Like a Mother by Mina Hardy is a psychological thriller that kept me engaged but ultimately left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. The story follows Sarah, who is grieving the sudden death of her husband Adam while also facing the challenge of raising a young child and preparing for the arrival of their second baby. The plot takes a sharp turn when a woman named Candace shows up, claiming to be Adam's mother, even though Sarah was told by Adam that his mom had passed away years ago. From there, things get increasingly strange, and Sarah is forced to navigate a complex web of secrets surrounding her late husband's life.

While I found the premise interesting, there were times when I felt frustrated with Sarah’s reactions, especially regarding Candace. Sarah doesn’t ask enough questions or seem as suspicious as I would have been. Candace’s presence in their home feels unsettling from the start, but Sarah doesn’t seem to push for more answers or attempt to understand Candace’s motivations fully. I thought the situation with Candace was bizarre, and her behavior seemed to escalate in ways that weren’t fully explained, which left me with a lot of lingering questions by the end.

The twists in the story were decent and did a good job of keeping me intrigued, but I felt like too many questions were left unanswered, especially when it came to the deeper motivations behind some of the characters' actions. While I did enjoy the general tension and the mystery surrounding Candace’s true intentions, the resolution didn’t feel as satisfying as I’d hoped. I liked the ending for the most part, but I wish there had been more clarity and closure around certain plot points.

Overall, Like a Mother is a decent read if you're a fan of psychological thrillers that center around family secrets and tension-filled atmospheres. It kept me reading, but I was hoping for a bit more depth and explanation in some areas. If you enjoy books that explore trust, betrayal, and hidden pasts, this might be worth checking out, but don’t expect all the mysteries to be neatly tied up by the end.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The dialoge was cring worthy! Did not like the storyline at all!

Domestic thriller that really keeps you interested in the plot. Open ended endings are something I like if done well, and maybe this one could have been a bit better. I dont mind as the rest of the book was still gripping to read.

This book was crazy good. Was totally sucked in throughout the whole story. Total mind blown. I loved the twist toward the end.

Mother-in-law’s can either be the most helpful people people in the world when you’re having a baby or they can be the worst. When Candace‘a husband dies she’s almost happy when his mother, who she thought was dead, arrives and offers to support her through this difficult time as she’s got a new baby with no support. As she learns more about her husband who isn’t really who she thinks he is, she feels like she has no choice, but to lean on this mother-in-law, she didn’t know existed. However, once she gets into the house, she realizes that things are not all what they seem, and that this might be more of a prison than a place of support and help. I Was listening to this every chance I got in a chance effort to get to the end because I had to know what happened. It was a great audiobook and well worth the listen.

Sarah and Adam Morgan had the perfect suburban a beautiful house, an adorable daughter, a baby on the way, and a once-in-a-lifetime love. They were the couple everyone envied–until Adam died.
In the wake of his death, Adam’s secrets begin to emerge. The first comes out when a woman named Candace introduces herself to Sarah as Adam’s mother. Adam had always said his mother was dead, so either Adam was lying to her, or this woman is not who she says she is.
Candace proves that Adam was her son, but she admits that her relationship with her son was strained. But she’s still Sarah’s mother-in-law, and she’s here to help. Struggling with finances after Adam’s death, Sarah agrees to move in with Candace and to accept her help with her toddler and her pregnancy.
Living in Adam’s childhood home, Sarah begins to understand the life he had before they met–the life he buried along with his relationship with his mother. When Sarah notices Candace’s strange obsession with her pregnancy, and the house begins to feel less like salvation and more like a cage, she realizes that Candace might not be the caring mother-in-law she seems. Maybe Adam had good reason to pretend that his mother was dead.

This was a good one! Total Mother-In-Law vibes. Mina kept the reader engaged with the right amount of character development, suspense, and twists. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I will be on the look out for her next book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this ALC in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed listening to this one. It kept me intrigued and wanting to know more. The narrator did a great job. I listened at 2x the speed and was enjoyable. The only downfall I found was the very end, it left to many things up in the air. I still have lots of questions. I will try other books by this author. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this one.

Like a Mother by Mina Hardy was an easy listen with a great narrator. I was drawn in from the first minute to the last and loved this story. It was easy to follow. An easy 4.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free audiobook of Like a Mother by Mina Hardy in exchange for my honest review.

Warning, this one’s sure to give you whiplash!!

It’s a quick and incredibly juicy psychological thriller that is packed with secrets and is so cleverly plotted!

This one is the definition of ‘expect the unexpected’ and as soon and you think you know what’s happening, insert jaw dropping plot twists. It was entertaining right from the start and comes to an explosive conclusion!

