OH MY ! That was some book. It was so captivating I couldn't put it away. The story just grabbed me and didn't let go. I actually think that this may be one of the most unforgettable plots that I've read. You have got to give it a try. Its unbelievably great.

AJ Campbell always blows me away with her crazy domestic suspense/thriller books. The first half of this book was me totally gasping several times by 30% into it. I was hooked. I was disturbed and I was unsettled.

Annie is crazy. Annie is a bad mother and stepmother. Annie has post birth psychosis. Wrong wrong and wrong of course.

Her family is sabotaging her for sure. What’s going on here. The synopsis states that baby Lola goes missing and so I kept waiting for that to happen. Did it? Not really but what does happen is nuts and kept me totally mind boggled.

The twists keep coming and it’s hard to keep up here. Ultimately, the conclusion was surprising and I didn’t see it coming AT ALL.

For fast paced crazy popcorn thrillers, AJ is one of the best and I’ll never stop reading her books. Fun!

Annie has a new born baby Lola and is living with her husband Max and his two teenage children. Annie is exhausted and is really struggling and then a tragedy strikes and Annie starts to think is she really going insane or is something much more sinister happening? From the first page I was hooked in the delicate plot! I felt so sorry for Annie who is trying to juggle a new born while at times believing she is going crazy because I could feel her emotions prominently featured. The plot is filled with twists some you see coming and some you don't but it definitely pulls you in and keeps you guessing. I kept telling myself I'll read one more chapter but because the chapters are short, sharp and intense before I knew it I came to the explosive ending!

This is the first time reading any title by AJ Campbell. Let's just say if you are a Freida McFadden fan, you are going to love this book! AJ keeps you guessing till the last chapter!

Thank you Netgalley, A J Cambell and Bookouture for the eArc of First-Time Mother,

First-Time Mother is a medium paced domestic thriller with some great psychological twists and turns. We Follow Annie, a few Mum with a blended family of teen twins and what seemed like a happy marriage. Something changed though when Max and Annie has Lola. Annie finds herself tired all the time, memory laps, black outs and monstrous nightmares. Everyone around her tries to be supportive but Annie feels that she just needs some decent nights sleep. Very quickly, things start getting out of hand and you don't know if Annie is an unreliable narrator or something more insidious is going on.

I pretty much sat and read this in one sitting, it's a page turner for sure. I feel that the portrayal of Motherhood, postnatal depression ( Postpartum for some readers ), the difficulties of blended families is spot on. I loved the characters, Max, the dotting father has a side that's quite controlling. The twin teens, exchanging looks that only twins on the same wave length can communicate and the circle of friends that Annie and Max have are very well built. My heart went to Annie though, the writing portrays the absolute confusion and exhaustion of a new mother feels.

I sussed out some of the twists as the foreshadowing was subtle and well placed but didn't seen the big reveal which surprised me. The pacing was even throughout the narrative and this will be one I'll be buying when it's released! I do believe this is my first of AJ Campbells books Ive actually read and I'll be looking for more.

4.5 stars for Storygraph. 4 for other review sites

My review of the ARC of First Time Mother
Author AJ Campbell

Releases on 14/04/25.

I have read a few of AJ's books, so I was excited to get straight into this one.
Annie having a new born baby girl Lola, after finding out she was pregnant, she moved in with Max and his twin son and daughter and then got married.
The twins weren't to happy about it.
What was happening to Annie, she was confused, the pressure of motherhood and being deprived of sleep.
During times she collapsed into deep sleeps some disturbing incidences occurred around the house, they all think it's her doing as she was the only one home, she couldn't remember and swore it was nothing to do with her and thinks she is being set up by someone close.
Annie is distraught when she finds Lola her daughter, her life goes missing.

