5 🌟 This is my 2nd book by JP delaney. I liked the girl before but I loved this one! Such a fascinating story that had me absolutely hooked from begging to end and desperate to know what was going to happen! The twists toward the end and the final conclusion are very well written resulting in a satisfying end - although I’m gutted it’s over! 🤣
The questions that arise about nature v nurture I found so interesting and while on the surface this is a story about babies swapped at birth it’s so much more! Delighted to have received an advance copy for this - thanks netgalley, Quercus and JP delaney

Amazing 2020 just keeps giving.

I really enjoyed this book and read in 24 hours - it was that good .

The main characters are brilliant .I really felt for Pete and his wife and absolutely despised the other family Miles Lambert .

It haunted me to what lengths i would protect my children also.

I just could not put it down ,highly recommended with some twists and turns towards the end.

I'm sure you wont be disappointed in this thriller,

Many thanks to JP Delaney the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
This is my second JP Delaney and I have to agree with a lot of other reviewers his plots are very original. In the acknowledgement he says that in Victorian times stories about swapped babies were quite common but it’s the first book with this subject matter that I’ve read and I loved it.
It’s a book you won’t want to put down for long and best of all it’s one that has you constantly trying to find a way out for the ‘victims’. It’s also a story that you can’t see a way out for the goodies either.
Incidentally I didn’t understand the authors other comments in the acknowledgements about the current political situation being a strong influence in the book and would love to know what exactly he meant

Usually genre is a first line step in choosing a book to read, partly because it defines the way a story will unfold and creates an expectation in the mind of the reader. “Playing Nice” is a challenge in this respect. It has to be considered as a Psychological Thriller because it involves the main protagonists being subjected to increasing pressure on their life, their beliefs, their personal images but not in a classical way.
Two babies were born prematurely and rushed to Neonatal Intensive Care. At some point early on their tags were wrongly attached and so they ended up with the wrong parents. Two years later Miles, the father of one of the children, discovers from a DNA test that he has the wrong child, and approaches the other family. Initially the two households agree to maintain the status quo but to keep in close touch so that they are part of each child’s life. But Miles is a Psychopath and initiates a legal process to ‘recover’ his son. The rest of the story describes the near disintegration of the other family as the legal system, social workers, the Children’s Court system, and the police, are exploited and weaponised against them. The process is insidious and relentless and the reader is drawn into this apparently hopeless, but totally ‘by the book’ erosion.
The conclusion is logical but surprising (I didn’t guess it) and ultimately totally satisfactory.
I thank Net Galley, the author and the Publishers for supplying me with a prepublication copy for the purpose of review.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. This was a good book! Very emotional. You will get sad at times, while your blood will boil at other parts! Having a preemie myself, this brought back some memories, however nothing near as scary as this book talks about. This book did a great job of displaying different mental health and personality disorders. A little bit of everything in this book! Great suspense!

You always know it’s going to be a cracker of a book when the author is JP Delaney and this book is no exception.

It all starts as an ordinary day. Pete, a stay at home Dad, drops his two year old son, Theo, at nursery and then it’s back to the family home. But a knock at the door throws his world upside down.

Suddenly Pete and his wife, Maddie, are thrown into a world where their son Theo, is actually not their biological son. It appears as though two babies were switched at birth and Theo is Miles & Lucy Lambert’s baby, whilst Daniel, who is living with the Lambert’s is actually Pete and Maddie’s biological son.

How were the babies switched ? What happens now ? We follow Pete and Maddie’s journey to discover the truth !!

This is a fantastic book that you just won’t want to put down. You will find yourself shouting out loud asking why did you do that ? Then the next minute you will feel utter despair for the couple. Do yourself a favour and add this to the very top of your TBR pile, you won’t regret it !!

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC of this book!
This book is literally every parents worst nightmare!! Having a knock on your door to say that your 2 year old was swapped at birth and isn't actually your child?! The worst thing I can imagine!
This story had me shook!! The sheer brazen attitude of Miles is just shocking and the whole story creeped me out!
As much as I had guessed what was going to happen near the end, the very ending was a shock and the story was gripping, despite some of the story being obvious!
A chilling read but a brilliant thriller!

After the trauma of his premature birth Theo has thrived & although a bit of a handful Pete & Maddie love their son. Pete is his main caregiver & is trying to help him share and play more gently with others in the nursery. One morning Pete opens the door to see Miles Lambert & a solicitor. He is told that Theo was part of a mix up in the special baby ICU. Miles & Lucy have Pete & Maddie's son & they have his. It is an incredible shock & at first it seems that the couples might be able to find an acceptable solution. But Miles is not one for playing nice & before long Pete's world is crashing around him.

