A Guide To Being Just Friends Review

Author: Sophie Sullivan

Series: Jansen Brothers #3

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: Audiobook

Narrators: Stephanie Willing, Timothy Andres' Pabon

Publisher: MacMillan Audio

Release Date: Jan. 17, 2023

Purchase Link: Amazon

Special thanks to MacMillan Audio for the audiobook of this title. #MacMillanAudio

Review:

A Guide To Being Just Friends is book 3 in the Jansen Brothers Series.  While the book will stand alone, the characters from the first two books are prominent in this one.  

Wes Jansen moves to California to live and work with his younger brothers.  He's a super organized tech geek in charge of technology for their business.  Wes's passion is in writing gaming programs, but his father's constant belittling of his talents causes him to suppress that side of himself to concentrate on the more serious aspects.  Hailey leaves behind a bad relationship to arrive in California and open her own salad shop in a local strip mall.  She has trust issues so romance is off the menu for her.  Wes and Hailey meet in an awkward situation, but then reconnect later.  Neither wants a relationship so they agree to be friends.  Can a man and woman be "just friends"?

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes in cute romances and A Guide To Being Just Friends delivers that and more.  Sullivan does a great job fleshing out characters with all their quirks and pushing them out of their comfort zone to grow.  While the relationship between Wes and Hailey progressed slowly, the other relationships including Wes with his brothers and Hailey with her new friends filled in the time and space.  I enjoyed the fact that each main character had to grow and learn to accept some things individually before they could  accept their changing relationship.  

Quirky banter, heartfelt emotions and light conflict kept me turning the pages in A Guide To Being Just Friends.  Sullivan shines a light on the possibilities when two people let go of the past and embrace the future both personally and professionally.  Fans of rom coms will love this charming romance.  I highly recommend the audio book version as narrators Stephanie Willing and Timothy Andres' Pabon are outstanding!

Synopsis:

Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.

Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.

When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike up a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.

What could possibly go wrong?

The Plus One Review

Author: Mazey Eddings

Series: A Brush with Love #3

Publisher: MacMillan Audio

Release Date: April 4, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to MacMillan Audio for an audio arc!

4 Healing Hearts

What starts out as a fake wedding date turns into something these childhood enemies never expected in the next sparkling romantic comedy by Mazey Eddings.

Review:

The Plus One is the 3rd book in the A Brush With Love series.  It's sweet, funny, charming and yet heartbreaking all at the same time - an emotional rom-com with much needed depth that tackles some tough mental issues. The characters are believable and likable and the issues real.

Indira is a psychiatrist who's passionate about her work also realizing she needs professional help herself to face some issues of her own.  When she walks in on her live-in boyfriend in their bed with a stranger, she packs her bags and heads to her brother Colin's house.  Unfortunately, she's greeted at the door by Jude, her brother's best friend and best man and her lifelong nemesis.  He's home for Colin's upcoming wedding and also staying in Colin's home.  Forced into close proximity for the duration of the wedding, the sparks and snarky remarks fly.  However, it isn't long before the pair of misfits decide that fake dating will solve issues for both of them.  Jude is suffering from PTSD, home from his tour as a surgeon in war-torn countries and struggling to make sense of the horrors he's seen.  He needs support in social situations, and Indira needs someone by her side as she's forced to watch her now ex with the new girlfriend at wedding events.  The two strike a deal.  But what happens when the fake dating begins to feel real?

The Plus One is a beautiful blend of humor, sizzling chemistry and serious mental topics all rolled into a delightful romance.  The author tackles issues like PTSD, anxiety and therapy with understanding and grace blending them into a growing relationship with some lighthearted humor.  The characters are well-fleshed out and highly enjoyable.  I enjoyed the audiobook version of this book with narration expertly delivered by Imani Jade Powers and Joe Arden.  Highly recommended to fans of romance, rom coms and stories with meaning.

Synopsis:

Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exits. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other?

On paper, Indira has everything together. An amazing job, a boyfriend, and a car. What more could a late twenty-something ask for? But when she walks in on her boyfriend in an amorous embrace with a stranger, that perfect on paper image goes up in flames.

Jude has nothing together. A doctor that’s spent the last three years traveling the world to treat emergencies and humanitarian crises, a quick trip home for his best friend’s wedding has him struggling to readjust.

