This was the perfect psychological thriller, as it was so much more than a thriller, as it also took the reader 0n a journey with a family that seems perfect on the outside, but is falling apart behind closed doors. The writing was amazing and the twists kept coming. Highly recommend this one!

Another brilliant psychological thriller by Shalina Boland. It is a book that grips you from the start and one that you will not be able to put down. Gemma is a hard working mum looking after her husband and two young girls and finding that she is feeling guilty at not spending enough time with them. She thinks her mother in law has found her a perfect solution , a nanny Sadie, but Gemma soon realises that she doesn’t trust Sadie as problems begin to unfold at home. All the characters in the book and interesting and believable and a tense plot unravels as the book goes along. So many twists and turns, with a jaw dropping twist at the end. A thoroughly recommended read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I couldn't put it down! I LOVED IT! My second time reading Shalini Boland, I will read more!

My honest opinion? WOW just WOW! 5 stars!
Perfect family? Think again!
Things happen from page 1 until the end! I felt for the mother, the daughters,... well especially the mother, so stressed out between her job and having to rush to the school to get one of her kids after the other one disappeared in the morning... wow, I couldn't do it!
Then someone comes around to help... but things aren't always what they seem! If it's too good to be true it probably is...
One thing after another, you think you can breathe, think again! A real page turner!

Shalini Boland does it again, she has a way with words, you feel like you're inside the story with the characters and always want to know more, what happens next... She can't write a bad book!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC! Review shared online on NetGalley, Goodreads, Twitter...

Gemma, a busy working mom of two little girls along with her husband Robert are trying to balance work and family life but always fall short. After a few mishaps Gemma finally gives into her mother-in-law’s suggestion of hiring a nanny for the kids. At first everything seems to work out great but when strange events seem to happen Gemma soon realizes things might not be so perfect in her perfect family after all.

The Perfect Family is a fast addictive psychological thriller by Shalini Boland with a twist I didn’t see coming. I have always enjoyed her books and this one was no exception.A must read for all mystery lovers and am eagerly waiting for her next book.

I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

If you want a book that you can not put down, then look no further.
When the Ballantine family feel like passing ships in the night and work and personal life becomes to much to juggle, Gemma decides the best thing for the whole family would be to hire a nanny.
When Sadie is offered the job as the Ballantines, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to get what she wants and does not care who steps in the way. She is there to do a job and that is what she will do.

Gemma Ballantine seems to have it all - the perfect husband who loves her, two lively little girls, her own home and a successful business. But lately she's been feeling stretched trying to make time for her family and her work. When her youngest daughter is found wandering the streets before school and her older daughter is suspended from school, she gives in and hires a live-in nanny who can look after getting the girls to school and help out with their homework. The nanny looks quite plain and sensible and seems friendly and helpful, but Gemma soon learns that nothing is quite as it seems.

The horrible things that happen to Gemma just keep mounting up and this becomes a real page turner as you try to work out what is going on before Gemma's family and marriage are totally destroyed. Gemma is a strong woman who is determined not to let that happen, but just when you think she has it all worked out an unexpected twist lays the whole plot bare. This is my first novel by Shalini Boland and I will certainly be looking forward to reading more.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
As a psychological thriller this book is on another level. This was a masterclass in storytelling from an accomplished and very clever author.
All the twists and turns are all very clever and the final twist at the end is superb.
Highly recommended.

This book hooked me like a fish at the end of a line. Only I was one happy fish to be caught and reeled in. As basically over a 24 hour period I was reading this book every chance I got.

I was flopping around the small cast of tricky characters trying to decide who was the person setting everything in motion. At various points, I suspected everyone, and I loved how it kept me guessing. But I was also pleased to find my main prediction was correct.

This book is a slow burn, in a good way. It draws you in to the characters lives and makes you care. And then the tension just gets tighter and tighter chapter by chapter. And when I hit the last 20% I was reading with my mouth hanging open.

I felt very invested in this not so perfect family, and while reading wanted to swoop in and protect them. I love when I care about characters, especially when they are realistically flawed.

This was my first book by this author but it won’t be my last rollercoaster ride with her.

