I really struggled with this book to the point I couldn't get past chapter 7. I honestly disliked the main character a lot and just found it hard to mesh with the writing style.

This book just wasn't for me but other people may enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very interesting debut, in fact billed as ‘2020’s most addictive thriller’

And after the first maybe 6-7 chapters I would agree, it really was addictive, however I almost gave up reading it in those first chapters as didn’t ‘feel’ the book and didn’t like the characters but am glad I didn’t as I soon began to zone in to what was happening and although never really gelled with any of the characters it is one of those books where it doesn’t matter, the story is the focus and the story makes the characters what they are ( if makes sense!)

Naomi and Charlie are desperate for a 2nd child, they are ruled by app’s that tell them, to the hour, the best time to conceive, it’s just not happening though, Naomi takes solace in the arms of Sean, a ‘dad’ who drops his ‘son’ off at the same Nursery their daughter goes to....
And then the book really starts, and once it does there is really no stopping it, I would say it was compulsive reading after that!

Some of the writing is brilliant, the authors descriptions of people’s feelings at things that happen in day to day life are spot on and at times even humorous, saying that there is also a horrific paragraph that I wish I hadn’t read!

The ending is a bit confusing ish and in a few parts and still not sure I fully get one of the parts and the daughter’s name being Prudence had me singing ‘Dear Prudence’ ( Siouxise and the Banshees version ) in my head every time saw it, that aside a really good thriller debut that made me excited to read further books by the author when they appear

8/10
4 Stars

This book took me a while to get into and for the first half of the book you’re not really sure where it’s going. The main characters of Naomi and Charlie aren’t really sympathetic so there wasn’t really much for me to like or relate to. We’re thrown into the spoilt life of Naomi and Charlie who could do more to support each other, but each of them are struggling. They’re barely holding it together. But then after about half way through the pieces start to fall into place. All those “where on earth is this going?” parts started to make sense. There were some red herrings at the start, that I thought were wasted opportunities, but actually added to the twisty nature of the book. All in all, a really good read that’s only let down by the first half.

3.5 stars.
Naomi is married to Charlie and they have a two year old daughter, Prue. When we first meet her, her marriage is not as strong as it was, mostly due to her husband's mental heath which is deteriorating. This is compounded by her desperation to have a second child to complete what she thinks would be the perfect family which is putting an even bigger strain on her relationship with Charlie. She is taking Prue to nursery when her head is turned by Sean who is dropping off his own child. He helps her get her car out of a spot and they swap other parent/child activities that they both attend. It is then at one of these, specifically at the pool when she lets her defence down and lets him into more than just her life. Something she later regrets big time and cuts the ties. But this isn't the end of things, as she soon realises when strange things start to happen in and around her life.
This was a bit of a tough read for me as I really didn't warm to Naomi as I found her to be quite unlikable and, as such, I thought that she reaped what she sowed rather than feeling sorry for her. Maybe that's what I was supposed to think but it didn't really help me care about what was happening to her along the way. Other characters also felt a little over the top on occasion - spoilers prevent me from expanding on this here - and even those who should have got my sympathy just started to bug me a little too much.
The story also didn't quite flow as well as it could be and, at times, felt a bit disjointed and occasionally implausible. Also, sadly, certain things weren't as much of a surprise as they should have been but that is probably my fault for reading too many of this genre book as there was not much that was included that I hadn't seen before.
That said, it was quite readable and didn't take too much effort to get through and at no time did I ever contemplate putting it aside or sacking it off. I do admit to rolling my eyes a fair bit though as well as a general wish to slap some sense into most of the characters along the way!
The ending, when it finally came did tie things up nicely and would have delivered nicely had I not had it pretty much all worked out ahead of time. Bit anticlimactic all told.
All in all, not the worst debut and it probably wouldn't put me off reading this author again but I think next time I'll wait to see what others think before investing my own time.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Naomi and Charles are a young married couple with a two year old daughter. They are desperate to have another child though to be honest I am not sure why. They didn't seem to like one another very much. Naomi has a liaison with a man who she'd assumed was another parent from the nursery group and becomes pregnant with his child. This is where the story gets intriguing as Sean isn't who Naomi thought he was. In fact he seems to have several different aliases. There are quite a few "suspension of disbelief'" moments as Naomi tries to find the elusive Sean only to discover he has befriended her husband. Quite a few twists and turns bring us to an ending which I really didn't foresee. I enjoyed the book but wasn't keen on any of the characters as I thought they were all quite selfish and self centred.

