Blog touring today with one of my favourite publishers, Bookouture! And this is yet another twisty page-turner from them! Jenna Kernan’s newly released The Patient’s Daughter will have you reading late into the night, anxiously needing to know the outcome for a desperate mother and her newborn twins.

Blurb:

“You’re having twins!” Becca runs her hand over my huge pregnant belly. It sends shivers down my spine. There’s something off about her smile. And now she’s living in my home…

When my husband Seth and I bought our perfect home, all I wanted was a chance to start a loving family—the one thing I never had. And all our dreams come true when I get pregnant with twins. But we had no idea financial ruin was just around the corner. Desperate to keep our heads above water, we have no choice but to take in lodgers.

Becca, Jules and Zoe are dream roommates. So why do I feel so uneasy when Seth leaves me alone with them? Maybe it’s because I keep catching Becca and Jules in places they shouldn’t be. And Zoe says she knows my mother—the toxic woman whose influence I still feel every day.

Maybe I’m just imagining things. Perhaps I’m like my mother after all—paranoid and delusional. She’s too sick to look after herself without help. I need to pull it together. I can’t end up like her.

But when I start to see dark shadows moving behind my bedroom door at night, I can’t shake the sickening feeling that someone is watching me.

I start to eavesdrop on their conversations. And what I hear makes my blood run cold. They aren’t who they say they are. And I think I’ve put my unborn babies in deadly danger by inviting these strangers into my home…

My Review:

Taylor and Seth are about to become the parents of twin boys. They’re experiencing all the emotions of first-time parents: excitement, nervous anticipation and anxiety. But they have the additional stress of Seth’s upcoming work assignment being in a hospital that’s a long commute from where they live, and to top that off, Taylor has gone behind his back and planned a surprise for him that then backfires.

Deciding that their current apartment will be far too small for them when the twins arrive, Taylor has found her dream home, and with the help of her wealthy father has bought it! She knows that Seth won’t be thrilled about it, so has waited until it’s time to move in to tell him. However, when her rather unbalanced mother discovers what they’ve done, she becomes completely unhinged, and insists that their days of bankrolling the young couple are officially over! Taylor’s relationship with her mother has always been tenuous at best, so she’s more than happy to be rid of her, but how is she going to afford the payments on this gorgeous house she’s just bought?

She comes up with what she thinks is a brainwave: lodgers! There are two rooms she can let out and not only will that help with the monthly loan payments, but she’ll also have company when Seth is working so far away. Seth isn’t overly thrilled, but he comes around to her way of thinking and agrees that they can make it work.

But soon enough, things start to take a sinister turn, and Taylor starts to wonder if Seth was right to be apprehensive about allowing strangers to come and live in their house.

This will have your pulse racing in no time at all! There’s an undercurrent running through the storyline from the very beginning that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, and it notches up increasingly, chapter by chapter, until … KERBLAM … a reveal that I certainly didn’t see coming.

The character development is really clever and there are some unexpected crafty little tweaks thrown in too. I really appreciated these – even in the unlikeable characters! There may have been one or two things that felt unfinished towards the end of this rollercoaster ride, but I’m hoping that just means there’s going to be another installment. I don’t think I’m the only one that wants to know how the next chapter of Taylor and Seth’s lives will unfold.

Apparently this is a book that follows on from ‘The Nurse’, which I haven’t read, but this is easily read as a standalone and I didn’t find that it detracted from getting totally absorbed in this story. It’s a bit of a slow burner, but the pace is steady throughout.

Thank you once again to Bookouture for always keeping things thrilling!

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Author Bio:

Bestselling author Jenna Kernan, recognized by Publishers Weekly, has penned over forty novels. She started with historical romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense, before diving into the chilling world of domestic thrillers. Her debut psychological thriller, “A Killer’s Daughter,” earned the bronze medal in popular fiction at the 2021 Florida Book Awards. In 2022, “The Ex-wives” secured the gold in the same category. Jenna released “The Nurse” in October 2023 and “The Patient’s Daughter” in January 2024. Her thrillers are known for their intensity, unsettling plots, and unexpected twists. Jenna is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Florida Mystery Writers, and Novelists, Inc. She resides in sunny Florida with her husband and has increased her sunscreen to SPF50. Dive into her captivating world of thrills today!