Mother May I audiobook

This book has a lot of fast-paced action! And I was onboard for it!! I was hooked on this book after only 2 chapters with the heart-pounding scenes (unlike many of the books I've read this year with slow starts). It took off, kept me on the edge and was quite the nail-biter!!This was a solid read for me with memorable characters that I either loved or wanted to understand. A loving mother of three, a successful husband, someone with a secret crush, and that creepy, creepy lady!! Wait until you find out what she wants!!"Any mother would do what you did." I always wanted to get back to this book and see what would happen next. The tension made me feel like I was right there, close to danger and even holding my breath..... up until the explosive ending.A quick page-turner with a clever plot to keep you guessing! Great writing, heart-pounding mystery! Thanks NG for this one! OUT tomorrow!! APRIL 6, 2021

I woke up to see a witch peering in my bedroom window. She was little more than a dark shape with a predator’s hungry eyes, razor-wire skinny but somehow female, staring in through the partly open drapes. Sunrise lit up the thin, silvery hair that straggled out from under her hat. I should have leaped up screaming. I should have run at her with any weapon I could find. Instead I thought, I hope she’s not standing on my basil plants, hazy and unworried. Even half asleep, I knew that there was no such thing as witches. I’d long forgotten the most important thing the theater had ever taught me—that the human body can hold two truths at once. Even truths that seem to rule each other out: There’s no such things as witches, true. And I was looking at one. Once upon a time is a familiar beginning. The Brothers Grimm (Jake and Willy) collected a trove of European folklore notable for, among other things, its dark content. Jackson was raised with those stories, (I always reference fairy tales in my books. Ever since I was a young child, I have been an avid reader. I like fairy tales, so I just put them in the stories. – from the No Apologies interview) maybe a bit more than most of us. She lends this part of herself to her desperate lead, with some added brio. I’d been raised on Grimms’ fairy tales by a mother who saw the world as something huge and wild—carnivorous. Her world was full of witches. And sometimes the darkness of life matches the depths of grim imagination. Soon after her first witch sighting, there is a second, at her daughters’ school. And all it takes is a momentary lapse of attention and her infant son, Robert, is snatched away. No changeling is left in his place, but there is a message. Follow my instructions to the letter, or else. All my books, in some way or another, look with varying degrees of hope and cynicism at how far we can walk into the black and still be saved. What are the tiny lights that turn us and call us home, and why do some people see those faint, glowing calls, while others walk straight off the edge of the world and are lost? Many of my dearest people from my lost years are dead, or went into the prison system or disappeared. And me? I have this lovely life, much like Amy’s, where I go to book club, make lasagna and walk the dog. - from the Book Reporter interview That certainly makes one wonder about Jackson’s wastrel past. The task she is forced to undertake has unexpected and horrifying results that threaten Bree Cabbat’s beautiful life. She had been born poor, but got a scholarship to college and then married well, securing an upper-middle-class utopia with a successful studly lawyer husband, three beautiful kids (well, for now anyway) a lovely home in a well-to-do neighborhood, and a satisfying community life. But, one wrong move and it could all vanish. How fragile life can be, no? Joshilyn Jackson - image from the Atlanta Journal Constitution – photo by Bob Andres of AJC Poverty, class origins, the randomness of opportunity, the fragility of a happy life, all figure large in Jackson’s novels. Her previous novel, for example, Never Have I Ever, let us know that her lead, Amy, had done things that her family’s means were able to keep under wraps. But her comfortable life is threatened by a blackmailer who knows her big secret. In this one, Bree is stuck having to deal without even knowing what her nemesis is tormenting her about. Jax makes the point that for those with money or damn good luck it is possible to screw up and get a second chance, or a third, fourth and so on, while for those on the lower economic fringe, one mistake and your future becomes a hopeless, eternal present. I serve on the board of a small non-profit, Reforming Arts (reformingarts.org.). We teach college-level liberal arts classes to people incarcerated in Georgia’s women’s prisons. I try to teach one semester a year, and so far, all my classes have been in the maximum security facility.Our students