I wasn’t feeling any fear because of the writing style. It’s very...basic. There was never a moment where I worried for the characters which is always disappointing with a thriller.

I’d give this a 2.5 rounded up to three for netgalley and goodreads.

I’ve enjoyed several of Caroline Mitchell’s previous novels and this is probably the best so far! Roz is a young Irish women in her mid twenties struggling to pay rent and have a few beers when she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant. Knowing she’s not ready, nor capable, nor financially stable to be a mother, , Roz registers with an exclusive on-line adoption agency where rich couples vie to outbid each other in their search for a child. After a whirlwind decision Roz is off to the States to stay with a famous Hollywood couple in New York to anonymously deliver a sibling for their son. What could go wrong? Everything as she soon discovers. Have they done this before? What happened to another surrogate? Is Roz in Danger? Of course she is! A fast paced thriller, that makes you keep reading another chapter, then another one...before you know it you are halfway through without looking up. Excellent read!

I absolutely loved this book! I found Roz to be a flawlessly created character with such depth and complexion and the storyline to be gripping and suspenseful throughout! Caroline Mitchell is a fantastic author and ‘the perfect mother’ ticked every box for me.  Brilliant!

Really good book very sinister and points how easy it is to gets sucked up into people’s web of lies online you can pretent to be any one I felt so sorry for those girls Iove the twist at the endv

I am a big fan of Caroline Mitchell's writing and enjoy her detective novels so it was intriguing to read this novel which is slightly different to her normal format.
A young woman named Roz is trying to make her way in her hometown in Ireland when she expectantly falls pregnant. She doesn't want people to know the identity of the father and she has no money so the future is not looking too bright for a this young catholic girl. She is convinced that it is best if her unborn child is adopted. Roz joins an elite adoption service and is dumbfounded when within days a mystery contact is jetting her to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are a wealthy and glamorous couple who want a baby to bring up as their own. They have so much more than Roz could dream of and she realises that her child would have everything possible. Circumstances change when Roz moves into their basement suite and she begins to suspect that there are dark secrets held by the couple.
Roz discovers that another woman moved in with them previously and has never been seen since. The clock is ticking to the birth of her child and despite her best intentions she has walked into a nightmare.
I was quickly into this one and was deprived of another good night sleep because I wanted to find out how it was going to finish. Roz is a good character and the plot is well paced, recommended.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and the author for supplying me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Very well written novel, with excellent characters, but it's slow-paced, doesn't have the usual fast start to thrillers that we've come to expect in the US. I found it difficult to get into, kept flipping through the pages.

I can't believe it's October and I have just read my first review book that is to be published in 2020. Boy what a read that was. Exceptional, gripping, Thrilling I just loved the simplicity in the story but the complex web that was weaved throughout.
As always Caroline has written a book that will have you hooked. 'Well and Truly'
I don't have the words to say how much I enjoyed this read, it dragged me along with each and every page and I managed to read it in just 2 days. I couldn't wait to get stuck in to it. Sorry to my family for neglecting them but sometimes books take over my life. (maybe not just sometimes)
This really was an addictive read. Roz is not only penniless but has also discovered she's skint and pregnant. Believing she has no options she sets about trying to find parents that could have her child. Roz believes that the best thing for her unborn child is for it to be brought up by someone else. Someone who is struggling to conceive and will love and make a superb parent, someone who can give her child everything it wants, needs and deserves. What unfolds though the story will certainly open your eyes, you will want to carry on reading and get lost in those pages.
When Roz thinks she has found a perfect couple she heads off on what she thinks is going to be an adventure of a lifetime to New York. What happens next really will blow your mind. I don't intend on giving anything away, I don't like spoilers but this book was just fantastic and I really can't recommend it enough.

Absolutely loved it! What a great idea for a storyline! I was hooked from the first page and found myself picking it up at every opportunity.

This is an addicting psychological thriller!
Roz thought she was doing the best thing for her unborn child, but it all went wrong when she answered an online ad and told NO ONE her plans!
Wow!
Talk about terror, fear, anxiety and horror while trying to calmly sit and read! Amazing!
You will read until you find out how this novel ends and it will NOT be the way you think or thought.
My first Caroline Mitchell book, but definitely not my last.
Great book.

I had never read this author before. It was a very interesting thriller type. The main character was so unsuspecting of what was in store for her and her infant. It kept my attention, turning the pages and I will read this author in the future.

I read this entire book with the sense of unease one gets while watching a good horror flick (I wanted to scream at Roz, “don’t go I’m the basement!” I was pleasantly shocked by the ending, but it all seemed poetically perfect. If you want a compelling, creepy story, pick this one up!

What an suspenseful read! So much to take in this book, I was captivated fro the first chapter and was on edge until the end. A thriller like none I have read. The story is intriguing and heartwrenching. The feelings of angst I felt for the main character were devastating. I enjoyed this book very much, and reccomend to all .
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.
#netgalley #theperfectmother

Wow, The Perfect Mother, was an amazing thriller! I read a lot of psychological thrillers, but this one takes the cake. Caroline Mitchell does it again, 5 stars!

A young Irish woman named Roz finds herself pregnant and not in a place in her life that she is able to keep her baby. She decides to look into adoption and finds a wealthy celebrity couple in New York that are interested in her baby. What starts as a dream come true quickly turns into a nightmare. Lies, family, betrayal… how well do we really know someone?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers. The Perfect Mother was written beautifully, and I found myself staying up at night wanting to read more and more.

Thank you, Net Galley, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a real page turner
It’s a story which could actually happen to anyone
It shocks and keeps twisting to the very end
Another beauty of a book from an author who is first class
This book is highly recommended and I will keep you up till the early hours

This is an engaging well written psychological thriller with the right amount of suspense and mystery.

Roz is single, jobless and pregnant. She wants a far better life for her baby than the one she got. So she stumbles on a website where rich couples could "buy" babies. Roz heads to NY to meet the golden couple of Daniel and Sheridan. They are glamorous, super rich and look absolutely picture perfect, but is all this too good to be true?

Roz starts to get skeptic, as a string of strange and unsettling events start occurring and she feels scared about the safety of her baby. What will happen, and will Roz and her baby survive what is coming ahead? Read and treat yourself to an accomplished thriller.

Thanks Netgalley, Amazon Publishing UK, and Caroline Mitchell for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book sounded good but I found it to be quite disappointing. I skipped a lot of the pages . Sorry but this one isn't for me

Perhaps a bit over the top and a stretch for the imagination, but this book is still a fun read. It has a lot of tension and drama, and although somewhat formulaic, it still offers some unexpected twists and turns. I would have liked some deeper development of many of the characters and the ending is a bit too neat and tidy in my opinion, but it did hold my attention and keep me reading to find out how things would resolve. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing an advance copy for review.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy. This was not really my kind of book. It sounded good but just wasn't for me. It was written well and had its twists but just could not hold my interest.

Oh the drama! The suspense! The Mystery! When I first read the synopsis I had this deja vu of it being a Rosemary's Baby type book. I am not sure why. While it did have hints of that, a pregnant woman, a RICH couple, moving into a house with history, I have to say it was like that but times ten better and modern. Roz is from Dublin and finds herself pregnant and finds someone in America willing to adopt her baby. Not only that they will fly her there and allow her to stay and pay for all the expenses. What luck. As she continues thru her pregnancy and gets to know the couple better and better, more strange and unexplained things happen. There are a lot of bizarre events that keep you trying to piece together the puzzle till the intense ending. Don't miss out on this book. I have not read her previous books but I have heard it is a departure from her normal style and plan to check out her other series.

Wow. What an amazing book. Full of suspense and enough twists to not know who was good and who was bad. Roz finds herself pregnant after a night of drinking and despair. While she has told her best friend she is pregnant she cannot tell her who the father is, dreading their friendship would be over. The only path is a trip to leave Ireland and go to the US to give the Baby away. What follows is several terrifying months. The author has done a wonderful job of creating characters with flaws but who you love. She had me feeling claustrophobic as she wove the threads of this book together. I was kept guessing and proven wrong more than once. A book you don’t want to put down, full of suspense, murder, movie stars and true friendship. Roz is a beautifully strong character. Thank you NetGalley, Caroline Mitchell and Amazon Publishing for the chance to read this book.

Fantastic novel. Couldn’t put it down And read in one sitting. Great tension throughout. Another fabulous book from Caroline.

A superb book. Well written, psychologically thrilling and full of twists and turns . In this day and age when truth is actually stranger than fiction the premise of this book is totally believable
. Roz, a naive young Irish girl, is pregnant and travels to New York to “give” her unborn baby to a wealthy celebrity couple. What happens to her is both chilling and frightening..
Roz and Dympna inspired empathy and I liked the constancy of their friendship. The portrayal of Sheridan and Daniel was really well developed and at some points I found myself actually feeling sorry for Sheridan. I have not read any other Caroline Mitchell books but I will certainly look out for her in future.
Thank you Caroline, Amazon Publishing and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

Such a good read! The premise caught my eye and once I got started I could not put the book down!! Would definitely recommend to everyone.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 mixed stars

This book started as a 2 star book, then after the first third I loved it, Sheridan pushes it to a 4/5 star book.

Then came the ‘twist’ which seemed so out of sync, and hard to believe given we had limited insight into the real bad guy.

The the big finale was like - ok let’s tie all this together as quickly as possible.

Disappointing sorry.

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell. A bit of a slow start but quickly turns into a somewhat unconventional, unpredictable and suspenseful drama. From the self absorbed movie idol to the unwed expectant mother and all in between, the characters are totally spot on. Another twist at the end is a surprise. Very good read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

And the unexpected twists just kept on coming!!

WOW!! I finished this rollercoaster ride of a story late last night after being engrossed for the past couple of days, so much so my housework and household chores went neglected which I’m usually strictly on top of because I couldn’t bare to part from this fantastic book!

Having read one of Caroline’s previous novels the silent Victim which was a fantastic read I knew I was in for a treat with the perfect mother and was thrilled when Netgalley kindly sent me a copy to read.

We are introduced to Roz who is a young woman full of life and personality, she is Irish and therefor has a bubbly and strong fighting spirit, she lives with her lifelong best friend dympna in a small rented flat and has a cleaning job, unfortunately Roz struggles to make ends meet and isn’t really secure financially, she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant which she has torn and mixed feelings over down to whom the babies father is which is a question that kept me curious throughout the story, I thought I had the father figured out and was extremely shocked when he was revealed at the end of the story, and also the fact she is financially unstable and estranged from her mother who was an alcoholic growing up, Roz therefore believes she would struggle to raise a baby in her current situation, she decides to put her baby up for adoption on a miracle mums site and is shocked and flabbergasted when a diamond couple shows an interested in adopting her baby for an extravagant fee which would change Roz’s life forever, after speaking to the mystery woman over the phone who wants to adopt her baby is she is flown to New York to meet them in person and is blown away to discover they are a very famous Hollywood couple Sheridan and Daniel who promise her many luxuries and an opportunity of a lifetime that will change her life forever.

Roz decides to go ahead with the adoption and the agreement is she will stay with Sheridan and Daniel until her baby is born and then return home, however upon moving In she soon discovers Sheridan isn’t all that she seems and is hiding many secrets some of which could be deadly, desperate to uncover what Sheridan is hiding Roz goes to great lengths to keep herself and her baby safe but will she make it out alive and escape? These were the questions that kept me reading late into the small hours. I really liked Roz’s personality, she is a very strong woman who is a force to be reckoned with, I also extremely empathised with her being a mother myself I really felt for her feeling that the only choice she has is to give her baby away.

The perfect mother was extremely entertaining, full of undesirable and quirky characters, there are many unexpected twists that left my jaw practically hanging on the floor and the story will stay with you well after you’ve finished the last page! I would highly recommend this book you too will be engrossed.

A big thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. What a page turner! Loved how it kept me engaged and wanting more. A very easy to read story with lots of tense moments. Read this in a short space of time as I couldn't put it down! The characters are authentic and engaging throughout.

This is my first Caroline Mitchell book and I will definitely be looking at her others! Highly recommended to all.

Thank you NetGalley.

I'm a big fan of the detective series books that Caroline writes, so when i saw this book by Caroline which was something a bit different, i had to read it. I am so glad I did. This is a book that i quickly got into and loved the strong character Roz. A fast paced book with lots of twists. This is one of those books that you will still be thinking about days after you have finished reading it. Be careful who you trust!

A very good psychological thriller, well written with interesting characters although a bit 'far fetched' in places in my opinion but overall it was a well developed story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Amazon Publishing UK and Caroline Mitchell for a chance to read this book.

Oh my! My heart is still galloping at breakneck speed. What a terrific thriller this turned out to be.

Roz is pregnant and penniless and to provide the best possible life for her child she takes a decision that destroys her freedom and her peace of mind. A celebrity couple contacts her thru an online adoption agency and it is like all her prayers have been answered. Knowing that her baby will never want for anything she flies to New York and meets Sheridan. Then the journey to hell begins. Things turn sour and Roz realizes she has no one to turn to. Meanwhile her best friend Dympna in Dublin becomes increasingly worried and with the help of her father starts looking into Roz's move to NY.

The chapters alternate between Roz and Sheridan and occasionally thru Dympna. This is an excellently written psychological thriller that keeps the reader glued to the pages. Caroline Mitchell has definitely worked wonders with the each and every character in the story. Highly recommended!

Caroline Mitchell’s last two books were wonderful. Truth and Lies and The Secret Child quickly elevated Mitchell to one of my favorite authors.

When I began reading The Perfect Mother I wasn’t disappointed. The story caught my interest almost immediately and ran with it. It felt like a book that I needed to keep reading because I was nervous about Roz, the protagonist.

However, as I read on I became a little concerned that the story was pretty far fetched. And a little bit of that is just fine. I figure it’s a thriller don’t over-analyze everything.

So with a bit of concern, I continued to hurriedly flip through the pages. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to end. Unfortunately, I was so right. The ending was a complete letdown. And one part was so unexpected. Nothing at all led up to a certain conclusion. (Sorry, I just don’t want to give away too much.)

That said, Caroline Mitchell is still right up at the top of my favorites, she just missed the mark with this story.

My Concerns
The ending was abrupt and part of it was a complete surprise. There were no ah-ha moments because nothing led up to the reveal.

What I Liked Best
Mitchell’s writing is very good and the first part of the book totally captured my interest.

This is a very well written psychological thriller with all the right elements! I really enjoyed it, and Roz, the main character is very well written. A really solid novel.

I have a real mixed bag of feelings about this book. I started out really enjoying it, it was a bit unbelievable from the start but most thrillers are so I was more than willing to keep going. I really enjoyed the story and it kept me really captivated for the first 50-60% and then suddenly it took a turn. It almost felt as if it wasn't supposed to be the real ending? It just didn't fit with the rest of the book, the writing, the pacing, all of it was a bit off. Regardless, I kept going, I always hold out a lot of hope for a great twist.

