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Miranda Smith is a MUST READ author for me!
Shelby, one of the local girls, goes missing after a Halloween party. Its neighbor is a little Peyton Place and everyone starts blaming each other. But everyone has some skeletons in their closet! This one kept me guessing until the end. It really shows you what a mother will do to protect her child.
Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#LovingMothers #MirandaSmith #NetGalley #Bookouture #BooksOnTour #BookLove #Bookstagram #NewBook #ILoveBooks

In Hickory Hills, everyone knows everyone. When Shelby goes missing, her best friend Grace says they aren't friends anymore. She's talking to Shelby's boyfriend Hudson, and her Halloween costume is hidden in the closet covered in blood. The narrator will do anything to protect her daughter, especially because of her own secrets.

Mothers will always protect their daughters is the founding tenet of this novel, and being from an affluent neighborhood doesn't change that fact. There are three mothers tied together here: Donna is Shelby's mother, Mary is Grace's mother and Stella is Hudson's mother. Stella and Hudson are relatively new to the HOA, and Stella craves belonging. The others talk about Donna's behavior in the wake of her divorce in a catty way. Mary is so sure of her perfect knowledge of everyone and everything within the development. There are flashes back to the Halloween night party, with details that make us question these three mothers, as well as the others in their tight-knit group. Mary is so sure that Grace is involved in Shelby's disappearance that she spreads rumors, goes digging into others, and sees the worst in others. At the same time, she is the first to realize that something terrible has happened and step up to correct it.

The second half of the novel has twists along the way as we guess what might have happened that night and eventually find out the truth. Each of the main families involved has secrets, and they're stripped away as the novel progresses. It's a fascinating peek into a picture-perfect gated community and the potential rot that could exist within it.

This story centers around a missing teenage girl, but it is about so much more than a missing girl. This gave me the Desperate Housewives vibe with snooty, spoiled women who think the world revolves around them and appearances are everything. Mary, Naomi, Janet and Donna are mean girls in adult form. I really despised these four characters.

For all their posturing, these women are all hiding secrets. The tragedy of a missing girl is about to bust this community wide open. The secrets are oozing just below the surface, and they are about to bubble to the top. Lives will never be the same again when this mystery is solved.

I was completely glued to the pages of this book. Sleep is not necessary when you are engrossed in a good book. The author kept dropping clues and you would think it was over. Then you would turn the page and something else would happen. The conclusion was absolutely stunning. I never saw it coming. There is nothing more enjoyable to read than a well-written mystery that gets its claws in you and will not let you go until you finish.

Loving Mothers is the fifth book I've read from Smith and I have to say she certainly knows how to write a good thriller and hold an audience.

Told from multiple POV, it's a fast paced thriller that you will not want to put down. I was hooked from the off and flew through the book in an evening.

The twists kept coming, the suspense levels rose with each turn of the page and I couldn't trust anyone, they all had their little secrets and lies they were hiding behind their perfect facades.

A highly enjoyable popcorn thriller.

After a Halloween party, a teenage girl named Shelby has gone missing. There are two main suspects--Hudson, who is Stella's son and who seemed to have a history with the old school and Grace, who is Mary's daughter who fought with Shelby on the day she disappeared. Mary would do anything to protect her daughter and Stella would do anything to protect her son, even though she suspected that he might be behind Shelby's disappearance. When Shelby's body was found, immediately Hudson was suspected as he and Shelby used to date together.

This was actually an interesting and a fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge till you reach the end. Both Stella and Mary are determined to protect their children at any cost even though they both suspected that their children might have something to do with Shelby's disappearance. The story is told in the POV's of Stella, Mary and the other mothers Naomi and Donna who is Shelby's mother. The story is a bit emotional when you read Stella's part as she suffered from domestic abuse from her ex-husband. The twist at the end was completely unexpected . I have read this author's books many times and this book is one of her best psychological thrillers I have read. If you are looking for an unputdownable thriller, then this book is for you--worth five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only. Many thanks to Bookoute formaking me a part of the blog tour.

Only my second Miranda Smith book. The beginning had read like a soap opera. Everything and everyone was a cliche. Women who think they control a street? Teenagers who find their friend is missing or dead but still react to parents in angsty, teenager ways. Luckily, this book moved past this a little bit. There were still a lot of stereotypes and ridiculousness. It got a lot more interesting.

It was an easy to read book that made for a nice afternoon.

Gripping and unputdownable suspense. Every character is unreliable and twisted. Multiple points of view added the mystery until the end. Everyone is hiding something, and they all have secrets from the past. Fast-paced chapters with intriguing plotline, it's a very interesting thriller 👌 ending is shocking and unexpected. Recommend. Thanks to @Netgalley and @Bookouture and the author for the eARC.

Thank you, Netgalley, Miranda Smith, and Bookouture for the ebook. Bravo! Loving Mothers is a captivating thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. The fast-paced narrative had me staying up late, eager to see what would happen next. Miranda Smith masterfully connects the characters, creating a sense of depth that is truly impressive. The twists in the plot are unexpected and skillfully executed, making for an exhilarating reading experience. I can't wait to explore more of Miranda Smith's work!

I flew through this book and couldn't wait to find out who did it! It seemed like everyone in this town has a secret to hide and is going through it! A solid entertaining domestic thriller!
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this advance e book.

A-sixteen-year-old girl goes out on a crisp fall evening and never comes home. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Every mother in the neighborhood holds their children tighter. But two of these loving mothers are hiding something terrible.