are diverse in terms of age and race and orientation. The one thing they almost universally have in common is that they were raised in grinding poverty, often by disordered or abusive families. We punish the poor more quickly and more severely; sometimes it feels as if being poor is itself a crime. - from Book Reporter interviewA lot of the impetus for Jackson’s writing about mothers derives from her personal experience. …motherhood was transformative for me…I felt I became a more dangerous animal once my heart was living and breathing and toddling around on little fat legs outside of me, out in the dangerous world. - from the Book Reporter interviewHere we have two mothers at war. One is seeking revenge for a long-ago wrong. Bree is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her baby. Both are in full-on Mama Grizzly mode, and find a sort-of empathy with each other, despite the ongoing horror. Their links are not just through their common concern as mothers, but in their common class background. This bond between enemies is a technique Jackson carries over from her prior novel, Never Have I Ever, in which Amy Whey and her blackmailer, Roux, find themselves to be strangely sympatico, well able to understand each other, while those around them seem not to get them.Never… represented a redirection of sorts for Jackson, away from romantic comedy-drama. But even in the books she wrote prior to that there were often underlying crimes that drove the action. So the shift to writing thrillers was not really all that big a change. It has been, however, a very effective one. Mother May I is a can’t-stop-reading-page-turning-keep-you-up-all-night domestic thriller. Every time you think you can see the road ahead, there is the squealing of brakes hitting a hairpin curve too fast, and, with a sudden acceleration, you are speeding off in another direction. (Re the books she loves to read, Jackson says, My favorite kind is the first reversal just 25% into the book, then stays windy from there - from the Inside Flap interview) This book has more twists than a box of rotini.A strong piece of this novel is Jackson’s use of her theatrical background to support her character’s actions and capabilities. She was a theater major in college, has done some acting and even reads audio books professionally, not just her own. She gives Bree her theater training, the better to allow her to lie in public, with her words and her body. That’s what actors do, right? It helps Bree in dire circumstances, but also in lesser ones. There are several elements that appear in some or all of Jackson’s novels. Deep secrets figure large, whether our lead is looking to penetrate one or defend against one of theirs being exposed. Class and family resources, or lack of same, are frequently core elements. That is very much the case here. There is a duel between antagonists. Check. Redemption turns up a lot. In fact, in the Library Love Fest interview, Jackson refers to herself as “a redemption-obsessed novelist.” Her characters, certainly her lead characters, seem to be in persistent need of cleansing from the wrongs they have done. That is less the case for Bree in this book, per se, but the need for redemption is still a strong element. Jackson has a gift for ending her chapters with hooks that generate many a late night ”goddammit!” as readers know that they will not be able to go to sleep until they can read just one more chapter, and then just one more chapter, and then just one more chapter, and so on. There are usually adolescents involved, although in this novel, they play a secondary role. Jackson is also fond of portraying constructed families. As with the teens, that is here, but in a very small way. She also includes fairy tale elements (check) and says that there is a Stephen King reference in all her books (not telling). Readers familiar with her work will be more than satisfied with Mother May I, holding to the familiar themes and story elements while adding some newer, harder-edged moving parts. Readers new to her work are in for a great treat.In her Inside Flap interview, Jackson was asked, “Is it one of your goals, to have us think as we read?” She said, “My goal is to write a book that you can pour yourself a giant Marguerita, go down to the beach, have a great time and never think again if you don’t want to. But, if you want to, it’s there for you…there’s those layers. This is a book about class…how class plays into what justice looks like.” Either way, it works quite well. No one’s personal history is lily-white. Some witches are real; the past never forgets and needs only a little prompting to come after you, teeth-bared; happily ever after is for fairy tales, and sometimes not even there.Review posted – April 23, 2021Publication dates----------Hardcover - April 6, 2021----------Trade paperback - April 5, 2022 =============================EXTRA