This twist/ending was the most disappointing part of the book for me, I had to put my iPad down and come back to it to make sure I read it all right. I felt like there wasn't enough explanation or fleshing out of important characters and major plot points of the book to properly wrap it up and the reactions to major plot points by different characters were so far from being appropriate or realistic. I'm not sure how else I can explain that while remaining spoiler-free. The ending of this book just felt so massively unbelievable it felt like a totally different book from the first 2/3 of the book that I enjoyed so much.

I do think I will give other Caroline Mitchell books a chance after this despite my feelings on the end because I really enjoyed the first 2/3 so much, I have a lot of hope for her other work!

This is a really good read. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. It is predictable in places but that adds to the suspense. Sheridan is a great character. Totally unlikeable but powerful. This book is definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This book sounded right up my street, set in Ireland and New York, thrilling and mysterious.

Roz unexpectedly finds herself pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to a loving couple through a website called Miracle Moms. She is hooked when a "diamond couple" show interest in her baby (ie a couple very wealthy and/or famous). Without too much interaction Roz packs her bags and lured by the money hotspots it to NYC to go stay with them for the duration of her pregnancy only when she arrives it's a radically different set up for her than she was led to believe.

I enjoyed the start of this book. However I soon found the naivety of Roz and her absolute gullibility very unbelievable, and the hints at who the baby's father was even more so as that hinted at friendships that were not that strong to begin with. I found the story quite slow paced, Sheridan just needed a good slap and the big twist towards the end made me put the book down and not finish. The book had a great premise but unfortunately I found it couldn't keep my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell piqued my interest from the very first page. By the second, I knew that I was going to be well and truly hooked. This is an emotionally engaging tale that will have you tearing through the pages with your heart firmly in your throat.

Roz is young, pregnant and alone, save for her best friend Dympna, in Dublin, when she is seduced by an online adoption agency that promises to find the best possible placement for her unborn child. When a celebrity power couple respond to Roz's profile, she believes that her prayers have been answered as she jets off to New York to meet her baby's future parents. But, as we all know, if something seems too good to be true, it most often is, and Roz has unknowingly entered into a situation that transpires in a way that no one could have ever imagined.

This is a twisty, diabolical read that I just devoured in a single afternoon. The tension is almost palpable as events unfold and, like Roz, we are never entirely certain where to place our trust.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC.

This is my favorite Caroline Mitchell book yet! I was hooked from the moment I read the first page and the twists just kept coming! This was a fast paced story that kept my interest the entire time. In this story the main character, Roz, is pregnant but cannot keep her baby so she decides to join a website that helps mothers find suitable families for their babies. Roz gets contacted by a prospective couple and feels like she's hit the jackpot when she finds out more about them. When they finally meet things seem a little off but it's nothing too alarming so Roz decides to stick it out. This book was a roller coaster ride all the way thru. The final big revelation in the book had my jaw on the floor! I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting premise, around adoption/surrogacy and the influence of power. I could relate to Roz, and felt her despair as she became more and more aware of her reality. Overall, a good read with an enjoyable ending.

I read the synopsis of this book and thought I'd enjoy reading it. Unfortunately I couldn't get interested in this book at all. I didn't like the characters or felt any sympathy or emotion towards them! Probably just not for me at this moment.

A rollercoaster of a story. Think small town girl, Roz suddenly finding herself pregnant with no stability to bring up a child. Desperate to find a solution she goes online, an answer awaits. If you could let your child grow up with everything she wants, would you give her up? The celebrity couple Roz meets are anything but ordinary. Arriving in New York, Roz's story takes a dark turn.....
Hooked from the start, I loved this story definitely worth a read.

Not as dark as previous books by this author, still pretty seedy though.
A move away from her detective series, this turned out to be a rather sinister story.
It certainly creeped me out and there was lots of suspense.
Roz is living in Dublin and has a difficult decision to make. Pregnant and keeping the identity of the father a secret, even from her best friend and flatmate Dympna. A Catholic girl in her 20’s with not much money, she doesn’t want to have a termination so looks for other options. She finds a website for couples looking for a baby to adopt. It’s an elite site and she has to pay a fee to register. A couple of days later she is contacted by a couple who are interested. They are known as a ‘diamond’ couple which means they are millionaires and willing to pay a lot of money for a baby. These diamond couples like to keep their real identities secret until they have met the mother, they could possibly be from the world of politics or Hollywood and in the public eye.
Roz thinks she could make some money here, and agrees to fly to New York to meet them. She doesn’t tell the whole truth to Dympna, who is understandably worried about her best friend.
She’s met at the airport and taken to a posh hotel by one of the couple’s staff. Her phone is taken from her, although she also has an emergency phone hidden away which Dympna made her take.
She is taken to a fabulous house and is astonished to find out that the couple interested are none other than acting royalty Sheridan and Daniel. Daniel is a heartthrob English actor and Sheridan a US child star of her own real life show. They want to bring up the child as their own.
This sounds too good to be true!!
Roz is to move into their plush basement apartment until the baby arrives and have everything provided for her, even a visiting doctor.
A few strange things start to happen when Roz moves in. Hidden notes being left for her among other things. She starts to feel suspicious and very worried that she’s never going to see the light of day again, especially as there are no windows. Roz suspects that she’s not the first person to live in the basement suite. Sheridan’s behaviour is very erratic and she overhears conversations from the floor above that cause her concern.
Back in Ireland Dympna is beside herself with worry after hearing nothing from her best friend for far too long. She has a chat with her dad John who is in the police force and asks his advice. He has some contacts and they start to search for any information.
The clock is ticking and it’s nearly time for the baby to be born. You will need to read the book to find out what happens but it had me totally gripped.
Fast paced with a very good twist!!
Caroline Mitchell always goes to the top of my reading pile. I cannot recommend her books enough, although I missed the addition of a raven/crow in this one!
Will post to my blog on publication day.

4.5 stars. I am a big fan of this authors other books so was so keen to read this one which was different from her usual detective series. It grabbed my interest straight away and had me hooked from the very first page. Full of mystery, twists and suspense this is a great book I would highly recommend!

Roz only wants what is best for her unborn baby. She didn't plan this pregnancy, and knowing how difficult her childhood was, she isn't prepared financially or emotionally to be a mother. Roz applies to an elite adoption service, one where her baby will grow up with every advantage. It's the best she can do, so she puts on her game face and is stunned when a wealthy and glamorous NY couple is interested in her and her baby.
Roz heads to NY to meet the potential parents and while everything seems okay, things change quickly. If Roz felt alone before, now she has no one to turn to, no friends, no family, no one except for Sheridan and Daniel, and their picture-perfect life. But just like posts on Instagram, a picture only captures what you want people to see and not necessarily the whole story.
Roz unwittingly has walked into a situation that is not as it appears. I was flipping pages to see how this would end. A surprising number of twists and turns and I was so wrong about some of the characters. Lots of tension throughout and a fast-paced plot.
I enjoy Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series and though I can't wait for the next book, it was nice to read something else she has written.

I received a DRC from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley.

This book has every emotion covered. Funny, moving at times, scary and mad celebrities, what more can you ask for?! Irish girl gets pregnant and decides baby would be better off being adopted so joins online site to pick her baby's potential new parents. She travels to America to meet them and they're not quite what they seem unfortunately for her. Very entertaining and darkly comic. Loved it

Wow. Caroline Mitchell does it again. She knows how to set the backstory and then ramp up the suspense at all the stages of the story, revealing tidbit clues along the way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy of the book. The opinions expressed above are my own.

When she finds out that she is pregnant after a one night stand Roz is in shock. She has no job and shares a flat with her friend.
She decides the best thing for her child is to have it adopted. She joins an upmarket group online to find a suitable match, looking for a rich family to pay her expenses and take her baby when it is born.
Roz is about the regret her decision.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* This book is set in both Dublin and New York City and focusses on a young woman, Roz who finds herself pregnant and with no way of supporting herself or her baby. Hoping to give her child a better chance at life than she had, Roz signs up to an online adoption service that pairs pregnant women up with wealthy couples in the US. Roz flies off to New York to meet the prospective adoptive parents of her child and there the nightmare begins. A tense but enjoyable read.

I’ve always been a fan of Caroline Mitchell so was excited to read her new book The Perfect Mother. The style is different to her usual offerings but I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Thrilling and compelling, I found it hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing and the author for the chance to review.

The Perfect Mother was an interesting concept. It took me a while to get hooked and was a bit formulaic but overall a decent, suspenseful thriller.

The Perfect Mother is very different to Caroline Mitchell’s previous crime thrillers, described as a psychological thriller, it’s a book that kept me glued to my kindle screen. For me this book showcases what a versatile author Mitchell is, whether it be a crime or psychological thriller it’s obvious the author puts her heart and soul into her writing. Guess what? I absolutely loved The Perfect Mother, it’s creepy, chilling, and very dark. It’s a story of motherhood, and the lengths people will go to to protect those they love.

Roz is broke and pregnant and wanting the best life for her baby. A life she realizes she can’t provide based on her own upbringing, in desperation she turns to an ‘elite’ adoption agency that connects her with a wealthy celebrity couple celebrity Sheridan and Daniel, they can offer the baby the life Roz could only fantasize about.She moves into the couples opulent home, to await the birth of her baby, and here’s where events take an extremely sinister turn.

If you think The Perfect Mother’s plot isn’t an imaginative one, believe me once you pick it up the book, you will realise it’s different to anything you’ve read previously read. Let’s begin with characters, take Sheridan, on the surface she’s one of Hollywood’s greatest, beautiful and rich but scratch beneath her ‘public’ veneer she’s cold, calculated and definitely deluded, she made me skin crawl and fear for Roz’s baby. Roz is the complete opposite, naïve, a lost soul, wanting only the best for her baby. Her naivety puts her in a situation that turns out to be her worse nightmare.

I really thought I had the plot all worked out, but to my surprise Caroline Mitchell threw in a couple of brilliant twists that left me speechless, no mean feat! Fast-paced, complex, twisty, and well thought-out. Whilst reading this book I was accompanied by an increasing sense of dread as the story unfolded. This is one of those books that’s addictive and before you realize it you are halfway through the book. With an enticing plot, twists and turns, and unpleasant character, one chapter turns into another and another. The Perfect Mother has such an innocent title, but don’t be deceived, inside it’s pages there’s a dark and twisted tale lurking. A superb read full of suspense, mystery and plenty of drama! Highly recommended.

Another great story from Caroline Mitchell.. It is a fantastic book Really kept you on your toes and once started was hard to put down. Brilliantly written with some unexpected twists and turns.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Nobody’s knocking on heaven’s door! Zrrrrrrr!!! Nope, the postman also does not ring twice! The all special voice effects I wrote in words are coming from my head! I’m banging it against the wall and then resting it to the TV for making some kind of Poltergeist-ic connection to be more intelligent but nothing changed so far! Let’s drink!

Of course I’m punishing myself because this book is waiting too long on my dashboard and it deserves more attention because it’ s really fascinating one sit read. A great, exciting page turner you may finish at one night but prepare to have a sleepless, nightmarish time because this book is really really disturbing!

Here’s our blurb: Roz tries to survive in her hometown Ireland but unfortunately finds herself pregnant and she keeps secret the father’s identity, assisted by her bestie Dympna (unique name, isn’ it?) but she cannot take care of her unborn child so she applies to elite agency for adoption options. A few days later she finds herself jetting to never sleeping, ratty, trashy Gotham City because a celebrity power couple get interested to adopt her baby. Whaaattt? She is so freaking lucky. This couple is deliciously rich. They can give every opportunity, a brand new future to her child she’d dreamt of. But... you’re asking what’s the catch as like I did.
The catch is: there was a young resident was living in the same place where Roz resides now. She vanishes into thin air. Nobody knows what happened to her and where she is. Is she dead? Something tragic happened to her?
And what about Roz? This couple looks too nice to be real! What are they hiding? What are they keeping away from her? Is it too late to give up from adoption? If she changes her mind, what will happen to her?

So buckle up! Ride into this crazy train and get ready to jump several times at those bumpy roads because there are so many twists, surprises paved on your direction. My spider senses were not capable enough to save me from those sucker punching surprises.

As a summary: I had a quiet thrilling, entertaining, hysterical, full of semi-nervous breakdown-ish, excellent time. It’s a great choice for suspense, thriller genre fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas& Mercer to share this riveting ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

Pregnant, frightened, alone. Giving up her baby to the perfect couple seemed like a good idea, until she found herself in a new country, confined to a basement flat, and following a strict regime which left no room for contact with friends or family. Riveting storyline and page-turning tension left me wanting to read faster to see what happened. Top read!

Roz believes she has found the perfect solution to her unplanned pregnancy - a wealthy couple who want to adopt her baby. Like most things that are too good to be true, Roz finds that there is something far darker about the couple than she could ever imagine.
An enjoyable psychological thriller.

This is a hard one to rate as it’s, to quote the cliche, a game of two halves. The start is four star as are a few other sections, the end is two star as is some dialogue, so let’s settle for three stars!! Twenty four year old Irish girl Rosalind (Roz) Foley finds she is pregnant after a one night stand. Her circumstances mean that it is difficult for her to keep the baby and so she signs up to website Miracle Moms to seek an adoptive couple. She chooses an NYC based pair who turn out to be celebrity couple Sheridan Sinclair and Daniel Watson. What unfolds is entertaining in a barking mad and probably unrealistic way but then, it is fiction!!!!!

Roz as a character is likeable but very naive as she trots off to NY without any real understanding of what she’s walking into. She won’t be the first and I doubt the last. The prize for likeability goes to her best friend Dympna and everyone should have a Dympna in their lives. There are times when I found Sheridan unbelievable as a character and I certainly wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her. Daniel is hard to work out as I don't think his character is sufficiently developed and Mike p, the fixer, is a stereotype. There is some tension at times and it’s certainly twisted and twisted.

Overall, a good premise, entertaining in parts but disappointing in others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for the ARC.

The Perfect Mother
by Caroline Mitchell
Pub Date: Jan. 14 , 2020
367 pages
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description:
She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

📕⭐MY REVIEW📕⭐
The Perfect Mother is a 309 page masterpiece with many twists.
This is my first time reading a book by this author. This fast paced, heart racing, suspense filled, mystery ,crime psychological thriller will have you quickly flipping the pages. It is full of twists and turns. It is very well written and each character is really well developed. I felt like I was right there with them during every part of the story. It was so good i didn't want it to end. The Perfect mother is a gripping psychological thriller that had me glued to the pages. Caroline Mitchell drew me in so much that I refused to put this book down until I read the last page. I started and finished this book all in one day.That's how good it was. I really could not put it down ! I absolutely love love loved it !!!!This is one book you will not want to miss. It Caught my attention from the very first page and i could not turn the pages fast enough. I read mystery,crime & psychological thrillers all the time and this one kept shocking me right to the end.I thoroughly enjoyed this different twist the author spun with this story. The only faught I had with this story is it takes place in both Dublin and New York City . When the author switched to New York she often used words we don't use here in the US. And in the beginning of the book before Roz finds out the real name of the diamond couple adoptive mom she calls her Sheridan . Thoes things aside it was a really great book. I highly recommend getting this book. You can pre order this book on Amazon for just $4.99 and it will be auto-delivered to your Kindle on January 14, 2020. Many thanks to the Publisher , the Author , and NetGalley for a ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own. If you would like to follow my reviews please do so at my facebook page Joyce Stewart Reviews or my facebook reading group Stewart's Book Reviews Book Club.