Thrust into an elaborate (and ridiculously drawn out) wedding event that’s stressing Jude beyond belief and has Indira seeing her ex and his new girlfriend far more frequently than any human should endure, the duo strike a bargain to be each other’s fake dates to this wedding from hell. The only problem is, their forced proximity and fake displays of affection are starting to feel a bit… real, and both are left grappling with the idea that a situation that couldn’t be worse, is made a little better with the other around.

Flop Dead Gorgeous Review

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: Andy Carpenter #27

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date:  July 4, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for an arc.

4 Gorgeous Hearts

Lights, camera, action in bestselling author David Rosenfelt’s Flop Dead Gorgeous, as lawyer Andy Carpenter goes bicoastal to prove an old friend’s innocence.

Review:

Flop Dead Gorgeous is book #27 is the Andy Carpenter series.  Readers will have no issues reading this title without having read previous books as the author does a fantastic job of filling in the history within each book although you're missing out on the introduction and development of several characters if you skip ahead.

In Flop Dead Gorgeous, we once again find independently wealthy, semi-retired lawyer Andy Carpenter pulled back into the middle of a murder mystery.  Actress Jenny Nichols is home for the funeral of her mother when her ex's body is found murdered in the home she's staying in.  Andy's one claim to fame is that he dated Jenny in high school, and he misses no opportunity to repeat this tidbit to everyone in town.  Jenny also owns one of the Tara Foundation rescue dogs named Mamie.  All evidence points to Jenny as the killer, but Andy is convinced she didn't do it.  To prove her innocence, he'll need to reveal the killer's identity.

All the Andy Carpenter books follow a formula - Andy declaring he's retired, someone needing his expertise in the court room and Andy and his support cast investigating the murder on their own.  Having said that, I find each book to be a refreshing read with a murder case to be solved and a client to represent in court.  What I love most about these books is the dogs, of course, but also the mingling of humorous dialogue sprinkled throughout the story.  There are always some laugh out loud moments.  Readers of previous books will love seeing the repeat characters.  A steady pace through a few twists and turns will keep readers turning pages to the final courtroom scene.

Flop Dead Gorgeous is a lighthearted, sometimes funny mystery.  It's the perfect book for a summer afternoon on the porch or at the beach.  There's no way to resist the adorable cover or the title.  I highly recommend it to fans of the series and fans of lighter mysteries.  

Synopsis:

Dog rescue organization the Tara Foundation’s phones are ringing off the hook, and retired lawyer Andy Carpenter is irritated at his newfound popularity. He should be thrilled to find forever homes for so many dogs in need. But these calls are from fans wanting to adopt from the same place famous actress Jenny Nichols—and Andy’s high school girlfriend—got her dog, Mamie. The Miniature French Poodle is now an LA starlight in her own right.

Andy doesn’t hold it against his friend. In fact, he and Laurie have dinner with Jenny while she's in New York filming her next big hit. But after their goodbyes there's a plot twist none of them see coming in the form of Jenny's one phone call. Her co-star is dead, she’s been arrested for the murder, and Mamie's on her own. First, Jenny needs Andy to collect Mamie. Second, she needs him to prove her innocence.

While Mamie becomes reacquainted with Tara, Andy’s golden retriever, Andy digs into the lives of the rich and famous.

Drowning Review

Author: T.J. Newman

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Format: Audio Book

Narrators: Steven Weber & Laura Benanti

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Release Date: May 30, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

5 Heart Pounding Stars!!

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Special thanks to Libro FM for the complimentary audio book.

With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.

Review:

Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 is Author T.J. Newman's sophomore novel, coming on the heels of her sensational debut Falling, and she's proven without a shadow of a doubt that her first book was no fluke.  Drowning is a high intensity, propulsive story that held me captive from the opening to the final shocker in the closing pages.  Newman has redefined the term "intense", elevating it to a higher level by holding the pedal on the floorboard through an array of heart racing twists and turns from beginning to end.  