STUFFAn aside. In the Book Reporter interview, Jackson said, “I’m working on a book called TWO TRUTHS AND A LIAR right now. The first line is: “The day my baby disappeared, I woke up to see a witch peering in my bedroom window.” I am not sure why the title changed, but I expect that opening line was thought to give away too much too soon. The baby is not swiped until chapter 2 in the final version. Links to the author’s personal, FB, Instagram, and Twitter pagesInterviews-----The Inside Flap - Ep. 119 Method Writing With Joshilyn Jackson by Dave Medicus – audio – 1:26:04 – start at 29:30 to 51:00-----No Apology Book Reviews - Interview with Joshilyn Jackson (Mother May I) by Danielle-----Library Love Fest - Editors Unedited: Emily Krump in conversation with Joshilyn Jackson, author of MOTHER MAY I - audio – 34:27 – A convo between Jackson and her editor -----BookReporter - Interview: July 31, 2019-----Los Angeles Public Library - Interview With an Author: Joshilyn Jackson by Daryl M.-----Owltail - How Story Works by Lani Diane RichItems of Interest from the author-----Novel Suspects - excerpt-----The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Paths Not Taken - definitely check this out – it explains a lotMy reviews of other books by Joshilyn Jackson-----2019 - Never Have I Ever-----2017 - The Almost Sisters-----2016 - The Opposite of Everyone-----2013 - Someone Else’s Love Story

4.5 stars There will always be the haves and the have-nots. But what happens when a have-not marries a one-percenter? Down deep, who do they identify with? Bree grew up poor, but marries Trey, a successful lawyer, and the marriage is a good one. They have two teen-age daughters and a new baby son, Robert. But their idyllic life comes to an end when Robert is kidnapped while Bree is momentarily distracted at her daughter’s play rehearsal. The terror Bree feels is palpable. Her mother warned her that the world was a scary place and danger lurks everywhere, but Bree shrugged off her mother’s anxieties. Until now. As Bree waits for the ransom note that never comes, she discovers something far more sinister awaits her. She must complete a task, one that will have repercussions she can’t imagine. The past catches up with her and there are revelations and secrets that will be revealed. The motive for the kidnapping is a major plot point and I won’t ruin it by saying too much.This was quite the page-turner. I found myself opening my phone’s kindle app whenever I had a few moments, which was a refreshing change from recent books that I struggled to finish. I loved Bree, who stopped at nothing in order to get her child back.I appreciate a book that makes me think. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weighty book or a lighter one. This is what I like to call a lighter read with substance. There are subjects that bear serious discussion. Why is there such disdain for girls from the ‘other side of the tracks’? Why is character judged based on income and background? Is it possible for people to change, and Is it fair to be judged for a misdeed when young? What makes one worthy of forgiveness? What reparations, if any, are appropriate? Can we ever truly see our past with clarity or do we color in the blurry lines only with what we want to see? Finally, how do you reconcile the person you know today with their unsavory past? For some people one event can completely change their life’s trajectory. There are no second chances. For others it’s easy to write these events off as a youthful indiscretion, and move on. How complicit are we as a society in deciding who gets a consequence and who gets none. Who is believed? The person with wealth and power or the person with neither?This is a tightly plotted domestic thriller that will make you ponder the issues raised. The ending was a bit tidier than I like, but it’s a minor complaint I can forgive because this book made me think. This was a buddy read with Marialyce, one that inspired great discussions.I’ve enjoyed the author’s Southern fiction and with this, her second thriller, she has proven herself to be capable of crossing genres. • I received an audiobook via NetGalley. And a digital e-book via Netgalley. The author narrates the audio and is excellent.• Publication date April 6, 20121 by William Morrow