♥️ About the Author ♥️
A former police detective, Caroline Mitchell now writes full-time. She has worked in CID and has also specialised in roles dealing with vulnerable victims—high-risk victims of domestic abuse and serious sexual offences. The mental strength shown by the victims of these crimes is a constant source of inspiration to her, and Mitchell combines their tenacity with her knowledge of police procedure to create tense psychological thrillers. Originally from Ireland, she now lives in a pretty village on the coast of Essex with her husband and two children.

OMG!! Sit down and hold on for the ride! Roz finds herself pregnant. She knows who the father is but cannot tell her best friend Dympna as it would ruin their life long friendship. She can’t keep the baby as she is out of work and doesn;t have a family behind her so decides to let it adopted via a website that specialises in prime adoptions mainly in the USA. When a “diamond” couple are interested she jumps at the chance. Dympna is more suspicious and knows that Roz has had her head turned by the money side of things. A diamond couple are millionaires. Roz travels to the states to meet them and then finds that things are not quite as she had imagined. She has a luxurious apartment- in the basement. There is no natural light and the only ways out are locked. She keeps finding old celebrity magazines that appear to have been left there to warn her. What is going on and will she ever be allowed to leave? I jumped at reading this. I remember reading my first Caroline Mitchell book and being thrilled with it so jumped at this one and wasn’t disappointed, There is the tension and suspense that you expect from a first class psychological thriller, that unease that puts you on the edge of your seat. A plot that makes you think about how much we trust people that we don’t know for potential spoils. I liked Roz and Dympna had a huge heart. Of course there is a twist and I was wrong the whole way
(rest of links as part of blog tour)

LOVE! An amazing psychological thriller, a few times I thought I'd worked it out but the surprises kept coming. SO tense it kept me up til 4am to finish it. Is you're a fan of psychological thrillers, this is a MUST read. I can't wait to read more by this author.

Just when you think that Caroline Mitchell can’t surprise you she comes up with The Perfect Mother. Roz is just about scraping by in a job that she hates in Dublin. When she realises that she is pregnant after an ill advised one night stand things are pretty desperate. She wants to do the best for her child and thinks that because of her own terrible upbringing she is better off giving the baby up.

Finding an elite adoption agency online seems to be the perfect solution to her problem. Soon she has a young wealthy power couple interested in her baby and Roz is seduced by the interest that Sheridan and Daniel show in her. They seemingly have the perfect life. With a young son already and a beautiful house in the New York area it looks like they will be able to give her baby everything that she cannot.

Moving into their household Roz soon starts to think that everything is not as it seems and that there are darker forces at play in this idyllic home. How badly do they want her baby and will she survive this experience?

Like all of Mitchell’s stories this one will keep you reading right to the very last page. Full of twists and turns this book will definitely keep you guessing. If you’re looking for the perfect antidote to the post Christmas blues then you need to add this corker to your wish list.

Supplied by Thomas & Mercer and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

UK publication date: Jan 14 2020.

#ThePerfectMother #NetGalley

A very intriguing read, had me hooked from first page, staying up late to just read another page, charecters were believable and it just shows how far some people will go for love, cracking read

Wow, be prepared for a wild ride! This book kept me on the edge of my seat, desperate to find out what would happen next. Highly recommend!

The Perfect Mother is fantastic!! I love Caroline Mitchell's police procedural books and this stand alone story is just as addictive. I read this over just a few nights, needing to know how it was all going to end up for Roz. It is a twisty and surprising read, not at all predictable. I highly recommend you pick this book up as soon as you can!!

The story begins in Ireland and a young girl named Roz. She has just lost her job and finds herself pregnant after a one night stand. She is not ready to be a mother yet and worries that after her own upbringing that she cannot give the child what it needs. Her solution? She joins and elite online adoption agency and is snapped up by a Diamond couple - in New York. They are a rich, power celebrity couple and she is thrilled. But soon after she settles into her swish basement apartment she starts to realise that things are not what they seem. Her prospective adoptive parents are secretive and controlling and she soon starts to fear for both her own life and that of her unborn child.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Ever since I discovered the work of Caroline Mitchell, I've been a big fan! I've been following the Ruby Preston and Amy Winters series and have been blown away with each of the books. The Perfect Mother is not part of any series but is a suspenseful and captivating read! though there were parts of the book that were guessed correctly by me, I enjoyed the book from the start until the finish. Unlike the series she writes, that are rife with mind-blowing twists, this book was a bit more predictable. Nonetheless, I enjoyed experiencing all the twists and turns that made this story so good.

When Roz, a proper catholic Irish girl discovers she's pregnant, she has a choice to make - to give away her baby to a good family or bring it up on her own. Almost broke and afraid of being judged, Roz decides to give her baby up and registers on a website that promises to find the baby a decent home and a happy upbringing - something that she was never lucky enough to experience either. So when her profile is matched with a "diamond" couple in NY, US, Roz knows that her baby's future cannot get brighter than this. Packing her bags Roz leaves behind Ireland and flies to the US to deliver her baby to the millionaire couple who want her so bad! But soon Roz realizes that the couple although famous have a disturbing and dark secret. She comes to know that the person you see on screen is so different from the ones when they're behind the cameras. Roz is soon trapped in with no escape in sight. Pregnant and afraid, Roz must escape with her baby before the psycho-couple harm her and her baby.

I enjoyed the plot of this book. Told in multiple POV's I enjoyed reading through the parts of Sheridan and Roz the most. While the pacing was good, the ending felt a bit rushed. I would have liked to know more about Daniel, Monica, and George and how their relationship with Sheridan started out. The focus was primarily on Roz and Sheridan. I also loved the character of Dympna. She seems like a good detective in the making! Strong and sassy like her - these are the characters I really love reading about. Although I found Roz to be dull and unbelievably naive, I appreciate the need for such a character in the book. In all, I enjoyed this book.

Thank You, NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Caroline Mitchell for an arc!

A young, pregnant woman living in Dublin, Ireland, looking online for a family to adopt her unborn child. A famous Hollywood couple looking to secretly adopt a baby girl. What could go wrong??
I am a fan of Ms. Mitchell and this is another page turner. Her writing style is always engaging and relatable. This would make a good movie. Recommended!

I love Caroline Mitchell. You can tell that she used to be a police officer because her procedurals are flawless and her characters are always rich and rounded. That said, I really liked the first half of The Perfect Mother , but the second was a disappointment. Roz starts off as a sympathetic character and grows within the story, from a good girl who’s made a lot of mistakes to a mother who’s willing to do anything for her unborn child. It’s the rest of the characters that I had a problem with. Sheridan is way too much to be believable. Maybe Hollywood superstars are that bad, but she had no redeemable qualities whatsoever. Her henchmen are also close to caricatures and transform (from good to evil or from bad to good) too fast to be believable. But may main problem was the structure of the chapters. It’s a pet peeve of mine when the POV changes from first to third person, but I can live with that. It was the parts devoted to Roz’s best friend Dympna that just don’t work. She’s an aspiring Garda and her Dad is a copper. She knows there’s something wrong but… (mild spoiler) in the end whatever she does doesn’t matter. She’s not front and center, but just an afterthought. Maybe if I didn’t like the author so much, I would have liked it better, but I had really high hopes for this novel.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Amazon Publishing UK!

What a story. Once I started, there was no way I could stop until I finished. Everyone should read it. Totally awesome.

A good and pretty threatening story. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I thought the premise would be a bit unbelievable but it worked well x

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon UK Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Roz is young, poor, pregnant and living in Dublin. She has decided to give the baby up for adoption via a website that matches up mothers with adoptive families. She decides on a very rich couple from New York City and she is soon on her way to NY. She finds out this couple is very famous and they plan to pass her baby off as their own. Roz winds up basically a hostage in their basement almost completely unable to make contact with the outside world.

This book was a pretty quick read. I started reading and before I knew it, I was halfway done. This was another one where I thought the main character, Roz, was a bit of an idiot. The potential adopter, Sheridan, took her phone and wouldn't give her the keycard needed to get out of the basement, but she didn't immediately see this as an issue. Sheridan was awful, but her actions seemed a bit out of character at the end. Typically I hate books where people are held hostage because I think they are boring, but this one was the exception, because I did find myself moving right along with it. Overall a good quick read.

Roz has been plodding away through life with not much to show for it. She lives with her best friend, of which both have cleaning jobs. When she finds out she is pregnant, being catholic, an abortion is something she can’t even consider.

Whilst I personally couldn’t give up a child, I can understand why someone would in the hope that they are offering their child a better life. Roz lands on her feet when she is picked by an elite couple who will be able to offer her child everything.

As soon as Roz lands in New York, alarm bells were ringing in my head. I found myself willing her to turn round and get back on the plane. As the story progresses whilst Roz is living in Daniel’s and Sheridan’s home, that uneasy feeling kept on growing, with very good reason.

The author sure knows how to keep her readers on guard, making them fear the worst. I could feel my heart beat getting faster and faster the closer to the end I got. There are some wonderful little twists and turns that you won’t see coming, well I didn’t that’s for sure.

The Perfect Mother, as a mother myself, made me want to hug my children that little bit tighter. This was such a dark read where the tension builds, sending me into a frenzy as to how it was all going to end. There are plenty of shocks, chills and thrills in store to satisfy any psychological thriller fan.

Overall, this was ok, had some decent twists

The premise was good and the writing and characters were quite decent. Roz made some pretty crazy choices and boy does she pay for them.

The story started out being somewhat believable (a bit over the top) but then it goes cuckoo crazy at the end. Had some of the crazier elements been left out (or toned down) then it probably would have been an even better story. It was entertaining for sure. I would read more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy in exchange for a review.

This was a really gripping and enthralling story. I felt claustrophobic while reading it as there truly didn’t seem to be an escape!
Roz has found herself in a bit of a predicament; she is pregnant but can’t afford to keep the baby. She decides the best course of action is to adopt the baby to a lovely couple that she meets online. They seem a perfect choice and can offer the baby everything she can’t. Roz is also a little starstruck as the couple that want her baby are very famous and live the perfect life.
However, once she has arrived in New York to meet them, things get scarier and scarier, and Roz is trapped with no one to turn to.
The story is really captivating and keeps you turning those pages. There are so many secrets and twists and turns, and they just keep on coming. It truly is an unputdownable book. The story is well-developed and brilliantly written.
I kept trying to think if there was anything Roz could have done differently not to have put herself in such a perilous situation, but there really wasn’t. The situation was genuinely thrilling.
This was a perfect read and another fantastic and brilliant book by Caroline Mitchell.

5 stars! What a book, be prepared to be shook to the core! Well written, thrilling, chilling, and shocking are all precise descriptions of this book! I look forward to more by Mitchell, as she really knows how to build that suspense and make your head explode in shock! A must read for my fellow thriller lovers!
I will make sure I buzz it up!

A young pregnant woman moves to NYC to meet and stay with the perfect couple who will give her unborn child a future that she cannot. It seems to magical to be true. Because it is. Soon she discovers that not all is what is seems and that her very life may be in danger. A thrilling and at times terrifying read.

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell

The book opens with a young pregnant woman fighting for her life. Roz Foley, fatherless and a mother who was an alcoholic, is having a baby. But who’s baby? Even her best friend Dympna doesn’t know. The lifestyles of these two girls couldn’t be further apart. Dympna with her trendy parents: Father a police officer and mother an event planner. But they are inseparable. A bond of sisterhood that cannot be broken. But will Roz’s secret drive a wedge between them?

Roz has her own reasons for not keeping her child and answers an ad for an adoption site in America. Plunged into the US glamour scene via Celeb Goss Magazine, we meet the couple who are desperate for a second child. Blonde bombshell Sheridan Sinclair (44) and Daniel Watson (38). A couple hoping for a quiet life but bombarded with paparazzi, they must keep their private life out of the papers. But at what cost? Daniel, on the other hand, is generally good natured and has oodles of compassion. But is he too busy on set or just generally being public property? I kept asking myself: Is he merely eye candy or is there more to Daniel than meets the eye.

Hollywood starlet Sheridan Smith is the most interesting character for me. Even her staff stand to attention. She is curiously frail, but at the same time equipped with an excessive sense of self-importance. But throw in a serious lack of empathy and you get a ticking time bomb. There is the manic side to her and the depressing side. It made my skin crawl to know her. Taming Daniel with a new baby belonging to a complete stranger is a risk. But Sheridan is a risk-taker. I love the mention of Daniel appearing in a blockbuster movie called Murder Game — which also happens to be a book written by the author.

As Roz embarks on her adventure to America, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread. Her baby is going to the best possible couple and — according to an article in Celeb Goss Magazine — a luxury apartment equipped with a doctor’s surgery served by the best OBGYN in NY. Somehow, you can hear the ‘but’ a mile away. When I learn Roz will be sleeping in a basement without windows, the overall mood darkens. But that’s not all. She is kept on a strict regimen because let’s not forget, she is merely a walking incubator.

The book is well written and the twists well thought out. This is a story to savour. Although I read it in a day (YES! It’s that un-put-downable) you need to take in the detail. The plot is complex and realistic and the characters are fascinating. Mitchell is skilful in cutting through the layers to get to the darkest planes of her characters’ minds. This book is cunning, unpredictable, subtly layered and populated by characters so deliciously immoral they’re hard to part with. Five fat stars for another brilliant book!

Bloody hell! Just finished #ThePerfectMother after starting it this eve! A heart-racing read - twisty, intense and chilling! I think I can say it was the #perfect read! Full review for the #blogtour - highly recommended 👌

This fantastic book was very hard to put down! Barely getting by, Roz finds out she is pregnant after a one night stand. Wanting to do what is is right for the baby she contacts a couple through an elite adoption website. They sound perfect for her and her baby. After she is flown to NYC Roz realizes she’s has been duped and the situation is out of control. This is definitely a page-turner, and a stay-up-past-your-bedtime book. Don’t miss this suspenseful surprise-filled novel! I received an advanced read copy of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books. All opinions expressed here are my own.

First off, this book is cracking!! If you love being kept awake reading all night because you can’t put the book down, then this is definitely the perfect book for you!

When Roz finds herself pregnant, unemployed and single, she looks into her options and thinks she’s found the perfect solution via an online advert, where couples look for surrogates and pay extortionate fees to become members. She finds a couple who are adamant about maintaining confidentiality as they are celebrities from New York.

Knowing she can’t keep her baby, she agrees to fly out and meet them, they seem perfect prospective parents so far, so with an all expenses paid trip, she sets off to meet Sheridan and Daniel.

This is a classic case of “too good to be true” and when Roz finds herself held virtual prisoner in their basement she becomes seriously scared for both hers and her baby’s safety.