Flight 1421 is only minutes out of Hawaii when all systems suffer a catastrophic failure, leaving the Captain with only one alternative - ditch the plane in the ocean.  After a rough water landing, passengers are hopeful of a quick rescue as they rush to leave the plane with life vests.  Unfortunately, an engine explosion contaminates the surface water forming a massive jet fuel slick that quickly erupts into a burning inferno. The dozen remaining passengers who have yet to embark the plane close and seal the doors shutting out toxic fumes and the fire raging around them.  At least while waiting for rescuers to arrive, they're safe . . . until the crippled plane sinks two hundred feet below the surface before coming to rest precariously on a sea ledge.  Twelve people with approximately five or six hours of oxygen start praying someone with a plan to get them out safely locates them before their time runs out.  Clock's ticking.

Emotionally charged from start to finish, Drowning unfolds at a blistering, high-octane pace that kept this reader burning through pages.  With the exception of a few rescuers, this story is narrated through two main points of view - Will Kent, an engineer, who is traveling with his daughter, eleven-year-old Shannon, and that of his soon to be ex-wife Chris, a professional diver whose company is contracted by the Navy in salvage operations.  Through taut prose, Newman brilliantly manipulates characters and readers through the mysterious underwater world of the sea to the terrifying interior of the submerged aircraft bringing to life a setting so believable readers may have trouble breathing. Delivered mostly in the present, the only reprieve from the intensity is found in brief snippets from the past that allow readers an opportunity to become familiar with various family dynamics at play among passengers and their loved ones.  These interludes give readers an opportunity to bond with and build empathy for some as well as form a strong dislike for others as their personal stories unfold in the midst of tragedy, serving to provide a human connection otherwise missing.  A somber tone is prevalent as one can almost smell the fear as the clock ticks down the remaining precious minutes.  Newman's prior experience as a flight attendant is evident as the inclusion of several technical aircraft terms lend an air of authenticity.  She does a commendable job weaving these details into fictional plot lines in a non-intrusive manner that aids readers' understanding of events occurring.  

Drowning is an intense, totally immersive, high action story as turbulent as the angry seas and like its' predecessor certain to be headed to the big screen.  Emotionally draining, it's a powerful, potent story of a broken family in crisis fighting for a second chance that may have been lost under the sea.  I highly recommend the audio version as Narrator Steven Weber's narration of Will and other characters is brilliant, bringing all the desperation and authenticity needed to bring this story to life.  Narrator Laura Benanti also does a fantastic job, bringing Chris to life and together, they give a five star performance greatly enhancing my listening experience.  Highly recommended to fans of intense, high stake suspense thrillers.  This one is not to be missed!

Synopsis:

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

There’s not much time.

There’s even less air.

After That Night Review

Author: Karin Slaughter

Series: Will Trent #11

Publisher: William Morrow

Publ. Date:  Aug. 22, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

My Rating: 5 Heartbroken Hearts

Special thanks to William Morrow Publishing for an arc!

Reviewed in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Will Trent and Sara Linton are back! This is the 11th electrifying thriller featuring GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton from New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter.

After that night, nothing was ever the same again …

Review:

After That Night is the highly anticipated eleventh book in the award winning Will Trent series featuring GBI Special Agent Will Trent and Medical Examiner Dr. Sara Linton.  It's the story fans of the series may not have realized they've been waiting for - the gruesome, heartbreaking story of Sara's attack fifteen years ago.  Through alternating chapters of past and present and a multifaceted plot line, readers are pulled back into the darkness alongside Sara as she learns the truth of that heinous night that changed the course of her life.  After That Night is an explicit, shocking and emotionally charged addition to the Will Trent series - a series with an ongoing character story arc which is why I recommend reading the series in order for the character and relationship development.  Having said that, Karin Slaughter delivers a complete story with needed background information in each book.

Dr. Sara Linton's on duty in the emergency room when rape victim Dani Cooper is brought in barely clinging to life, having been horribly beaten and violated.  Tending the broken woman as she lies dying in the ER sends Sara spiraling back into the nightmare of her own brutal assault fifteen years prior.  Cooper's dying plea for justice is heard only by Sara, and later she's called to testify in a civil court case against a well-known, wealthy surgeon's son who's accused of the crime.  After her testimony, Sara's cornered in the ladies room by the accused's mother who verbally lashes out at Sara in a spiteful drunken rage with taunts about Sara's past attack being connected to Cooper's . . . a revelation that renders Sara speechless.  Her attacker was convicted so how can her case possibly be connected to Dani Cooper's?  If it proves to be true will learning the whole abhorrent truth finally set her free . . . or destroy her all over again?  Sara turns to fiance GBI Special Agent Will Trent for support and with assistance from Will's partner Faith Mitchel, they begin looking for any link between past and present.  

