3.5 stars

This story wasn’t quite what I expected. It was a bit suspenseful, and the alternating perspectives were a useful way to keep the tension going. The end was slightly surprising but not shocking; I didn’t truly love or hate it. It was a quick, fun domestic thriller.

This is the first book I have read/listened to by this author and it will likely not be my last as I quite enjoyed this. I do think it worked really well as an audiobook; would I have thought the same if I had actually read it? I'm not sure as it was quite a slow burn but it was perfect to listen to whilst in the car.

The two main characters, Lauren and Jackie, are really interesting and well developed. It is clear they both have secrets but quite what they are and how they link to each other doesn't become clear until the end.

As I said, this is a slow burn with a growing sense of tension and unease from the beginning and this kept me listening desperate to find out what the twist was going to be and, overall, I wasn't disappointed.

The narrator, Anne-Marie Piazza, did a good job with the narration and she was easy to listen to.

Overall, a satisfying audiobook and many thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen and share my thoughts of The Midwife.

The Midwife
Victoria Jenkins
Author Victoria Jenkins set the ambience of this tale from the beginning; there was a sense of something evil in the air. However, the plot moved along at an extremely slow pace. I struggled to stay involved because of the slow pace. The characters were not particularly likeable. This is an ok book, not great, but not horrible either.

The Midwife by Victoria Jenkins had me guessing who to trust until the end. However, I was still disappointed because the summary led me to believe the book would go in an enticing direction that never actually happened anywhere in the book. Because of this, I can only give it 3 stars. I was looking forward to unraveling whether or not The Mother was recognized and all of the questions that come with that. The actual story was anticlimactic.

I enjoyed listening to Anne-Marie Piazza narrate The Midwife. Her accent added to the story.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC.

Lauren is expecting her first baby and full of worries about it being still born. She meets midwife, Jackie and fellow mum-to-be Amber at anti natal classes. Both Lauren and Jackie hold their own secrets, with Jackie plotting her alternative motive for getting so close to Lauren.
Told from both point of view, background details build up to reveal a past story which is pertinent to the current situation.
A gripping psychological thriller that draws you in wanting the know the truth behind Lauren and Jackie. Highly recommended and looking forward to reading more from Victoria Jenkins.

This book was really hard to get through, which is not a good thing. I had a hard time enjoying it. The concept of this book was really thrilling and exciting. I just had a really hard time finding this book really thrilling. I listened to this book on Audio and the narration had an echo to it which was really distracting. I did think the 2 main characters were developed well.

The Midwife by Victoria Jenkins Narrated by: Anne-Marie Piazza Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins was full of secret's with great twists and turns that kept you on your toes throughout this latest book by Victoria.

This latest book is about two women, Lauren who is pregnant and Jackie the midwife. Lauren has a secret and this secret has to be kept hidden, but someone knows about the secret and she starts to get threatening letters from them. Lauren dose not know where to turn and Jackie is there and wants to be Lauren's friend, She is also determined to know more about what Lauren is hiding. But Why?

However, You can always trust your Midwife but can you?

The narrator Anne-Marie Piazza was excellent from start to finish I loved it.

Loved this audio. It’s a really dark story about a woman living with a huge secret and hiding from the world. Her only concern is for her unborn child who means everything to her but why is the midwife at the hospital taking such an interest in helping her. As her home gets targeted and nuisance calls starts it looks like someone has found her and her life and her unborn babies are at risk. This is a fast paced thriller which is not to be missed and the narrator on this audio has a beautiful manner which I loved.

Lauren should be happy but instead she's scared and alone. Someone knows who she really is and seems intent on terrifying her. But it's not just herself she has to worry about, it's her unborn baby. Her one solace is Jackie, her caring and attentive midwife...but soon Lauren begins to wonder if Jackie is just a bit too interested in her. Is it her midwife that is terrorising her?

This has a great premise and starts well. However there just isn't quite enough plot to maintain interest throughout. A bit more of a fleshed out story would have made this great.

I listened to this on audiobook and for the most part the narrator did a good job. Her performance was suitably dramatic, maybe too much so sometimes. It sounded like everyone was up to no good. However if I never had to hear her voice for Lauren's landlord again it would be too soon. It sounded like a poor Batman impression!