Be prepared to be unable to put this down, this book is the very definition of “suspense thriller”

I always enjoy books by Caroline Mitchell and this was no exeption. When Roz finds herself pregnant and jobless, she goes online to put her unborn child up for adoption, for a fee. She flies to New York and her nightmare begins. This book is full of weird and quirky characters, It is entertaining and full of twists. I enjoyed the plot and it was well written with a super twist at the end with the revelation of the baby's father. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This is a gripping, fast-paced book that focuses on the naive, pregnant Roz who believes all her prayers are answered when a Hollywood couple offer to pay to adopt her unborn baby and care for her during her pregnancy. However, the adage that "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is" means that Roz begins to regret her lack of suspicion and wishes that she had been as cynical as her friend Dymphna was about the situation.
There are some thoroughly enjoyable twists and turns in this book; the pressure of being a Hollywood power couple, the attitude towards 'ageing' women actors, the abuse of child stars and the corruptive influence of having power. However, the characterisation was disappointing. Sheridan was alternatively portrayed as an archvillain (I could almost imagine her 'mwa ha ha ing' as she led Roz to the basement) or as a victim in the mother-daughter and husband-wife relationships. Mike was straight out of the 'washed-up actor gone bad' school and even Roz was dimensional.
That being said, it is a fun, quick read, and kept me turning the pages.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

When I first started reading this, I was super excited because I loveeee thrillers. This one just wasn't for me. I'm not a fan of thrillers following cop/court proceedings and this one felt a lot like those. My rating seemed to fluctuate as I read the book and it was difficult to come to a decision on a star rating. I did enjoy the writing, but the plot was not for me.

I love Caroline's police procedurals and was excited to see a different style of book.
The characters bring out all of your emotions, pity, disgust, antipathy and amazement.
It has a few twists in the book, some I was expecting and some that were a shock.

Ideal for people who love domestic noir.

This book was very good
It was refreshing and it was very well to explain things
I thought it was very thoroughly
I received an ARC

This was coasting for all the stars until something was revealed at the end that just didn't work for me. Yes, OK, it did explain something so could, at a push, be an integral plot point, but it also could have been different and still work. To me it came across a bit being added for shock tactic rather than wholly necessary and took the shine off the ending for me somewhat.
When we first meet Roz she is not having a great life. A bit on her uppers already she now finds out that she is pregnant and not in a steady relationship. Studying her options and discounting some straight away, she signs up to an online elite adoption agency, determined to give her baby the best start in life; something she feels she is unable to do herself. Meanwhile, across the pond, a celebrity A-list couple are desperate to adopt and, long story short, Roz soon finds herself jetting off to NY to continue her pregnancy with her baby's soon to be new parents, to be pampered and looked after every step of the way. Knowing that her baby will have the life it deserves, the one she didn't get. But it soon transpires that her version of "looked after" wildly differs from that of the couple who reveal themselves after the paperwork has been completed. Celebrity couple Sheridan and Daniel want to complete their family; they already have a son. But what lengths will they go to to achieve this goal?
Imagine this, a celebrity couple wants to adopt your child and promises you the world. Sounds a little too good to be true, doesn't it? Especially when you agree to meet them without knowing who they are, travelling across the pond, alone, pregnant, vulnerable... Meeting with PA and lawyers all before knowing who the couple are. What could possibly go wrong...!?
And so begins a rather harrowing tale, full of twists, turns, shocks and thrills that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Yes, it was a bit predictable along the way and has the one reveal too far at the end, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
Characterisation was, on the whole, good. There's quite a lot going on in the book and not all is what it appears on face value, not a spoiler, it's part of the genre, so the characters have to be good to pull it all together and they do this very well. To be honest, I didn't really like Roz, for reasons I couldn't put my finger on for most of the book and I thought she was so naive and silly doing what she did and wanted to slap her up something rotten at times for what she was doing. On the flip side, I loved her friend Dympna. Sheridan was barking and Daniel was just weird (and not fully developed in my opinion) and, when they were introduced the whole things degenerated into a bit of a farce with unrealistic undertones.
If you want your reads to be realistic and credible then this may not be the book for you. If you are looking for a thrill a minute, suspenseful, shocker of a tale, and are not too fussed about reality then this will hit the spot for you. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This book was seriously good. I liked how we followed different viewpoints while keeping Roz the main focus of the book.
As a mom it was kinda hard to see read some parts that involved the baby, but it just made me root for Roz even harder.
Daniel's character was done in such a way that he literally made my skin crawl.
Sheridan was a complex character for me. At first I despised her but as I kept reading and more things kept being revealed about her, i did start to pity her. Still a horrible character however.

Overall i did enjoy this book and it was a pretty fast read.
I knocked off a star because the ending felt a tad bit unbelievable and also the beginning had me just like huh?? In regards to some of the decisions Roz made and how fast and reckless she made them.

Also, i guessed one of the big twists super early on in the novel, but i dont know if that's just me or if it was an east plot twist to guess. Either way, i didnt knock off a star for that.




* I recieved this arc completely free from NetGalley in echange for an honest review*

I enjoyed The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell very much. It kept me engaged and on my toes from beginning to end. I liked the premise of a young girl, pregnant and desperate to make a better life for her child and the choices she makes.

This book took me in a direction I did not anticipate and I LOVED IT. It’s very suspenseful and disturbing so maybe don’t read it on a dark and stormy night because it has the potential to give you nightmares!

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

I will definitely be looking for this author’s name in the future, I am eager to see what kind of twisted and creepy story she writes next!

Due out on January 14, buy it here! Free for those with Kindle Unlimited.

I am a big fan of Caroline Mitchell and read several of her books. When I heard about The Perfect mother different to her other books, I was intrigued to read this and find out what it is all about.
Roz Foley struggles to make ends meets and lives with her friend Dympna in Ireland. When after a one-night stand, she discovers that she is pregnant, and she doesn’t know what to do, she is also a Catholic so she is against abortion and she can’t tell her friend who the father is, or it will blow their friendship apart.
After her own childhood without a dad and her mother an alcoholic, Roz wants to do the best for the child and when she comes across an adoption website that sells baby’s to the rich and famous she thinks that is the best solution for her baby. Give her baby the life that she will not possibly give her child. She decides on a ‘diamond’ couple. Who pays her all expenses paid to America, New York and up to when the baby is born?
When she gets there, she is so excited and at first can’t believe her luck when she thinks she has found the perfect couple for her baby. But when she arrives its not what she is expecting. She is hidden in the basement out of sight, away from prying eyes.
This is another gripping thriller from Caroline Mitchell that I didn’t want to put down. This had a great characters and story and emotional too. How desperate and what sacrifices a mother must make to give the best for her child? This is a very entertaining read. I highly recommend

I started reading this in the afternoon & couldn’t stop! What’s for supper? Not cooking, order pizza!!! I stayed up till 3am to finish it. I had to find out what happened to Arizona and her baby. Needless to say I believe Caroline Mitchell knocked it out of the park with this one!!!

Rox is pregnant, broke and she has no idea how she can raise a baby. She finds a site for people wanting to adopt. After signing up she’s surprised that a wealthy couple is interested in her baby. Since she grew up poor in Ireland and the idea of her baby being adopted by a wealthy family from the USA seems like something she can’t turn down. The wealthy couple keep their identity secret until they meet. She travels to America to meet them & that’s where it all starts to unravel. The adoptive parents are controlling and Roz starts to fear for her and her baby’s life. Lots of twists and turns in this one. The ending will surprise you!

Thank you NetGalley & Amazon UK publishers for allowing me to read this ARC!

I am a sucker for suspense with a twist. This book delivers exactly that. I loved the setting of this boom and found myself hooked to it from page 1. And before I knew I finished reading it. I loved the glam, emotions and competition. I also loved the role of family and friends reminding me that whatever we do, family and friends will make your life full. This is one of the best books I have read in 2019.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book. It looked super interesting and had its good parts, but overall made for a read that just wasn't that great.
Read on to know why.

Genre: 
Thriller, Suspense

Length: 
368 pages

Overall Rating:
5 out of 10

Plot:
5 out of 10

Characterization:
3 out of 10

Primary Element:
6 out of 10 for its suspense

Writing Style:
7 out of 10

Part of a Series: 
No.

Highlighted Takeaway:
An endearing writing style, which is strongly representative of Irish slang and mannerisms.

What I Liked:
The Perfect Mother has an interesting basic premise. It reads smoothly, and moves fast enough. Unfortunately, these aren't enough to overshadow the negatives of the book.

What I Didn’t Like:
Characters were just too shallow and behaved in the most irrational ways possible. I know that tough situations can call for strange behaviors, but this was just too implausible. Also, the characters are not fleshed out. They act and do what the situation demands more than the story building around the characters and how they would actually react.
Another thing that really got to me was how convenient everything was in the story and the characters' reactions. It felt like the author had a very obvious predetermined arc and that everything and everyone played a role to fulfill it, consequently making the story too unrealistic to associate with or really enjoy.

Who Should Read It:
I would not actively recommend this book to anyone because if it's a suspense or thriller novel that you're looking for, there are definitely many other options out there that would do better.

Who Should Avoid:
Anyone who does not like shallow characters and a storyline based on convenient inputs rather than a fleshed-out book where story and characters build off of one another.

Read It For:
If anything, the endearing mannerisms and slang that the writing style offers.

I still think Caroline Mitchell's work could be good, if her writing style is anything to go by. I may or may not try another one of her books, but would have definitely loved to see her style combined with better characterization and story development. All in all, The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell was not a great read, and not something I would actively recommend.

Where to begin? Alright, there's a Irish young woman, she's pregnant and wants to give away the baby. So she starts looking for couples and finds (a famous) one in the States. The couple flies her to New York and she signs away her life. Practically literally. It all seems great: good food, housing, money, etc, until things go bananas. Turns out the famous woman of the couple is bat-crap crazy and wants to pass of the baby as her own. She houses our heroine (or more like confines her) and as each day progress, she becomes crazier, more territorial, and even abusive.

To me, I could not wait to found out what was happening next. This is truly your typical thriller, page-turner. I was worried for Roz (our Irish lass) and also terrified of Sheridan (our lady of the house). And let's not forget the baby. WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE BABY? Well, I guess to find out, you'll have to read.

Get The Perfect Mother when it comes out 1.14.2020.

5/5 Stars

#ThePerfectMother #NetGalley
A good psychological thriller.
Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.
Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.
But soon her dream becomes a nightmare for her. Read this book to know more.
Each character has given equal importance in the book. All are superb.
Narration is simple.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me an advance copy of this book.

Roz a penniless Irish girl suddenly pregnant
Sheridan, half of a Hollywood power couple, unable to have children and desperate to
Neither of them are a ‘perfect mother’ and neither of them would ever meet normally
But this is book world and they do via an anon ‘you have your baby, we keep it, heres a zillion dollars’ kind of web site

So, Roz goes over to NY and it all seems perfect, her life is going to be wonderful, money, clothes, the finest Dr’s.....all seems too good to be true, and, of course it is as she soon realises as she is led into her luxury quarters....in a windowless basement with only a lift for access

The story then takes off and Sheridan is a fab narcissistic psychopath character hideous yet fascinating, Roz a petrified kidnapee and no one knows she is there...

It’s a full on psychological story that was good, true its full of ‘well hang on if she had done this then she would be free’ and ‘ WOW how daft can you be to fall for that’ but then some of the best stories ( and films ) are like this and thats half what makes them so enjoyable

There’s the obligatory twists but then quite a raised eyebrow one at the end that was a shock

Its well written, exciting, fun even though at times horrifying and a book I can say am glad have read

Predicable at times maybe but then thats why we read the genres we do, we enjoy them

8/10
4 Stars

Caroline Mitchell is quickly becoming one of my favorite To-Read authors. The Perfect Mother is a stand alone psychological thriller and it is fabulous! The beginning grabs hold and the tension builds increasingly all the way to the end. It is realistically written and one could imagine this happening - now that is scary!

Book 1: Roz, young, broke and pregnant in Ireland, looks to an elite adoption service in hopes of providing her unborn child a better life. When selected by an anonymous celebrity couple to come to NYC to move forward, Roz believes she’s hit the jackpot. That is, until she moves into the couples’ basement — without any contact to the outside world.

This book started out a bit slow to me, but based on the previous reviews I was determined to keep going. I’m glad I did! This novel will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat, with twists that you want see coming. Needless to say, after I got through the the first few chapters, I devoured this book in one sitting!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It was a very insightful novel, with a strong cast of characters. I enjoyed the story line very much and would definitely recommend this book.

A slow burner as it takes 30% of this book before Roz even leaves Ireland to go and meet the famous couple to whom she wants to sell her baby. However once it gets going there's enough to keep the reader's interest. In contrast to the start the ending feels a little rushed however the middle is paced very well. Recommended.

I have mixed feelings on this book. The storyline was interesting yet nothing new. The characters were one dimensional and nothing kept me drawn in. I wanted to like this book, hence the mixed feelings.

Rosalind Foley shares a flat with her best friend. They are very close but this day in particular Roz is reluctant to share her news. Roz knows she must, but she still dreads imparting this piece of news. Dympna must know though because she cannot hide it from her friend. The task seems even worse than going to her local Priest to confess her sins, but it must be done. So she takes a deep breath and tells Dympna that she has fallen pregnant after a drunken night of passion. What she point blank refuses to divulge though, is the name of the man that is the father of her child. Soon the deed is done and Roz explains how she intends to keep her secret and find a perfect mother for her baby without anyone knowing she has given birth.
Roz has been busy and now has a solution that seems the only way out for a good Irish girl. She has contacted an elite adoption agency with a difference. She has been contacted by an anonymous ‘Diamond Couple’, rich and famous beyond belief soon after downloading her information. She is very excited as it has happened so quickly and their situation seems ideal. They are talking about their offer of discretion and a solution to her thorny problem. Roz will tell everybody that she has landed an exciting but temporary job in New York. The couple will house her and keep her well-fed and healthy until the baby arrives, when they will pass off the child as their own and send her home with an amazing gift of an eye-watering amount of money to set her up for the future. Dympna is suspicious and tries to talk her out of the arrangement, but Roz is determined and is buzzing with energy. Very soon she sets off to a prearranged meeting in a posh New York hotel. She is well impressed and raring to go.
This is Roz’s story of what happens next in this thrilling and totally bizarre story. I have followed Caroline Mitchell eagerly through her two series of police procedural thrillers, but this novel is totally different. It’s a standalone domestic noir thriller with so many twists and turns you will feel dizzy! Her storytelling is faultless but the storyboard is complex and scary. The characters she has envisaged and developed are eclectic and interesting, but some of them are truly mean, deceitful and totally amoral. There are criminal acts, deceitfulness, broken promises and lies aplenty. But to counteract these dark, wicked characters, I loved the story of two friends who were loyal and supportive, even though Dympna did have an axe to grind when the father of Roz’s baby is revealed. I sped through the novel, never knowing what was going to happen next. It was tense, misleading and thought provoking.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Thomas & Mercer through my membership NetGalley and I would like to thank them for my copy, sent out to me in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed this novel and award it a well-deserved 4*.

