Having read all books by this author, I can confirm that JP Delaney just keeps getting better!

Playing Nice is gripping right from the start. The awful dilemma of what to do (and what happens legally and morally) when babies are swapped at birth is not a new subject. But this book is a thrilling insight which puts you right in the driving seat. A true psychological thriller, dark, twisty and to coin a phrase - “unputdownable”. I can’t wait for the next book from JP Delaney!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was lucky enough to be sent an advanced reader copy of this book by Quercus through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I was so excited to read it having recently read and loved a couple of Delaney’s other books.

Life seems straightforward for parents Pete and Maddie, until one day they hear a knock at the door and are told that their energetic two year old, Theo, is not biologically theirs. He was in fact swapped at birth. It’s a massive relief then when Theo’s biological parents, and the couple who’ve been raising their biological child, turn out to be so reasonable. Or are they?

As with The Girl Before and The Perfect Wife, I found this book really gripping. Yet again I was wowed by Delaney’s ability to write so convincingly about a broad range of topics. In this case: premature labour, neonatal intensive care units, children’s social services and various legal proceedings (trigger warning for the above).

It’s told from two perspectives, which is something I really enjoy in a book, as well as intermittently sharing documents from the prevailing legal case.

Despite giving this book 4 stars instead of 5, I definitely really recommend reading it. It’s brilliantly written and is one that will stay with me for a while to come. My reason for dropping a star is that, due to the topics covered, it was at times quite harrowing to read. This is purely a matter of opinion but meant that at times, despite not being able to put it down, I didn’t exactly find the book ‘enjoyable’. I’m sure others would give it the five stars it really deserves - I suppose it depends entirely on what you’re looking for in a book.

Wow! Such a rollercoaster ride. love JP Delaney's books and this was no exception. What do you do when people turn up.on your doorstep to claim your babies were switched at birth? That's exactly what happens to Pete and Maddie when Miles turns up on the doorstep. Can they reach an amicable arrangement between them to bring up Theo and David, or do Miles and wife Lucy have something bigger planned? Lots of twists and turns in this loved it. Will definitely recommend to friends and family. Thank you to Net galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and to JP Delaney for writing it, more please!!!

Playing Nice had my gripped straight away, flew through the book as was completely unable to put it down. Brilliant book, so many twists and turns all the way through till to a shocking conclusion. Definitely worth reading.

Playing Nice is a story of two premee babies who are accidently swapped whilst in hospital. One day, Miles Lambert knocks on the door of Pete Riley to tell him the devastating news that Theo, his two year old son isn't his, and that their babies were swapped at the hospital two years ago.

As the two couples start to navigate their way through this unusual situation, they decide to keep the boys as they are and just start to be in each others lives so that they can all get to know each other and have some form of a relationship.
What starts off as friendly gestures between the families soon takes a sinister turn as boundaries are crossed, ill intentions are discovered and secrets start to reveal themselves.

I found the storyline absolutely crazy but I sped through this book as I was very caught up in the lives of the two families. I enjoyed the high intensity of the plot line and I was pretty nervous and antsy throughout most of the book as I was genuinely concerned for Pete and his family. J P Delaney has done an excellent job at two things:
1) creating a plot line that stands out to your usual domestic fiction
2) creating a plot line that discusses the idea of nature Vs nurture

If you enjoy thrillers, I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you @netgalley and @quercusbooks for this arc.
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If you're a fan of JP Delaney you kind of know what you're expecting. Unease, a sense that something is not right but you just don't know how and some incredible twists. Incredible pace and some real moral quandaries. All of this and more is in Playing Nice.

As a parent, this book really felt extra engaging for me. What would I do in the circumstances that I found out my my child had been swapped at birth? Would I want to swap back, knowing I would want to give the utmost care to my biological child? Or could I continue on as I was, knowing how much I loved the child I was raising? How would the issues portrayed in this book around disability and emotional needs add to that?

I really recommend this. If you're a fan of JP Delaney you will love this and if you've never read any JP Delaney before, this may just be the one that gets you hooked!

A gripping, unsettling, well written and researched psychological thriller!

What would you do if you found out that your child was not your child?
How far would you go to protect your family?

Pete and Maddie find out that their two year old son, is not their son, that they took the wrong baby home from the hospital, after a mix up in the NICU. At first, both families seem to have the best intentions, but what happens when they stop 'playing nice?'

Wow this book had me gripped, and in an emotional state for the whole time! It was like something from one of my worst nightmares! Playing Nice built up tension slowly with it's tense atmosphere, and it kept me in an almost constant state of anxiety! Seriously, I was biting my nails, my hands were shaking, and I had an uneasy, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach the whole time! I was so stressed! Nevertheless, I couldn't stop reading this addictive and unpredictable book, and I needed to know the final outcome!

I enjoyed having Maddie and Pete's POV, but not Miles and Lucy's, the other couple involved, as it added tension, and made me question everything! There was also evidence from court, which added to the story.

J.P. Delaney wrote incredibly flawed characters, who all had their fair share of disturbing secrets! Mental illness, lies, betrayal, gender roles in parenting, nature vs nurture, and what is the best interest of the child were explored. I was shocked and terrified by how quickly events escalated legally into a nightmare!

I'm not sure I could say that I enjoyed this book, but it certainly had an impact on me! I spent a lot of time gasping, and shouting at my kindle in a shocked, angry and hateful manner! I will definitely be thinking about this tale, and holding my babies a little bit tighter for a while!

This was my first J.P. Delaney book, but it definitely wont be my last!

This is a very well written and a real page turner, nothing less than you would expect from JP Delaney.

Any parent would be scared at opening the front door to be told that the child you have assumed is yours for 2 years, is in fact not.