Slaughter's a master at setting a torrid pace plummeting characters and readers reeling through one perplexing revelation after another as After That Night races toward a blistering climax.  Sugar coating nothing, the author's signature multidimensional scenes are graphic and painfully detailed, but like a wreck on the highway it's impossible to look away or stop reading.  Fortunately, Slaughter tempers some of the horror with deeply personal, intimate and sometimes humorous scenes between Sara and Will that afford readers mini-breaks to regroup.  Characters are so well defined and developed, so believable that readers absorb every hit personally.  Many series favorites like Faith Mitchell play major roles in this raw, gritty story all delivering star performances.  As a fan of the series, I enjoyed seeing Faith's son Jeremy clash with his mom over the direction his future may take as he manages to steal some scenes in this one in support of Sara. 

After That Night is a gripping, tautly plotted, gut wrenching story that this reader couldn't put down.  I tore through the pages of this emotionally powerful story seeking answers with a prayer on my lips and a burning desire for revenge for every woman who's ever suffered at the hands of a monster in my heart.  Again, I find myself in awe of Slaughter's brilliant story telling skills especially her ability to finesse weary, storm battered characters through insanely entangled plot lines with the shock factor.  While After That Night isn't an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, it's a must read for fans of the series and one I highly recommend to all readers who enjoy masterfully rendered suspense thrillers.  It just doesn't get any better than this five star story.

Synopsis:

After that night, nothing was ever the same again …

Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton's life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her.

Until one evening, on call in the ER, everything changes. Sara battles to save a broken young woman who's been brutally attacked. But as the investigation progresses, led by GBI Special Agent Will Trent, it becomes clear that Dani Cooper's assault is uncannily linked to Sara's.

And it seems the past isn't going to stay buried forever …

Girls and Their Horses Review, Excerpt & Book Tour

Set in the glamorous, competitive world of showjumping, a novel about the girls who ride, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death at a horse show…from the author of Good Rich People.

 Praise for the novels of Eliza Jane Brazier

“…twisted and riveting”

—CNN

"The rich live differently than the rest of us, and that's never more evident than this chilling account of one family that plays a sick and twisted game with their tenants."
—Good Housekeeping

“With writing that truly embodies the raw evil of greed, Brazier crafts cunning characters whom readers will be so excited to hate.”
—Shondaland

 

“[A] page-turner of the highest order.”
—POPSUGAR

Publisher: Berkley

Publ. Date: June 6, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

About the Author

Eliza Jane Brazier is an author, screenwriter, and journalist. Eliza entered the horse world at the age of 5 and has worked as a rider, horse trainer and riding instructor. She currently lives in California with her horse and dogs, where she is developing her books for television.

Welcome to my stop on the Girls and Their Horses Blog Tour!  Scroll down for my review and an excerpt.  Special thanks to Berkley Publishing for an arc of this title!

Review:

Girls and Their Horses introduces readers to the glamorous but cutthroat world of teen show horse competitions complete with all the toxicity of overzealous mothers living out their dreams through their daughters through manipulation and all the backstabbing that goes along with it.  The power of old money vs. new money comes into play when the competition between parents is fiercer than the competition on the track.  In the middle of all the pomp and circumstance, there's an intriguing murder mystery to be solved.

Brazier's ability to manipulate well-developed characters drives this story forward at a steady pace as readers come to know all the players from mothers with a sense of entitlement desperate to give their children the social status and acceptance into the elite world of show horse competition they never had to the girls forced into roles not of their own making.  But when a murder victim turns up at a horse show, both mothers and daughters are forced to look inward and decide what's truly important in their lives.  The murder is introduced in the early pages of the story, but readers are then carried back in the past to experience the emotionally charged story first hand as it unfolds.  Tensions run high as alliances are formed and later betrayed, motivations are exposed and both parents and children face some cold, hard facts.