I've loved all J P Delaney's books, but this is in a different league! I think I almost read this in one sitting. I was kept on my toes by various unexpected incidents. Everyone who reads this is bound to love Pete & hate Miles but I did have a sneaking liking for Maddie! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for this amazing read.

Playing Nice is a terrific read that is very hard to put down.
It is the stuff of parental nightmares in the extreme and a book that found me screaming inside my head at events that sent the lives of Maddie and Pete spiralling out of control.
I felt queasy and uneasy, alarmed and shocked, terrified and horrified.
Pete and Maddie have a son, born prematurely. Miles and Lucy have a son, born prematurely. In fact both babies are so poorly they spend a long time on NICU - the neonatal intensive care unit.
Theo thrives whereas David is brain damaged.
The families do not meet properly until 2 years later when one family claim the babies have been swapped and they both have the wrong child.
Not the kind of house call any parent would expect but a situation that allows the author and reader to explore the nature/nurture debate and the legalities surrounding biological parents caring for a child or continuity of care for a child remaining with its non biological parents.
The read is tense. I honestly haven't read a book that has made my heart race, not just at a certain point briefly, but consistently over many pages!
The sheer horrors of a legal system and the role of CAFCASS that can both make so many devastating decisions on behalf of a child without any way of parents fighting back is terrifyingly realistic and morbidly fascinating.
The plot so cleverly engineered, written in a way so that one small action, like writing an article for a newspaper can come back at a later stage and complicate matters, casting doubt and suspicion on characters that have so far been portrayed as decent human beings.
The hints at domestic abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, and most of all psychopathy all conspire to produce a chilling and suspense filled story, with some amazing twists towards the end that I just didn't see coming.
How far would you go to protect your child and what would you strive to keep secret?
Is there a happy ever after or will the two couples always hide their darkest thoughts and motivations?
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, but please do set aside a day when you don't need to get anything done, otherwise you might be late for work, leave the house in a mess or burn the dinner!
Thank you to the publisher, JP Delaney and Netgalley for the opportunity to read ahead of publication in exchange for this honest review.

Playing Nice is my first ever JP Delaney book but is definitely won’t be my last – I absolutely loved it!

As a parent, the premise alone was enough to send shivers down my spine! One morning stay-at-home father Pete Riley answers the door to a man claiming that Pete’s 2 year old son is not actually his. While in the NICU shortly after birth it would seem that 2 babies were accidentally switched, and Miles and his wife Lucy have been taking care of Pete and Maddie’s biological son, while Theo is biologically Miles and Lucy’s.

What will they do? Do they swap back?? Stay as they are?? Share custody of both? And is there really more to this story than meets the eye? What would you do? It doesn’t even bare thinking about does it??

I was hooked on this book from the very beginning. As a first-time Delaney reader I was so impressed with his writing style, particularly in how great he is at writing women. The short, snappy chapters, largely written from Pete or Maddie’s perspectives, really propel the story forward and I found it incredibly difficult to put it down.

The question I kept asking myself was, how would I handle this situation? How would I learn to trust another family with a child I consider to be my own? And what if they weren’t actually trustworthy to begin with? There were parts of this book where my heart was in my mouth and then just when I thought the situation couldn’t get any worse something else happened, then something else, effectively bringing Pete’s world crashing down. Most distressing of all, to me it all seemed completely believable! I did guess part of the ending but that didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment, since there was so much more to it than I thought.

This is such a brilliant psychological thriller and I would heartily recommend it; I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! Excuse me while I go out and purchase JP Delaney’s entire back-catalogue…

With thanks to Quercus for gifting me a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This felt like a complete nightmare for each of the parents involved. The plot was so detailed it had me hooked from the start. I constantly felt myself rooting for Pete and Maddy all the way through but I did feel annoyed at the way one of the children was pretty much ignored- it really bugged me!

All in all I enjoyed the intricate plot and felt emotionally involved with the characters.

4 star read!

I had requested this book on Netgalley after reading the description and it really interested me a lot. I must assure you all that it lived up to and much more than my expectations.