I have mixed feelings about this book, a brilliant debut novel, well written, my problem was with the characters Naomi and Charlie as I just didn’t like them, but I don’t think you are really meant to. They are both different, I can’t see how there marriage is a happy one, as at times each of them seem to feel something is lacking. Whereas they should be happy and grateful for what they do have. Again I think this is a point the author is possibly making, they are millennials who seem to feel they are more entitled than people who were before then, and I guess things are different to this generation.

Naomi and Charlie are married, they have one daughter Prudence, and Naomi is desperate for them to have another child, she had always stated she wanted 3 children, it’s claimed Charlie did as well, I am unsure on that one, he struggles with depression, partly after the birth of Prue I wasn’t sure they should have even been trying to have another child, under the circumstances, neither seemed happy with the other, Naomi is constantly moaning about something. However, they have an app on phones and iPads that sync with each other, telling them when Naomi is ovulating, and the window of when she is likely to fall pregnant, but Charlie is struggling to perform to such a schedule, it does certainly take all the romance out of it, but they have been trying for a while and nothing.

Prue attends nursery part time whilst Naomi works, Charlie is self employed and works from home, at nursery Naomi spots Sean although she calls him ‘the lumberjack’ until she knows his name as he wears a chequered shirt over a t shirt. He drops Greg off at nursery, she finds him quite attractive, they go for coffee together, then Sean tells her about swimming lessons where he takes Greg, Naomi decides to go along with Prue, after the swim, Naomi makes a mistake.

But who is Sean? Is there more to him than we already know? This is at first a very slow paced story, I very nearly gave up until about the half way mark, the tension starts to build, and you find yourself wondering what is going on. Uggy who works at the nursery is seeing someone but who? Then Naomi is finally pregnant, but strange things start happening, items turn up in the house that don’t belong to them! Where have they come from? Noises in the house that wake Naomi up, the front door wide open one morning, who or what is going on?

Trying to guess how this was going to end up just didn’t happen, I thought one thing and then it was something else, so if you read this give yourself chance to get into the book if you like a faster pace, if you are happy with a slow pace then this is a good book for you.

I would like to thank #netgalley #PigeonholeHQ #RandomhouseUK and #CCMacDonald for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

I have just finished this book and honestly don’t know what to make of it. I can’t say I hated it as there were parts I did enjoy but overall unfortunately not a great read. I found it quite confusing at times as to what was going on. 2.5 stars.

This is the story of Naomi. Naomi is married with a child and struggling to conceive a second. There are other deep rooted problems too which are putting a lot of strain on their marriage. Naomi then meets Sean at her daughter’s nursery and things go downhill from then on.

As a huge fan of psychological thrillers this was not a good one. I didn’t care about any of the characters and the plot was just bizarre and made no sense whatsoever. I was 20% through this book before anything significant at actually happened. At 416 pages this book was far too long and could have been condensed. The only thing that kept me reading was the authors writing style.

Naomi seems to have everything. A beautiful daughter, a gorgeous house, a perfect life. Behind the scenes, though, she and her husband are drifting from one another and struggling to conceive their second child.

Then Naomi meets a parent at her daughter's nursery. Sean understands her, or so she thinks. Looking for a connection, for a friend, she joins him at a swimming lesson with their children. That day, Naomi makes a terrible mistake.

Weeks later, when Naomi attempts to contact Sean, he has disappeared without a trace. But as she begins to piece her life back together, it becomes clear that someone else knows her secret. Someone who wants to make sure she never forgets what she did at the pool.

The blurb really drew me in on this one, and I expected it to be amazing, but I really struggled to connect with any of the characters and the storyline was haphazard and confusing, it jumped back and forth with no real structure, however the intrigue of the story did pick up later in the book which is why I award it 3 stars.

I'd like to thank Random House UK and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon

What a strange and yet different mix of a book..Not a 'chicklit', not romantic and also not a psychological thriller.