Can you imagine a scary witch extends her long nails to grab your kid a few feet away as you watch your teenage daughter’s Grease rehearsal and leaves you note that says not to call the authorities and your husband, go directly to your home and wait for her instructions to see her little baby boy alive? Did you get excited about the premise? I truly hooked and couldn’t put it down, let myself enjoy this wild, intriguing, complex ride! Bree Cabbat in her late thirties, finally has it all: wealthy, charming lawyer husband, two teenager girls and a lovely newborn boy lately joined to her happy family. She doesn’t have to work, she has all time to watch her girls’ extracurricular activities and her baby boy’s growing process. That’s so different from her poor childhood at a leaking ranch house in Georgia, raised by her over protective mother who warns her about the dangers of outside world as her father she never seen his face serving his prison time to kill his second wife by beating her to death. But Bree is always great actress, knowing how to pretend everything is fine. Just like she did at her visit to High Museum: borrowed her best friend Betsy’s confidence just like she borrowed one of the theater department dress and she walked like she owned the place where she met her rich, one decade older husband to be Trey. That’s the day her life completely changes. She stayed connected with Betsy and her boyfriend Marshall. Both of friends married at the same time, gave birth to their kids but as Bree chose to have a luxurious life as a devoted wife, Betsy and Marshall chose to be police officers, raising their girl, enjoying their middle class statues till Betsy died because of occupational hazard and left her husband behind. Now Marshall gets a security guard job at Trey’s company and his daughter got scholarship, going to the same high school with Bree’s daughters. But girls are hanging out different social circles as expected and Marshall and Bree gets estranged after Betsy’s death but now the unexpected tragedy will bring them together : because the maleficent witch, Bree saw in the morning at the window was real and that woman stole their kid. She left a burner phone and pills, instructing her on the phone to attend the party her husband’s law firm is about to throw and use those pills to roofie her husband’s lawyer partner. If she obeys the rules, she may get her baby back as soon as possible. Bree does what’s she’s instructed but the things get out of control and she finds herself at very dangerous pursuit, accompanied by Marshall to find where her baby is. Too many deadly secrets about the dark past start to reveal at the same time. Even though Bree saves her baby, her old life has already gone. How could she pick up the pieces of herself when everything is crumbled into million pieces. I finished this book at one sit. The ending made sense for me. It was the best satisfactory wrapping up for characters. I loved Bree’s characterization. It’s so easy to feel for her dilemmas, her choices, the things she was ready to sacrifice for the safety of her children. Marshall was also thoughtful, caring, trustworthy, rational character I honestly liked. There was no big twist or WTH moments at this book which I normally love so much but I loved the characters, genuine, gripping writing style, author’s approach to the thought provoking, sensitive issues. So I’m giving satisfying, engaging, exhilarating four stars! I also enjoyed the previous book of the author. I’m looking forward to read her new works sooner.

Mother may I please have a thriller with a “villain” whose extreme actions are realistic? No? Those don’t exist?Okay, then in that case Joshilyn Jackson’s Mother May I will do just fine. As my first read by J.J., I didn’t have many expectations other than there’s a witch in the book. PSA/spoiler alert - there’s nothing paranormal here! Just a haggard old lady with no F’s left to give who is out for revenge by way of kidnapping babies. Now you better believe that baby mamas are not gonna let that fly (hell hath no fury and all), so our heroine Bree is willing to jump through whatever hoops the ol’ biddy asks of her until it’s time to level up, rope in a few pals, and race that clock to get her boy back.I could not put the darn thing down and finished it in a day, so… mother may I have another Joshilyn Jackson book please? Blog: www.confettibookshelf.comIG: @confettibookshelf

"Mother May I" by Joshilyn Jackson is an edgy and cleverly composed Domestic-Thriller!Bree Cabbat is a stay at home mom of teenage daughters, Anna-Claire and Peyton and three month old son, Robert. Her attorney husband, Trey comes from old money. Lots of it, so life is rich and plentiful!Bree grew up in a single parent home where life provided the minimum. Her mom worked two jobs to get by. It was a different way of life from the privileged one she leads now. One morning Bree wakes to a witch peering into her bedroom through partly opened drapes. She was dressed in black, skinny, silvery hair and hungry eyes. Was it a dream?"Something bad is coming for us" Bree thinks to herself.Later at her daughters school, Bree is the assigned 'snack mom' for Anna-Claire's theater practice. While chatting with the other "snack mom", they both see the witch again in the parking lot beside her SUV. An old lady in a baggy black dress. Should she report this? Or call the police, just in case....In the auditorium's balcony, Robert is napping in his car seat next to