A family of three Pete Riley, Maddi and Theo seem to be leading a happy urban life and suddenly a stranger Miles Lambert knocks on the door and declares that Theo is his son and has DNA evidence to back it up. Also that his son David is their child and thy were exchanged somewhere during thir NICU journey. So a happy family comes into turmoil. That is where the story starts and then we get weaved into the past and present via the POV of Maddie and Pete of how they view each other, how they deal with the circumstances and how they parent Theo. i wish not to reveal any more than this as thats where the story gets interesting.

A good premise, a great plot and a super great ending which I didn't see coming. We get to see each of the characters in their own shades of grey. The story initially seems to go a bit slow but picks up pace in the last quarter of the story. Although personally I felt the ending was a bit rushed and a few questions remained unanswered, I still would rate it a very interesting psychological thriller.

I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for accepting my request and providing me an eARC of the book. The opinions expressed are wholly mine.

I pretty much read this book in 12 hours ... I was gripped! When Pete and Maddie find out their son was switched at birth, they’re left with some difficult choices ... made harder when they find out just who they are dealing with. This was one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while, some of the aspects really put you on edge as well as making you want to read on and find out more. My fave of JP Delaney’s so far, if you like thrillers, I’d definitely recommend.

Playing Nice by JP Delaney
This is a fascinating book which explores the time old question of nature versus nurture. Pete and Maggie are a young couple of two year old Theo who is displaying some difficult behaviours. At nursery he finds it hard to share and frequently resorts to hitting other children. Pete as the full time carer is struggling to deal with these issues but he loves his son unreservedly.
Their world is turned upside down when Miles Lambert arrives at their door with DNA evidence in hand which proves that Theo is not in fact their biological son. Theo was indeed swapped at birth for their son David when both were born early in a private hospital and then transferred for neo natal care to the local NHS hospital.
Miles initially seems very reasonable but there are many twists and turns to follow as the true character of these people is revealed. It is a gripping read as we gradually piece together what led to this position and wonder how it can be amicably resolved. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to those who love a tautly plotted and well written thriller.
Many thanks to JP Delaney the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Fantastic book. The author clearly has done their research with this one. A great thriller that keeps the reader on their toes. I felt like at times I was living the story with the characters and found myself shouting at Pete, I wanted to shake Pete at times for being a little to accepting of Miles and his ways.
Having not read anything similar to this plot I found it engaging and the ending brilliant. A totally different kind or suspense thriller the deserves 5 stars

Brilliant!!
It is not often that a book speaks to you so much that you start speaking back and this book did! I found myself giving the characters advise and getting so worked up about their actions that I felt like shaking them! I found myself arguing with them out loud like a loony!

It's a fascinating story that I've always been intrigued by. What do you do when after a few years you find out the child you been raising and loving is actually not your biological child because he or she was swopped at birth? This is a situation I don't wish on my worst enemy. What makes this story even more heartbreaking at times is the fact that one child is disabled.
It's the age-old question of nature versus nurture.

A brilliant read that I can highly recommend! It's got the drama, the love, the heartbreak and the twists that will keep you rushing through the pages. It touches on mental health and how that can affect people and in the end, it's about good again bad and about how far you would go to protect the one's you love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

What would you do if someone turned up on your doorstep telling you the child you had loved for the last two years wasn’t yours but his and die to a swap in the maternity ward he had your child? This was a great premise for a story and very well written and thought provoking.

The books starts with a bang as this reveal is very close to the beginning. The story then focuses on the two sets of parents coming to terms with the news and trying to find a way to integrate to allow the two children to be part of their birth parents lives. As if this conundrum was enough, the father of one of the children has a darker side which starts to unravel their fledgling agreements on parenting and access to their own birth children.

Totally riveting. I couldn’t put this one down and highly recommend it. Another fantastic book from J P Delaney.

Thanks to Quercus Books, NetGalley and the author for the ARC of this book.

Great psychological thriller, maybe a bit disturbing because the story involves children.
Be prepared that you don't want to do anything else till you don't finish the book.
Well written, the characters are well developed.

This is my first read from this author and I really enjoyed it!

This is a great read that held my attention throughout and really got me routing for Pete and Maddie, after Miles turns up telling them that their sons were swapped at birth.
There are some parts that made me think “that wouldn’t happen”, but this is a story at the end of the day, and it didn’t affect the story for me at all.
I loved the format of this book with the chapters dedicated to the points of view of different characters and also the case notes that popped up throughout the book as the case going to court builds.
Plenty of twists and “gasp out loud” moments made this book a great read for me.
I would definitely recommend this book and will definitely read other books by J.P Delaney again.

Superb book. The tension ratchets all the way through to the end. Couldn’t put it down until I finished reading. Highly recommended.