At first the couple whom have approached with this devastating news, especially the father named Miles, couldn't be more friendlier.

But then things begin to change quickly, and the real possibility of losing their little boy and contact with their genetic is upon them.

I couldn't stop reading and throughly enjoyed this book

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for ARC

This book was quite the ride. Imagine someone turns up on your doorstep one day and tells you your son was somehow switched with their son in hospital when they were born and they have only just found out. JUST IMAGINE!! Well, that's exactly what happens to Pete and Maddie when Miles and Lucy come into their lives. At first things seem like they're going pretty well, everyone is getting along well but then Miles seems to get a bit...overbearing...and as the reader you can see this. I got a really bad feeling about Miles quite quickly, which I think is intentional. But wow, I was not prepared for what was ahead of them. It gets quite messy fairly quickly and I was gripped throughout.

I think the only slight downside is that the ending is a little bit too tidy, if you know what I mean. I guess I just like endings that leave a bit to the imagination, but to be honest that's me being really picky. I really enjoyed this book and it was a great read.

What can I say about this book and JP Delaney?

This story is every parent's worst nightmare - finding out that your little boy is not your little boy. Pete and Maddie are hopeful and trusting and wonderfully normal people. They are not bad people, and it doesn't seem fair that things are affecting them the way they are, they don't deserve this.

There is something about this story, relating to these characters as if I know them, I know people like them! It has hooked me in and I can't stop thinking about it. Brilliantly portrayed and written , as is the norm from this author.

Try to imagine a knock at the door and your whole world changing. This happens to full time Dad, Pete Riley after coming home from dropping off his 2 year old son Theo at nursery.

Miles Lambert informs him that Theo isn’t Pete’s and his partner Maddy’s child, he is Miles and his wife Lucy’s. Two babies switched at birth in hospital.

We follow the couples as they try to come to terms with the bombshell. This is where I stop as I don’t wish to give any spoilers.

This is a gripping book that had me reading until 3.30am, I couldn’t put it down! An excellent psychological thriller that has been written well. The suspense builds up throughout the story and the ending was not what I was expecting at all. This is my first book by the author and definitely not my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy and Maddie both give birth to prem babies. Both boys and somehow they get switched. Fast forward two years, Maddie and her partner Peter have a visit from a stranger. Informing them that he has their son and they have his. At first I was intrigued reading this book, but as I kept reading I HAD this sense of unease that something bad is going to happen. The old adage nature or nurture. Now add o psychopath into the mix and boy what a read. A psychological thriller with a very emotive back story. A MUST READ and his best work yet. Highly highly recommended.
Thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I am a huge JP Delaney fan so eagerly awaited his new book. Thankfully he did not disappoint with this psychological family thriller. Right from the start Delaney builds an atmosphere of unease which he keeps notching up a gear until the very end to the final twist. The characters are very well developed with one or two you will definitely hate. Delaney really shines light on the question of is it always better to just play nicely?

What a brilliantly addictive book this is, well written with good characters that I felt I knew. It is a great page turner with plenty of twists and turns and it makes extremely compulsive reading.

I can thoroughly recommend this book, a very worthy five stars from me and thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic book.

I found this a little hard to get into but after the first third of the book I became hooked and really enjoyed it. Overall a good book but a slow starter for me.

What a story. Pete and Maddie’s son Theo is born prematurely and starts his life off at the NICU. Two years later he’s a boisterous boy full of life, Pete looks after him while Maddie works.
One day he has a visitor that drops the bombshell that Theo is not their son, he and the man’s son David where swapped at birth.
Pete and Maddie are devastated but try to have a mutual arrangement with the other family, until something goes wrong and every parents nightmare threaten to become real: they might lose their son.
This heartbreaking story is a great breathtaking read, a little slow to start, but as you keep reading it gets darker and the twists just keep coming.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for allowing me to review this book.

Having been absolutely captivated by The Girl Before a number of years ago, reading it in one long session in a hotel in Cornwall during a blustery February, unable to draw myself away even for the sea air, I was very much looking forward to devouring this one. And devour it, I did. Over the course of a couple of evenings, I was captivated by the legal system and failings of institutions that make up this novel. The dual perspectives added an extra angle which helped and I loved the addition of the case notes and evidence. It started slowly but began to ramp up from about half way through. Ultimately, I enjoyed the read and feel I learned more from it about the systems in place than I did before. BUT I called the explanation for how everything had happened from the very early chapters and was therefore disappointed by the ending. Had there been more nuance to the resolution, more red herrings to throw you off the trail along the way, my rating would have been higher. It was still an interesting read, and one I would recommend, but it wasn’t the gripping read I expected after The Girl Before.

Two couples have very premature babies on the same day and are moved to a specialist care unit. At some point that day, the babies name tags get switched and the parents eventually take home and nurture the ‘wrong’ baby. Two years later, Pete and his wife Maddie are confronted with what has happened and both sets of parents are obliged to consider how to deal with this situation. A really interesting and challenging storyline deserves good story telling and this novel does not disappoint.

Clever is how I describe this story. It holds your attention straight from the off. The topic is quite interesting. and rare. The closest other story that springs to mind is "After The End" by Clare Macintosh which is also a thought provoking book. You have the story told from Pete and Maddie's perspective, how they feel and why they did what they did. Very well researched with all the legal happenings and procedures.

Yet another very good novel by J P Delaney

A remarkable book. Hooked right from the start with a rapidly growing sense of unease in an unusual but possibly manageable situation which escalates into your worst nightmare. The sense of fear of what will inevitably go wrong next, never leaves you. That a sensible solution will ever be reached looks increasingly unlikely and yet is totally plausible. Highly recommended.