Her chest tightens, her heart speeding up. The kitchen is chaos. She steps on something hard, and looks down. Toy dinosaurs are scattered everywhere. But her son is nowhere – her baby boy is gone.
The police arrive. She can’t look at her husband. Instead, she studies the network of lines on her shaking hands.

This sets up the story of Andrea, a mother of one Jack with another baby due anytime. Then there is Gabby who lives across the street who tells Andrea when they meet that she has a son Flynn and a husband Richard who works a lot in America and is not often home. This is another book that moves at a fast pace. We meet other characters including Andrea's husband Terry who throws many a curve ball into the story. Gabby weaves her way into Andrea's life, she is always wishing to help Gabby out but is she just a lonely woman now that her son is growing up through his teenage years, or is there so much more to her? I did enjoy this even though I had worked out what was going to happen, I still wanted to see how the story would end and if my suspicions were correct. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I have not read many of Nicole Tope's books but will do so moving forward as I would like to see more of her work.. Thank you to Netgalley , the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Andrea and her husband, Terry, have just moved into a new home. They have a 3 year old son, Jack, and are expecting their second child soon. Andrea is not happy about the move, as the house needs a lot of repairs and she misses her friends. Unfortunately, they are in these new circumstances because of Terry's extremely poor decisions. Exhausted from her pregnancy and feeling lonely, she is happy when her new neighbor, Gabby, befriends her.
Gabby seems to have such a nice life, she is mother to a teenager, and posts often about the trials and tribulations of motherhood on Facebook. Andrea is in awe of this well put together woman, and the two become good friends.
One day, Andrea has a medical emergency and is unable to reach Terry. Gabby offers to watch Jack, but when Andrea returns home, both Jack and Gabby are missing. How well did Andrea really know Gabby? Did something awful happen to Jack and Gabby? Does it have to do with Terry's past deeds?

Once again, Nicole Trope has written a gripping domestic thriller. I especially love the unexpected twists at the end of her books. I did find the characters a bit lacking and I didn't really like any of them Gabby was a little too perfect, that I knew right away something was amiss. Terry was an absolutely useless husband and kept gaslighting Andrea, and she kept letting him. Andrea was pathetic, she wasn't happy with her life, knew her husband was probably lying, and yet she constantly just let things go. She was way too trusting and I wanted to smack some sense into her! The ending was weird, and a bit farfetched. I did enjoy the book though and it was a quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Nicole Trope is one of my absolute favorite authors and she has truly outdone herself with this book! The lies, the suspense, the questions, the shock!!!! The first half of the story was bizarre (in the best ways) and suspenseful and the second half of the book was jaw dropping reveal after jaw dropping reveal! And that epilogue!!!! The best kind of psychological thriller is the one where the epilogue changes EVERYTHING and this was exactly that. Even when you think the plot twists are over you get hit with one 100x bigger. Absolutely loved this book and highly recommend!

I absolutely love this book from start to finish, and I wasn’t expecting the almighty twist that awaited me! I would have to say that this is my favourite of Nicole’s books so far.

I’m so excited for the next one.

This was a fun thriller! It was a quick read and I was very surprised by the ending and how it all unfolded!

WOW, what did I just read?? I am still trying to process this book, and that ending.....what?!?!.
It started out a little slow for me and I thought I knew where the story was headed, but I was so wrong.
I couldn't put it down, about a third of the way in, and the twists that kept coming were mouth dropping.

The Stay at Home Mother is a story about secrets that make you not want to befriend ANYONE!

#NetGalley #Bookouture #NicoleTrope
#TheStayatHomeMother #Neighbors

The Stay-at-home Mother by Nicole Trope is my 2nd book from this author and based on the first one I read earlier this year, The Foster Family, I was very keen to be sent an ARC copy of this.

When heavily pregnant Andrea moves into a rundown house with her husband and small son she quickly meets and befriends the woman across the road, Gabby. Gabby has a teenage son, Flynn, and runs a “mummy blog” on Facebook offering advice and support on raising kids to other mothers. When Gaby can see Andrea is exhausted and needs a break, she is more than keen to help out caring for her small son but there are ulterior motives at play and all is not what it seems in the lives of either of these women.

I hesitate to say much more about the storyline as I don’t want to give away too many of the key plot points but there are lots of twists and turns which I can see Nicole’s books are very good at delivering.

While I did enjoy this quick, page turning read I did feel there were a few things in the plotline that were very predictable, and I could see how the story was going to play out early on. The short alternating viewpoint chapters from both main characters move the story along nicely which makes it a pacey read even if it’s not very suspenseful.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Stay-at-Home Mother by Nicole Trope was an incredibly clever and gripping story.
Another phenomenal read by an amazing author!.
I really enjoy her story telling and narrative and this book is full of great characters, tense moments and twists and turns. The story was laid out at a wonderful pace giving just enough without ruining anything.
Intriguing, suspenseful, unputdownable!
I was completely absorbed in this thriller and read it all in one day.
She kept me on the edge of my seat.
I know when I open one of her books up I'm due for an all-nighter!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Bookouture,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the digital ARC!

I was really intrigued by the premise of this one, and it was an enjoyable, quick read, but quite predictable. I also struggled with the third-person POV; it felt very tell, don’t show.

Slow in the beginning but picked up though out. I wanted to find out what was going on and stuck with it. Was pleasantly surprised. I liked how the characters all had well thought out stories and felt very developed.

Absolutely brilliant. Clever and steady reveal of the plot. Have put many of this author’s books on my wish list.

This was a good book, though I felt the synopsis was very misleading; it took 2 different parts of the book and meshed them together. The story centers on Andrea, who (reluctantly) moves to a new neighborhood with her husband and young son, and with another baby in the way. She meets the neighbor across the street, Gabby, who is eager to become friends and spend some time with Andrea’s son. The chapters alternate between the POVs of these 2 women.

