Freida does it again! This time, with The Surrogate Mother. I love all her books, and this one is no exception. In fact, I’d put it up there with The Housemaid series.
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.
But it turns out Monica isn’t who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby’s child has an unspeakable secret.
And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
Right off the bat, you know something bad happens. The Epilogue starts with Abby telling her lawyer she didn’t kill anyone. What? The craziness just spirals from there!
Abby is so desperate to have a baby. Unfortunately, she’s unable. So she and her husband Sam turned to adoption. But at the last moment, the young mother decided to keep her baby. Abby and Sam are heartbroken. She’s dead set on having a newborn, but Sam says they should look at adopting an older child. They need help, too.
But a miracle happens. Abby’s brilliant assistant says she’ll be a surrogate for her using Sam’s sperm. Abby convinced Sam this is the best thing for them. He reluctantly agrees. But Abby glosses over some red flags. She’s so enthralled in her desire, she doesn’t think some things are an issue.
But then she starts performing poorly at work, missing important meetings. Sam is getting closer with Monica. Ultimately, Abby is fired for meth use. “I don’t do meth!” But she’s acting so strangely, even Sam isn’t sure he believes his wife. When Abby’s boss, Denise, calls her to the office late at night to discuss the fact that she might have been telling the truth. Abby finds Denis dead, with Abby’s letter opener. This does not look good.
The bombshell is that Monica had planned this all along. To make Abby crazy and send her to jail so she could get Sam to herself. They’d live happily ever after with their baby after all. That’s not how it ends, though. Monica ends up shooting herself, putting her in a vegetative state. Sam and Abby get their baby after all.
This book was so good!