Book Description
The Stay-at-Home Mother: A completely addictive psychological thriller packed with jaw-dropping twists
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. Instead, 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’m assuming this is the Andrea Gately listed as a contact on the Missing Children of the World website. I’m calling to let you know that I’ve given your details to the police. Why are you using a picture of my son on a missing children’s website? Why are you using it and where did you get it?’
An absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will leave you gasping with shock and staying up way past your bedtime. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty and Adele Parks.
BLOG TOUR REVIEWÂ
Review for 'The Stay-At-Home Mother' by Nicole Trope.Â
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Nicole Trope, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymousÂ
Publication date 3rd January 2023. Happy publication day Nicole!!Â
This is the fifth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Girl Who Never Came Home', 'The Stepchild', 'The Mother's Fault' or 'The Family Across The Street' which I also recommend anyone read.Â
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'An absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will leave you gasping with shock and staying up way past your bedtime. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty and Adele Parks.' I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and Liane Moriarty so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Nicole and if this is half as good as 'The Girl Who Never Came Home', 'The Stepchild', 'The Mother's Fault' or 'The Family Across The Street' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 34 chapters and 2 epilogues. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺.Â
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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.Â
'The Stay-At-Home Mother' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Nicole discusses/includes child abduction and gambling.Â
OMG!!! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! WHAT HAVE I JUST READ!?!?!? Nicole Trope you are a writing legend!!!Â
This book is fantastically written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all feeling the hairs raise on their arms and feeling their heart pounding with Andrea's. This title, cover and synopsis suited it perfectly along with the cover and synopsis.Â
This book has got to be the most heart racing books I've read I a long time, of not ever!!! It had be hook, line and sinker from the first page and I could not put it down!!! Every time I said one more chapter it ended on a cliffhanger and I just had to know what was going on!!! If you are going to read this then clear your day because it is truly unputdownable. I started this this morning and finished it at 2am reading it in one sitting and although I'm knackered today it was 1000000% worth it!!! The storyline is unique and scarily very realistic. I loved that you got to see everything that was going on from Andrea and Gabby who were all in the centre of it all. There were little hints dropped as to what had actually going on but I never did guess right. When I found out I was completely shocked which is a huge achievement as Ive read so many books so it is harder and harder to shock me so another HUGE congratulations Nicole!!! It really does make you think how life can change so quickly and different decisions can change a life. It also makes you think how looks can be deceiving. Nicole has yet again written about an important subject (unfortunately, I can't tell you what the main one is as I don't want to give anything, you'll just have to grab your copy to find out!) and turned it into a heart stopping, page turning novela. My heart was in my throat and I was on the edge of my seat throughout reading this. I was completely invested in the storyline and it will stay with me for a long time. The ending was was absolutely jaw dropping and so unexpected. I also love the fact that it didn't end how many people would liked it to have as this makes it even more unpredictable and unexpected but also realistic. This book would make a fantastic movie.Â
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
All the characters were realistic, well developed and had strong characteristics and personalities. My heart went out to Andrea on so many occasions for several different reasons. It is really hard to say how I feel about the characters without giving too much away but I will try my best. I could relate to Andrea in several ways with being on your own for most of the time with small children being one of them and I could easily see how what she did could easily be done (sorry but you'll have to click the link below to see what I mean!!). Although Terry really annoyed me and like Andrea I blamed him for alot of what happened I also did have a small amount of sympathy for him as like any other addiction what he did is an illness and hopefully he has learned his lesson. I also thought I felt very similar towards Gabby in a way but I wasn't so sure by the end although but I think I will definitely have to leave this here as I really don't want to spoil this incredible storyline for anyone. However, regardless of If you love them or hate them these characters work perfectly together to create an unputdownable book with some explosive twists!!Â
 I did absolutely NOT expect that humongous bombshell at all. What an absolute twist!!! I can hand on my heart say that I cannot remember when I was so gobsmacked by a book twist but Nicole you have done just that!!! This book is rammed with suspense and tension and will keep you biting your nails, on the edge of your seat with your heart pounding while your flipping the pages because you just cant stop!!
If you read one book on your life, make sure it is this!!!! I would love to see this turned into a movie and Nicole I really hope you are working on your next psychological thriller at this moment because this book will go far!!! A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on what promises to be a MASSIVE success!!!Â
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and first chapter of Nicole's 'The Family Across The Street' which is another addictive must read page turner by Nicole!!Â
This is EXACTLY why you are one of my favourite authors Nicole. Keep up the amazing work and here's to your next success 🥂 !!
Overall an absolutely heart racing, nail biting, unputdownable psychological thriller with several bombshells you will not see coming!!!Â
Genres covered in this novel include Thriller, Literary Fiction, Women's Psychological Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Coming-Of-Age story, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Suspense, Noir Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction and Domestic Fiction amongst others.Â
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Lisa Jewell, 'The Wife Between Us', Liane Moriarty, Adele Parksanyone who has read any of Nicole's previous books AND YOU, YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY AND JUST EVERYONE!!! .Â
286 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle and £7.99 in your paperback via Amazon (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!Â
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.Â
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About the author
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.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. She went on to publish a further five novels in Australia before joining Bookouture in 2019. She is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
Author social media
Facebook: @NicoleTrope
Twitter: @nicoletrope
Author email sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/nicole-trope
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BHDLL537cover
