This one took a little while to get going for me, but once the groundwork was set, it accelerated at an unstoppable pace.
The underlying set up is in and of itself fraught. A woman desperate for a baby (Lexi), and a best friend (Mara) willing to be her surrogate. There’s so much tension in that, and I was excited to see where it went.
Mara’s colorful past is layered with all sorts of sketchy people – strippers and drug dealers and violent men. When she goes missing, we’re not sure if she herself was a criminal, or the victim of the ruthless people in her circle.
The narrative is interwoven with flashbacks from the two girls’ teenage years. There’s a third friend, Cate, who died under mysterious circumstances. It felt like the mystery of Mara’s disappearance and the mystery of what happened to Cate would be intertwined, but their connection was only tangentially related, which made the ending feel less satisfying than it otherwise could have been.
But the writing was sharp, and there was a scene toward the end that was so intense my jaw was on the floor. I don’t want to spoil it, but you’ll know it when you get there.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me an advanced read.

Another superb Danielle Girard book! The tale of Lexi’s desire to have a baby grips you from the book’s blurb!!! The character development is effortless, you feel like you’re getting to know a friend. And before you know it, you’re besties. The fluidity of the storyline is so smooth it’s easy to get lost in page turning from the laid back while lounging bits, to the edge of your seat moments.

On its surface, Pinky Swear is a mother-to-be’s worst nightmare. The you fall through layers as you discover the deep roots of childhood friendship, the power of love between two people with a huge difference of opinion, the kindness of strangers, and the cruelty of those we think we trust.

Cover to cover there is no downtime in the story telling. One thread in this weaving was so visceral I realized my whole body was clenched! Danielle has a way of making the reader feel as if they are the main character of a scene and experiencing the story first hand. I was so satisfied with the ending of this book, while still longing for more!

The description of this one sucked me in immediately and I’m so glad I got approved to read this one early. I was hooked from page one and the storyline only got more intriguing the more I read.

I was so interested in the complex relationship between the three friends and the flashbacks that the author included for one of them.

I wish we would’ve gotten to read more of Lexi and Mara’s friendship before Mara went missing , but the memories and emotions of their connection were written well from Lexi’s POV.

I enjoyed this book a lot!

The review of Pinky Swear by Danielle Girard will appear in an upcoming Library Journal print or online publication.

I really enjoyed this book! It explored some thought-provoking themes that would make for great book club discussions—though perhaps more for an older group.. The pacing started off a bit slow but picked up significantly toward the end. But I was engaged throughout the entire story. This was a truly thrilling read with a refreshingly original concept—which I really appreciate, since it’s rare to come across something that feels genuinely “new” in the book world. I often find myself reading variations of the same story, but this one stood out in the best way. If you’re looking for a quick, engaging read you can fly through, I’d definitely recommend it.

I really enjoyed this story. It was not what I expected and i am glad I chose to read it. The character development was great and the plot kept me engaged.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Lexi and Mara have been best friends since school so year’s later when Mara pops in she takes her in to stay, Mara discovers Lexi cannot have a baby so she offers to be the surrogate. And then—- four days before the baby is due she disappears!

Pinky Swear is a must read for 2026 if you want to start the year on a high note.
A suspense filled story with page turning tension! The story mixes friendship, betrayal, and a mother's love for her unborn child.
Friends, Lexi, Mara and Cate were three best friends and the flashback chapters take us back to their teenage years. This shows us the trauma that bonded them and secrets that created lasting tension. This brings the story together and shows the past is just as suspenseful as the present.

I highly recommend Pinky Swear!

Thank you NetGalley, Danielle Girard and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the ARC. All comments and opinions are my own.

My review: As soon as I read it, I had so many questions. I couldn’t wait to find out why Mara would do this. Is she selling it on the black market for money? Is she hiding from Lexi because it’s not really her baby? Is she changing her mind and wanting to keep it for herself? Trust me, the questions are something you won't expect! In the middle of the chapter, it was a little slow burn, but wait until you read the end of the story. Oh my! 🤯 It got me emotional. This author got me really good!

Lexi and Mara had been best friends since middle school, but they drifted apart after senior year. Sixteen years later, Mara reappeared in Lexi's life. Fleeing her abusive husband, Mara was welcomed in by Lexi. Desperate to have a baby, Lexi was thrilled when Mara offered to become her surrogate. Their friendship became stronger than ever. However, four days before the due date, Mara vanished. Lexi was shocked, thinking Mara would never willingly leave her with their unborn child. Seeking the truth on her own, Lexi wondered: would Mara really do this to her? She thought she knew Mara very well.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria publisher, for exchanging for an honest review. E-ARC.

Thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for this ARC.

Friendship, trauma, and motherhood collide in this latest addition from a *master* of domestic suspense. From the first couple of chapters of Pinky Swear, I knew I was in the hands of a talented, capable, and enigmatic author, wondering what exactly she'd be serving up, curious and apprehensive at the same time as to what big feelings she'd pull out of me :). Premise: Lexi and Mara were best friends in high school, but tragedy pushed them apart. Sixteen years later, Mara reappears, fleeing an abusive husband—and agrees to be Lexi’s surrogate on the spot. Everything seems perfect until Mara disappears just days before her due date. Lexi embarks on a frantic cross-country hunt to find her & the baby.

So let me start by saying that I have a *very* high bar for emotional hooks in domestic suspense. It’s everything in this genre, at least to me. The emotional hooks in Pinky Swear were highly effective– childhood friendship, maternal desperation, past unresolved trauma. Wow. These were on point. As a result, I white-knuckled my iPad, hoping everyone would be ok especially the baby. Girard’s prose is really lovely and evocative and kept me interested. Overall, I’d highly recommend this to readers who love fast-paced domestic thrillers packed with secrets, drama, and plenty of surprises.

High school best friends come together later in life under odd circumstances. Lexi always wanted a baby of her own but couldn’t have one and Mara agreed to be a surrogate for her. But just days before her due date she disappears. What is going on in Mara’s life? Lexi soon finds out.

Although there is suspenseful parts in this book and I really like the concept of it all, it still fell a little flat for me. Some parts felt to slow and some parts felt to rushed. The pacing was off for me. Overall it still wasn’t a bad book.

Thank you @netgalley for the arc of my honest review.

Pinky Swear was a thrilling blend of suspense and emotion that had me racing through the pages. The twists and intense domestic drama pulled me in right away, making it nearly impossible to put down.

This domestic thriller centered on estranged childhood friends Lexi and Mara. When Mara fled an abusive marriage and reappeared in Lexi’s life, she offered to be a surrogate for the child Lexi longed for. But just days before the baby was due, Mara disappeared, sending Lexi on a desperate search. As she hunted for her missing friend and unborn child, long-buried secrets from their shared past resurface, forcing Lexi to question how well she ever really knew Mara.

This was my first time reading Danielle Girard, and she delivered a fast-paced, emotionally charged thriller that seamlessly wove together past and present. Her taut, urgent writing captured the themes of friendship, motherhood, and betrayal, while building an atmosphere of unease that made even everyday moments feel tense and dangerous.

The strength of Pinky Swear lied within its emotional pull and suspenseful pacing. I liked how Girard explored friendship, motherhood, and buried secrets in a way that kept me invested, and the dual timelines added depth to the story. On the downside, some parts felt a little confusing with the shifts between past and present, and a few of the twists stretched believability. Still, the tension and emotional stakes made it an engaging read all together.

Overall, Pinky Swear was a gripping, emotionally charged thriller that blended suspense with heartfelt themes of friendship and motherhood. Danielle Girard’s taut writing balanced urgency with depth, pulling me into the twists and emotional stakes from start to finish. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who loves fast-paced domestic thrillers packed with secrets, drama, and plenty of surprises.

Once again, thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for an ARC in return for my review.

3.5 stars rounded up. a twisty mystery. the story goes back and forth in time before the story comes full circle. I didn't feel too invested in the characters but the storyline was interesting.

Thank you again to Atria and NetGalley for this advanced copy of Pinky Swear!

I'll start by saying that the premise of this book is what drew my interest initially. The idea of the woman you trusted, your childhood best friend, to carry your child, going missing just days before giving birth is terrifying.

The pacing of this story was a bit off at times. I felt that the book started pretty slowly, got very fast in the middle, then slowed down again for the last quarter of the book. The section involving Mara, Lexi, and Maxwell near the end felt drawn out and went beyond the slow burn of suspense and I felt that way due to the continuous ramble of Lexi's thoughts that seemed to be repeating themselves over and over within just those few pages.

I also didn't believe that Lexi, Mara, and Cate were as close as we are led to believe. We know about their notebooks and difficult home lives but so much of the story is about what things Mara and Cate kept from Lexi.