Recommended to fans of Lucy Dawson, Lucy Clarke and Andrea Marr.

After reading a few of Shalini’s books previously, I was well prepared for this to be another hold-on-to-your-pants, page-turner of a story and I am pleased to say that I was not wrong! I always seem to read Shalini’s books in record time too as the writing and story are so engrossing that I literally can’t stop myself from reading!

Two pages in and I was already hooked after being thrown into a parents worst nightmare when Gemma finds her youngest daughter is missing, but that is just the tip of the iceberg in this twisty, tension-filled thriller.

It is very difficult to talk about this book without revealing things that I wouldn’t have wanted to know before reading, but it is safe to say that it has got everything you want in a domestic thriller. With an excellent mix of characters, I had no idea which of them to trust and changed my mind as to who I did or didn’t on several occasions. Apart from Gemma, who I really felt for and who I think a lot of people will definitely identify with. I recently went through the entrance exam nightmare with my son, so that part really struck a chord with me and I can definitely appreciate the feelings that are flying around during this time. But overall, the normal family life that is portrayed and how easily it can be upturned was brilliantly done and really quite scary.

Highly recommended! Just make sure you have got time to sit and just read, because that is all you are going to want to do!

The Perfect Family was the first book I have read by Shalini Boland and what a fabulous psychological thriller! I loved reading all the twists and turns in the book and it keeps you hooked. You will find yourself flipping through the pages and not wanting to put this book down. There is so much going on you just want to know what will happen next.

Gemma is married with two young girls and is struggling with balancing a family life and being a successful working woman. Her work keeps her quite busy and she is finding it difficult to keep on top of the family responsibilities as well, such as cleaning the home, the laundry, and finding time to be with her family as well.

At the suggestion of her mother in law she decides to hire a live in nanny to help with the housework and the caring of the girls, and it is working out brilliantly. Finally Gemma finds she can focus on her career while someone is there to help the with the girls, get homework done, do the laundry, do the household cleaning, etc and Gemma can relax and have more quality time with her girls.

Things are going great, until Gemma becomes suspicious of the new nanny. Is it all in her mind? Should she not trust the nanny? Gemma is not sure.

This book is full of twists and I loved it right through to the very end.

If you haven’t added this book to your TBR list yet you definitely should. A fabulous book! I am definitely looking forward to reading other books by Shalini Boland!

Gemma Ballentine is preparing to leave for work and is getting her daughters, ten-year-old. Eva, and six-year-old, Katie, ready to be dropped off at school. But Katie is not in the house. Gemma remembers seeing the front door open when she came downstairs and now she can’t find Katie. After more searching, Gemma sees her mother-in-law, Diane, with her smug face, bringing Katie home. Katie says she went outside hoping to say goodbye to her Daddy, Robert, before he left for work and then she got lost. Her grandmother happened to drive by, saw Katie, and brought her home. Once again, Diane tells Gemma that she needs to hire a nanny to help her.

Gemma ends up being late for an important meeting. In the middle of the meeting, she gets a call from school because Eva has hit her friend in the nose and the child’s mother wants to report Eva to the police. She is exhausted trying to juggle everything herself.

Robert is a fitness instructor and Gemma runs her own successful business. Too often, she is the one needing to take the girls to and from school. But some scary things happen to Gemma and she starts getting nervous wondering if someone is trying to harm her.

When Gemma finally realizes that she can’t do everything without some help, they interview a young woman named Sadie Lewis, recommended by Diane, for the nanny position. Her credentials are terrific and the girls love her. Soon, she is taking great care of the girls and helping with their schoolwork in addition to cooking and cleaning.

When Gemma begins to wonder if Sadie might be getting too close to Robert, she really starts to check out Sadie’s background and is shocked at what she finds.

I liked this book but felt that Gemma was a wimp. It was only when the book got close to the end that everything came together with a surprise. It’s the ending that warrants the 4 star rating I gave the book.