Peyton in the back row. Bree is in the front row to watch the rehearsal. Peyton moves up front to join her mom. Bree looks over her shoulder for a quick peek at Robert. His sock-feet visible, she knows he's safely napping. Bree looks back at the stage to watches Anna-Claire sing and everything falls away. All she sees and hears is her daughter performing. It stirs memories of her theater days. Anna-Claire finishes, Bree stands, gives thumbs-up and pats Peyton on the knee. When she turns to leave, Robert's car seat is gone. A note is left in the aisle... IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR BABY AGAIN, GO HOME. TELL NO ONE. DO NOT CALL THE POLICE. DO NOT CALL YOUR HUSBAND. BE AT YOUR HOUSE BY 5:15PM OR HE'S GONE FOR GOOD. It hadn't been a dream. It hadn't been a witch. It is a real person who has Robert. Bree arrives home to a gift bag hanging on the front doorknob. Inside is a cheap smartphone, charger chord, Bluetooth ear piece and a bottle of prescription pills. The smartphone begins to play calypso music and the screen shows the caller's name: ROBERT... When Bree answers, the instructions begin...The premise of this story holds an edgy feel and several cleverly composed twists I didn't expect. I don't dare add too much and spoil it for you! I have read other reviews of this book where far too much is offered up. It's better if you go in cold, know nothing more than what I offered above! I will tell you this story does prove how far a mother will go for her child! The first half of this story is slow, and although I understand it is for backstories and character development the author simply takes too long! The heart of the story is great but once that is over it could have ended. I've been told the audiobook narrated by the author is a wonderful experience! I don't doubt this as Joshilyn Jackson is a former actor and award winning audiobook narrator. I would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook rather than reading the print book for a better experience!3.5 stars rounded up.Thank you to Goodreads, William Morrow and Joshilyn Jackson for a free ARC of this book. It has been my pleasure to give my honest and voluntary review.

A gripping and thought provoking domestic suspense about motherhood, family, privilege and revenge!Imagine you wake up and see a witch looking in your bedroom window, it was just your imagination right?! A bad dream?! What if you saw her again, and then your baby went missing... This is what happened to Bree Cabbat! Who is the woman? What does she want? And what will Bree do to get him back?This was my second book by Joshilyn Jackson, and I enjoyed them both!Mother May I did start out a bit slow, and like a fairy-tale, but I stuck with it and quickly became hooked! It wasn't a fast paced thriller, but it was dark, nail-biting and shocking in places. It definitely held my attention, with it's menacing feeling as I discovered that bad decisions in your past can sometimes deservedly come back to haunt you.Bree, the narrator was likeable, and the more I got to know her, the more depth she had to her character. It was stressful reading about her baby being kidnapped, and the writing made me feel both terrified and emotional because I could feel her terror! I just wanted Bree to find her baby alive, and for everything to be ok. I really couldn't say what I would do in her position, but I suspect I, like Bree, would also do what I could to get my baby back!As well as keeping me entertained, Mother May I made me think about how well we know the people in our lives? It made me think about trust, loyalty and honesty. But it especially made me angry that certain people can get away with things they did when they were younger, and others can not. How one event can be shrugged off by one party, but ruin the other person's life. We see it in real life, how the rich and the privileged do sometimes coast through life with little repercussions, and it's wrong.As much as I enjoyed the building suspense, I couldn't give this book five stars because I wasn't keen on the ending. It was a bit cliché and a little too perfectly wrapped up for me, which didn't tie in with the dark, edgy feel from the rest of the book.Nevertheless, this was a suspenseful read, with a gorgeous cover! I've also heard that the audio, narrated by the author is pretty good!👶👶👶👶Many thanks to Ridha Rehman at Raven books, and NetGalley UK for my invitation to read this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

Mother may I.... may I seek my own justice on someone who has done me wrong? Or will you do it for me? An eye for an eye. Isn’t that how it goes?Jackson unleashes her talent in her latest story of revenge. Bree’s son is kidnapped and the only way she can get him back is by making a connection with the woman who took her -on a mother level.The lengths mothers will go to protect their children. The sacrifices they will make.This was a page turner. A little over the top with some of the ‘acting’ stuff and neat ending, but a solid one with some twists and a satisfying storyline.4⭐️