Girls and Their Horses is an unique, intriguing suspense story with some real life lessons to be learned about what's really important in life.  Characters are believable perhaps in spite of their social status.  The author has rendered a well-written fictional story on the very real world of show horse competitions among the young although I suspect these lessons could be applied to any of a number of teen sport competitions.  The real value of true friendship, parent/child relationships and following one's own dreams are front and center.  Fans of young adult suspense stories will enjoy Girls and Their Horses.

Synopsis:

When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses.

She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.

It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romance and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.

Before the summer is over, lies will turn lethal, accidents will happen, and someone will end up dead.

Excerpt:

GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES by Eliza Jane Brazier

Berkley Hardcover | On sale June 6, 2023

Maple stepped into the cool shade of the breezeway. The horses stuck their heads over the doors

and watched her. One noticed the carrots and whinnied. Then they all started whinnying, pacing

around their stalls and tossing their heads. One even bucked and cantered a tight circle. They

were freaking out. It was kind of scary.

Maple had a sense, always, that something terrible was about to happen now. Right now. She

called it prophecy; her therapist called it generalized anxiety disorder.

"What are you doing?" A girl slipped out of a stall and into the aisle way.

She seemed older than Maple, but she was small and delicate. She was wearing a bright red coat,

like a girl marked for death in a horror movie. But she had the face of the killer.

"You can't be here," the girl continued. "Didn't you read the signs?" She noticed the carrots. "Oh

my God! Are you giving the horses carrots? Don't you know you can't do that? They could have

Cushing's disease. Or bite you. I know this girl, and her mom got her finger bitten off by their

horse, and the horse swallowed it. Seriously, I'm not fucking kidding."

Maple dropped the heavy bag on the ground. Her whole face burned. She wanted to run, but her

legs felt weak. She was dizzy. She wished her mom were there.

Heather never seemed to be bothered by drama. In fact, she often seemed drawn to it. If there

was a kerfuffle at a restaurant, if gunshots rang out, Heather drifted steadily toward it, clutching

her purse and smiling benignly. Can I help?

"My mom-," Maple started.

"You need to leave," the girl said. "Seriously, you're actually trespassing. And why are you

wearing riding clothes? It's Monday."

Maple burned up even more. She'd tried to warn her mother about this, when she had dressed

Maple up like a doll.

A woman who must have been the other girl's mom appeared. She shared her daughter's red hair.

"What are you doing here?" she said. She also shared her attitude.

"My mom's here," Maple said, not answering the question. "I have to go get her." She took off

like a lunatic toward the offices. She abandoned the carrots in the barn aisle.

"Hey!" the girl yelled after her. "You can't run around horses!"

Maple found her mom practically in the middle of breaking and entering. It would never have

occurred to Heather that the office wasn’t hers to open.

"Why are you running?" Heather asked, trying a combination on the lock. "I was thinking I could

write them a note. I think this is the main office. I've already left seven voice messages."

Heather had been trying to contact this barn since before the move. Instead of giving up, she got

only more determined.

Maple was breathing hard. She was on the verge of tears. "They said we can't be here!" Her

voice rose precipitously. "They said we're trespassing."

Heather perked up. "Who said that? Is someone here?"

Heather started in the direction Maple had come from, but then the red-haired woman appeared,

matching daughter in tow. When she saw Heather, she smiled so fast it was like a quick draw in

a shoot-out.

"Why, hello there!" Her eyes ran fast over Heather, like she was calculating the value of

everything she saw-Heather herself included.  "I'm Pamela and this is my daughter, Vida."

"I'm Heather. Parker. And this is my daughter Maple."

"I was just telling your sweet girl that unfortunately this barn isn't open to the public." Pamela

was holding Vida's hand, their fingers laced, like they were best friends instead of mother and

daughter.

"Oh, we're not the public," Heather said. They had been rich for a short amount of time, but

Heather had adjusted beautifully. "We're here to sign up for riding lessons."

"It's Monday," Pamela said. "No one comes in on Mondays. And this isn't a lesson barn. They

don't have school ponies or summer camps."

Heather stepped forward, crossed her arms neatly. Since she had become rich, Maple's mother

had changed, although not completely. The root of what she had always been was still there. But

she had become more herself.

"We just bought a house a mile from here," Heather said, as if that had anything to do with it.

