The Stay At Home Mother A must-see psychological thriller that will blow you away with surprise and keep you awake well after bedtime. This book is written in third person perspective and the protagonists are Andrea and Gabby. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. Smile. You’re making me want to kill myself with that face,’ her mother said often enough for Gabby to struggle with the idea of smiling at anything. In the mirror she will practise moving her lips around her teeth, hoping that it looks natural, but when she talks to people and someone says something that makes her laugh, she always feels like she’s faking it.

Gabby is an older mother with a teenage son Flynn. She has a following on Social Media for her parenting advice. The police arrive. She cannot look at her husband. Instead, he studies the tangle of lines in his trembling hands. You have a three-year-old child and you’re nearly nine months pregnant,’ Brianna replied. ‘And you’ve just moved. You have more than enough problems of your own.’ I really did like the story and the character development was done well. The problem was with pacing. It was slow. Even though the story was intriguing when the twist came which was great I wasn’t blown away which is unfortunate because it’s a great twist. Trope’s characters are emotionally driven and she uses their unthinkable experience to explore relationships, forgiveness, appearances, and justice. She proves that a fresh start is within the grasp of each of us; we are only one decision away from a completely different life.Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest psychological thriller by Nicole Trope - 4 stars! Her chest tightens, her heart speeding up. The kitchen is chaos. She steps on something hard, and looks down. Toy dinosaurs are scattered everywhere. But her son is nowhere - her baby boy is gone. The police arrive. She can't look at her husband, she studies the network of lines on her shaking hands. Then her phone beeps with a voice message. "Listen to it on speaker" says the detective. A woman's voice fills the air.... I absolutely loved this book. The way the point of views from each character were shared throughout the book made me feel a range of emotions. I’ll go through the garage and see if I can find some spare ones. The old owners must have left some – they always do,’ Terry promised her, but she has little hope of that actually happening.

Best thriller I’ve heard in 2021. Utterly absorbing and gripping. A truly brilliantly written book. Oh my GOSH!!!!!! I read this emotionally charged, compelling book in one sitting. Whoa, my emotions are ALL over the place!!!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Andrea is rightly bitter about her losses, but ready for a fresh start. How can you be sure Terry won’t play again? Because of this, Andrea has trust issues, but by befriending a neighbor named Gabby, she breaks down some of those walls. Gabby is older than Andrea, has a teenage son who lives at home and a husband who travels most of the time. Gabby seems to have everything under control. Her house is immaculate, her sandwiches are delicious, she’s good with children… This morning, before he left for work, he kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘Things will get better, I know they will,’ he whispered. She had closed her eyes and sent a plea up to the heavens that they would get better.I don’t exactly love you either,’ Andrea mutters, and then laughs at herself for talking to an inanimate object.