How far would you go to give your baby a good home? And what would you do to bring a baby into your good home? The Perfect Mother answers both these questions. A tempting website, offering money and luxury accommodations in exchange for a newborn, intrigues young unwed mother Roz. Against the warnings of her best friend Dymphna, Roz travels from Ireland to New York to meet the mysterious couple who want to adopt her baby.

The couple are soon revealed to be Daniel Watson and Sheridan Sinclair, Angelina and Brad types, although his career is on the rise while hers has stalled. Here the story goes off the rails and devolves into a barely believable plot with a surprise ending that has little relation to the rest of the novel.

Still, I am giving The Perfect Mother four stars. What is lost in a disappointing plot is redeemed by strong character development. Roz and Dymphna’s friendship feels real. Roz’ developing love for her baby is touching and Dymphna’s concern for her friend rings true. These two women outshine the flawed storyline and will keep you captivated.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Caroline Mitchell for this Advanced Reading Copy.

The Perfect Mother is the latest psychological thriller from Caroline Mitchell. It tells the story of Roz, young, broke and pregnant and how one decision changed her life…
anticipation and fear about what I was about to uncover in the pages ahead. Two women, Roz and Dympna, best friends but poles apart in terms of their background. Dympna comes from a stable and loving home while Roz’s background was at best chaotic and at its worse verging on abusive. When she discovers she is pregnant, Roz confesses to Dympna that she doesn’t think she is able to offer a baby the love and protection it needs. Her strict Catholic background means she cannot consider a termination and a dark secret she is keeping from her friend leaves her unable to face giving birth to the child in Ireland. And so comes her connection with Miracle Moms, a website which appears to offer Roz the very solution she is looking for.
The premise of this book was disturbing, babies for sale and the brutal truth that all that glitters is most definitely not always gold as Caroline Mitchell hammers the assumption that just because someone is rich or famous then they are good people.
The Perfect Mother lays bare the power and the ugly truth of the internet where anything is for sale. And when Roz decides to go through with her plan, things begin to spiral in a way that she could have never have imagined!
Sheridan and Daniel are the golden couple, a life of fame and luxury. But the narrative forces you to just look beneath that surface where you find something much darker, much more tarnished.
The novel is full of intriguing and well-rounded characters, Roz and Sheridan both stood out for me. My feelings for Sheridan batted back and forward between empathy, fear and hatred. And as I watched Roz beginning to doubt herself as events take a sinister turn, my heart was about to explode out of my chest! These characters were written so well, that despite the dark and sinister turn of events, it was impossible not to relate to each of them. I witnessed a vulnerability in each of the characters alongside an impressive display of strength and control. Cold hearted but fragile, watching these characters play out their role was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
The pace is perfect with each and every twist delivered just at the right time; it left me breathless but also probed away at my mind as I imagined myself in a similar situation…that old, what if scenario came into play many a time!
In a step away from police procedurals, Caroline Mitchell offers a well-drawn out, tension laden psychological thriller, it has all the elements required to make it a "just one more chapter" kind of read. Well drawn characters, a dark and intriguing and thrilling plot which was perfectly paced. It had all the twists and turns required to make me gasp! I really could see this play out on the big screen!

This review will appear on my blog as part of the blog tour in January.

I'm a big fan of Caroline Mitchell's books and I always look forward to a new one... I was sold soon as I first read the blurb for The Perfect Mother and I have been looking forward to read it ever since. And now I've had the chance to read it, I think I might just have found a new favorite title! From start to finish, this story is everything I look for and more in a psychological thriller. I was hooked from the very first page, unable to put down my kindle until I reached that final page, and I literally finished it in less than a day. This might sound like one of those review cliches or oneliners, but it is 200% true when it comes to The Perfect Mother!

There is a lot to love in The Perfect Mother, and I'm struggling a bit to decide where to start. The beginning maybe? The premise of the story is without doubt fascinating. We start with a young and broke Irish woman with an impossible dilemma as to how to solve her current situation. Some of her options might not be orthodox, but there are underlying secrets in play as well that will influence her decision. Conflicting opinions about her decision aside, it without doubt makes for one heck of a story. I'm not sure if I would have trusted the offer as it simply sounded too good to be true, but I guess being desperate makes you overlook the details... Once the story starts taking place in New York, things are getting truly interesting and I just couldn't believe my eyes when I started discovering what was really going on at the celebrity couple's house and what secrets they were hiding.

The story is told with the help of multiple POVs and two different settings (Ireland and New York). Focusing mainly on Roz and Sheridan, we slowly learn more about both their past and how the current situation came to be... Multiple plot twists and secrets are hidden along the way to keep you on your toes, and the plot will definitely have some surprises for you in store. The different POVs and settings also give this story a multidimentional feel and definitely enhanced both the plot and the suspense. The Irish setting was well described and really came alive for me; both through the characters and descriptions themselves. The New York setting mostly focuses on the celebrity couple's house, but those chapters are by no means dull and will definitely satisfy your need for suspense and shocking plot twists.

As for the characters... Even if you don't agree with what Roz decided to do, she is still quite easy to like and connect to. Her best friend is likewise easy to like and it was interesting to discover what role she played in the story as a whole. I wasn't a big fan of the celebrity couple, but I guess they are ment to be that way for the story to work and they are intriguing characters to try and decipher. Other New York characters were easier to like, including George, but the most important thing is that each character added a little something extra to the plot and played the role he/she had to play to turn The Perfect Mother into the little masterpiece it is. This book is definitely right at the top of favorite 2020 releases so far, and it is a story that will stay with me for quite some time... If you enjoy a well written, suspenseful and twisty psychological thriller, you should definitely add The Perfect Mother to your wishlist!

I have several of this authors books on my bookcase, most of which are from a series, so I was delighted to receive a copy of this book which is a stand alone novel.

Roz a 24 year old Catholic finds herself In dire straights, she has lost her job, is penniless and finds herself pregnant. She has a choice to make, keep the baby and try and raise it on her own, or give the baby up to a family that can give it all the things she can’t.

She decides to register with a website, that says it will find a good family and a decent home. Roz’s profile is matched with a celebrity couple, Julie and Greg. Roz believes this to be the perfect solution, and soon finds herself on a plane to NYC. However nothing is at is seems, as Julie and Greg have a dark secret.

Roz is afraid, she is stuck in a basement flat, and is being made to stick to a strict regime, no contact with her friends and family, is Roz in danger? she realises that she needs to escape from this couple, to save not just herself but her baby. The story is told by a number of points of view but mainly Sheridan and Roz who are the main focus of the story.

Although I enjoyed this, I did guess the plot twists, there are some well written characters, some I would have liked to a bit more of especially Dympna, Roz’s friend. My only other problem was that the ending just seemed rushed. However, this is just my opinion, others may disagree.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Thomas&Mercer for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review

This read was awesome, i read it twice! It was a read that got you in a net, a sad story of a young girl in a bit of a PICKLE! And oh my Lord it took a turn i never I never expected, not even if I’d have planned it myself .
Caroline Mitchell pulls these storylines from nowhere and never ceases to grab my guts and hold it tight till the book is done.. There are those who are meant to read and those who are meant to write ,we are an awesome combination :-).
The characters are fabulously rooted Jekyll and Hyde style the storylines that just jump out and suck at the main one are perfect its like a tree growing in Slow motion,its exciting, bold and in some parts quite terrifying because it can actually be believably true , this read makes you believe it could happen.

“Flops back” phew don’t miss this story another Caroline cracker Just in time for Christmas too.It Made my heard pop a cracker anyway. You wont be disappointed with the amazing labyrinth of twisted thoughts this takes you on.

This was a non stop thrill ride. It had many twists that were very unpredictable. It was a fantastic read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

4.5/5 stars

I’ve read all of Caroline Mitchell’s books and this is one of my favourites. Great story, great characters and written in a way that you have to keep reading. A good thriller that was a pleasure to read.

She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

I have loved all of this author's previous books so I was excited to read this one and the blurb sounded just up my street. I was drawn in right from the prologue and knew it was going to be a good one and I wasn't wrong. The characters are believable, I detested Sheridan and Daniel from the outset but it was easy to see why Roz fell for their charming words, but beneath that charm they hid some very dark secrets, although, as naive as she is, Roz has a secret of her own and it's this secret that aids her decision to fly to America in the first place, because she knows that should she reveal all, it could have far-flung consequences on the best friendship she's ever had and she can't let that happen, but things don't go quite as she had planned and she quickly realises maybe staying at home would have been the better option. If you like a fast paced, edge of your seat, scream if you want to go faster kind of thriller that keeps you guessing at the turn of every page, then this is for you.

I'd like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Caroline Mitchell for the opportunity to read and review her latest novel - I'm a fan of her police procedural based books and this was another winner! 4.5 stars!

Roz lives in Ireland with her best friend, she just lost her job, is broke and pregnant. She had a tough childhood and she wants her child to have the perfect mother. She signs on with an elite adoption agency in the US and soon a celebrity couple wants to meet her. They pay all her expenses to bring her to NYC to meet and discuss plans, without yet revealing their names. When she finds out that it is the "it" Hollywood celebrity couple, she's eager for her baby to have all the best. The couple, Sheridan & Daniel, move her into their home where Sheridan rules her every move. So much so that Roz soon feels like a prisoner in the basement suite. And that's just the beginning of her worries.

This is a well-written thriller which will keep you gripped until you find out what happens to Roz and her baby.

A young pregnant woman moves to New York to meet what she Hope's will be the perfect couple to look after her unborn baby. But it's not long before she discovers that all is not what she expected it to be. Could her life be in danger?

The story starts off as a bt of a slow burner. But the pace does pick up as the story progresses. This is a tense and suspenseful read. I really felt for Roz, a naive young girl who only wanted the best for her unborn baby. Then the way she was treated by the couple was despicable. There are plenty of twists and shocks in store for the reader.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author Caroline Mitchell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OH, MY GOODNESS!!!
I could have easily read this book in one sitting, had I not had real life stuff to do. I was well and truly gripped!
The Perfect Mother is quite different to the other books I’ve read by Caroline Mitchell. However, her talent for drawing you in from the very first page is true of them all. I finished The Perfect Mother this afternoon. Today is the first chance I’ve had to get away with not having to put it down and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself! I HAD to find out what was going to happen. This story has been in my thoughts since I started it. It’s one that really got under my skin.
When Roz finds she is pregnant and unable to bring up a baby alone, I really felt for her. She is a very likable character and I could understand her desperation, but I can’t even imagine being desperate enough to do what she goes on to do. I was totally with her best friend.
I felt very uneasy throughout this story as soon as Roz made the decision to travel to New York to meet a couple she knew nothing about. I was not prepared for just how unhinged these people would turn out to be! The dark secrets they have hidden behind closed doors are just terrifying.
Sheridan is a serious piece of work, to put it mildly. She’s a scary, but fascinating character. I can’t make my mind up about Daniel. Why they were ever married I don’t know. They are both toxic in their own way and even more so as a couple. Their behaviour towards each other, their staff and, of course, Roz is horrifying. I felt so sorry for their little boy and the devastating way he came into the world and into their lives.
What Roz endures at the hands of this celebrity couple, who portray themselves on social media as having the perfect relationship and family life, is nothing short of petrifying. I was praying for Roz and her baby the whole time and I’m not sure I even breathed towards the end!
Just brilliant!
A story that’s likely to stay with me for a very long time to come.
Many thanks to the author and publisher for my ARC via Netgalley. I highly recommend!

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell is the first book I've read by this author, but it certainly won't be the last. In this standalone thriller, we meet Roz, a pregnant woman unable to keep her child. She enlists help from an elite adoption agency, who quickly finds a wealthy couple in NYC eager to adopt her baby. Roz leaves her Ireland hometown and moves into the couple's basement apartment to live out the duration of her pregnancy. Rather quickly, Roz discovers this powerhouse celebrity couple is hiding secrets--namely, the young girl who used to live in Roz's brand new, plush suite. Roz makes it her mission to discover the truth about the girl, this couple, and the events that led to her disappearance.

This was an intense, fun, deliciously thrilling ride! There are so many twists and turns; I simply couldn't keep up! That's what makes for a perfect thriller. I really enjoyed the characters, and I thought the author did a wonderful job developing them. The writing is strong, and the story is fast-paced, which is what I really enjoy in a suspense novel. I highly recommend this one!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.

I loved this book. I haven't read a thriller with a storyline like this one. Sometimes they seem to have similar concepts but this was different from the other thrillers I've read. It kept my attention and had many surprises in store. I would definitely recommend this book to other thriller lovers.

Stunned by an unexpected pregnancy, 20something Roz is left reeling. She desperately wants to do whats best for her baby, but sadly, she knows that isn't a life with her. She is determined that her child will grow up wanting for nothing - a childhood completely different to the one Roz had. So, when she hears of an elite adoption agency catering just to the rich and famous, she knows its what she, and her baby, needs, and it's no time at all before she's matched with superstars Daniel and Sheridan. But Roz soon begins to realise that something sinister is lurking in the shadows of their New York home, and that Sheridan might not be the perfect mother after all...

Oh. My. God. Ok, so as soon as I saw the summary of this, I knew I would love it. I mean, a thriller about a hollywood couple kidnapping a pregnant woman for nefarious purposes? Who doesn't want to read that?! And I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. The book is told from the POV of both Roz and Sheridan, which I will admit surprised me at first. I assumed having an insight into Sheridan's perspective might reduce the suspense a bit, but luckily I was wrong. Instead, you get a slow burn of a novel that grabs you by the neck and pulls you right in, and holds you there until you finally get to the bottom of what the hell is happening in that apartment.

Literally the only thing I wasn't keen on in this book was the focus on the identity of the babies father. Personally, I guessed it pretty early on - those red herrings just weren't strong enough! But I personally didn't think it was really that relevant to the plot, and the never-ending focus on it did dull the pace a tad to me. The reveal at the end was also a bit underwhelming - who would respond to news like that?!

Irrelevant of that though, it was definitely a very strong and well-written book, and I will eagerly read anything else that Mitchell's had written. Yes, there were some elements that could have been stronger, but it is still a very masterful example of creating intense suspense in a new and novel setting.

Oh, what a ride of a book!

Roz was broke and pregnant. She knew she couldn't provide the best for her child. So, she went online and tried to find the perfect parents who'd adopt her child for money. And it turned out to be a celebrity couple. Actors Daniel and Sheridan in America seemed to be the best choice, and talks with them made her feel Sheridan would be the perfect mother. But was she?

My second book by author Caroline Mitchell, and it was thrilling and so addictive. I couldn't stop reading it. The moment Roz landed on American soils, I knew there was something dark waiting for her. The characters played to my fears well. They were hiding something, and the need to know what broke down my walls of my patience.

The way the couple treated her at their home had me gasping. I remember screaming - Run, Roz, run away. Wow!! The author's writing built up the suspense with every word, I literally couldn't leave my kindle alone. Just a page more was the litany in my mind which led to me reading the entire book at one go. Tap... Tap... Tap...went my finger on my kindle until I reached the end.