Added Bonus - the religious cult vibes and references! 👏

This book has been described as suspense. And while there were some surprising events in this book, there was no tension. It literally made me feel so apathetic. I didn't even try to guess what was going to happen because I literally couldn't care less

It felt like the author had multiple ideas for this book and just decided to merge everything. This resulted in a lot of questions and not good enough answers. When the twists were revealed, it felt very rushed and underwhelming

There's also the religious fanaticism in this book, which got old very fast.

The characters were not very well fleshed out. They felt like puppets doing the author's bidding, rather than what an actual human being would do.

And while I did like the narrator, her voice for Ellie, the MC's child was very grating. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♀️

"Like A Mother" by Mina Hardy delivers a thrilling plot with twists and turns that keep you guessing. The tension builds steadily, and the characters are intriguing. However, certain elements feel predictable, and the ending may leave some readers wanting more. Overall, a solid read for fans of psychological thrillers!

Sarah Granatt just lost the love of her life, Adam, the father of her daughter and their unborn child. Now as she is coping with his death, secrets of Adams begin to emerge. His mother, whom Sarah was told was long dead, shows up. Also life insurance that Adam promised would be there to support Sarah and the kids after his death is no longer there. Sarah takes Adams mother, Candace up on her offer to take care of her and her daughter until the baby is born but when she gets there she notices weird things and realizes the reason Adam left home and cut off contact with his parents.

This is the first book I’ve read by Author Mina Hardy but I really enjoyed the storyline and her writing. Short chapters, with a good amount of twists. I did see a couple of the twists coming but the ending was great and unexpected. This book does have a lot of religious themes to it which may not appeal to everyone, but overall I gave it 4 stars.

Like A Mother
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Mina Hardy

I requested an audio advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Sarah and Adam Morgan had the perfect suburban a beautiful house, an adorable daughter, a baby on the way, and a once-in-a-lifetime love. They were the couple everyone envied–until Adam died. 

In the wake of his death, Adam’s secrets begin to emerge. The first comes out when a woman named Candace introduces herself to Sarah as Adam’s mother. Adam had always said his mother was dead, so either Adam was lying to her, or this woman is not who she says she is. 

Candace proves that Adam was her son, but she admits that her relationship with her son was strained. But she’s still Sarah’s mother-in-law, and she’s here to help. Struggling with finances after Adam’s death, Sarah agrees to move in with Candace and to accept her help with her toddler and her pregnancy. 

Living in Adam’s childhood home, Sarah begins to understand the life he had before they met–the life he buried along with his relationship with his mother. When Sarah notices Candace’s strange obsession with her pregnancy, and the house begins to feel less like salvation and more like a cage, she realizes that Candace might not be the caring mother-in-law she seems. Maybe Adam had good reason to pretend that his mother was dead.

My Thoughts: This was an intense and captivating psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I finished in a few days as I had to know how it ended. While it is a psychological thriller, I think a good sub-genre would be domestic thriller. Hardy has made her mark in the thriller genre as a masterful twisty spinner. The story opens with the funeral of Adam, Sarah’s beloved husband who passed away due to illness. Sarah is left with their three-year old daughter and currently pregnant with their second child. Enter Candace who is Adam’s estranged mother. Candace seems like the godsend to Sarah, who is struggling since Adam’s death, especially since he did not set her up financially, as he promised he would, well not without strings that Sarah is not willing to climb up. Adam’s business partner would only honor Adam’s financial requests he left if Sarah will sign guardianship papers. This was something that Sarah just wasn’t willing to do. With the house needing repairs and no job, Sarah is forced to take Candace up on her offer to live with her until Sarah gets back on her feet. Living in Adam’s childhood home, Sarah comes to realize why he left, as well as other deep buried secrets. With Candace completely obsessed with Sarah’s current pregnancy, will Sarah keep her sanity? Or will she break and lose everything that she holds dear to her? This follows the tropes of locked room mystery with a dark/disturbing atmospheric setting.

This story is narrated by Sarah, in a third person POV. Sarah is reserved, stricken with grief, and not as confident as she was when Adam was alive. Candace has this initially approachable personality, but you only see what she wants you to see; she is manipulative and will hold things over you to get you to will to her way. Candace and her late husband ran a church, but it seems more like a cult with donations from members still coming in, even though the church has long ago burned and is no longer functioning. The characters were created with depth, well developed, were mysterious, and intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, twisty, and brilliant. While I knew the closer we got to the birth of Sarah’s second child a shoe would drop, I did not expect it to go the way that it did. I do not want to give too much away. So I will just say that the plot is delivered in twisty layers with a WOW ending.