I kept wondering where the book was heading and enjoyed some of the early chapters. I readily identified with the scenes at soft play, the child nursery and even the swimming lessons - two young granddaughters helped me there! Don't forget 'pigeongate'.!

Naomi (the mother) is struggling with domestic life, a house renovation, trying for a second child and a husband who seems a bit of a drip.

The plot got a little silly with a mysterious bloke who may, or may not have been the future father of the next child. I am sure the writer could have made the book more of a serious domestic situation with some humour thrown in? I was never convinced as to how Naomi and Charlie had the income to support house refurbishment and general living. I lost patience with her in the end and never warmed to her husband.

I was about to give the book three stars, but ended up with 3.5 and then a 4 as there were some good bits.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the chance to read and review.

I didn’t enjoy this at all, I thought it disjointed and not an easy reading style at al. I can’t review the story line as I only managed to read a few chapters.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

sorry to say this one wasnt for me...try as i might i just couldnt get into it or like any of the characters that much...you cant win them all though

I really wanted to like this novel, I really did, I was intrigued by the blurb and I was looking forward to reading a good thriller, but it was hard to finish reading this book. First of all, the characters are irritating and not at all likable and I didn’t root for any of them. The plot is suspenseful, but some parts of the story are unrealistic and unbelievable and I really struggled with it. The story jumps between characters, timelines, and narrative and, sometimes, it was confusing to follow it. Just because I didn’t like it, it doesn’t mean that others want, so maybe give it a shot!

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Happy Every After" is without doubt one of the best domestic noirs I have read in long time. Yes, the plot is not new - but lets face it, no book is truly original in this sense. It is without doubt, however, a well-written, imaginatively constructed narrative with a killer twist at the heart of what is, a very dark story. C.C. MacDonald has truly excelled himself with the complex characterisation of the novel's anti-hero, Naomi. She is not particularly likeable and when her life begins to disintegrate after meeting the charismatic Sean, you are ambiguous about her fate.This is where MacDonald refreshingly goes against the grain of novels of this type, with their clear delineation of good and bad - innocent victim Vs calculating - sometimes downright evil perpetrator of despicable acts. MacDonald's characters are no caricatures of human nature; they appear on the page as living breathing entities that transcend the mere jumble of words that make up their fictional existence. It is the author's contrariness in recasting old tropes in new ways that drew me into this addictive, page-turner of a psychological thriller. Then there is the end... oh my, what a final denouement! Like a magical incantation, the jumble of threads that make up the narrative of "Happy Ever After" finally come together, and when they do, the result is pure alchemy.

A highly recommended read.

4.5 Stars

I found this book a little hard to persevere with in the beginning but did finish it in the end. I had sections where I found it all a little hard to follow and it was confusing at times.

Naomi is married and desperate to conceive a second child. Her and her husband are having some issues as he has had some mental health issues and Naomi is finding it difficult to cope with the stress of work, running all aspects of the household chores and attempting to conceive.

She meets Sean, a new father at her daughters nursery and they meet for coffee. Sean seems exciting and understanding and maybe just what Naomi needs until things go too far and Naomi finds herself in a difficult situation. Pregnant and unsure who is the father. Sean or her husband and is Sean all that he originally seemed?
#NetGalley #HappyEverAfter

I really did struggle with this book. It was not what I was hoping for when I read the blurb.

The characters were awful and the story jumped all over the place and I lost interest early on. It wasn't realistic at all and I really didn't care what happened to any of the characters. A shame as I was looking forward to a thrilling read but it was not that for me at all.

Thank you Random House UK, can't love them all

An easy to read thriller that I enjoyed more as the book went on. A good psychological thriller.

Thanks for letting me review this book

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I agree with the other reviews. not a thriller in my opinion. I gave up very quickly-was too all over the place for me to even make sense.

Pitched as a psychological thriller. I’m afraid it just did not grab me at all and I found it difficult to stick with it. The characters left me cold too. This just was not the book for me. On the surface Naomi and Charles appeared to have a perfect life but underneath the surface things were very different .
a convolution of lies underpins the mixed up tale
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the Arc copy to review

A decent story but it wasn’t as suspenseful as I’d hoped and I found myself losing interest. Well written. Just not as exciting as I hoped xx