I was asked by a fellow blogger to analyze the ending. I agreed with her observations. Roz's friend was shown worried and actively investigating, yet there was no discovery by her in America. That subplot could have been used well. Nevertheless, the father of Roz's baby was a downright shocker.

My midnight to early morning read. A few pages more became the entire book read. What a book to lose sleep over!! Fun!

With thanks to Netgalley and Amazon for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Twenty four year old Roz had been best friends Dympna since school. After leaving school the girls moved from their small town to live in Dublin together.

When Roz fell pregnant after a one night stand she decided to look into adopting the baby. Roz couldn't reveal the fathers name because it would destroy her friendship with Dympna. However Dympna was thrilled that Roz was pregnant and wanted them to raise the baby together.

Roz registered with an adoption agency in the U.S and was thrilled when a `diamond couple` (a wealthy celebrity or VIP) wanted to talk to her. Roz knew the couple would provide a good life for her baby, when they invited her to New York she readily accepted. Dympna was suspicious of the couples motives and begged her not to go.

In New York Roz found out there were Hollywood stars Sheridan Sinclair and Daniel Watson. Before Roz met them she was warned to keep her off the man in the house and keep quiet. After signing the adoption papers Roz moved into her own basement flat in Sheridan`s mansion. However she soon discovered she was imprisoned in the flat with no way upstairs let alone outside. Sheridan also took her mobile, leaf by Roz isolated in a foreign country. Meanwhile when Dympna failed to hear from Roz she decided to find out the identity of Roz`s diamond coupke.

I have read a number of Caroline Mitchell`s books but this her best book so far. The plot was compelling and I could easily have read the book in one sitting. The book was atmospheric and I could feel Roz`s worry and paranoia stuck in her luxury prison.

Sheridan was ruthless and would do anything to protect her family`s `brand`. Her determination to create the perfect photographic family was sad and a little chilling.

My favourite character was Roz`s first best friend Dympna.

I highly recommend this book.

This book began with a universally great concept - what to do about an unwanted and surprise pregnancy but when it ended... my jaw literally dropped. This book went into great detail about websites that are out there in the world catering to couples - rich or middle class - who want to “buy” babies from young, unwed pregnant mothers. This book is another testimony that money doesn't buy happiness and it for sure does not buy sanity! A complete thriller from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book to book clubs. definitely edge-of-your-seat, nail biting psychological thriller that will have any mother sweating with each turn of the page.

What a ride this book will take you on, a young girl finds herself pregnant with no money she feels she has no future with/for this child, joins an agency to find ‘the perfect mother’ who would you choose? Money? Fame? The twists and turns in this book kept me wanting more and gasping at the shocking revelations! A must read!

The Perfect Mother is a fast moving; page turning; excellent read from Caroline Mitchell.

The story is told from a number of viewpoints but the author is skilful enough to ensure that the story flies and isn't over-complicated.

Highly recommended

Another great read from Caroline Mitchell.
Roz is struggling to pay her rent and on discovering she’s pregnant realises she needs to get away.
She’s comes across a website that arranges for babies to be given to couples desperate for children and gets drawn in.
It seems too good to be true, and she soon realises she’s in over her head.
Sheridan is desperate for a baby girl and thinks Roz is perfect to give this to her. Unbeknownst to Roz, Sheridan has cancelled the agreement with the website and now has her own agenda.
Roz is living in the basement of their home but when she’s not allowed outside, and has no windows, she feels like a prisoner.
This is a real nail biter as I was desperate to know if Roz would get out of this alive. The final few chapters will have you on the edge of your seat.
This is a great psychological thriller that I can highly recommend.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Premise was intriguing, as was the beginning of this book - but it did not hold up, the story got very confused and the POV shifts from 1st to 3rd person didn't help. At a certain point, it felt very foreseeable, and certainly I didn't find the much-vaunted twist so very twisty at all. On the contrary, I got annoyed at the irrationality of the character's actions, they seemed one-dimensional and - in the case of the heroine - too naive for words.

"The Perfect Mother" is the story of Roz, a young Irish girl who finds herself pregnant, and decides to sign up to an exclusive adoption agency. When she is contacted by a celebrity couple from the States who want her to live in their luxurious home until the baby is born, it seems that Roz has landed on her feet. But the reality turns out to be very different than she expected. When Roz finds herself a virtual prisoner in an increasingly volatile situation, she starts to question everything she thought she knew: just who are Sheridan and Daniel really? And why did they choose her over all the other young mothers to be? 

While I liked this book, and there were some genuinely tense moments, I found it on the whole a little too over the top for me. Roz was almost unbelievably naive, and the whole set up with the celebrity power couple just didn't ring true. The author did a great job of building tension throughout, and there were some good twists, but this one was a little too American-soap-opera for my personal taste, although I'm sure many other readers will love it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!! This is an entertaining and twisty read that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout! It’s a stand-alone psychological thriller from the fabulous Caroline Mitchell that had me hooked from the very first chapter. A pregnant woman in danger?! What could be more terrifying than that? Well, throw in a celebrity couple who aren’t what everyone thinks they are and a mysterious disappearance and you’ve got one of the most sinister pregnancies since Rosemarys Baby!

Roz is living away from home with her best friend but she has, at the age of 24, lost her job and is unexpectedly pregnant. Discovering a website where she can have her child adopted, she is overwhelmed when a celebrity couple get in touch and she jets off to New York to meet them. Yes, I know you have to suspend belief at some of the plot twists and turns but this is fiction and it’s highly addictive entertainment at its best! You won’t be the only one mentally screaming at Roz “what the hell are you doing?!” as she makes decisions that you and I know are going to lead to very bad consequences indeed. But Roz is a plucky heroine of the best kind and she’s determined not to be a victim but the closer she gets to her due date the worse her fears for herself and her unborn child become…because her baby’s birth may be the death of her dreams of a new life or worse.

Caroline Mitchell has written a fabulous rollercoaster ride of a book with characters you will love to hate and twists you just won’t see coming (well, some of them I did but others really shocked the hell out of me!). The Perfect Mother is compelling from start to finish and just a bloody good read! Loved it!

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell is an emotional and thrilling story about a young and pregnant Irish woman named Roz. Determined to give her child the perfect life that she will never be able to provide, Roz decides to give her baby to power couple in New York whom she met via an elite adoption service. At first, Roz can't believe her luck but soon after moving into their plush basement suite, she begins to realise that the couple don't only want her baby and she may never be able to leave just like the woman who was here before her. What happens after is a thrilling page-turning read as the clock ticks down to Roz's due date and secrets begin to unveil.

Really enjoyed reading this book, though Roz is a naive person nonetheless she is a likeable character and one could sympathize with her. I did predict a few twists in this story but overall it was a great psychological thriller that grabs the readers attention.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Having read and loved all of Caroline’s previous books I was excited to receive a Netgalley copy of this to read early.
In this story we meet Roz - a naive young girl from Ireland who finds herself pregnant. Having recently been made redundant and not having had the best of childhoods herself she decides she wants to find The Perfect Mother to bring up her baby and signs up to an adoption website. This is how she meets who she believes to be the perfect couple.
Introducing Sheridan and Daniel- Hollywood’s heartthrob celebrity couple. Roz decides to meet them and travels to America.
Before she leaves she confides in her best friend Dympna, who has her concerns
Will things go as Roz plans?
I enjoyed getting to know the characters and was keen to continue reading to discover how things would turn out. It was obvious things wouldn’t go well for Roz in America but would her and her child survive? What secrets are Sheridan and Daniel hiding? Could Dympna save her friend?
Unfortunately I found the ending to be a little too twee and not as good as Caroline’s previous books.
That said it is still a good read

What a surprise in this book.  It was different from what I am used to by Caroline Mitchell and definitely is one you will remember.

The story is great and I really like the plot that you see in the book.  Roz is a really interesting character who seems to have a lot of issues and is a cause of a lot of issues.

Dympna is not a character I really liked it seemed that she was just not for me.  Something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. 

I still am not sure what to think about the book. Did I like it yes but not sure how much I truly liked it as parts in the middle weren't as fast paced as I used to.

Great story though with a plot that really was spectacular.

Roz lives in Ireland and finds herself pregnant and she knows she need to give her baby up. She finds a website that matches her to an incredibly famous couple in America and thinks she has found the best home for her baby. From the second she gets off the plane in America, all is not what it seems and all bets are off.

I admit I did not see that twist coming at the end and enjoyed being surprised but I feel like the book dragged on for too long. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Perfect Mother was my first read of 2020 and it did not disappoint. I had to keep reading to find out what happened. The story about Roz a single and pregnant young woman who lives in Ireland. She decides to put her child up for adoption but in a more unconventional way. She travels to NYC where she meets the adoptive couple who are a celebrity couple. Everything seems perfect, Roz is able to leave Ireland, has a place to live while she is pregnant and will gets a lot of money. Things take many twists and turns and she quickly finds out this is not an ideal situation. Would definitely recommend this book!

Dont you just love it when you read a book that excesses all your expectations! Well this book is without a doubt just that. I am a massive fan of Caroline and have read all of her books, so I never read the blurb. So I went into this book knowing it would be a good read. But holy freaking hell what a story, it has totally blown me away.

I was hooked from the start and simply couldn’t put it down has we follow Roz on one terrifying and pulse racing journey. Who I emphasised with.

But I could also feel the emotion and terror through the author’s writing keeping me on the edge of my seat. Giving me plenty of OMG moments. I sat reading this with my hand over my mouth through most of it. Talk about building up the tension. Then the tension flys off the richter scale has the ending draws in.

This book is just so damn good, and I am very excited that I have read a story so early on in the year this amazing. Needless to say it is one of my top reads for 2020!

If you are looking for a story that is going to blow your mind and keep you up all night reading this is the book for you. I cannot recommend it enough. It definitely deserves ten gold stars.

Massive thank you to Sarah Hardy for the Blog Tour invite

Well HOT damn! This was a WILD RIDE! Caroline mitchell has twisted the twisted! A deliciously disturbing page turner that completely sucked me in. Roz is in her early 20s a little uncertain of what she wants from her future when she finds herself pregnant. The one thing she knows is nobody can find out who the father is and that she is not ready to raise a baby. Roz signs up to an elite adoption service and soon fines that a rich famous “diamond“ couple is interested in her baby. Convinced that she has hit the jackpot Roz soon finds herself jetting off to New York leaving Ireland behind. When she gets to New York she finds out the couple interested in her baby is the most popular movie star couple of the moment. But as soon as she gets to the couple’s house and signs the nondisclosure things start getting a bit strange. First of all she is living in a basement apartment where the only access is an elevator, to which she does not have the pass key. No phone, no Internet, no way out, completely cut off from the outside world. And to make things even more creepy Roz is pretty certain that somebody has previously worn the maternity clothes they gave her, and who is leaving these newspaper and magazine articles for her to read?

Yikes! The story bounces between the perspectives of Roz and adopting mother Sheridon. Roz really could be any of us a little naïve, but really just wanting the best for her baby. Sheridon on the other hand is a psychotic controlling bitch. And as the book goes on she becomes more psycho, more controlling, and even more of a bitch. The only hope I had for Roz was husband Daniel. I was not certain what side Daniel was on and if he had any idea about his wife’s behavior. There were some pretty crazy twist in the story, plenty of things I did not see coming. Fast-paced, addictive, twisted, disturbing, dark, mind blowing. This was a thriller that made an impression!

This book in emojis. 🤰🏻 ☘️ 🎬 🗞 🚨

*** Big thank you to Amazon Pub for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

This would have been a fine thriller, but for the cross-cultural element.

Roz is a young, single Irish woman who loses her menial job just as she discovers she is pregnant. She cannot reveal the identity of the baby's father, and this leads her into some desperate acts. She enrolls in an adoption website and is matched with a New York celebrity couple. She is lured across the Atlantic to New York City, where the luxury promised for her pregnancy begins to feel more like captivity.

It's an intriguing premise. The plot is well-executed, and most of the characters are fully-formed (one or two caricatures among them). The thing that dampened my enthusiasm was the British idioms that cropped up, even in the narration that is done from the American wife's point of view, or those of other American characters.

There is the Asian-American aide to the adoptive parents who tells Roz, the mother-to-be: "Best you compose yourself, though. You're catching flies." I couldn't imagine either of those sentences coming from a person who speaks American English. The language is English, yes, but the vernacular is British.

In another of many examples, from the interior monologue of American wife, "she could see him mentally doing the maths." On this side of the pond, we use the singular form.

If the U.S. publishing company had done a better job of cultural editing, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

Thanks netgalley for letting me read this great story for a honest review.
I really enjoyed this great book.
Roz is pregnant, she has no money a lousy job cleaning and lives with her best friend..
On the internet Roz found a website called miracle moms who would basically buy your baby pay your expenses and help you until you have your baby.
What would a good catholic girl from Ireland know about being a unmarried mother with a baby, the website seemed a good idea, instead of having an abortion.
But on finding a couple that wanted her baby things were not as simple as it first seemed.
Great story really enjoyed it.

This is a nice twisty thriller about Roz, a young woman who gets pregnant and, in her search for adoptive parents finds a power couple in New York who will fly her out and give her luxury accommodations until the baby is born. Of course she can't believe her luck and of course we the readers know that there must be something else behind it all. Alternating chapters tell us of her experience as well as the couple's odd relationship with each other and their young son, Leo. We witness Roz's delight, then suspicions, and later fear as she realizes there is much more behind the scenes than just a celebrity couple wanting another child. Sometimes implausible, it was a chilling novel that I enjoyed and read quickly.

This mystery was intriging from the Beginning. It was character driven with a plot that keeps the reader invested in the story. There were a couple of surprises which is quite unexpected in this genre.
The main character makes poor choices that put her life in jeopardy. There are no redeeming characters that one can relate to. Each person seems to be all about himself or herself. However, this was a good read and difficult to put down...the mystery is great!

What a dynamite read this was!!!!! I can’t say enough good things about this book. This is a stand alone novel and not my first read by this author. I’ve read a few of her books and loved them all.

This book was about a young woman who made a huge mistake and wanted to correct it. She didn’t mean to get pregnant at such a young age especially from a one night stand. So she decided to go to the United States and fix her problem but found out that was not a good idea either. Will she get out alive or will she permanently pay for her mistakes?

I want to start off by saying that I really loved this book. I especially the loved the main character Roz. I loved how Roz was very naive and living in a fantasy world at the beginning but turned into a brave kick butt mom who’s only want was to protect her child by the end. It was nice to see that growth and maturity. I also loved the plot of this book. I loved the fact that it involved a celebrity couple and how dark and twisted it got at the end. This is what made the book a fast and easy read for me. You have to have a great storyline and boy this was one. I couldn’t believe the ending. This could definitely be made into a movie. One of my favorite reads so far for this year.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

This book had me engrossed since I picked it up!!Its an interesting book regarding the story as I've never read it fiction wise. I have read other books by Caroline Mitchell and this is just as good.
The ending wasn't what I expected but it worked well.
Well worth a read.!!

