This is the first book by this author that I have read. As the first book in a planned series, the author must set the back stories of the characters. This often causes the book to have slower sections, as did this one. The overall story was good, not a theme/topic I had come across before so I found it interesting. When a patient in good health suddenly dies, a good doctor should raise questions. That her questions had many consequences leads the doctor...and the readers...into an unusual story. This is a good book and I'm looking forward to the next one.

A thrilling read! Hang on tight because you'll be holding your breathe until the very end! It's a interesting and different take on a murder mystery.

Overall, an enjoyable book. There were many plot threads that could have been cut in favor of focusing the story, and there were a few that went nowhere. Pretty generic mystery with some repetitive parts. Not much to add from what other reviewers have said. Worth a quick read but won't be the next big hit.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review this book.

I just hope this is the first of a series or there is at least a sequel! Dee is a family doc in Sydney who has formed a bond with a patient she has known since he was a child. When she finds Tom dead in his apartment, she has a hard time accepting that his death was from an asthmatic reaction since she knows how well he monitored his illness. As the story unfolds, we begin to share her doubts as well and follow as she puts together the pieces of Tom's life and the life of his unborn child that may have led to his death. From detective work to a harrowing chase with his killer in the back country of Australia, this is a captivating mystery. The parallel story of Dee's struggle with changes in her life, the lives of her children and her ex-husband are well resolved but leave the reader ready for more!

A young man with chronic asthma is found dead, people believe it was a simple accident, but the man's GP believes it was murder.
The premise of this book sounded interesting, and held a lot of potential to be a great read. However this book seemed to just drag on, and a lot of things didn't make sense.

The first thing I didn't like about this book was the main character, Dee, who is the Gp and believes her patient, Tom was murdered. She becomes obsessed with trying to find out why he died and who done it. It felt to me like Dee cared more about Tom then she did about her own 3 children. There was a scene in this book where it was Christmas, and Dee made it out to be an effort to spend time with her family all because Tom wasn't alive.

The second thing I didn't like was the 'romantic interest' between Dee and Raj. It was obvious that Raj had feelings, as it was mentioned in the book but Dee didn't share those same feelings. and throughout the book it felt like Dee used him quite a bit.

Thirdly, there was no suspense, you knew what was going to happen throughout the whole book, you knew how it was going to end, there was just no element of surprise.

I thank net galley and the publishers for providing me a copy of this book for me to review, and i am disappointed that i didn't like the book as much as everyone else did.

Dee Flanary is a GP struggling to maintain equilibrium between her medical practice and family commitments. When one of her patients is found dead in what she feels are suspicious circumstances Dee feels compelled to launch her own enquiries. She has been Tom’s doctor since he was a baby and feels a motherly connection to him. Her actions attract little interest from police and pit her against her own profession and powerful private interests at risk to her reputation, livelihood and life.
Due to my avid interest in medical related matters I really enjoyed how the author drew on their knowledge and experience to write this story. For some reason my attention wandered at times and the extra details drew me back in.
This murder mystery thriller is the first in a trilogy and I expect the author to develop as a writer in future stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

The Practice Baby by LM Ardor A young man with chronic asthma is found dead was it a accident or was it murder? His GP Dr. That has taken care of him all his life thinks it's murder. This book dragged in quite a few spots for me. I found it repetitious and had a very hard time getting through the whole book. That said I found the premises for the book great and since this is the first book in the trilogy I hope the subsequent books improve.
Beverly E ladyedan, ladyedan62

Thank you #NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion
#goodreads #Amazon

The premise of the book was really good but it lost its way a lot after a promising start. I wanted to know if Dee was right but I wasn't as involved in the plot as I thought I would. There was something a bit off about her as a character. Maybe it's because I found her behaviour a bit too obsessive and I'm not sure that her personal interest in the victim would be so readily accepted in a professional capacity.

I always find it so hard to write reviews for books I have rated 3 stars as I don’t have the same passion I have when I love/hate a book.

‘The practise baby’ by LM Ardor was a hard read for me. By hard read I don’t mean it had sensitive topics, I mean I literally had to give myself a prep talk just to get through it. I can’t pinpoint what it was about the writing that made it so difficult to read but it just seemed so unnecessarily difficult.

I still rated 3 stars as I enjoyed the characters and the basis of the plot but unfortunately it was damaged by the inconsistency of the pace and writing style.

Unfortunately I would not recommend this book but I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review. This is a book with so much potential but unfortunately it didn’t reach it for me.

This was what i would call an 'ok' read. The story was interesting, but did somewhat drag on in parts and i had to put the book down now and again before i started to lose interest. Although it wasn't a book for me, there are others who may enjoy more than i did.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, which i have freely given.

Dee is a GP who has become close with her patient, Tom who is suddenly found dead in his flat. It appears he died from an asthma attack but Tom hadn't had an attack in many years. He was very good at keeping his asthma manageable. Dee knows that there is something wrong and is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Could it be his new girlfriend who did it? He just took out a life insurance policy and is leaving her a portion. It cold also be her mother or his mom's boyfriend who is getting the other half of his life insurance policy. They have been having money issues.