Trigger warnings: grief, loss, cancer, religion, toxic parents, and implied abuse. The narrator, Gail Shalan, does an excellent job with voice variation with character distinction. The pace and flow were on point and I was able to listen at 2x with no issues keeping up. Her voice is smooth and easy to listen to. Gail also has the perfect amount of infliction to the character’s voice, really carrying through the fear and excitement. You could really feel like you were there in Adam’s childhood home moving through the experience with Sarah. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would recommend to other readers, especially as an audiobook at 8 hours and 9 minutes. This had all of the markings of an exciting thriller, it as captivating, gripping, intense, creepy, and a little dark. The only cons for me was the beginning was a little slow and the ending seems like it was rushed. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to other readers.

My first thoughts were that this book is ridiculous, equally in a good and bad way. I did like it, but there were things that made it feel a bit flat for me.

Things I couldn’t really understand, but at the same time I did kind of understand: why would you agree to live with a MIL that your husband told you had died? Why do you not have all your ducks in a row? Why did the FMC make so many questionable decisions?

I liked that we didn’t get a drawn-out build-up for the ‘thriller’ aspects of the story. You kind of dive right into those feelings but it did feel a bit rushed in parts and I don’t think we got a full picture of things: the couple in the beginning, Adam’s relationships, the brother and some situations (or the number of them) were a little too over the top/unbelievable for me.

I think, in relation to the narration/the audio, for the most part, it was done well. You had a feeling of foreboding as you learnt more about the characters and delved into the story, but the downfall for me, from ALL narrators, is when they voice a toddler. It is just cringey. I don’t know if it is the pitch of the voice, or they go too young for what I consider the toddler would sound like, but I never enjoy narration of a toddler in audio.

This one didn't work for me, unfortunately. I simply could not stand the main character, and not in a "love to hate" way.
The narrator was great, but the story was not.
Sorry for the low rating, I will not be leaving this review on Goodreads for that reason. It may be great for others, but not me.

an interesting concept, I enjoyed reading this along with the reader themselves were very good.

I recommend to those who are new at reading thrillers as this is a good place to start with

Like A Mother by Mina Hardy was a shot and a half of adrenaline. This story starts as a very sad and introspective story about a young pregnant mother with a small child whose husband just passed away unexpectedly. It is about being alone and trying to find a way to move forward without your life partner. But, then the narrative shifts when our main character finds that her husband had been lying to her the whole time they were together.
In comes his mother and she is loving and kind and just wants to take care of them and know them - and that is what Sarah wants for herself and for her children (born and not yet here). So, after being frightened into thinking that someone else was trying to take her children and leave her with nothing, Sarah goes with Candace, her mother-in-law, to Ohio to live in their estate.
The barred windows and 2 mile drive-way start to make Sarah wonder if she is making the best decision, but being distraught and alone - she will take what she can get. But, little by little, Sarah begins to understand why Adam might not have introduced his new family to his old. Some secrets may have been left hidden. But, they aren't hidden anymore and Sarah must do what she has to to save her little family.
Check this one out! It is a wild ride and I really enjoyed listening to this through NetGalley. That is Like a Mother by Mina Hardy.

I found the start to be quite slow, almost to the point where I put the book down. But as the secrets started to unravel, I found myself hanging on to every word - and then the ending felt like it sped it too much and felt a little rushed. The narrator did an excellent job, always clear and concise giving each of the emotions the time and energy they needed to be impactful.

Like a Mother while suspenseful and thrilling, just didn't make it over the line for me. However, I do have some people who would love this and it would be perfect for them. Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Mina Hardy for an advanced copy. Like A Mother is available now.

Like a Mother was a compelling psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of family ties and the darkness that can lie beneath them. The story unfolds with Sarah Granatt's life unraveling following the death of her husband Adam, revealing a tangle of secrets starting with the shocking emergence of his supposedly dead mother, Candace. As Sarah navigates her new reality, the narrative takes chilling turns, revealing deep-seated deceptions and a menacing obsession. Hardy masterfully crafts a suspenseful atmosphere, making this a gripping read characterized by its nail-biting tension and unexpected twists.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @Dreamscapemedia for the ARC. Wow this was a thrill ride. So many ups and downs, I could not stop listening. Everytime I thought I knew what would happen it went in another direction. Mina Hardy has written a book full of suspense. Our main character Sarah is pregnant with her second child when her husband dies. She is left heartbroken, but that is only the beginning of nightmare as she learns her husband lied to her about his past. This is a must read.