The Perfect Mother

By: Caroline Mitchell

Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Christina Traister

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous - everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare...

©2020 Caroline Mitchell (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

To recommend or not recommend...

On one hand, this book really makes you think about the things that could happen when it comes to international adoption, surrogacy, etc... And why there are so many laws to protect prospective families and babies. On the other hand, it is “a bit” of a stretch! It just kept getting harder and harder to believe, And every time it was Sheridan’s turn to talk, I almost turned it off. She is so awful. But the narration was good. Curiosity is the main thing that kept me listening, and I did enjoy the ending. I think Dipna must be a SAINT & I cannot imagine anyone realistically having a reaction that she did.

Great ending!

I wasn't at all impressed with this book, it was slow moving, not very original. Think "The Collector" meets "Mommy Dearest" and together they kidnap a poor ,gullible, pregnant Irish girl to keep her baby. The ending made the hours of listening somewhat bearable -it was a big surprise! Great ending that I didnt see coming at all! I think this would be a good YA book, older teen, but for adults that read or listen all the time, it was mediocre. Maybe it would be a good Netflix movie?

The twist at the end is incredible!

THE PERFECT MOTHER is worthwhile for the final 30 minutes. The rest is an excellent psychological thriller, but the unexpected twist is really special.

FellOff

This book outlines the struggles some women have with child bearing and the lengths they go to have a child.
It also brings to light that no matter how famous or financially well off one may be, that won’t remove all your issues and in fact may sometimes increase them.
This book though fiction, speaks on the dark side of fame and what people will do to remain famous and well off and how ethics and morals are thrown out the window in order to remain significant.

This book tells the tale of two struggles coming together to in a sense move forward in life.
One a single mother, who struggles to make ends meet and is less fortunate, and the other, a wealthy couple who
relies on others for child birth.

A pro is that the concept of the story is intriguing and encourages curiosity to discover how things turn out.
However it really isn’t mapped out correctly, until like the end when it starts gaining lots of friction.

I had read a review that stated there were lots of plot twists? Where? Majority of the story was about the conflicts between the wife and the woman who was responsible for child rearing. More like a soap opera and drama filled. I also believe it was overhyped because the book started off good and the ending was good but the middle was drawn out.

I also beleive there were conflicting statements.
((Spoiler))

The wife stated that she wanted the younger woman around to keep her husband interested and at home rather then having him away doing a pack of nonsense. If this was the case, why hold the woman against her will? If the husband really was an alpha male and charming and charismatic who is also able to get any woman he desires, why didn’t he just use his charms on her to keep the young woman around?

I had used my audible credit for this book and I regret it.

Fantastic!

Caroline writes of some incredibly horrific situations that terrify any sane person! This young woman’s poor choice that resulted in an unexpected pregnancy set up a series of events that led to an ultimate nightmare and suffering that almost cost her and her baby's life! What a thriller! I love this author and the narrator's Alan Kerr Collins and Christina Traister were perfect for this book!

Recommend!

Sucked me right in! Great performance. Just let down a bit by the ending. Overall, a great read!

The Perfect Mother

An excellent book, suspense till the very end, never knowing what was going to happen next. Loved the characters. The author has done it again! The narration was excellent.

Wow, What a read.

Starts off slow but the ending is worth it. There are many twists and turns.

Caroline Mitchell Books

This is my second audiobook by Caroline Mitchell. I am impressed with her books and enjoy listening to them! I highly recommend this book!

Good read

Drags a little in the middle. But overall pretty interesting. Great narration too. 15 words!

A brilliant story with great characterisation

Another corker of a story by Caroline Mitchell who I am a big fan of and I don't need to explain the plot but it was totally addictive from start to finish, a well crafted psychological thriller in which the suspense grows and grows. The character development is spot on; Roz, a naive young Irish woman who you cannot help feeling a little sorry for. All she wants is the best for her baby but from the moment Sheridan is introduced, there is a sense of impending doom. Sheridan is everything you loathe about rich, pampered American celebrities where image is all important. So when Roz signs a contract to give up her baby to this couple, little does she know she is about to fall into a terrifying trap and her life hangs in the balance. Some parts were predictable but having said that, I was a little sad when it ended because it was just so enjoyable!

Very good but...!

I did enjoy this, it was entertaining. However, the narration was really distracting and at times irritating until I got used to it although the distraction carried on throughout. The Irish accents, whether during speech or narration, went up in that annoying way like every alternate line was a question, and it would be one quiet line, one louder. When in America the Irish character went from Spanish to Scottish to an American drawl and various others. Perhaps it was just my ears! I still enjoyed it and do like this author.

Great storyline

I really like the story and the way it was told from each character perspective - I struggled a bit with the narration as one of the narrators had very bad accents trying to be from north England and Ireland- this was a bit off putting .

Was that an Indian accent or an Irish accent...

The story kept my attention but the narrator's attempt at the irish accent was dreadful.

Irish Accent

Enjoyed the narration of the book except for the Irish accent which was awful 🥲 will try another book by the same author ✌️

the twists shook me

I honestly can usually tell what direction a story is going to go but this story twisted and turned until I had to just stop guessing and enjoy the rollercoaster. the characters were so well developed that you cant just view them one dimensionally

Mediocre

An ok book, was expecting more dramatic twists and turns but it never really peaked for me. Some of the accents are also very questionable!

Good concept but got got a bit unrealistic

I enjoyed the concept, started off well with Roz who had an excellent Irish accent. Not sure what happened half way through the book but the American narrator tried the Irish accent and it was so awful and off putting, sounded like Indian or just confused, luckily it was only for a few chapters. The story did get pretty unreal towards the end.

Good story

Clever idea. Not predictable and satisfying ending. Narrator had a very sing song voice which was a bit irritating at times.

Stars have a Dark Side

So hard to describe this story without giving too much away. It was so surreal an American powerful celebrity couple wanted another child so they needed a surrogate. They advertised using fake names on a website and in their minds they wanted a girl next door and in steps a very naive young Irish woman Roz with a terrible upbringing due to her father leaving at a young age and her Mother turning to drink.

Roz has a friend Dymphna who has stuck by her through thick and thin. They loved their nights out getting drunk etc then Roz drops a bombshell she is pregnant. Roz will not reveal the identity of the father and she decides to go to America to give her baby a new home with this celebrity couple. Dymphna sees nothing but red flags and tries to persuade her not to go. Roz feels she has no choice and as Roz leaves for America Dymphna gives her a phone to hide just in case and Roz must use the word pickle and Dymphna will move hell on earth to get to her. Even tackling her fear of flying.

Luckily Dymphna’s Dad is a police detective which Dymphna May have to turn to him for help if needed.

Once Roz arrives very quickly she realises she is in deep trouble and her fave celebrity couple are no where near what she thought and worse is to come. Definitely worth a read.