4.5 stars rounded up. Wow this book was great and it had me hooked from the first page. I practically read it in one sitting and couldn’t put it down. I just had to keep reading to see how it would end and I loved the conclusion. I have loved all this authors books and would definitely recommend this one.

This is an awesome thriller. There have been so many great ones this year!

It reminds of The Girl on the Train. Tessa is an unreliable narrator. This makes us question if she actually did what she was accused of doing. It adds another layer of mystery to the novel.

I figured out the ending about halfway through the book. But it was still so exciting. There were some twists that made me doubt my theory. But I was right in the end.

One thing that could have improved the narrative, was if there weren’t so many rhetorical questions. Many chapters ended with a question, which was unnecessary. If they were removed, it would have made that final sentence stronger. Other than that, I liked the narrative.

I loved this book. I recommend it for thriller lovers!

So excited to have received a copy of The Secret Mother! I have read all of her books and as with this one, I have loved them all! Shalini Boland has a knack for writing characters you love and putting them in impossible situations, add in a few brilliantly well timed twists and you have a wonderful psychological thriller that you can't put down until the very end! Highly recommend!

Tessa comes home to find a boy in her house, a boy who asks if she’s his Mummy.

We follow Tessa as she tries to figure out who the boy is and why he thinks she is his Mum. When Tessa rings the police everything starts to unravel. The police don’t believe Tessa because of her past, her ex doesn’t believe her either.

I raced through the book and couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I hadn’t read anything else by the author but I will be picking them up soon.

Thanks Netgalley for the review copy.

Wow, wow, wow! This book grips you right from the beginning. A mother, dealing with a devastating loss of not only her kids, but her spouse leaving her, now has to question her sanity and memory. Was she imagining things? Did she forget actually doing things? Shalini Boland does a great job at keeping the reader guessing and questioning their own sanity. As a reader, you start to feel the pain and confusion that Tessa feels. I had so much hatred towards Tessa's estranged husband Scott. You want to shake him and make him wake up and listen. He wants to downplay everything as "poor Tessa". Ben, love love love Ben.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Facebook.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for my copy.

Tessa Markham arrives home from the cemetery after visiting the graves of her two dead children to find a small boy ensconced in her kitchen. After calling her estranged husband and the police her life descends into a nightmare. Trial by media finds her guilty of snatching the boy from his recently widowed father. She is isolated and emotionally fragile and stalked by the media.

How does she prove her innocence? Why was the boy Harry brought to her? Tessa has to fight to maintain her innocence and her psychological well-being amidst the doubt of her husband and the the community.

This was a well written psychological thriller with a good twist. I deducted one star because I did have an issue with the resolution. Felt there were some issues with the medical aspects and as a nurse I am a stickler for detail. Do not want to spoil it for other people so will leave it at that. Overall though a good solid read.

Absolutely gripping, original and fantastic. Word of advice, don't start this book unless you have time to finish it.

This is a fantastic read. Apart from stopping to feed the family I pretty much read this in one sitting.

Tessas whole life changes when she gets home one day and finds a little boy in her house. He’s calling her mummy but Tessa knows her kids are no longer alive. He says that an angel left him there. Things get worse when the police and even her ex husband doubt her. Then Tessa starts doubting herself. Well if your told something enough you may believe it.

This story is a gripping read. Is Tessa losing it? Her husband thinks she’s having a breakdown and doesn’t believe anything she says. Her neighbour is a journalist and wants a story.

Who can she trust? Can Tessa overcome the obstacles to find out the truth?

I cannot believe this is my first read by this author. After reading this gem I know it won’t be the last. If your looking for a really well written thrilling read then I highly recommend you 1-click this now.

Fantastic nook which i read in a day , loads of twists and turns and an ending you won't see coming.

Oh my goodness I did not know where to put myself after reading this book!!  My emotions were all over the place – it really is an absolutely excellent book and I loved every page and I was hooked right from the start.