Review originally published on mysteryandsuspense.comBree Cabbat grew up with a cash strapped and anxious mother, obsessed with protecting her own security and that of her daughter. Bree had never met her father, who by all accounts was a piece of work, but as a gifted performer in amateur theatre she hoped that this might provide a gateway to the future life she dreamed of. But one day she met a man from a rich family and the mutual attraction was immediate. What followed was marriage, children and a privileged life in a nice house a few miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.When we pick up the story, Bree has two school aged daughters and a brand new baby boy. Her own hopes of a career in musical theatre had never gotten off the ground but it seems that she’s passed her abilities on to her oldest daughter and today she is to attend a rehearsal for a production at her school. Her husband, Trey, is a lawyer and he’s going to be away on business for a few days. The day had started badly when Bree had woken to find a what she thought was a witch staring at her through her bedroom window. However, she’d tried to dismissed this thought as potentially the over active imaginings of a sleep deprived mum. But this was to be a fateful day. Later, as Bree sat enthralled by the action on stage, her sleeping baby is stolen and in place of Robert is a note instructing her to return home immediately and not to inform the police if she wants to see him again.After a slow start the action had suddenly ramped up tenfold. A panicked search of the school confirmed Bree’s worst fears and hadn’t she spotted a figure suspiciously similar to the witchy woman from her bedroom window in the school car park earlier? With Trey away she is forced to lean on the help a male friend, whose daughter is also in the school production, for support. But what is she to do – to comply and return home might protect her son but shouldn’t she really ignore this and contact the police immediately?I have to say that I was quite unprepared for the emotional rollercoaster ride I was now to be launched on. There’s a lot of raw emotion here and I was never quite sure how this was all going to end. Added to this there are a number of twists that stopped me in my tracks and made me re-evaluate the ever changing picture I was seeing. And the sense of urgency, of time passing too quickly, became a real thing for me as I found myself rushing back to the book at every opportunity such was my desire to track events, my brain working overtime trying to assess whether the actions being taken were the right ones.I’m almost never totally satisfied with the ending in mystery novels and to some extent I’m still evaluating how I feel about this one. What I will say is that there’s a secondary narrative that makes its way into this tale which requires a degree of interpretation, though it’s pretty clear where the author is leading us. How readers react to this will, I feel, colour their feelings regarding the final outcome. Either way, I definitely found this to be a well-crafted and gripping story – in fact, it's one of the most interesting and absorbing books I’ve read in a long time.My thanks to William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mother May I was the first book I have read by author Joshilyn Jackson but it will not be my last. It was a well written suspenseful mystery thriller that captured my interest from the very start. There were many twists throughout the book. It grabbed me from the beginning and held my attention and curiosity until the conclusion. Joshilyn Jackson was very successful in building the level of suspense and consequences that occurred throughout Mother May I. I listened to the audiobook that was read by the author, Joshilyn Jackson. She read her book with the brilliance one would expect. It was easy and pleasant to listen to her read her own book. The characters were well developed and believable.Bree Cabot was living the ideal life. She had married for love. Her lawyer husband had come from old money so Bree’s life was comfortable and secure. Her and her husband had had two beautiful and talented daughters before they were blessed with the birth of their son, Robert. They lived in a spacious and beautiful home and sent their daughters to an impressive private school and were able to afford them all types of private lessons. Bree appeared to have it all. She had come a long way from her humble upbringing. Bree had grown up poor. Her new life was comfortable and complete.One day Bree noticed someone peering through her bedroom window. She was certain that she saw a witch. How could that be? Had she been dreaming and just thought she imagined