A traumatic past and a recent separation, yet Tessa Markham is doing her best to move on and make the best of life , until one day she returns home to find a small boy in her kitchen who asks the question “are you my Mummy?”
Given her past, those around her start to question whether she is involved in his appearance to the point that she even starts to doubt herself. How can a child just appear in her house alone?
Shalini Boland’s books are interesting and make me want to keep turning the pages. The stories for me just flow without involving complicated plots and she’s up there as one of my favourite writers of the moment.
I’ve read all 4 of this author’s books and eagerly await the 5th

A good author is one who writes a book with well etched characters, where the story and plot lines flow and generally the reader is left feeling happy.
A great author is the one who captures the reader's attention from first page, pulls the reader into the story, where each emotion of the character is felt and the book reads like a movie, each chapter is a scene of the movie.
And Shalini Boland is a great author. Her book pulled me in from the first page and she took me on an intriguing journey. I felt anger, sadness, grief, helplessness, loss, self doubt, the need to know the truth, every emotion that the main character, Tessa, felt.
The story is simple- Tessa walks into her kitchen, there is a child there who asks her, are you my mummy???
And the story starts.... Who is the child, Harry? Why does he say she is his mother? Who has left him there in her home? Is Tessa going mad, did she kidnap the child? Will the police believe her? Why does her ex want her to see a therapist? What is the agenda of neighbour/journalist Carly??
Will Tessa ever find the truth??
All these questions and more are answered by the author, Shalini Boland, with her fabulous writing, fantastic story telling and a prose which flows seamlessly. The book is non pretentious, does what it is supposed to, and brings suspense and thrill while reading. I literally had goosebumps while reading the book. And I still have a book hangover...
What I liked about the author's writing is she writes to the point, all that is needed to add to the story without being frivolous. The book is a page turner from the beginning to the end, I read it in 3 hours flat. Usually suspense thrillers start slow, take ages to build up then has a finale but this book takes no prisoners from the get-go. And there is not a moment where the pace slows, I love books like that which do not allow us to think but takes us on a whirlpool of events with full-on suspense and thrill, an absolute roller-coaster.
I think Ms Boland, you have done it with this book... We have a winner on our hands. This was my first book by her and I think both she and I now know that she has a fan in me.

If I could have given it more than 5 stars I would have! Brilliant, just brilliant! I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate this opportunity.

Title: The Secret Mother

Author: Shalini Boland

Publication Date: 11/9/2017

Page Count: 241 Pages

Synopsis: Tessa is a seperated and grieving mother. After the deaths of her two children and her seperation she focuses on work to cope with her grief. After Tessa gets home from work she comes home to a little boy in her kitchen. The little boy is just sitting there coloring and asks "Are you my Mummy?"

Feeling overwhelmed with the grief of her children and this unknown child in her house, she calls her husband Scott. Even though they are seperated he agrees to come over and see what is going on. Tessa is flooded with emotions but after Scott arives and calls the police things get worse.

Even though Tessa reported the incident to the police and is cleared, everyone seems to believe because she is a grieving mother that she abuducted the child. The reporters stalk her house and work. She feels like she's going mad. All these emotions and all these things turned on her is making her emotions go into overdrive. When Tessa finds out that she may be connected to this child's father, she must find out what's going on. Why was this child left in her home and calling her Mummy? Is Tessa just a delusional and grieving mother? Did she abduct the child? Will anyone take her serious? Read Secret Mother to find out!



Review: I give this book 5 out of 5 suspenful stars! Wow, I was on the edge of my seat with the suspense from this book. I felt Tessa's emotions and my heart rate quickened as I read through this enthralling thriller. This has to be one of the most suspenseful books I have ever read! I felt the hairs on the back of my neck go up and my heart raced a mile a minute. If you are searching for a great suspense I recommend The Secret Mother by Shalini Boland!

Such a fantastic book! I read most of this in one night... only stopping when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I got sucked up into the story and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. I really felt for Tessa and hoped that everything wpuld turn out alright for her. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book to read and review

*Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*'The Secret Mother' makes for addictive reading. It is a thriller, but a thriller like no other. Following a chain of tragic events, Tessa's life has all but fallen apart. She comes home from work one day, to find a little boy called Harry in her kitchen. No one seems to know who he is or why he is there. Tessa finds herself accused of unspeakable crimes and is hounded by the press. So begins a story full of twists and turns, complete with complex characters. A thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I love a book that hooks me in the first sentence. Imagine walking in your house to find a little boy claiming you are his new mommy. How would you react? This is the setting for this incredibly written psychological thriller. I loved Tessa. She lives with such heartbreak and now people think she is crazy. As the story played out, my heart was hurting for her. Ben was great. What a stand-up guy! A great read!

I was very pleased to receive an ARC of The Secret Mother by Shalini Boland, and I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for approving my request.
I absolutely loved Shalini Boland's The Best Friend, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. It was definitely another page turner, and the first half of this book promised to be as thrilling and mysterious as could be. I had an inkling soon after half way about how the plot was going to unravel, although I had no idea how the twists and turns were going to draw to that conclusion. I was a little disappointed towards the end as the plot seemed too far fetched to me to be believable. As this took the edge off my overall enjoyment, I'm going to give four stars instead of the five that I initially thought.