Loving Mothers is fast paced domestic thriller. There are so many twists and turns throughout and some were absolutely unexpected. I enjoyed reading the multiple PoVs of different morally grey and flawed characters and their secrets added depth to the narrative. The book was a wild ride with murder, lies and betrayal at the heart of it and kept me guessing right until the end.

Well plotted and entertaining with believable characters. Highly recommend.

I absolutely love a juicy, neighborhood-based domestic drama! You have the Queen Bee, the Lush, the Flirt, the Newcomer and their children. Deliciously twisted with a surprising end!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Absolutely LOVED this! Loving Mothers is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while. I couldn’t put it down.

If you love a suburban thriller with multiple POV’s definitely give this a read.

Thanks to NetGalley & publisher for this ARC.

Reading Between the Wines book review #100/130 for 2024:
BOOK TOUR!
Rating: 3🍷🍷🍷
Book: Loving Mothers
Author: Miranda Smith
Available now!! Released on October 3, 2024!

Sipping thoughts: This was a very quick read. I love the way Miranda Smith tells stories. I really felt I was a neighbor in Hickory Hills. What do you do when a young teenager goes missing in such a small knit community? Who can you trust? Shelby wasn’t the best person and definitely not a role model, but does that mean someone wanted to get rid of her? I changed my mind so many times on what happened and what led to it, and I was wrong on all occasions, lol, and I enjoyed that.

Cheers and thank you to @Bookouture and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @LovingMothers.

#LovingMothers #MirandaSmith #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult #BookTour

I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying ‘No One knows what goes on behind closed doors’. And it’s certainly true for the residents living in the upmarket residential area of Hickory Hills. This fast paced domestic thriller had me captivated from the very first chapter. The characters all had certain flaws and kept me on my toes trying to figure out who the culprit was. From start to finish this was an excellent read.

I devour all of Miranda Smith’s books. This one didn’t have me hooked. The plot was good, but it was too slow for me. Lots of characters to keep straight in the beginning. All the moms of the neighborhood seem to have secrets and figuring out who killed Shelby and why, had me interested in this tale. I found myself bored with the characters and didn’t care much for them. But, I will continue to read all of Smith’s books.

Thanks to netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It’s Halloween night in Hickory Hills. The neighbors are a mixture of personalities.

Mary is the Queen Bee of the neighborhood married to the high school principal and mother to Grace.
Donna Bledsoe is divorced and mother to Shelby, good friend of Grace.
Naomi Davies is a fitness fanatic.
Janet Parks is a trophy wife who drinks too much.
Stella Moore is a newcomer to the neighborhood and single mother to Hudson.
Annette Friss is a spinster who enjoys yard work.
No one notices when three teenagers disappear into the woods.

The next morning, Donna calls Mary saying Shelby did not come hone last night and she is worried. First off, the police aren’t interested in pursuing this as they feel she is a teenager who may have simply run away. But when she doesn’t come home, the women print out posters and head out to other neighborhoods to put them up.

As we get to know the different women, we find that some are hiding secrets. In addition, some of the teenagers are also hiding secrets. Each family is dealing with its own kind of problems and the women do a lot of gossiping. This leads to unfair accusations that are quite hurtful. But, what happened to Shelby?

I loved this book. The gossip makes me feel rather sorry for these women that they don’t have more in their lives to keep them busy. But when I thought I figured out what happened to Shelby, I was totally wrong. This is a tense story that will keep the reader glued to the book. Enjoy!

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

Miranda Smith is a new-to-me author and I will definitely read more of her titles.

Loving Mothers gave me Stepford Wives meet Mean Girls meet Housewives of ____ (fill in your fav housewives show) vibes. Stella moves with her son to a new neighborhood to escape her horrible husband. She thinks she's finally fitting in with the women. But on Halloween night, one of the local girls (Shelby) goes missing. To divert attention from her daughter Grace, Mary spreads a rumor about what Hudson did at his old school, and now there's a witch hunt. Is Hudson more like his father as Stella fears, or is Grace keeping secrets? Both Stella and Mary know their kids are guilty of something. And when the final secret is exposed, it has an explosive impact on the perfectly curated neighborhood of Hickory Hills.

The characters of the four moms and three kids are well-developed, with separate personalities in this a highly readable thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Books on Tour for an advance reader's copy.

My god, this was juicy! I absolutely love suburban drama, they are one of my favourite sub-genres of thriller.

The peaceful and idyllic family atmosphere of Hickory Hills suddenly gets disturbed by a tragedy - one of their own appears to be missing. Worst of all, it’s someone’s child, a barely adult teenager.

Mary’s daughter, Grace, seems to be the focus of the investigation in her bff’s disappearance, but as we as all know - a mother will stop at nothing to protect their own.

The plot actually reminded me a little of A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins, even though I have yet to read that one fully.

There are a lot of characters but the writer does a good job at giving everyone their own voice, and the multiple POV chapters make it easier to not get confused at all.
Twisty, suspenseful, and full of drama, just how I like my books.

This book was one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read! It’s told from multiple POVs, in a small suburban neighborhood. After their yearly Halloween party, one of the teenage girls goes missing. Fingers are pointed at the new kid in town, neighborhood gossip is spreading from numerous sources. The twists and turns just keep coming and you WILL be sucked in needing to know more!

Thank you for Net Galley for access to this book!

it’s full of twists & turns which will keep you guessing until the very end. It has multiple POV’s, close neighbourhood setting giving it a sort of desperate housewives feel which I loved.