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

My first from the author. It is a solid, well-written psychological thriller. It is engaging, though predictable. I figure out what's going on early and was not surprised come revelation. I find the ending okay but I was actually hoping for something more. It was a bit disappointing how Gemma wasn't able to realize the truth. Surely, she must have picked up on that. But aside from that, it as definitely a great read.

4 Stars - The story is about a mother of two girls. She has her own business and that takes most of her time and she can’t take care of the girls as much as she wants and her husband can’t help her much either! One day when she wakes up, there are some incidents that make her think she’s not really a good mother. So she makes a decision but what if her decision makes everything worse and her perfect family starts to fall apart?!?
This was my first read by this author and it won’t my last since I have another of her books! The story is well-written and the characters are well-developed. It’s slow-paced but it still is a page-turner. Told in dual POV, 1st person. It’s a standalone novel. Overall, it was a good read and hope you like it as well!
Thanks to Shalini Boland, Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced digital copy in exchange an honest review.

Yet again Shalini Boland has written another psychological thriller that will stay with me. An incident with one of her daughters going missing leads to Gemma and husband Robert getting a live in nanny. The nanny Sadie builds an instant rapport with their girls and is a great help to the family.....or is she?? Shalini's writing style keeps the suspense level increasing throughout this hard to put down book. Just wheb you think you have it all worked out she throws in a plot twist I didn't see coming. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #shaliniboland #theperfectfamily #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy

An absolutely brilliant psychological thriller that had me sucked right in from the very beginning . You know you often hear people say they can’t put a book down will this book is definitely one of these . It will have you gripped from the start . A well deserved five star read for me .

If you’ve been following my blog for a minute, I guess my love for Shalini’s books isn’t news. I have read all her titles and absolutely love her writing and the crazy, interesting, twisty stories that she usually comes up with.

In Perfect Family, Gemma and her husband desperately need a tutor for their little girl. However, she ends up with an even better deal when her mother-in-law sends a super nanny her way. The tension in this story started from the first page. It heightened with the introduction of the nanny. I just knew that a storm was coming but couldn’t have predicted just windy it would get. Soon, the carnage ensued and the character’s lives were uprooted by the crazy wind that left nothing unturned in its wake.

The story is mainly narrated by Gemma. However, there are a few chapters narrated by a dark, sinister character. These chapters had my heart racing and I looked forward to them while also dreading the havoc that they would unleash. Needless to say, I was completely hooked to the story and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

If you don’t know yet, Shalini Boland is the master of twisty epilogues. Just when I thought the dust was settling, she threw in a final twist that had my head spinning. Of course, I knew that a legendary ending was coming but like the other twists in the story, I couldn’t have predicted it.

The Perfect Family by Shalini Boland is a story about secrets, manipulation and family drama. It’s the kind of story that will make you think twice the next time you let a stranger into your home. This is a well-plotted, jaw-dropping, unputdownable thriller.

Gemma Ballantine’s car was defaced with the words “bad mother” Her daughter is suspended from school. Her house key doesn’t work. If only those were the worst things Gemma was dealing with, then maybe she could have worked things out. But, no, it was much, much more. How did it all begin?

Gemma’s six-year-old daughter Katie has seemingly disappeared into thin air. This happens just before Gemma was to take Katie and her sister Eva to school. After frantically searching for several moments, Gemma heads to her car to look some more. However, she hears the voice of her mother-in-law and suddenly sees the tear-stained face of little Katie! Where was she? Why was Katie with her grandmother?

Gemma’s perfect little family may just be beginning to unravel. Before the reader is even able to see the drama unfold, another perspective is presented. This is by an unnamed narrator. As always with stories delivered by multiple points of view, many questions immediately begin to pop up.

Gemma is a busy wife and mother. She has a very demanding job and in some ways it is interfering with her family. She has been pressured by her mother-in-law to hire a nanny. It has come up before, but now more than ever. Would hiring a nanny to take the load off help Gemma so that she doesn’t doubt herself as a mother so much?

While Gemma is trying to sort things out, she has a critical business meeting. As if things weren’t interesting enough up until this point, there was a particular scene that made me say aloud, “Oh Snap!” That is the vein in which this story is delivered. Shocker after shocker.