His girlfriend, Leah is suddenly gone. She tells Dee that Tom had came across some criminal evidence while hacking a company's information system. Leah's accusations seem absurd. The police are wanting to rule his death of natural causes but Dee can't seem to stop thinking about it. Maybe Leah is correct or perhaps it is someone close with Dee who she's been confiding to. Either way, Dee will stop at nothing to find justice for Tom.

I enjoyed this book even though it was not what I thought it would be. There was hardly any mentioning of IVF, though there were some. All in all, it was a good book. Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC of The Practice Baby in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars Thanks to NetGalley and Critical Mass for allowing me to read this. Published October 11, 2018.

In Practice Baby we are introduced to a young couple, Tom and Leah, wanting to get genetic testing prior to getting pregnant due to autism in the family. Tom's regular doctor, Dr Dee, refers them to a colleague, one she had briefly dated while in college herself. This colleague, Adam, runs a genetic testing site that caters to an exclusive group of parents to be. Tom, after going to this referral, becomes very skeptical and uses his computer hacking skills to infiltrate the inner workings of the testing clinic. Soon thereafter Tom ends up dead and Leah is on the run. Dr Dee will not accept that Tom's death is an accidental death.

And this is only the very beginning of the story.

For a debut novel, this one by L. M. Ardor, is a good start. The story has a decent plot, characters you can relate to, good and evil, technology, and current science. I will watch this author for options in the future.

The “practice baby” of the title is actually Tom, a man in his mid-twenties. He has been a life-long patient of Dee Flaherty, a GP at the practice, and as such she takes a special interest in him. As an asthmatic he monitors his health almost obsessively, but one day when he fails to turn up for his appointment, Dee is more worried than usual. When it transpires that Tom ha died – and from an asthma attack, Dee becomes suspicious and determined to uncover the truth.

Leah, Tom's girlfriend with whom he hoped to settle and start a family, is also unwilling to believe the cause of death. Then Leah goes missing.

There's a severely autistic brother; there's also a genetics researcher who helps couples produce healthy babies. I found it difficult to believe that Dee, an obviously deeply caring character, would leave her own children at home alone while she undertook all this detective work.

I cannot go on with this; there's too much confusion, too many people, too many red herrings, so much repetition and why it's called “The Practice Baby” is beyond me!

Thankyou to NetGalley, the publishers and the author, L.M. Ardour, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Practice Baby in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

While I was intrigued by the premise of the story, I think the actual book missed the mark with me. It was a good story, but it dragged a bit. I thought the characters were engaging.

While I did read this book in its entirety, I did find several parts of it repetitious and slow going. It is an interesting story and the possibilities for the series in the future are promising. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The character, Dr. Dee Flanary, was very likeable and very determined to find the cause of her young patient’s death. Alongwith her friend, Raj, they dig deeper into the mysterious death and the more involved they get, the more dangerous things become. The ending of this book leaves a lot of unanswered questions. For a book this length, it would have been more satisfying to bring all questions posed to a conclusion.

Dee, a GP, has known Tom since he was a baby and has come to consider him as another child and nothing but punctual and meticulous. Because he suffered from asthma she saw him regularly and knew his neuroses well. When Tom misses an appointment with her and his brother's birthday, she and his mother are worried. With the help of the police, they gain access to his apartment and discover him dead.
The police rule his death due to natural causes related to his asthma, but Dee refuses to accept this due to her knowledge of Tom and how he managed his health. This stubbornness almost leads her to lose everything - including her medical license.
I battled to get into the story and often wondered if Dee wasn't on a wild goose chase but as the story progressed it started to hold my attention. That being said, Dee felt like a really great doctor who cares about her patients, going the extra mile for her house visit patients.
The ending wasn't "perfect" for Dee and Leah, but for me it it felt realistic and true to real life.
The discovery that this is the first of a trilogy makes me hope that the elements that were touched on regarding the genetic side will be explored in the further books as a real story can be felt there.
The author's background as a GP gave the book a very authentic feel.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this title.

The Practice Baby, an Australian title, provides some interesting differences in the medical systems of two countries. A dedicated general practice physician who would be an anomaly in America, because she actually knows her patients. One of her patients with Aspergers' Syndrome is found dead. Our doctor knows him well enough first to suspect and then to know that he did not commit suicide, as the police and others try to convince her. But now she most find a way to prove it without endangering her own life and that of her children.

This book was interesting at first, then it started dragging on. I ended up peeking at the back to see what happened.

The story premise was good, but I think the execution was lacking. A shame, as the synopsis is good.

When GP Dee Flanary discovers that one of her patients dies of acute asthma, she knows something is amiss. The book had great potential but it just didn't hit the right spot. While is was good, it didn't blow me away. It was also a bit far fetched towards the end.