The whole book completely gripped me, the characters were brilliant and the plot was so well planned it made the book one I most certainly did not want to put down.  This has to be one of the best reads of the year for me, I was completely enthralled – no hesitation in giving the book 5 stars – so highly recommended – you really need to get a copy of this book!!!

A brilliant book and one that hooks you from the start. I read so many thrillers that most of the times I an predict where the story is going but this book was so different. Fabulous read.

Ok, so first off I need to tell you that I really, really enjoyed reading The Secret Mother by Shalini Boland. It wasn’t that it was the best written book or the most amazing storyline but there was something about it that grabbed me and kept me hooked.

I think what made it so good was wondering whether Tessa was actually a reliable witness, was there really a child in her kitchen or was she delusional? And if there was a child then had she really taken it from where he belonged? It is perfectly set up to make the reader unsure of what the truth might actually be as Tessa’s story does sound rather implausible, why would a strange boy be in her kitchen and saying that she was his Mummy? Very clever. Something fishy had to be going on, and sure enough, it was.

The book takes us on a journey with Tessa as she sets out to prove her innocence. Her ex fights her at every turn, seemingly convinced that Tessa is unstable and needs help. But Tessa’s boss believes her and sees something in her that other’s done and he helps her find the truth. I actually really enjoyed reading about Tessa’s relationship with her boss and it was great that she had someone supporting her along the way.

I’ve not given anything away that isn’t in the blurb and so I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I really did enjoy this book and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys books that keep you wondering and guessing and not sure of who to believe. Once again the publishers Bookouture have produced a psychological thriller that is a cracking read.

Gripping story about a mother who lost it all, or did she? Unstoppable read from the first page all the way to the end. Heart racing story with a dramatic ending.

Tessa Markham has never got over the loss of her children- one at birth and one when he was five years old. The tragedy has broken up he marriage. Now she lives alone, goes to work and every Sunday visits her children's' grave at the cemetery. One Sunday she returns home to find a small boy in her kitchen who asks her if she is his new mummy!

Before long Tessa finds herself in a nightmare as she is accused of abducting this child. The press won't leave her alone, the police don't seem to fully believe her & her ex is definitely not in her corner. He now has a new partner who is expecting their child - the last thing he wants is a delusional wife constantly on the phone!

Tessa sometimes wonders if she IS delusional, but she sets out to discover exactly why this happened- raking up a lot of the past she could not have imagined.

This book was read very quickly as I wanted to see how it ended. I didn't always warm to Tessa, but I never doubted that she was innocent. I just couldn't work out the whys & wherefores!

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for this engrossing read- couldn't put it down till I knew the answers!

I think it’s becoming more and more difficult to come up with a premise that instantly hooks the reader these days, especially in a psychological thriller but The Secret Mother instantaneously hooked me from the moment I finished the first chapter. Can you even imagine coming home one day to find a child that’s not yours just hanging out?! This is exactly what happens to Tessa and it’s all the more painful as her children have passed away, I swear this poor woman has been put through the wringer! I felt so awful for her, even when I wasn’t entirely sure if she was a totally reliable narrator…

I really don’t want to dive too deep into the plot because this is one hell of a tangled and twisted tale but I loved the way Boland created tension here, it was that awesome kind of mounting intensity and the scenes where Tessa was alone in her house while the press was waiting outside like a pack of vultures were so nailbitingly good! Tessa is relentless in her pursuit for the truth even when it seems like everyone around her thinks she’s crazy and clinging to the past and for the life of me I couldn’t decide if she was in fact sane or not. This was an excellent psychological thriller filled with uneasiness, doubt and a huge pack of lies, I loved it!