Overall, the story itself is quite intriguing but the pacing and character dynamics left something to be desired.

This was a quick and easy read but it was just ok! I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters and the outlandish plot.

Lexi, Cate and Mara were best friends in high school. Each one with their big dreams and that thirst for adventure and curiosity about life in general.
Due to a very unfortunate accident, Cate dies right before their graduation, and Lexi and Mara carried on with their lives in grief (each one of them dealing differently with it). Years have passed and now Lexi, in their mid-30s, married but on the verge of getting a divorce, reunites with Mara. Lexi has tried multiple times to get pregnant and have not succeeded. So she asks Mara to be her surrogate, wich she happily accepts. 9 months later, Mara and Lexi have been living together for 6 months and things seem to be great, they are closer than ever, very excited and making huge plans for when the baby is born - who Lexi keeps calling 'goose' - because she hasn't picked a name yet. Suddenly, 4 days due date birth, Mara disappears without a trace. So we follow Lexi in a desperate chase to looking for Mara and her unborn baby before Mara gives birth.

Pinky Swear is a (mostly) fast-paced thriller with empathetic main characters, engaging writing (in my opinion), same twists and turns here and there, a quite unsettling narrative, honestly. It's tough to read the desperation acts of a soon-to-be mother in persuit of her friend and unborn child. I'd assume that this book can be a little triggering to readers who are mothers, or about to become one.
The conclusion was satisfactory enough for my taste. Especially because I tend to enjoy bittersweet endings in thrillers (or horror novels).
This book also brings some chapters in a past timeline, when the three friends were still in high school and that timeline was, also, told by entries of a journey they would write for one another.
There's a lot of suspense and drama, too. And some heavy triggering topics concerning what happened to Cate when she was still alive.
I personally liked it a lot. I would prefer to see, or witness, more of the friendship between Mara and Lexi after they have lost Cate, though.

I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading thrillers with the tropes I discussed here.
Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I requested this one because a friend said she thought I would like it, my friend was wrong 🤦‍♀️

This book just didnt pull me in at all. I dnf'd.

This was super fun! I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, thrillers from new authors are always a risk but this was absolutely phenomenal!

All Lexi wants is a child of her own. Her dreams come true when her childhood friend, Mara, comes back in her life and offers to act as surrogate. Then Mara disappears four days before the due date.

I love the plot and concept of this one but it was a much more slow burn than I was expecting. I stuck with it and the ending got super exciting and the pacing picked up drastically. I did love the end and how it turned out but prepare for a slow pace until then.”

“Motherhood is the trickiest of gifts. Whether we dream about it for a decade or it happens accidentally, it changed us. It’s irrevocable. And it is the very definition of joy and also the ultimate heartache - mother or child.”

Pinky Swear comes out 2/24.

Danielle Girard never misses—and Pinky Swear might just be her most riveting novel yet. This is a story that pulls you in from the first page and won't let go, even when I thought I knew where it was headed. Spoiler: I didn’t.

At its heart, this is a book about friendship, secrets, and the dangerous ways the past refuses to stay buried. Lexi and Mara’s bond is the kind of friendship we all recognize, intense, complicated, unshakable, until cracks begin to form. When Mara reappears after years apart, fleeing an abusive husband, the reunion feels like a second chance. But Danielle Girard doesn’t hand us safe reunions or easy choices. Instead, she twists that bond tighter and tighter, until it finally snaps with Mara’s sudden disappearance, four days before Lexi’s baby is due.

From there, Pinky Swear becomes an adrenaline fueled hunt for truth. Each chapter peels back another layer of lies and betrayal, revealing that the line between love and obsession, loyalty and destruction, is razor thin. The pacing is relentless, I found myself devouring chapters late into the night, promising “just one more,” knowing full well I couldn’t stop until I reached the end.

What makes Girard such a powerhouse is her ability to blend high stakes suspense with raw, emotional depth. She doesn’t just give you shocking twists (though there are plenty, and each one more gasp-worthy than the last); she also makes you feel the weight of every choice, every fracture in trust, every gut punch of betrayal.

This book is gritty, heart-wrenching, and utterly addictive. It’s about the secrets we carry, the lies we tell ourselves, and how far we’ll go when the person we trust most might also be the one who destroys us.

Explosive, haunting, and masterfully written, Pinky Swear cements Danielle Girard as one of the most fearless voices in psychological suspense. She doesn’t just tell a story; she detonates it, leaving you breathless in the aftermath.