I was so excited to read this book. The title, cover and description all made it seem like it would be a great read for me; sadly, it fell a little flat.

The book follows the story of Lauren, a single woman during her IVF pregnancy. We meet Jackie, a midwife, who seems to be doing all she can to get closer to Lauren. There is mystery and suspense and you are never quite sure who to trust, which I loved.

I didn't really bond with any of the characters and found that I just wasn't that invested in the outcome. The book did get better towards the end and the conclusion was good; it just sadly didn't live up to expectations.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

Lauren has decided to have a baby on her own via IVF in her forties. Jackie wants to be her midwife and support her, but she is acting very mysterious. What is she hiding?
This is a slow burn with short chapters. I couldn't relate to the characters, and it didn't really grab my attention. The premise is very interesting, but the execution felt flat. This is a thriller, but it wasn't very thrilling, I didn't feel any tension. I listened to the audio book, and the dual POV (Jackie/Lauren) narration was great.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

My thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture Audio for allowing me to listen to this arc. Although this was good, it missed the mark a bit. I love domestic thrillers but this was a bit confusing. I was drawn to why Jackie, a midwife wanted so much to incorrect herself as pregnant Lauren s caretaker. But then it jumped around to so many POVs and secondary characters it lost the continuity of the main point. Not wowed.

DNF

I listened to an audiobook version and the narration was so awful I could not even get into the book.
The narrator made all the voices sound like they were nefarious.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was full of twists that kept me guessing. This was a quick and thrilling read.

This isn’t the type of book I usually read, but I was hooked pretty quickly. I appreciated the evolving story, and how it slowly revealed the back story. The ending was not what I expected, which kept me thinking over it even when done with the book! it was a nice twist to it.

I don't know how she does it but somehow this author always surprises me!!! And I mean this in a super positive way. I particularly remember loving her book "The Argument" and the same thing happened with this story. You get started, listen and listen thinking "Well, a nice story.." and all of a sudden: bang!!!
This is what I love about psychological thrillers, which I think this is in the truest of senses.
The plot gives away enough as a description: just dive in there and enjoy!
And, as always, the narration by Anne-Marie Piazza was perfect!

Thanks #NetGalley #Bookouture Audio for the advanced listening version of this great book

I will be honest and say I requested this one from Netgalley based only on the title and the cover. I am a sucker for the genre domestic thriller and will always choose a book with the formulaic husband/wife/nanny/babysitter/neighborhood suspense.

This one was good, but not great and part of the reason may have been the fact it was an audiobook. Although I am a huge audio reader/listener(???), I found The Midwife to be complicated to follow. Multiple POVs, a confusing plot about IVF, nurses, loss, revenge.....it was a lot and via audio, actually too much. And, fyi, there were plenty of triggers in this book so be heads up if the loss of a child is sensitive for you.

Finally, as a Netgalley audio listener, I have to comment on the narrator. We were not a match. I found the pace of the characters voices to be too slow, and when sped up the already confusing plot became even harder to absorb. And, sadly, I am unsure the range of narration skills for the reader. Two of the characters, one man and one a woman both sounded exactly like Christian Bale as Batman. A deep, slow husky whisper that absolutely drove me bonkers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to listen in advance of the November 14, 2022 release date.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This one wasn’t bad but it was very back and forth and a bit confusing.
I appreciated that it did keep me guessing on who was trying to do the right thing and who was not. But I didn’t appreciate how confusing the multiple characters and characters with multiple names were.
Narrator did a good job.

I couldn't get into this book. I felt the narrator was boring and the book was just dragging. I made it 25% of the way through before calling it quits.

This was a really fun read! It was a little predictable but maybe not to some others. There’s lots of secrets in this book and it’s a story between a mother and her midwife. Drama and suspense, I really liked this! I would recommend to anyone who loves domestic thrillers or even just stories involving a pregnant woman with trauma. There are slight trigger warnings mentioned in this book is miscarriage, rape and abuse, Not on page though but it is mentioned so reader be warned. This was really entertaining to me so 4 stars!