Lenore lives with husband James and their toddler, Florence. Lenore had problems after Florence’s birth but she’s been successfully treated and now wants to prove her worth as a mother. She decides to take Florence out of London and into a small town where there’s a wonderful nursery called The Nest. James isn’t convinced this is the right move but he supports Lenore and visits her and Florence in their new, temporary, home.

The Nest is run as a co-operative headed up by Alice, assisted by Georgie and Beth. Parents then take turns as volunteer helpers. Lenore is sure that Florence will be happy and thrive there, especially when Alice offers Lenore a job there.

Lenore goes out one day and, on her return to the nursery, sees little Florence run into the road and get knocked down. She’s taken to hospital and kept in a coma, and now the twists and turns in the story start, mainly focussed on whose fault it is that Florence came to be in the road.

An absolutely brilliant read, it kept me gripped and I finished it in record time. I recommend this book, and this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

The Playgroup
By: Leah Mercer
5 🛝🛝🛝🛝🛝

This is my 2nd novel by this author and I love her style.
🛝
The NEST is a a daycare run as a co-op and is supposed to be a safe place for your children to thrive. A new mom moves to the quaint town and starts working at the NEST!
🛝
One day Florence, one of the children gets hit by a car right outside the NEST. A cover-up is quickly established as the owner Alice wants to protect the NEST!
🛝
Lenore, Florence’s mom is fighting for her daughter’s life and reputation.
🛝
This novel is GRIPPING and quickly DEVOURED with so many DELICIOUS secrets which will have you finding out the truth behind the accident! My mind was OFFICIALLY BLOWN!
🛝
Thank you Bookouture for this delicious novel by Mercer, out March 21, 2024.
#theplaygroup, #leahmercer, #bookreview, #bookouture, #bookstagram, #booksconnectus, #stamperlady50

Wow I have never heard of a story like this one and whatever just happened
It was a brilliant book and the oohs and everything that goes with it
I would really like to get everyone to read it
Bravo
I had an ARC

You thought your daughter would be safe at the playgroup... But what really happened and whose fault was it? A brilliant thriller that keeps you turning the pages. Lots of suspense and shocks. Loved it!

This novel had me "Hook, Line and Sinker" from the very first page!
It is an intense,psychological drama that is absolutely every mothers nightmare!

When Lenore gets a job in a nursery co-op and her little girl also attends, it seems too good to be true!
It is a new start for Lenore and gives her some time and money to get her life back and decide how to move forward.
But... there are secrets within the women working at this school and all it takes is an awful tragedy for these skeletons to slowly start to spill out!
I always love Leah Mercer's books, but this is my new favorite!
The twists are incredible and I had no clue how the story would end. I was shocked!
Thank you to @NetGalley, @ Bookouture and @LeahMercer for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.
Wow!

This was a gripping thriller that I devoured in a single evening. When Lenore moves temporarily into a village to develop her confidence as a mum after suffering badly with postpartum depression she gets a job at the local nursery which gives her a free place for her daughter too, her husband doesn’t understand why she needs the time away from him but she feels it’s vital for herself. Things are going well for her until the day her daughter is run over and her life starts unravelling. The characters in this each had issues in their lives but the way Lenora was treated by the nursery staff be it deliberately or innocently was the most horrific form of gaslighting. It would have been easy to dislike most of them but their own vulnerabilities balanced that out for me, that said Alice was entirely self centred and obsessional. I loved how each of the staff secrets were revealed leading you to reassess just who was responsible for the accident but the ending still shocked me although it did answer something mentioned earlier that hadn’t quite added up. This ticked all the boxes for a great thriller and I was totally hooked throughout.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've read Leah's books before, and I think this was the best one I've read so far. Lies, secrets, hidden pasts, and hidden agendas. They're all in this book. And the twist at the end? I sure didn't see that coming.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Leah Mercer!

This book kept me guessing till the end. I read it in one day as it was a great read and I couldn't put down... I loved all the day care characters.. I never expected the ending. This was the 1st book I read of Leah Mercer, I will definitely be reading her other books..