it? Bree tried to put it out of her mind and dismissed it from her thoughts. Her husband was leaving for a business trip that morning. After he had left, she proceeded to get her family ready for the day. Bree’s oldest daughter had play rehearsal at her school so she ushered both her daughters out of the house and grabbed her young son. When Bree arrived at school, she noticed her deceased best friend’s husband there. He had brought his daughter for play rehearsal as well. Bree joined him by the window where she noticed the silhouette of the same woman who Bree had thought was a witch walking through the parking lot of the school. Could it be the same person Bree had seen through her bedroom window? Bree thought she was being silly. She settled down in the auditorium to watch her daughter perform one of the songs she would be singing in the play she was in. Robert had fallen asleep so she placed him in a row a few rows back from where she was seated. He was sound asleep in his car seat. When Bree’s daughter began to sing, Bree became mesmerized by her performance. Her full attention was on her oldest daughter. Bree was so proud of her. After her eldest daughter’s song was finished, Bree looked back towards sleeping baby Robert. Bree could not see or find Robert. Could one of her daughter’s friends have taken him somewhere quiet? They all loved to help take care of him. No, Robert was missing. He had been taken, kidnapped. Bree found a note where Robert had been. The note warned Bree that if she ever wanted to see her son again she could not call the police of her husband. She must follow all the instructions she would be given. The note told her to go home immediately. She got her deceased friend’s husband to take her daughters to her mother’s gated community. Bree knew her daughters would be safe there and it would give her time to figure this nightmare out. When Bree got home there was a bag hanging on her front door. Then she got a phone call from the woman who had kidnapped Robert. Bree was given implicit directions of what she had to do and accomplish if she ever wanted to get her son back alive. Bree was about to live through the worst nightmare she could have ever imagined. Could she accomplish all the things this woman wanted from her? She had to. Bree had no choice if she wanted to get Robert back.With so many unexpected twists and turns I was unable to tear myself away from this captivating and scary mystery thriller. The first three quarters of Mother May I deserved five stars but because I felt the ending was rushed and predictable I gave it four stars. I wished the ending could have matched the intensity of the rest of the book. This was a book about deception, revenge, the merits of honesty and integrity, family, friendship and trust. I hope to go back and read some of Joshilyn Jackson’s prior books. I highly recommend this book.Thank you to Harper Audio/William Morrow for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy of Mother May I through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Mother May I grabbed my attention from the beginning. This is a great thriller that I highly recommend. Bree would do anything for her family especially after an unknown woman took her son. Bree ends up doing things she would never usually do. Bree is given directions that will cause her to lose her son or someone else. Bree is struggling with what to tell her husband. Bree turns to Marshall, an old friend, for help. Marshall is a genuinely good person. He is an ex-cop so has useful skills to help Bree. I loved the story and could not put this book down.I listened to the audiobook narrated by Joshilyn Jackson and loved it. I love when the author narrates the book because the reader really gets to experience the author’s emotions.Thank you William Morrow, Harper Collins, Harper Audio, NetGalley and Edelweiss for Mother May I.Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

Wow! This was my first Joshilyn Jackson book and I can’t wait to read every other one by her.This book is a five star reading experience that should not be missed.The cover is beautiful and catchy that made me want to read before I even knew the story.I read this as an audiobook read by the author. This was the best audio experience I have ever had. Joshilyn Jackson is someone I now want to read all my future books to me! She was remarkable.The story follows Bree who has her toddler Robert kidnapped while she looked away at her older daughter’s school. Bree and her search for her child and answers keeps you wanting more and more. She is a very likable character that you just want her to find peace and comfort throughout the book. There is nothing a mother won’t do or trade for her child’s safety and happiness.Thank you so much to Harper Audio, William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC and such an enjoyable reading experience!