Ive never been disappointed with any book I have read by Caroline Mitchell and this standalone psychological thriller is no exception. The plot involving a young woman selling her baby to famous celebrities is a real page turner. I had no idea as to what the outcome would be , but it. was certainly a taut, tense and intriguing journey finding out

I have been a fan of Caroline's work for quite a while now. In fact, I have been a fan since I had the good fortune to pick up a copy of Caroline's book called 'Don't Turn Around'. Since then I have read each and every book that she has released. I read the synopsis for 'The Perfect Mother' and it certainly sounded like the sort of dark and twisty read that I absolutely love. I couldn't wait to read it so without further ado, I grabbed a cup of tea, found my comfy spot on the sofa and started to read 'The Good Mother' on my Kindle. I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Good Mother' but more about that in a bit.
The two main characters of this book are Rosalind and Sheridan. Rosalind is a young Irish woman, who becomes pregnant following a short lived fling. She doesn't see how she can bring a child up on her own. Rosalind is Catholic and although she doesn't go to church every week, she will terminate her pregnancy. Ros decides to continue the pregnancy and give the gift of a child to somebody who isn't able to have children. The surrogacy website Ros uses, brings her into contact with Sheridan, who is a bit of a funny old fish who set off huge alarm bells for me. Sheridan was a child star who was exploited by her mother for financial gain. Sheridan is damaged by her childhood experiences and this damage has continued to influence her adult life. Sheridan already has a child but she wants her child to have a sibling. Sheridan says that she can't have any more children. Sheridan and Ros find each other on the surrogacy website and both are happy at first. However certain things happen, which cause Ros to wonder if she made the right decision and Ros also begins to fear for her safety and the safety of her unborn child. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to infd out as I am not going to tell you.
Oh boy, 'The Perfect Mother' was one hell of a fantastic book and easily my favourite of Caroline's books to date. As soon as I began to read, I just knew that I would not be able to put the book down and I was so right. To say that 'The Perfect Mother' was addictive reading seems to be a huge understatement. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I didn't want to miss a single second of the story. I could see that something huge was going to happen but there was nothing I could do about it except watch - a bit like seeing an accident or car crash happening imminently but you can't do anything to stop it. I had to keep reading to see whether or not my suspicions were correct or if I had the wrong end of the stick entirely. The pages turned increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened grew and grew. All too quickly I reached the end of the book which I was disappointed about. I don't mean that I was disappointed with the way in which the story ended but I was enjoying the author's writing style, the characters and the storylines so much that I just didn't want the book to end.
'The Perfect Mother' is superbly written but then I wouldn't expect anything else from Caroline Mitchell. She certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draw you into the story without you realising. 'The Perfect Mother' is well plotted and is compelling reading as a result. Caroline has a writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. I shudder to think about how Caroline's mind works as her books are always dark and occasionally very twisted. 'The Perfect Mother' is gripping reading and features scenarios and dilemmas that are all too possible. The book certainly kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat throughout. Caroline uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. I found that I wanted to jump inside the pages of the book to sort certain characters out and to give other characters a reality check.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Perfect Mother' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I look forward to reading more of Caroline's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, I needed to know what was going to happen next! I couldn't get enough of it.
Caroline Mitchell has a way of gripping you from page one and not letting you go and I feel that her books are just getting better and better!

The Perfect Mother is international bestselling writer Caroline Mitchell's third and latest standalone psychological thriller crossed with a domestic/family drama, and although the title and synopsis are both pretty standard when it comes to this genre this is actually a book with a lot more substance to it than it's competitors. Roz is barely surviving the day-to-day, and quite frankly wouldn't be if it wasn't for her invaluable friends looking out for her, so when she gets pregnant she naturally has quite conflicting feelings about it all from the start; on the one hand, she would love nothing better than to be a doting mother, however, she decides in the best interests of the unborn baby to try and find a suitable, loving home in which he or she will be adored. Because let's face it she can barely look after herself nevermind having a newborn baby in tow. After doing some digging she discovers and enrols with an elite adoption agency based out of New York where she swiftly meets affluent celebrity couple Sheridan and Daniel who just happen to be desperate for a child. The Hollywood stars cover her expenses to reach the United States and move her into their sprawling mansion for the duration of the pregnancy and then everything turns ugly.

The author builds the tension slowly in the beginning but as time wears on and the intense and gripping tale unfurls and has you quickly turning the pages. I genuinely had no idea what was about to happen or how it would end and I felt an incredibly rare pang of anxiety as the way it is written ensures you are kept on edge from beginning to climax. It was so very disturbing to see a vulnerable young woman being taken advantage of, and as a former police detective Mitchell fuses together a compelling and addictive mix of fact and fiction where she allows her previous employment dealing with vulnerable victims to inform her cracking, difficult to put down stories. Mitchell captured me from the outset and kept me well and truly hooked right through until the conclusion and every step of the way my heart was in my mouth. This is far-fetched entertainment rather than based in reality per se and is a superb escapist read but that makes it no less riveting and I gave no problem admitting to tearing through it lightning fast with no regrets. Nothing is as it initially appears and the bottom line and takeaway message is to trust no-one; that way you can never be disappointed and you may even get a pleasant, faith restoring surprise. Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK for an ARC.

This book had me gripped from start to finish. Very well written at a good pace to keep interest. I will be looking for more by this author. Recommended.

A gripping story from start to finish. A young and scared pregnant girl gets caught in the web of a manipulative celebrity couple. What seems too good too good to be true in fact turns out to be so. The story is nail biting and edgy as the neurosis of the couple is revealed. There are many secrets being kept by several characters which will be unexpected when revealed to the reader. The characters are well done and the plot is superb. It is a balanced mix of a psychological thriller and a drama.

This was a good original idea, I read it in 2 days and I definitely enjoyed it. I could feel the tension and the helplessness of being in the situation Roz found herself in. I marked it down a star just because of the perfectly tied up ending regarding the father of the baby and the other people in Roz’s life.

I read this book in one and a bit sitting, it's a stand alone thriller and very different to Caroline's crime thrillers. It is however a brilliant read even if you guess what's coming and shout at Roz not to be so gullible. You will obviously have to read to the end to find out if there's a happy conclusion for Roz. It got me all fired up in a stomach churning, nail biting sort of way but that's what thrillers are supposed to do, Caroline Mitchell, job done.

Roz, a young Irish girl from a chaotic family moved to Dublin to share a flat with her friend However, she has lost her job & discovers she is pregnant. Being a Catholic & it being before abortion was legal in Eire she looks to the internet. She wants to give this baby the best possible start. When she is paired with a gold star couple who offer her somewhere to live until the baby is born. She jumps at it, although her friend is very sceptical. When Roz arrives in New York she is stunned to find the couple are very famous actors. She has to sign non disclosure forms & settles into the luxury flat they have provided. Roz discovers that Sheridan,the wife, intends to pass this child off as her own & so that there will be no chance of anyone proving otherwise, she finds herself a virtual prisoner. As she tries to follow the schedule Sheridan lays out she begins to suspect she is in danger. Is the couple's son really 'their's' & if not what happened to HIS mother? Someone is secretly leaving her magazine that disturb her even more.

This was a gripping tale. I was scared along with Roz as to what these very mixed up people were going to do her. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

This was a 3.5 star book for me.

While I enjoyed reading it, it went a bit beyond what I found believable. Also, I didn't find myself particularly vested in the characters, even Roz.

That being said, it was a good read overall and I enjoyed it, just didn't love it.

Thank you for a galley edition of this book and the opportunity to write an honest review!

The Perfect Mother is the story of two women from opposite sides of the social divide. There is Rosalind (Roz) who is Irish,had a chaotic upbringing,has recently lost her job and also discovered that she is pregnant. Then there ex child actress Sharidan, who is married to megastar Daniel and they have a young son named Leo.

Roz is determined that her baby with have a better upbringing than she did but she is penniless and can't afford to feed herself properly never mind a baby. So she joins an elite adoption service Miracle Mums and is overjoyed when she is contacted by a Diamond Couple. Very swiftly and despite the misgivings of her best friend Dympna, Roz finds herself on a all expenses paid trip to New York to meet the mystery couple who are going to adopt her baby. But not long after she arrives at their luxury apartment, Roz begins to realise that something is not right and that something dark and twisted lurks behind the glitz and glamour that the couple hide behind. Then when Roz learns about the mysterious disappearance of another young girl who knew the couple, she realises that in doing what she thought was right for her baby, she has placed both their lives in jeopardy.

the chapters of this gripping psychological thriller alternated between poor,naive Roz and unstable, control freak Sheridan. Roz had another reason for getting away from Ireland, she didn't want anyone especially Dympna finding out the identity of her baby's father. The reader is kept in the dark about his identity until towards the end of the book. It was heart warming witnessing the bond developing between Roz and her little bean as her maternal instincts kicked in and and she realised that she wanted to keep her baby. There are many people in this world who have a heightened sense of their own importance and Sheridan was definitely one of those people. She believed that just because she had money that gave her the right to use and abuse people without there being any repercussions. She was definitely not a very likeable character,neither was her husband Daniel who wasn't adverse to playing a few mind games himself. I loved Dympna, everybody needs a best friend like her, she was prepared to do anything in her power to find her best friend despite her suspicious over the identity of the father of Roz's baby.

The Perfect Mother is a very well written, intense tale of betrayal, manipulation, lies, mind games and the power of a mother's love for her child that hooks the reader in from the first page, keeps you guessing and frantically turning the pages whilst suffering a very bad case of anxiety for the welfare of Roz and her unborn child. There was a mixed bag of realistic characters, some likeable, some not so likeable and some who were not who they appeared to be. A very enjoyable, intense read and very highly recommended.

I don’t know where to start with The Perfect Mother.... The twists and turns in his book will have you wondering. I had no clue how this book was to end. It kept me in suspense until the last page. The characters from Hollywood to Ireland have such depth and interest. This book will keep you turning the pages. Don’t miss out on this great book. Can’t wait for another book by #carolineMitchell #theperfectmother

I am a big fan of this authors police procedural series, so was really looking forward to this standalone thriller!

After a gripping prologue that definitely grabbed my interest, we go back a bit and meet Roz. She is living in Ireland with her best friend Dympna. She has just lost her job and has unexpectedly found herself pregnant. After her own troubled childhood that has led to be estranged from her own mother, she is determined that her child won't end up in the same boat and starts to weigh up her options. Being brought up as a catholic and with them being illegal in Ireland, she decides against getting an abortion and signs up to an elite adoption agency. She is so excited when she gets picked by an anonymous American power couple that want to fly her out to them, all expenses paid, look after her throughout her pregnancy and give her baby the childhood she could only dream of. Could it all be too good to be true?

This is a brilliant hold-your-breath, page-turner! Twists, turns, shocks and some brilliantly written characters.
I really felt for Roz, just wanting the best for her baby at whatever cost, but I loved Dympna! Everyone needs a friend like Dympna who will tell you how it is and fight for you no matter what.
A very good read!

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell

Roz realizes she is pregnant after a one night stand. Knowing her mother had not been the best role model, not having much income and still needing to finish school she leans toward adoption as a way to provide her child with the perfect mother. So, she looks and finds a site that promises wealthy intelligent well off people she can meet that might be interested. After making her choice she leaves her best friend Dympna behind and heads off to New York to meet the prospective parents. Sure, some warning bells go off in her mind (big ones went off in MY mind) and she should have listened to her gut...but she didn’t. And, if she had listened and run this story would have never gotten off the ground.

With each chapter more is revealed about the powerful couple in show business and the more that I learned the more worried I became. I had a good idea what would happen and wasn’t surprised by the plotting and pace but was surprised by one twist that had me scratching my head as I had not tweaked to the fact that one person’s fantasies were as dark or darker than an other’s.

What I liked:
* Roz never gave up even when a bit of Stockholm syndrome seemed to set in she was hopeful she and her baby would get out alive...well...most of the time she was.
* The twist I did not see coming
* Dympna: Roz’s best friend who never gave up on finding her
* The creep-factor and chill the story provided – I wrote down that one person was psychotic and later thought more than one actually was.
* The way it played with my (and Roz’s) mind
* The resolution at the end

What I did not like:
* The power couple – Sheridan and Daniel
* The fact that not all of the bad guys were punished
* Seeing just how warped and cruel and sick some people can be

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing, UK and Book on the Bright Side Publicity for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

Rosz has to make the most difficult decision of her life, give her child to adoption or abort; she knows she can take care of her… So she decides to search for a good family to take care of her unborn baby and give her the life she can only dream of. Seems a good idea, don’t you think? The problem with the “chosen” family is that they have a secret agenda, making Rosz fear for her life and her unborn daughter. Is it worth risking her life to have “The Perfect Mother”? You’ll have to read the book to discover the truth!
Rosz is a naïve Irish girl, she wants the “perfect” mother for her daughter and when a very rich family from the US shows interests in her, she can not see all the weird things surrounding them until it’s too late. The family is damaged, deeply disturbing and with a really dangerous agenda!
Since the beginning the reader can feel that the family is not good, the alarms sound loud and clear, but at the same time you can understand how Rosz simply wants to see the good things, she wants the best for her little one and if this means that she has to be kept as a secret, be it.
I loved how Caroline Mitchell has done a great job with this story, it’s the typical movie where the spectator spends half the movie shouting at the characters to be careful while they ignore them! The only good thing is that Rosz has an ally inside her “perfect” prison, but she doesn’t know who and if they will really help her or if it’s a trap… So many characters with secrets and lies that you never know what to expect next on the following page! This is a book to remind us about the important things in life and that sometimes what we are looking is just in front of us!
I read this book in one stand, the need to know more it was more important than any other thing in my life! 😉
So, take my advice and clean your schedule for the next hours, since you’ll need them to read this book! So… ready to discover “The Perfect Mother”?

Ooooo Ms Mitchell you clever clever lady. You thoroughly deserve my first 5 star review of 2020.

Not only has this got a fascinating plot surrounding online adoption it also has the added charm of showing the A list celebrity lifestyle.

And what can I say about Sheridan and Daniel the A list couple promising Roz the best in exchange for her baby? Fruitloop is the word that springs to mind with Sheridan, but for all her complete and utter madness I still had sympathy for her and that is all down to the power of Caroline’s writing. She is just trying to hold on to her man and the life she loves, when age and younger starlets are making that difficult.

And then there is Roz, a poor upbringing, no job, down on her luck and completely naive and desperate. I was rooting for her right from the get go and her tenacity was admirable when circumstances were stacked against her.

Even if this had been a bog standard this is all it is, it still would have been a great read as the writing is that good. Then add in some nice little twists, one of which I really did not see coming at all (and has left me with a big lightbulb thought) and it gives you the 5 star read that this totally deserves.