As if my attention wasn’t riveted enough in this absolutely thrilling story by Shalini Boland, let me tell you that I literally could not put this book down. It kind of reminded me of a snowball being rolled down a hill. Well, what happens? The snowball gets bigger and bigger. Well, in comparison, this story gets better and better. At this point I felt like I was about to put the pieces of a 1,000 piece puzzle together.

Needless to say, not only is this book full of twists and turns, but boy, are the red herrings incredibly well thought out. All I can say at this point is that I was wrong in my guesses. Every. Time. Yes. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Well done Shalini Boland!

Run - do not walk - and get your copy of The Perfect Family. I have recommended many psychological thrillers this year. This is definitely one of them. Yes, indeed, this book is most certainly one of my favorites. This is the second book that I’ve read by the author, and I rated it 5 Stars as I did this one.

Wow! Wow! Wow! This was one fabulously twisted psychological thriller!

Shalini Boland Has a way with taking the ordinary and turning it on its head... this was a well-crafted psychological thriller that completely sucked me in from the very first page! A book about the “perfect“ family finding themselves on one crazy twisted ride!

The book starts out with Gemma frantically searching for her youngest daughter Katie... katie is soon found wandering down the street by her grandmother and Gemma’s mother-in-law, Diane.... I don’t know about you but if anyone found my child wandering down the street much less my mother-in-law I would be mortified.... although there was the one time I found my youngest playing in the gutter across the street from our house, but he is my third kid😉

As anyone who has ever lost sight of their child those are some pretty long minutes in your life, and when you find your child you feel relieved, then a little angry, but the nightmare is over! Not in this case though Gemma’s nightmare has just begun... a vandalized car and a key that won’t quite fit are just the beginning... already doubting her capabilities as a mother Gemma is convinced to hire a tutor/nanny to watch the girls and help Ava with her entrance exams... Sadie comes with some strong recommendations, but Gemma is highly suspicious.... The girls seem too absolutely adore Sadie, but strange things start to happen and Gemma becomes more and more suspicious.... i’m sure you think you know where this story is going, And yet you’d be SO wrong! Can’t say much more about the plot, certainly don’t want to ruin it for you... just know that it is full of twists and turns that will definitely keep you furiously turning those pages!

This is a can’t miss psychological thriller buy one of my favorite authors... if you have read anything by Shalini Boland before this might be her best, and if you haven’t what are you waiting for? Perfect place to start!

*** many thanks to Bookouture for my copy of this book ***

Wow, wow, wow, wow! I honestly can not say enough good things about this book! I haven't read a book by Shalini Boland before but I can honestly say all of her books are now on my TBR. The way she writes the story had me on the edge of my story from the very first page from the very end. I can not wait to read more from her.

The novel primarily follows Gemma as her life inexplicably seems to fall apart. You spend the whole novel trying to figure out why and who is doing it. Its one twist after another and you really never get a hand of who really is to blame. I was constantly thinking it was one person and then another who was to blame for everything going on. I loved every moment of the book.

Because of the constant questions this book was very hard to put down which caused a couple of late nights for me, that I of course do not regret for a single second! I would recommend this book to ANYONE who loves a good psychological thriller. It was absolutely a 5 star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions and review.

Boy...this book had me glued from the first page! A mother is frantically searching for her missing daughter! All the thoughts going through her mind are so real...is she just hiding, do I call my husband, should I call the police?

Gemma is a stressed-out mother who is torn between her career and guilt over not spending enough time with her family. As she’s preparing to head out with her two girls, she realizes the youngest isn’t in the house. Thankfully, Katie is found quickly and unharmed. After a few other bizarre incidents, Gemma realizes that her and her husband need some help. Her mother-in-law recommends Sadie—a live-in nanny and tutor—and she’s hired. Then the nightmare really starts!

Shalini threw in some twists that come out of nowhere and no one was above suspicion by the end of this book! It was so good...I’ve purchased two more of her books.

Thank you to NetGalley / Bookouture / Shalini Boland for this digital ARC / in exchange for my honest review.!
#ThePerfectFamily #NetGalley