Review: The Surrogate Mother by Frieda McFadden

 

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: October 2025 (originally October 2018)

Source: Borrowed from library

Blurb: 

Abby wants a baby more than anything.

But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant Monica, makes a generous offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.
Or all of her nightmares.
Because it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby's child has dark, twisted secrets.
And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

With the craziness building as my first year in my masters comes to a close, I have not been reading as much as I would like to at all. I decided I needed to take a break from the assignments and screens, and read a book that would be fast paced and take my mind off of the impending deadlines. 

The Surrogate Mother was the perfect choice for this as I was pretty much invested into the story from the first 30 pages. A short - ish thriller at only 290-something pages, I was able to fly through this while reading in bed in the morning or night before beginning / finishing my assignment writing for the day.

Review: The Intruder by Freida McFadden

Publication Date: 7 October 2025

Source: Library

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press 

[ Goodreads ]

Blurb: Who knows what the storm will blow in…

Casey's cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she's a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.

She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.

The girl won't explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.

The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.

  

So, in the last year or two, I have become a big Freida McFadden fan. I have read quite a lot of her work - enjoyed some, loved some and did not like some! She is an author whom I will always pick up as I know I will be getting a quick, fast-paced, twisty, insane in the best way book that will be glued to my hands until I finish. The Intruder was no exception. 

I have to start my review by saying that this concept, of someone being in your house (or in this case, your shed) while you are home alone, is one of my biggest fears. Anything about home invasion, break in's etc really freaks me out. I suppose because I view your home as your safe space, and having an Intruder there really pops your little safety bubble. 

2026 Anticipated Releases

 2026 looks like a fantastic year for book releases. Many of my favourite authors are releasing new titles, there are interesting debut novels being released and some (hopefully) scandalous memoirs too! 

Check out my list below to see what books I am going to be anticipating the release of this year. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT RUBY COOPER BY LIZ NUGENT (Goodreads) 12 March 2026

One of my all-time favourite authors - I can't wait!

Blurb: 

If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

Best Books of 2025

 

I haven't posted on this blog in years, although I have definitely been reading a lot... 

One of my resolutions this year is to spend more time getting back into my hobbies and things that I enjoy - hence why I am returning to my blog! I have missed talking about books on here a lot, although I have still been enjoying reading others' posts, TikTok's and Instagram posts. 

So I thought what better time to return than the beginning of a fresh new year, and with a post on my favourite books that I read in 2025. I managed to read over 100 books in 2025, but only a few of them were 5-star favourites. 

My Favourite Books of 2025: 

I think no one will be surprised, as I am sure this is on a lot of people's favourite books of the year lists. 

I am a huge Hunger Games fan and was waiting patiently for this to be released ever since it was announced. 

I absolutely loved this book. Haymitch was such a perfect character from the series to focus a book on, as when we met him in The Hunger Games, he was a very negative, jaded character who then went on a character arc. But I have always wanted to know how he got to be that person. 

This book gave us the perfect insight into Haymitch - his life before the games, during the games and after the games. I loved reading about his interactions with other characters (Maysilee Donner, my absolute favourite!) and seeing a few cameos of familiar characters or familiar names. 

This book had me hooked - I could not stop reading. Honestly, I think there is so much potential for Suzanne Collins to continue building upon this series, whether it is stories of the characters we already know, like Snow and Haymitch or someone we haven't encountered. 

I think if Suzanne Collins writes anything else in this universe, I will 100% read it. Very much looking forward to the movie!

Lisa Jewell is an author I discovered during my break from blogging, and wow, she is a new favourite author of all time!

None Of This Is True focuses on two women whose lives become incredibly intertangled during the recording of a podcast. 

Craziness ensued, and I could not predict anything that happened. Lisa Jewell writes such readable thrillers with crazy characters and unpredictable endings ... I am still reeling over the ending of this one!

Lisa Jewell is definitely an author I will be reading all of their back catalogue in 2026 .. hopefully!

One of the most talked about and covered up books of 2025! Careless People.

From an ex-employee at Facebook/Meta, Sarah Wynn-Williams dives deep into the horrors that were acceptable at the company during the time she worked there. 

I think everyone had some idea that Facebook/Meta is not a "good" company, but I had to pause so many times while reading this book to recover from the shocking details. 

From harvesting people's data without them knowing and repurposing it, using Myanmar as an experiment on controlling people's perspectives, corrupt government backhanders, sexism at work, and so much more. 

This was an unforgettable book that, if you are at all interested in business or peeking behind the horrible Meta curtain, I urge you to pick it up. 

This novel focuses on our main character, Tricia, who is house hunting with her new husband. While going to a viewing, a snowstorm hits and she and her husband are stranded and must stay in the empty house. The house once belonged to a successful Psychiatrist who disappeared 4 years ago. As Tricia moves through the house, she stumbles upon tape recordings of the psychiatrist's meetings with her patients.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden is the best book by her that I have read so far. She is also one of my new auto-read authors. 

This book had my jaw on the floor. Every twist shocked me; the characters were so well written, and the tape recording transcripts broke up the text and added another layer to the story. This is one of her best books, in my opinion, and I will always recommend this one. 

So those are my favourite books I read in 2025. Let me know if you read any of these, or what your favourite books of 2025 were! Hope 2026 is a brilliant year for us all.