First Time Mother is a very fast paced, gripping and intense thriller, I could not put this book down.
So many twists, I had no clue to how and could not guess this was going to finish, and WOW that ending I was really blown away by the totally unexpected ending, it is absolutely edge of your seat stuff.
A brilliantly written book by AJ Campbell, outstanding descriptive characters and settings.
The tension starts from page one and rapidly builds throughout, can Annie get her life back with or without Max? You have to read it to find out.
This most definitely is a must-read book, I
recommend it and is truly deserving of more than the ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating.

I must give praise where praise is due. This is the first time in a LONG time that I read a book in one sitting. I literally absorbed this book and could not put it down. I loved the short chapters and how they picked right off where the last one ended, no weird cuts or jumps to a week later or any of that. It felt like I was standing next to the characters and watching it all happen.

It was also written very well and I felt the same sense of confusion as our main character, which really added to the atmosphere and storyline. The synopsis did confuse me a bit though as a solid 80% of the book focused on a different issue but at the same time, that was yet another thing that threw me so I didn't really mind.

With that said, this book gets a solid 4.5 stars from me. Why not 5? The ending.

I knew about halfway through that it was either going to be absolute gold, one of my fav thrillers OR the ending was gonna knock off some points. Now to be honest, I didn't even know what exactly I wanted the ending to be. I had a few theories and I would've probably felt just as meh if any of those came true. So the author really couldn't have won that battle with me.

But that out of left field solution and reasoning behind the actions.. they were a bit tooo far fetched to me. The author did give solid explanations but it still felt like a bit of a letdown.

But hey, I was still fully into the plot regardless and very much enjoyed the reading experience. Fully recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this free copy in exchange for an honest review!

When it comes to psychological thrillers, "First-Time Mother" truly delivers. If you love stories where reality blurs with illusion, this is the book for you.

Annie’s life should be picture-perfect — she lives with her loving husband, his teenage twins, and their newborn baby, Lola. But motherhood isn’t the blissful experience she expected. Lola won’t stop crying, Annie is severely sleep-deprived, and her memory is slipping. She's starting to confuse details, forget conversations, and misplace things. Everyone around her is worried — what’s really wrong with her?

Annie feels like she's spiraling, and everyone around her seems suspicious. Who can she trust when her own mind is failing her? Or worse — can she even trust herself, or is she the one putting her loved ones in danger?

Just when you think you know where this story is going — trust me, you don’t. The people in Annie’s life are hiding secrets, and nothing is as it seems. Short chapters and constant tension make this one impossible to put down. I warmly recommend reading it!

This is definitely a brilliant, fast paced thriller of a read, just what I like in a book from the beginning until an even more brilliant ending.

All the characters were extremely well described and everything was brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

This twisty read is now another of my top ten reads for 2025 and definitely another favourite author for me to follow.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this fantastic ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I have only just recently found A.j Campbell books and WOW thanks to Netgallery did not disappoint. The characters were really intriguing as one minute you think you guessed the plot and then BOOM another twist happens and definitely did not see the final twist.
Absolutely fantastic book! Highly recommended when this gets released.

One of my favourite read all year.

The suspense in this was unbelievable. Loved it so much. Stayed late to finish it

Wow! A fantastic and tense thriller that had me hooked throughout. I loved the story and characters and couldn't put it down until I found out what happened... Plenty of shocking twists and turns. Just brilliant!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Annie as a first-time mother who is newly married, has taken on the role of stepmother to twins, renovating a house wants nothing more than to be normal. Lola the newborn is colicky, and Annie wants to protect her.

There is a house fire, a missing baby, and deaths surrounding her.
The plot twists were A LOT.

The book was good and worth a night's read.