As you can imagine, both Gabby and Andrea are keeping secrets. Some of the twists seemed pretty obvious to me but others were a surprise. Even when I had figured out the twist, I thought the storyline flowed well and the overall pacing of the book was fast. The end had some genuine surprises and I liked how it all turned out, though I think some people probably won’t.

Overall, this was a fun and fast paced read, but you’ll be extra surprised if you rely on the synopsis to determine the storyline. I’d recommend the book for those who like mysteries and psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The stay at home mother by Nicole Trope
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Mini review
You guys, this book started slow for me . But thank goodness I held on because it ended up being so absolutely mind blowing . A mothers worst nightmare .
If your looking for a great USA/Australian thriller, than look no further. This ones for you . And Im so excited to read more by @nicoletropeauthor

This was so weird and so good. I literally had chills. We have a mom who is completed isolated, alone often, and trying to get by and then we have her neighbor who might be up to something.
The story unfolds with all the twists and turns and even when you have it figured out it gets wild again.
You are going to want to read this if you like weird things.

Nicole Trope is quickly becoming one of my favorite "old reliable" authors. Her books are a bit twisty and very satisfying. I spent this whole book trying to figure out what each of these people were up to and I was wrong most of them. 👏 👏 👏

♦️Andrea is a heavily pregnant toddler mom who had to shift into a shabby house in a new locality in Sydney when their financial situation collapsed suddenly. She is in a state of despair as she has lost faith in her husband Terry. One day there is a knock at the door and there is Gabby from the house across the street wanting to befriend her. As she is desperately in need of a little break, she easily accepts her invitation for a cup of tea. The other woman has a very popular Facebook page where she gives advice to other moms about motherhood. One day Andrea leaves her three year old son, Jack with Gabby and on returning is devastated to find both of them missing and Gabby's house in chaos.As the police arrives and starts questioning, she gets a message from someone in USA who says, 'Why are you using a picture of my son on a missing children's website, Andrea Gately? Why are you using it and where did you get it?'

💥This is a highly suspenseful psychological thriller which kept me hooked right from the prologue. The author has done a wonderful job in portraying the role of social media in today's world.
💥She also talks about addiction and how it ruins the person along with his family.
💥She throws light on motherhood and the struggles of a new mom.
💥A major part of the book revolves around childhood abuse and the scars left by it.
💥The story is told from the point of view of two characters- Andrea and Gabby, where both of them seem to be very different from each other.However they have one thing in common that is both of them have secrets. Andrea realizes that Gabby's seemingly perfect life is not perfect when she learns about her problems.
💥I have some doubts regarding why the police did not cross check or press the person even after knowing that he knew about the various acts of the accused all the time. I also did not like the final outcome of Terry.
💥The book has a lot of unexpected twists which includes the epilogue. It constantly revolved in my mind until I knew the end. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I would highly recommend this book to all lovers of psychological thrillers as it has the potential to bring you out of a reading slump.

I am highly grateful to the author Nicole Trope, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Nicole Trope has such a great way of telling a story! She manages to make this a quick read while still giving a complete story, loaded with detail. Her characters are relatable and real, with a great deal of background.
The Stay at Home Mother was an interesting read because it was fast-paced and very twisty! Although, you know eventually where this story will go, you took about 6 wrong turns before you got there!
Thank you to Nicole Trope, NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.
If you’re a fan of fast paced thrillers I highly recommend you get this when it’s released on January 3.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. Nicole is one of my favorite thriller writers, but I feel like her books fall into two categories: AMAZING or less amazing. This one is actually in the middle. While, I enjoyed the book, she has had some I couldn't put down, and others that I felt were just off. This story takes a family that needs to relocate due to gambling issues. The lady across the street becomes friends with the mother and ends up having all these secrets of her own. There was def suspense and secrets in this book. but I did feel "Flynn" was very predictable. Good ending though! I knew something was off between those two but not what it ended up being!

Wow!!! Nicole Trope has done it again with this taut, perfectly paced thriller! Gabby is a successful mommy blogger on Facebook, popular with her online followers but lonely in real life. Andrea, heavily pregnant and chasing a three-year-old, is physically and emotionally exhausted. Just moved into the neighborhood and far from family and friends, she’s grateful for the support Gabby seems to be offering. Of course, not everything is what it seems and when a child goes missing, those secrets start to unravel.

It might sound cliché, but I couldn’t put this book down! The prologue hooked me immediately and before I knew it, I was completely invested in this storyline and just had to find out what was going to happen. The character development is nothing short of brilliant, with an entire gamut of emotions – fear, loneliness, tension, anguish – radiating off the page. Alternating POVs and an unreliable narrator had me glued to this story, devouring the pages through every twist and turn. And that epilogue *chef’s kiss* pure perfection! Add in a valuable lesson about social media, and you’ve got the perfect combination for suspenseful and remarkably emotional thriller!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Andrea has just moved house with her husband and young son. She is expecting their second child in a matter of weeks, the house move being forced by her husband. Gabby across the road welcomes her into the fold, her own son now being a teenager she is happy to have young Jack around as her husband Richard spends much time away, currently being in the states. When Jack is looked after by Gabby one afternoon so Andrea can sleep, she wakes late to find her rather dodgy husband home and Gabby and Jack are nowhere to be found.

This is set in Australia and is a fast-paced page turner of a read. I found myself more than once thinking “just one more chapter” however I had worked out the premise (I do read a lot of psychological thrillers that said). It's one to keep the pages turning with well-developed characters. A mystery, red herrings and clues along the way. A well written book and an intriguing one.


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