I keep reading McFadden's books expecting more since they are wildly popular. But as usual, it was a mediocre plot and poor character development. Predictable.
I appreciate the ARC and our library will be purchasing this book

4 stars
Freida never fails! This was immediately engaging and quick paced. I love all of the twists and turns, and how she can get my blood boiling!
A must read!

Abby and her husband have been trying for years for a baby. Later down the line they have an adoption pending for a newborn that falls through and Abby is devastated. That’s when her assistant, Monica, offers to become a surrogate for them. Little did Abby know things are not quite what they seem with Monica, and everything she once knew about her life and her husband will come in to question.

Freida McFadden never disappoints! I'm making my way through all of her books! I couldn't put this one down! I tried so hard to figure out the twists in this one. Pick it up! You won't be disappointed!

This book made me so stressed and mad! The way she hides a character in plain sight, it makes me trust no one

Fast-paced and full of jaw-dropping twists, this is McFadden at her best. Just when you think you know what’s happening, the story turns on its head.

Well, Freida, I must say you kept me up well past my bedtime! The suspense just wouldn’t quit. An absolute rollercoaster of a book, with suspicion shifting back and forth so many times it made my head snap. The Surrogate Mother begins with an opening sentence that wows. From there, author McFadden backtracks to the history behind the main character Abby’s horrific current circumstances.

A year ago, Abby’s life was perfect. A successful career, a loving husband, and a baby on the way. But when the pregnant woman whose baby they were supposed to adopt pulls out of the agreement, Abby, who is unable to have a child herself, suggests that her husband, Sam, use a surrogate. Enter Monica, her faithful work assistant, who is more than willing to provide them with the baby they desperately want. Things are perfect once again. Until they’re not.

As the pregnancy progresses, Abby becomes jealous of the bond that forms between Monica and Sam over the baby that shares their DNA. She convinces herself she is being paranoid with her feelings of being left out. But as the months go by, Abby questions whether using Monica as her surrogate was a wise choice. Does Monica want to keep the baby? Worse yet, does she want Sam? The plot intensifies with each chapter as Abby suspects Monica is not who she claimed to be and that Sam has been having an affair with her.

Abby’s concerns escalate as she wonders just how far Monica will go to take away from Abby what she wants to claim as her own. One shocking revelation after another makes for a pulse-pounding read. Twisty doesn’t even begin to describe this book. The fast-paced plot makes this an easy read for fans of psychological domestic thrillers where things aren’t what they appear to be.

Freida McFadden knows what she does. The story and plots were as usual amazing and also fun, because you just cant guess what would happen.
But the characters? Annoying. Out of all dumb things the protagonist could do, she did and I honestly was annoyed and short of dropping the book.
All in all a good thriller book.

This book was crazy. Like every other Freida Mcfadden book I read, I am immediately gripped from the start of the book to the end.
There is something satisfying about not guessing a twist and being shocked by it.

Another fantastic psychological thriller by McFadden that will keep you on a heart pounding, page turner roller coaster ride!

Abby and Sam have been married for 7 years and all they wanted was a baby. But Abby was unable to conceive. They were about to adopt a baby when at the last minute the mother changed her mind. Abby had an assistant at work, Monica, and when she realized that Abby and Sam were not going to get the baby, she agreed to become their surrogate. It didn't take long for her to get pregnant.

Abby was able to go with her to her first OBGYN appointment. When she told Sam that she had gone he was disappointed because he had wanted to go, so for the second appointment it was scheduled the following month at 1:00 and Sam decided to go. So Monica and Sam were at the appointment and when Abby got there she realized the appointment had been at 12:00 instead of 1:00. It had been on her schedule for 1:00. By then, Monica and Sam had developed a friendship aside from Abby, and Monica was calling him Sammy which Abby knew he hated. At this point it was clear to me that Monica had changed the appointment without telling Abby, because she wanted to be alone with Sam.

When Abby and Sam were considering Monica to be their surrogate. They had gotten a phone number from Monica for her mother, Louise. Abby had contacted her and Louise had given her a positive recommendation. There was also a woman that Monica said was her roommate and Abby called her too. This woman too gave a positive recommendation.

Overtime, Sam and Monica seem to be getting closer together. Abby had invited Monica over for dinner and before Abby knew it, Monica was talking and joking with Sam about math. Sam was a math professor at the University and Monica had a head for math. She had told Abby that she wanted to be a graphic designer and their agreement for her becoming a surrogate was that they were going to put her through school. But then Monica started talking to Sam about math and before long she told him that maybe she would change her major to math. This didn't sit well with Abby at all. Before long, Sam and Monica were exchanging text messages. Abby knew about this and was furious. She decided that Sam and Monica were having an affair.

At work, Monica had agreed to quit working before she was showing, but she didn't. Denise was Abby's boss and she used to look up to her, but before long she couldn't stand her. Abby had written an email to a friend and coworker, Shelly, In it, she called Denny's a bitch and somehow the email got cc'd to Denise. I knew that Monica was responsible for that. They did random drug tests at the office and Abby's came back with traces of amphetamines. Abby came to realize that all the horrible things that were happening to her were Monica's fault. Of course, Denise fired Abby after the drug test came back. It turns out, Monica used to bring Abby coffee every morning and she was drugging her through it.

With all of her suspicions, she decided to re-interview the people she had interviewed before. So she tried to phone phone Monica's roommate but the number had been disconnected. Then she was able to get a number for Louise who turned out to be Monica's stepmother. Louise informed her that. Monica was a bad actor. She had done all these horrible things. And then one day, when she was at the University, she had a best friend who ended up disappearing. It was assumed that Monica killed her. And then Louise told Abby that. Monica was in love with her math professor named Sam. Of course this led Abby to believe that Sam and Monica had been having an affair for years.