I really enjoyed The Secret Mother. It was one of those books I just couldn’t put down and I read it within 24 hours. It’s the first book I’ve read by Shalini Boland and it’s definitely whetted my appetite for more of her work.

The story follows Tessa Markham. She’s given birth to twins with husband Scott at her side. One child died at birth and the other a few years later. Her grief put a strain on their marriage and they separated. She lives in a world where she exists day to day: goes to work, eats and sleeps. Then one day she returns to find a small boy in her kitchen asking if she’s his mummy. What’s he doing there? Did she take him? Even after calling the police she doesn’t trust herself and finds she has to prove her innocence to everyone.

This is a pacy, gritty book and I was hooked from the first chapter. It’s well written and you feel Tessa’s angst. I can heartily recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

The secret Mother by Shalini Bolton was a excellent psychological thriller. I was hooked from the very first page until the last page. I really liked the character of Tessa and I did not want to put the book down and read it in one day. I will be looking forward to reading more books from this author. I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. Will be back with my full review.

When I saw this book on Facebook, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. I love reading psychological thrillers and this one didn't disappoint.
We are thrown straight into the deep end with this book.
Tessa gets home to find a little boy sitting in her kitchen. She doesn't know where he comes from. But he asks her one very important question "Are you my mummy?"
A whole police investigation is opened to find out where this little boy came from and how he ended up in Tessa's house. Tessa is blamed for things she hasn't done and they past comes back to haunt her.
I really enjoyed this story, it pulled me in from page 1 and kept me reading until the very end.
Tessa is a really relatable character, she has had a shitty few years and life has been hard. She's just trying to get through each day.
I really liked Ben, he was a really supportive person. Something Tessa really needed.
The ending was a bit of a shock and it made me cry.
This is the first book by this author I have read and I'm off to find out what else she has to offer.

I received an ARC of this title from Bookoutre via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa Markham arrives home to find a five-year-old boy, Harry, in her kitchen. A boy who greets her by asking if she’s his mother.

We soon learn Tessa and her estranged husband, Scott, once had twins, a girl who died shortly after birth, and a boy who died more recently from an illness. Following a mental and emotional break, Tessa was suspected, but not charged, with taking another woman’s child, and Scott has his doubts about how Harry came to be in Tessa’s house.

Following this experience, Tessa comes to be tried by the media, presumed guilty of child abduction, and she begins to question her own actions. A nosy neighbor who is also a reporter, and an understanding boss who may want to be more than that complicate Tessa’s life further, as she struggles to uncover the truth of how Harry came to be in her house, as well as deal with the fact that Scott is prepared to move on with his life in a direction opposite of hers.

Shalini Boland did a very good job of getting inside Tessa’s head and making her concerns come to life, while managing not to become too maudlin or overwrought. She felt real, and that was greatly appreciated.

I had the mystery solved long before Tessa did, but her superb characterization and the story’s pacing kept me involved throughout. Boland is very good at building suspense, although there were a couple of “Whatever-shall-I-do?” moments that i felt were a bit too much.

Still, the book reached a satisfying conclusion, and I am definitely interested in reading more from this author.

A solid 4 out of 5 stars.

The Secret Mother starts off with an unusual pretext - Tessa Markham comes home from work to find a little boy in her kitchen, claiming that she's his mother. From there, we go on a wild ride trying to figure out who took the boy, why, and who he really is. The Secret Mother is definitely a page turner and I blew threw it in just a couple of days because I wanted to find out the "secret" behind the secret mother. I only gave it three stars, though, because I could see many of the plot twists coming and guessed the ending well in advance. The foreshadowing was a bit too heavy and allowed me to predict many of the upcoming events. However, this was a really fun read and I enjoyed going along for the ride.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of the book for review.

I absolutely loved this amazing book! So thrilling and fast paced. So many twists that I did not see coming! Love this author's writing style! Original and amazing - a truly stunning tale! One of the best psychological thrillers I have read! Cannot wait for more by this superb author!

I am a huge fan of this author and I have read all of her books. Each one better than the last ! I read this is one day.. I didn't want to put it down. As always from page one you are hooked and it just gets more suspenseful from there. The main character could have been weak and wishy washy after all she had been through but the author made her strong and empowering. Yes she may have doubted her sanity, but who could blame her ? I would recommend this book to anyone as it was fantastic.

This book was special .It was read for that purpose . The young kid called Harry stayed with Tess until he went for his father . He was only a little boy and didn’t know what to do .

Poor Tessa has enough to contend with, having lost both of her twins and her husband has left her, when a small boy turns up in her kitchen, sating an angel has brought him to her. She now has to contend with a police enquiry, doorstepping press and her estranged husband accusing her of having a breakdown. My heart went out to Tessa, trying to prove her innocence, while being disbelieved by so many, with the notable exception of her boss. This is a very good book, with believable characters, and a lead who drew me into her life and frustrations.

The Secret Mother was an absolute brilliant story, I was so hooked, loved every minute of it, I couldn't put my kindle down as I needed to know the ending, and what a Brilliant ending it was!!!

Struggled to put this book down. The storyline drew me in immediately. Such a page-turner!
I felt so much empathy for the main character - she lost both her children, seperated from her husband - who now has a young pregnant girlfriend, and she doesn't really have anyone in her life other then her boss. Couldn't even imagine going through all that she has.
Even though I guessed the ending about halfway through the book, it was still a very enjoyable fast-paced read for me. Highly recommend!