When Roz a young catholic woman living in Ireland finds herself pregnant abortion isn’t an option that she can consider and neither is the thought of bringing a child up herself. So when Roz searches the internet for a solution she discovers a web site where couples will pay all expenses for a young expectant mother, plus a little on top, to have her baby and let them adopt it. The agency seems pretty good so she puts all her details down about who she is, with a little tweaking to make it look better.
When she is contacted by a couple who have star ratings, which means they are famous someway, she can only see the perfect life for her unborn child with them. The couple has very dodgy criteria for the expectant mother to be chosen. Well stary eyed Roz being determined to be picked makes herself fit them all but she is like a square peg in a round hole. A deal is struck and she is soon flying across the Atlantic to the USA, the mystery couple and the unknown.
The story jumps between the characters, mainly Roz and Sheridan the woman wanting Roz’s baby where I found out more about them both. Sheridan makes for some really disturbing reading while I found I just couldn’t take to Roz. I was horrified at the situation that she had become part of but that was all. There are surprises and twists to this story that I thought I had worked out but it did catch me out.
This is another direction change for this author from supernatural heart stoppers, to dark police procedural belters to this suspenseful edgy novel that had me giving advice to characters whose destinies had already been written. Caroline Mitchell is an unstoppable super talent.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

This as the first of Caroline Mitchell’s books that I have read, and it definitely won’t be the last. Brilliant book, had me gripped from the first chapter, and kept me up until I finished it! Full of chilling twists, definitely worth reading!

Soooo anyone else get Brangelina vibes from this one?

A super famous celebrity couple goes undercover to buy young, single and poor Roz's baby, bringing her over from Ireland and paying all of her expenses for 6 months before she gives birth. What could possibly be the catch?

Too much to mention without giving it away, it turns out. Sheridan is a child star turned aging actress desperate to hold on to her movie star husband, the same husband whose career has been skyrocketing while hers has been fading. Even an abusive, cold and ambitious mother could not invoke any sympathy for Sheridan. Would Roz figure a way out of her prison before her child is born into this terrible fate?

4 stars because you do pull for Roz, ridiculous as she was to get herself into this situation. Some characters get what they deserve and some do not even come near it, but some genuine surprises at the end make this one a winner.

I loved this book ! A deliciously chilling well written thriller with shocking details you won't soon forget ! ! A must read ! Thanks to Netgalley , Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this book ! #Netgalley #AmazonPublishingUK #ThomasMercer #ThePerfectMother

Roz is penniless and pregnant. Wanting to find the perfect parents for her daughter, while padding her pockets at the same time, Roz signs up to a website that will match women with parents prepared to pay for a child. 
Roz is contacted by a "Diamond" couple, and is whisked away to New York to live in luxury till the baby is born ... spoiler - don't move to a different Country to live with strangers.

You can tell the author Caroline Mitchell really wanted to keep you on your toes.
Everything is not as it seems in this book, in an almost comical way.

Most books in his genre end with a twist and a climax.
This book was less climax, but  lots of twists ... multiple twists, which was fine, but as I said, almost funny. 

Like if the gang from Scooby-Doo unmasked the monster revealing the High school janitor, but then took THAT mask off and it was the captain of the football team... but then THAT mask came off and it was the principal ...

that was the last half of this book.

Having read and enjoyed previous books by this author, I was looking forward to reading this new one. I thought the description sounded intriguing. Sadly, I was very disappointed. I didn't really like the characters and I found the whole story to be way too far fetched. I won't be recommending this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Roz is Irish, Catholic, 24, and pregnant. A minimum wage hotel cleaner, she is estranged from her own mother and has never known her father. To A knows that abortion is not right for her. Believing that adoption will give her baby all that she cannot, she turns to Miracle-Moms, an online service, to find a loving couple to raise her baby as its own. Roz thinks she has found them in Sheridan Sinclair and Daniel Watson, a movie star power couple who invite her to stay in their New York home until the baby is born. Will Sheridan be the perfect mother? Or has Roz made a mistake both for her baby and for herself?

Though the plot is a bit contrived and the ending comes as no surprise, The Perfect Mother is still a fun read. There is enough suspense generated by trying to figure out exactly what Sheridan and Daniel are up to, whether they've been up to it before, and who knows they're up to it to keep the reader engaged. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC provided in return for this honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Caroline Mitchell . I love a good psychological thriller, and this was definitely one. I think the book was very well written. It kept me on my toes from beginning to end! The only thing that got me was the twist near the end of the book. Finding out who the father was took me by surprise. I felt like it was a bit random.

Overall, great book and great writing! I will definitely be reading more of Caroline Mitchell!

Thanks NetGalley for the early read

This story started off slow but ended up getting better before it's somewhat surprising ending. I enjoyed the character development of Roz, going from a young, unsure girl to learning as she went through this ordeal that she really wanted to be a mother and also wanted her mother in her life and was sorry for how she had dismissed her. The characters of Daniel and Sheridan were almost like caricatures, and the dialog between these two was unbelievable at times. I didn't hate it, but I found myself wishing it would finish so I could move on to something else.

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A fast paced domestic thriller! This is my second book by Caroline Mitchell and I am really enjoying her stories! I didn't see some of the twists coming in this one and it kept me interested. Thank you NetGalley for my ARC copy!

I just finished The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell and I could not stop reading it. This was a true gem and I loved it.
Roz is a young woman who finds herself pregnant and jobless. She is not sure how she is going to support herself let alone a baby. She considers talking talking to her mother but they have a very distant relationship. She lives with her best friend Dympna in Dublin and the two are inseparable. Roz does not want to raise her baby to be poor like she was and she will not have an abortion.
Sheridan Sinclair has grown up as a child television star until she was about 18 years old. Sometimes reality and fantasy are unclear in her world. Her husband is also an actor and the two of them are Hollywoods top hot couple. Sheridan has the perfect Instagram Family: Heartthrob husband, adorable son with perfect blonde curls and beautiful elegant wife. But Sheridan wants more she needs a perfect little girl to add to her story.
Roz and Sheridan meet on an elite website for people looking to adopt and the young woman looking for families for their unborn babies. Sheridan offers to fly Roz to America to meet in person before deciding if they will go forward with the adoption process.
Dympna is hardly an over achiever but when her best friend tells her about the baby and her upcoming trip to America she becomes very suspicious. Dympna's father is a cop and she grew up listening to his stories about the crime and criminals that he has encountered over the years. She tries to stop Roz but Roz will not listen to her.
This book is a great mix of mystery and thriller i might even go as far as to add Psychological thriller to its tag.
This was a wonderful book and I look forward to reading more from Caroline Mitchell.
I did read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful read. In this age of online contracts and so called "vetted" buyers and sellers, it is a cautionary tale.

When Roz takes off from Ireland to live with a celebrity couple who want to claim her baby as her own, she puts no precautions in place because she was embarrassed to let anyone know who the father was. Given her circumstances, having just been let go from her job, she thought she would be providing a secure future for her baby, as she is whisked off to New York to meet the prospective parents.

From the get go, she has a bad feeling, and gets a vibe that the driver sent for her is trying to warn her off somehow. Once she's in the couple's household, she senses everyone is afraid - afraid to talk to her, afraid for their jobs, afraid of the couple. Thank goodness her friend from Ireland provided her with a tiny lifeline. But it isn't enough. Roz soon finds herself with all of her options spent.

There was a bit of deus ex machina at the end of the story, but by then I was so immersed it didn't take away from my enjoyment. I'll be looking for other books by Caroline Mitchell.

Roz is in her mid-20s and working as a housekeeper for a hotel in Dublin. She shares a flat with her best friend of 20 years, Dympna. When Roz realizes she’s pregnant, she knows she cannot share the identity of the father, and as she’s barely scraping by, raising a child on her own would be a challenge. Roz didn’t have the best childhood. She wants better for her own child.

After finding a site online that pairs prospective parents with birth mothers, she thinks she’s found the solution. When she gets matched with a couple that are considered the “diamond” variety, she’s ecstatic. Her enthusiasm grows as she emails and talks to the woman over the phone. They arrange for her to travel to New York City to visit. For Dympna, warning bells go off about this couple, but Roz is blinded by the fact they are wealthy and famous.

The Perfect Mother is chilling at times. Roz’s newfound parents seem like the perfect couple on the surface, but underneath lies a frightening dark side. Mitchell has expertly created a novel that will keep you engrossed and awake past your bedtime. I enjoyed hearing the story from three different points of view. Sheridan, the adoptive mom-to-be, had such a wicked inner dialogue. A fabulous contrast to Roz’s wide-eyed enthusiasm. The dirty details of the story were very well written, owing to Mitchell’s previous life as a detective.

Definitely a nail biter. I was not expecting several of the twists and turns along the way. Loved this and look forward to reading other books by Caroline Mitchell.



4 stars on Goodreads


This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 23 January 2020 .

Today could have been a bad day since I managed to break my toe tripping over my children's toys. But, it gave me a great excuse to sit and read most of this book.

Roz, a single woman barely making it living paycheck to paycheck in Ireland, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a "one night stand." She decides she wants to adopt out (sell) the baby, and finds a great online agency that will help make it possible. She is introduced to Julie -- part of a millionaire couple -- who wants Roz to move into the basement of her and her husband's home in NYC to have the baby and let Julie pass it off as her own. Roz's best friend, Dympna, tries to convince her it's a bad idea, but Roz doesn't listen. And nothing is what it seems.

Except of course it's exactly the opposite of what it seems or we wouldn't have much of a story here. However, even though you know what's coming, you still want to keep reading -- as quickly as you can turn the pages -- to see what will happen next. More of a thriller than a mystery, this book leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering whether or not it will work out for Roz and her baby, since in this genre, you never really know. While parts of this book are a bit too smooth and easy, I'd recommend it for a quick, suspenseful read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

Another smasher of a book from Caroline Mitchell! I have read almost all of her books and The Perfect Mother doesn't let me down in any way shape or form!
Roz is single, Catholic and pregnant..everything your Catholic upbringing has taught you is sooo wrong! She does what she thinks is the best for everyone especially her baby.She joins an Elite Adoption Ageny and finds herself flying from her home country, Ireland, to America meeting a beautiful, powerful couple who want her baby! As the story advances Roz finds everything that glitters is definitely not gold! How does she save herself and her baby??
Caroline has written a very definite taut and psychological thriller that had me gasping and then holding my breath too! Fantastic job Caroline, Loved it!

Thanks to a Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer and Caroline Mitchell for this ARC.. This story was very unpredictable. I read about 50 % the first day and decided to take a cozy afternoon to finish the other half. . I was not disappointed in this story by any means, and I absolutely loved it! ME Mitchell is a new author to me, but will become a familiar one! 4 stars only because my first book by this author.

I read this book in one sitting. Once I started it I found it impossible to put down. There were a lot of twists and turns, most of which I didn't see coming. I can't wait to read more from Caroline Mitchell and definitely recommend this for thriller fans!

Review of eBook

When Rosalind Foley finds herself pregnant, she knows she needs to find a good adoptive family for her child. After all, the pregnancy is the result of a one-night stand, Roz has no money, and she’s just lost her job. She discusses her predicament with her best friend, Dympna, but does not identify the father.

When a “diamond couple” on the elite Miracle Moms website expresses an interest in adopting her child, Roz travels from her home in Dublin, Ireland to New York City [first class, courtesy of the hopeful adoptive parents] where she meets the couple. The Hollywood superstar couple, Roz realizes, are in a position to give her baby everything she herself cannot provide. But the young woman has no idea that, when she accepts the offer to live with Sheridan and Daniel until the baby is born, she’s stepping into a waking nightmare . . . .

Short chapters keep the pages turning in this entertaining, quick read that offers readers a strong sense of place and a promising opening premise. However, readers are likely to find Sheridan’s behavior too over-the-top, her outrageous antics causing her to more closely resemble a caricature than a real character. Daniel is more mysterious and, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that there are many, many secrets in this household. Dympna seems to have a better grasp of reality and urges caution while the supremely naïve Roz is a bit impetuous. But Dympna is the kind of friend that everyone wishes to have in his or her life.

Tension builds as the well-written story unfolds although there are times that the narrative seems to drag, reiterating the same behaviors and circumstances, causing the intriguing opening chapters to lose some of their sparkle. There are unexpected plot twists that readers are not likely to see coming, but the big soap opera-ish twist at the end comes out of nowhere and is likely to leave them shaking their heads in disbelief.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley
#ThePerfectMother #NetGalley

I really liked this book! First of all, the writing was great and Caroline Mitchell reels you in from the beginning. It doesn’t wander…blather on…etc and I was drawn in on every page. Roz is a young girl living in Ireland. She has a good life and good friends but a dead-end job and now she’s pregnant. Deciding to give the child up for adoption, she joins a website that facilitates high-end adoptions. That’s where she meets Sheridan and Daniel — a power couple that will give her baby everything she can’t. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, isn’t it? Sworn to secrecy of their identity, Roz is flown to America, first-class, and brought by chauffeur to their beautiful home. But (no surprise here!!) this celebrity couple isn’t what they seem; everyone working for them is either scared or non-communicative, and none of her friends and family know where Roz is. This is fast-paced and creepy, as intended. And what I really appreciated is that I did, in fact, like Roz, as Mitchell did a great job in making her relatable and believable. Too many times in these types of novels I am so annoyed by the stupidity of the heroine that I’m ready to snuff her off myself by the end. Not so here; so kudos to the author. Good, fun, creepy read. Disclaimer — I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!!! #NetGalley 🤩🤩🤩🤩

A thriller with a twist,quite an original storyline. Good characters,who seemed very real.Set between Ireland and America.

Wow what a read! As soon as I started reading this book I was literally hooked. It had my heart pounding in places. In my opinion anything that can cause my heart to race in a book is amazing. Its not often a book can cause such a reaction in me these days but this one blew me away. I loved roz and dympna and even though I kind of guessed how the story would end, that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a book I'd definitely read again and have already recommended it to friends and family. I've also published my review on amazon as soon as I finished reading it.

The Perfect Mother was a book that I could not put down. Roz put her trust in complete strangers and from the moment she arrived in her bedroom things started to go badly. Her freedoms were taken away and she lived like a prisoner, but that wasn't even the worst part of what happened while Roz was held captive in the famous celebrity couple's house. This was a great and believable story.

This is the first book I’ve read by Caroline Mitchell and it won’t be the last. Can I start by saying you do need to suspend reality a little if you are going to enjoy this book as it is a little far fetched. Go with it and don’t try to pick holes in the plot and it will sweep you away. It had me gripped most of the time though there were a couple of dips in the pacing of the story. Also I thought the reveal of the father of the baby was a bit rushed at the end and the response from Dympna at finding out her best friend had slept with her dad and he had fathered a child was frankly unbelievable - you just wouldn’t be that cool about it! Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Thomas and Mercer for an advanced copy in exnanfe for an honest review.

Realistic, frightening and very readable. the story centres round Roz, who finding herself pregnant decides to take a big step and contact a high-end Adoption online site. It all sounds too good to be true.
Sheridan and Daniel, a man with little backbone, are the prospective parents. Billionaires, their life is run as secretively as possible, and Roz has no idea what is in store for her.
It's a gripping read. I found Sheridan maybe a little too highly strung, (well, actually quite mad) Daniel a little too detached, but felt sorry for Roz.
thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.