She doesn’t know I’m there, watching her in the mirror. She slides her hand under her blouse. And then I see something impossible. She isn’t pregnant…
She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. She seems so perfect, with her lilting laugh and her beautiful face. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell.
Only I seem to suspect something. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy.
So when the baby shower comes around I’m there, sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. We share gifts, we pour small glasses of champagne, and she beams, her bump just visible under her bright red shirt.
But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth.
There is no baby…
Book Information: Print Length: 360 pages. Publication Date: 1 March 2022. Publisher: Bookouture
About the Author:
S.E. Lynes is the Amazon #1 best selling author of THE HOUSEWARMING, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER?, HER SISTER’S SECRET. Her latest novel, THE BABY SHOWER is out NOW.
A former BBC Producer, she has lived in France, Spain, Scotland and Italy and is now settled in Greater London. After completing her MA, S E Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing in Richmond Borough.
Lynes has also published three children’s books in Italy: IL LEOPARDO LAMPO, LA COCCODRILLA INGAMBA, and the bilingual LA SCIMMIA SPIRITOSA/THE FUNNY MONKEY, all available at Amazon.it
My Review:
If you haven’t read any of SE Lynes books before – then you are in for a treat. The Baby Shower is Lynes’ latest standalone psychological thriller and is available to download now.
This is the story of friendships, rivalry, secrets and lies and centres around Jane and Frankie. Happily married and both running their own business. Jane runs her dream coffee shop and Frankie is a self-employed plumber. Everything is perfect between them with one exception, Jane can’t have children which is something that has devastated her but she has kept secret from her closest friends.
When her best friend Sophie announces she is pregnant, Jane’s world is rocked upside down, trying to be happy for her best friend whilst mourning the fact she can’t have the one thing she wants – a baby. However things are about to get even more difficult for Jane when Sophie introduces a new friend to their tight little group call Lexie and for some reason Lexie really doesn’t like Jane and goes out of her way to try to exclude Jane from their group.
The Baby Shower shines a blinding and uncomfortable light on the toxic side of friendship and following Jane’s heart-breaking journey left me with a big lump in my throat. Women can be cruel and it was difficult to see how her alledged best friends were so quick to judge her.
I will admit that I had worked out what was going on very early in the book, so unfortunately there were no surprises for me, but this didn’t really impact my overall enjoyment of the story.