My fav book,so far,by this author…

We meet Annie,hubby Max and new baby Lola along with Max’s 2 children from his previous marriage and a whole other cast of family and friends

Annie is struggling,she keeps getting told her tiredness is normal and to ‘get some rest’ the whole problem is she cant get any and her tiredness starts to feel more like illness,she is forgetting things,losing things,saying she will do things and then doesn’t…..or at,least everyone is telling her she is doing these things…….she is almost too exhausted to realise things are not right,almost…

And when a tragedy unfolds next door to where she has ‘dropped off’ she realises something sinister is going on but by who and why…it could be anyone who surrounds her

Full of twists that I didn’t see coming,I usually have some idea of what's coming but in this book it had me guessing and guessing wrong

Very cleverly told and the reader like Annie needs to have their wits about them

Incredibly moreish and finished this is one sitting,not a concious decision it was just so good i kept on reading…..and reading

Loved it

100% flew through this book within 24hrs. I couldn't put it down as with all of Amanda's other books.

I didn't see the twists coming in this book and I love that about Amanda's writing. Max wasn't one of my favourite characters, loved Annie and the strength to protect those around her.

As always this is an easy 5 star read and I can't wait to read what comes next.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The author invited me to read this book, and I went in completely blind—no expectations, no idea what I was stepping into. And let me tell you, from the moment I started, I was hooked. The tension, the suspense, the way the story unfolded—it had me completely absorbed.

At first, I found myself paying close attention to certain characters, especially when reading aloud, but once I settled into the flow, it all became much easier to follow. The writing pulls you in, making every twist and revelation even more intense.

As a mother, I know stress is part of the package, but the protagonist’s experience was on a whole different level. After a sudden and shocking death close to her, everything begins to unravel. She doesn’t know who to trust, and that creeping sense of paranoia seeps through the pages, making me question everything right alongside her.

The secrets in this book? Absolutely masterful. Layered, well-paced, and so cleverly executed that every new discovery felt like a punch to the gut. I loved how the suspense built up, keeping me guessing until the very end. If you're looking for a gripping read that will consume you, this is it.

This blended family consists of Annie, Max, Max’s two children, and their new baby, Lola. Annie is a first time mother to Lola and stepmother to her husband Max’s 15 year old twins, Jasmine and Jacob. Annie is not one of those natural born moms and is finding motherhood difficult. Added to this, she is living in the house Max shared with his first wife and mother of his twins. His wife died five years ago. . To sat the least the household is a bit tense and uncomfortable. And now she is dealing with a fussy baby after a difficult delivery. Her relationship with the twins is also a big strain on her nerves. Max suggests she may be suffering from post natal depression and wants her to get help. Annie feels there is something more sinister going in the house after an unexplained kitchen fire, sudden death of her sister in the house and the half empty wine bottles she is sure she did not consume.

First Time Mother is fast paced thriller and is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seat trying to second guess who is behind the chilling happenings in the household. There are several possible suspects and but I coukd not figure out who was to blame. I never guessed the ending and was shocked by the revelation. This is a fabulous read you will race through to learn the fate of Annie and Lola.
Will anyone live happily ever after?

This book is jam packed with twists and turns. Just when you think you've figured it out the story goes in a different direction. As the intensity builds it's easy to forget chores and just keep reading. The chapters are short so it's easy to say one more chapter and find that it an hour or 2 later when you take a break. There are several OMG moments as well. It grabs you from beginning to the very end, A J Campbell's books get better with each new one. This is one with a twist you'll never see coming. I highly recommend this book.

Really interesting story full of thrilling mystery and questions you want to keep reading so you’ll have answers! The end was quite a surprise. I really enjoyed this one. I look forward to more books from this author. Thanks NetGalley for this treat!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of First-Time Mother by AJ Campbell due to be published April 15, 2025.

Annie, Max, Max’s two children, and their new baby, Lola are happy. But, are they? When Lola goes missing and Annie thinks she is going crazy, she knows she would never hurt her baby girl. What is happening to her? She does have secrets, but know she will never hurt her baby girl.
This was a fast read and kept me interested the entire time. It was interesting to see where Annie’s and Max’s relationship went – as well as her stepchildren. Throw in some mystery in Max’s company with her sister and best friend, and it definitely kept me engaged. Looking forward to more books from this author!
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