Surprises, secrets and twists galore. Apart from the children i didn't take to any of the adult characters. An easy not to taxing read. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Lenore leaves her husband who she finds controlling after she suffered from PND, and takes her child with her. She Moves to a village and gets a job at a nursery, which suits her, as she can have her daughter with her.
And then her daughter is hit by a car outside the nursery, and Lenore cannot remember anything after seeing the accident happen.
She is blamed for what happened, but shock has wiped her memory.

In my opinion, the children are the most likeable characters in this book!
Each and every adult is toxic, with secrets they don't want revealed, and they don't take responsibility for anything they have done.

I wasn't convinced of Lenore's reasons to leave her husband, but it did seem as though he was controlling, but it could have been genuine concern.

The story is quite slow to begin with, but the multiple twists make up for it.

4/5 stars from me

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the first book I've read by Leah Mercer, though I can see she's written quite a few. The story here revolves around a local nursery, The Nest, and four women who are all associated with it.

The four main characters are Lenore, newly moved to the area, who after suffering post-partum depression is determined to prove to husband James that she's capable of caring for their daughter Florence; Alice, founder and owner of The Nest; nursery manager Georgie, dealing with illness at home; and nursery assistant Beth, who's trying to leave her past behind her.

Everything is going well enough for Lenore, until a shocking accident occurs, sparking some frantic lies-upon-lies web-weaving from certain parties...

This was an enjoyable read - I did guess what had probably happened with Florence, and there were no huge surprises, but it was well told and constructed.

The Nest is described the whole way through as a nursery - which it is - and the word "playgroup" never appears within the text at all, so I'm not sure why the title was chosen.

The writing was good, though it was noticeable that heads, hearts and mouths dropped a lot ( "her mouth dropped open" is repeated so often that it seemed like just about every character had their mouth hanging permanently agape).

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review !

I so would not want to trade places with Lenore. She already went through a very dark chapter in her life and now seeing this happening before her eyes must be earth shaking.

The shock of the incident is so fierce, she is struggling to remember what has happened exactly and this, of course, is the ideal moment for people to take advantage of.

There are a lot of secrets that have to be kept hidden in this story, but they all threaten to come out. There is only one thing left to do: lie. As long as you can protect yourself, it is ok, right? 

Some people don't have the slightest problem in doing so and they will use everything they can to keep other people under their thumb. 

But, as per usual, secrets also come floating at the surface and kudos for those who come clean. Others will keep on scheming to justify their actions...

I loved the plot twist. I never saw that coming. Overall, a great story that held my attention in its grip. 5 stars. 

Thank you

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the advance copy of The Playgroup by Leah Mercer. It had me invested from the very beginning of the novel.

My least favorite character was Lenore. I'm sure she'll be the favorite of many but I found her placing herself in a remote setting away from here husband not very plausible. Having been married myself almost 50 years I could not possibly think of moving away from the love of my life.

All of the other women involved in the co-op had their own personal, and sometimes, dark secrets. I think that's what made for such an interesting read. It was not as it appeared on the surface.

I think this would make a great choice for book club pick - lots of good discussion would ensue.

This was a new author to me and I was addicted from start to finish and was grateful that I had started reading it when I had time to read it in almost one sitting. It was a gripping psychological thriller with lots of deceit and lies and twists and turns and was also very fast paced. Every time I turned the page I was compelled to keep reading to see what was going to happen next as I was totally immersed in the story.

Definitely going to look out for more books by this author in the future.

Lenore feels better after battling post partum and wants to prove she can take care of her daughter alone. They move temporarily to a new place where she becomes involved in a daycare center.

Alice is the owner of the center. She is also a lawyer that hates her job. Alice is very entitled she has alienated her family.

Beth is happily married and pregnant after escaping a bad past. However her past finds her.

Georgie is having a hard time adapting to her daughter being diagnosed with MS.

Florence escapes from the nursery and is hit by a car. Who is to blame? Lies lies lies told by everyone and no one really knows what happened. Until past meets present for these girls and a shocking ending.