Because of Abby's dirty drug test Sam assumed she was a drug addict. So on this particular day when Abby got home Sam and Monica were there. They ganged up on her and told her that she needed to go to rehab. They said that if she didn't go that they didn't think she would be a suitable mother. Sam went through Abby's drawers in the bathroom and found a bag of cocaine. Abby told him that she had never seen it before and that she thought Monica had gone through her purse and took her keys and made a duplicate of her house key and broke in and left the drugs there. Sam told her that she was crazy.

While Abby and Sam were in the car together, Abby told him that he needed to pull over immediately because she saw Monica's roommate and she wanted to talk to her. So she got out of the car and ran to catch up with her. And when she did the roommate told her that Monica had paid her $200 to say all those nice things about her. But instead she didn't like Monica at all. She also told her that Monica had had a roommate before who absolutely detested her and she put Abby in touch with her. When she talk to her, she learned all these awful things that Monica had done. All of this fortified Abby's belief that Monica was no good.

Denise had taken Monica on as an assistant and one day she found her going through her desk. So she decided to go through Monica's desk where she found amphetamines. So she phoned Abby and asked her to come and meet her in the office at 8:00 that night. When Abby got there, she found Denise dead in her office. She had been stabbed with a letter opener that Sam had purchased for Abby and Abby had noticed that the letter opener had been missing. So she had to go to the police station and answer a bunch of questions. Sam bailed her out and got her a really good attorney, but the attorney was trying to convince her to take a plea deal, but She did didn't because she was innocent. And of course Sam thought she should take the plea deal as well.

Abby had had another assistant, Gertie, whom she dearly loved. She had kept in contact and on a particular day Gertie showed up on her doorstep with a bag of groceries. She told Abby that she was going to make her breakfast. Abby invited her in and Gertie cooked this huge meal for her and gave her orange juice. And then Monica showed up. At first. Abby didn't want to let her in but when Monica saw that Gertie was there she convinced Abby to let her in. It turns out, Gertie was actually Monica's mother and Gertie had drugged Abby with a bottle of sleeping pills that she slipped into her orange juice. Monica had brought duct tape which she used to wrap around Abby's ankles and wrists. She also had a gun which she planned to use to kill her. She had decided that once and for all she and Sam were going to be together forever.

Even though throughout the book I could see all the wretched things that Monica was doing. I still enjoyed the book. The author showed a little ingenuity the way she told the tale and I found the characters to be believable, even evil. Monica. I thought this book was good enough to receive four stars.

This is my first time reading a Freida book and I now understand the draw to the author. The story was complex as it unfolded and had me questioning both the sanity of the main character and where the the story was going to end up going.

Another brilliant storyline from Freida McFadden. Wonderfully written and totally gripping and absorbing. Her books are always so different in their storylines but always the same fabulous writing.

Abby and her husband Sam have been trying to conceive for a while, with no lick. An adoption has fallen though and they are giving up hope. But then the most amazing thing happens. Abby's assistant, Monica offers to be their surrogate, using Sam's sperm and Monica's eggs as Abby is the one with fertility problems. All this in exchange for help with tuition for graduate school.
Not such a terrible idea.. except they do work together, so that could get a little awkward. But they can work that out. And Sam's not quite on board, and insists on interviewing Monica and looking into her background.
And it seems to go well. There are a few red flags... but surely nothing their contract can't overcome right?
And it starts to get messy. And chaotic and twisty and turny.
This did not go where I thought it would.... and then it wandered off in some other directions and then surprised me again (I thought i knew, but I didn't) Overall a lot of fun!


Thank you to NetGalley for and advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Couldn’t put it down! Twists hit when I least expected. Just when I thought I had it figured out, Freida flipped the script—again.

This was another fast, twisty, bingeable thriller from Freida McFadden! From the very beginning it pulled me in and kept me second-guessing everyone. The suspense and tension built with each chapter, and the wild twists had me flying through the pages. While it wasn’t my absolute favorite of hers, it still delivered the addictive, popcorn-style thrills she’s known for and had that jaw-drop moment at the end that Freida always does so well. Definitely one fans of her books will enjoy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

This was not my favorite read of Freidas but it was fairly decent. I don't mind predictable books, it's still, usually, some ah ha moments, but this book had NONE. The husband had me mad the entire book. You believe a total stranger over your wife you've known for OVER a decade? Seriously!? On what planet would that ever happen? Also the wife was soooooooo naive. This was pretty standard Freida. Her books are always easy to read and quick to get through and this one was no different! I think I do prefer Freida’s older releases (I enjoyed the housemaid, the locked door, never lie, etc.) but this was good don't get me wrong.

Freida McFadden is a very popular author and I can't keep it on the shelves at our library. I usually enjoy her books as, once you pick it up, you can't put the book back down.

The Surrogate Mother was my least favorite of her books. . The subject and plot were just hard for me to read - the earlier part of the book just gets creepier and creepier, in a way that made me feel uncomfortable as it seems very foreseeable and formulaic. Of course the end of the book is a big twist - as one expects from McFadden.

All of that said, if you are a fan, this book won't let you down. I have no doubt it will fly off the shelves!

“The Surrogate Mother” is a fast-paced, twisty thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. Just when I thought I had it figured out, another curveball came. I always consume McFadden's books like a guilty pleasure, pure popcorn entertainment. I know she is not for everyone but if you suspend disbelief, ignore a plot hole here and there then you'll be entertained which is why I read her books and this one was another solid entry.

I haven't gotten through all of Freida's books so I hadn't realized this was a republishing but I'm still glad I got the chance to read it! Freida's books are always fast and twisty and entertaining. Super easy books to read in one sitting! Her books aren't life-changing but they're always a good time so I will continue to read whatever she puts out! This was a great time!