But Maple could see Pamela's expression change. It softened a little, like the Parkers were closer

to belonging not just there but everywhere.

"How lovely! That makes us neighbors," she said. "But I will warn you, this probably isn't the

barn for you."

Maple knew the woman couldn't have tempted her mother more.

"There's a good riding school in Olivenhain. I can give you their number."

"No, thank you. I like this one. It's closer to our house. I want Maple to be able to walk to the

barn if she wants to," Heather said. As if Maple would ever walk a mile. "Would you mind

taking my number? Then you can pass it along to the owners for me. I've been trying to reach

them."

"Kieran Flynn," Pamela said, like the name meant something to everyone. "He's the owner and

the head trainer."

Pamela clearly didn't want to take her number, but Heather just waited. Pamela finally took out

her phone. She typed Heather's number in quickly.

Then she added, "This is a show barn. Last year, we outperformed every barn at the Southern

California International Horse Show. We demand total commitment to the program. We're a very

tight community. You have to have your own horses, and your horses have to be in the training

program. That means all of your rides are supervised by a trainer, and your horse is schooled by

a Professional rider. It's really not a place for fun."

"Good," Heather said, taking Maple's hand like she was aping Pamela. "We don't want to have

fun."

There was nothing Heather loved more than the word no.

Excerpted from Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier Copyright © 2023 by Eliza Jane Brazier.

Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved.

The New Mother Review

Author: Nora Murphy

Genre: Domestic Thriller

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date: May 30, 2023

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for an arc.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

From Nora Murphy, author of The Favor, The New Mother is both relatable and nerve-wracking, sympathetic and bone-chilling—a fresh new twist on motherhood and murder in suburbia.

Review:

The New Mother, author Nora Murphy's sophomore novel, explores the bewildering world of new motherhood - the joy, wonder and overwhelming love . . . along with the long, sleepless nights and hormonal mood swings that threaten the sanity of overwrought mothers with fussy, colicky babies who refuse to be consoled.  While most mothers can sympathize, it's the questionable decisions the protagonist makes going forward that sets the dire tone for this domestic thriller.

Natalie Fanning is a new mother hanging on by a thread at the end of her rope and desperately seeking answers to her baby Oliver's never ending vocal demands.  Her growing resentment of her husband Tyler's ability to continue his career and life as normal increases as her despondency escalates.  Natalie's forced to give up a satisfying career as a lawyer for a life of isolation enduring endless days and nights of breastfeeding and dirty diapers with a wailing baby.  Determined to meet high family and societal expectations, Natalie refuses offers of help choosing instead to become a martyr of sorts.  In her loneliness and despair, she turns to the stay-at-home dad Paul Riley, who lives down the street, for help and companionship which he's more than happy to render.  Paul's own resentment of his wife Erin, the family breadwinner, is growing as she is pushing Paul to return to the work force after ten years as a stay-at-home dad to their ten year old daughter. What begins as a harmless friendship between Natalie and Paul quickly morphs into something uglier and darker - something Natalie fails to recognize in her sleep deprived, zombie-like state.  It seems Paul has become her lifeline . . . but at what cost? 

The New Mother is a chilling domestic thriller that shines a spotlight on the many challenges of being not only a first time mother, but one suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression or psychosis which is obvious only to readers.  Murphy excels at characterizations and building empathy for characters like Natalie.  The strong support cast is also well defined contributors to the validity of this story.  While the pace is rather slow, I believe it's the author's intention to afford readers time to buy into the utter misery and hopelessness felt by Natalie.  As the story unfolds, her downward spiral and increasing dependency upon Paul creates a malicious undertone that prevails throughout fueled even more as Paul's intentions become clearer to readers.  While little is left to the readers's imagination when it comes to the true villain's intent and motive in The New Mother, knowing doesn't prevent readers from experiencing the trepidation of a perilous journey as they watch a train wreck waiting to happen.  

Nora Murphy's The New Mother is an unique, eye-opening domestic thriller that's sure to touch a chord with mothers and caregivers everywhere.  The author does a fantastic job highlighting the many challenges mothers face adjusting to the demands of motherhood.  Fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this well-developed story.

Synopsis:

Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It's hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it's murder.

Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be.

Enter Paul, the neighbor.

Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest.

But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat—she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it?