Well another book being finished in the early hours of the morning that I just couldn't put down to finish tomorrow.
Loved this story it had just the right balance of drip feeding to keep me eager for more without being frustrated that the story was slow to give more information.
Maybe I am biased but I loved Harry just the mention of him seemed to light up the room, this fun train loving little boy caught up in a mysterious web.
It's been a while since I've read a book that made me want to punch one of the characters but if anyone deserved a punch then Scott was definately one on the list in this book.
Highly recommended reading

Wowza, what a corker of an opening to this book! Straight away Shalini Boland puts the suspense wheels in motion when the main character, Tessa, comes face to face with a child in her kitchen. 'Are you my mummy?' the child asks, but Tessa doesn't have any children and even if she did, she wouldn't have left a child all alone in her kitchen whilst she went off to work. Is the child a figment of Tessa's imagination like everyone seems to believe? Or is there a genuine reason as to why the child ended up being all alone in her kitchen...?

Nion straight away my heart was in my mouth and my motherly instincts kicked in. Of course they would have been no use as it's fictional, but still. They were there. Where did the random child come from? How on Earth did someone manage to get into Tessa's house to put him there? WHY did they put him there? So many questions and not a lot of answers - no wonder Tessa was getting frustrated with not being believed. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances surrounding the child, Tessa's past got brought back up and the media went to town. It didn't matter how many times Tessa said she was innocent, everyone seemed to disbelieve her, which in turn made her start doubting herself.

Now, whilst the storyline completely and utterly funked over my head, making me unsure as to what to believe, a certain part of the storyline gave me a hunch and I was convinced I knew where the book was heading. It's rare that I'm right so I didn't think too much of it.

As the storyline progressed my hunch started to make even more sense. I was adamant I knew what had happened and, for the first time ever, I was right. Because I had worked out the outcome of the book a while before the storyline actually properly concluded, I did feel a little disheartened as I really was hoping I was wrong, purely so I could enjoy the rest of the book unawares. I thoroughly enjoyed the way in which the author put her storyline together along with multiple red herrings, bucketfuls of emotion and never-ending psychological battles, as it meant the book came across as an addictive, easy read which I flew through in a couple of hours.

Personally, the only downside to the storyline was that the conclusion was easy to work out. I didn't have the shock factor like I had hoped I would which was a shame. I don't usually work out a conclusion before the end!

That said, I still enjoyed Shalini Boland's novel overall. The level of suspense at the beginning was second to none and due to the constant unanswered questions throughout the book, the intensity of the storyline made it a highly addictive read.

Thanks Bookouture.

“This beautiful little boy is calling me his mummy. And yet I don’t know him. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

Who is Harry, a boy who mysteriously appears in Tessa’s kitchen, calling her mummy? Although she reports the boy’s appearance immediately, the police and Tessa’s estranged husband Scott don’t believe her and plant the seed that Tessa snatched the boy off the street. The couple lost two young children several years before (one at birth and one at the age of 3) and Scott thinks Tessa is still psychologically unstable enough from their devastating loss to commit this criminal act. Tessa starts to believe he is right. So am I.

The story was absolutely riveting as unexpected developments and additional characters meld into the story. It kept my wheels turning and speculating. At 75%, I finally figured things out and I became frustrated with the naïveté of the characters who couldn’t seem to connect the dots. All was forgiven, however, when I was rewarded with a satisfying reveal. I’m glad I was along for the ride and able to resist the temptation to flip to the end to get to the truth. A very suspenseful and twisty thriller.

A page turner that I read in a day. Tessa finds a young boy in her kitchen and her life is turned upside down. Throughout I was on tenterhooks wondering what was going to happen next wondering if she was delusional or something more sinister was going on. A good book for these winter nights.

A fantastic read! This book had me hooked from them first page until the end. It is the first book that I have read by Shalina Boland and I will definitely be reading more.
The book centres on Tessa, who gave birth to twins. One twin dies at birth and the other a few years later. She only exists from day to day after she split up from her husband. She gets home one day to find a little boy in her kitchen asking if she is his mummy. Who is this boy? How did he get into her house? Everyone thinks Tessa abducted him and she then has to prove her innocence. I absolutely loved this book. It is very gripping, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Than’s to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.