When Savannah Mitchell finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a casual fling, she’s determined to form a friendly co-parenting relationship with her unborn child’s father, Max Hunter, even though he’s just gotten back together with his ex, Madison. At first Madison seems understanding and helpful – but things quickly turn dangerous, leading Savannah to believe she has sinister intentions toward her and her child.

 

 

Mysteries and thrillers have always been my favorite genres to read, ever since I was a child. My favorites were Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie. Though I also like to read romance, historical fiction, and witchy/magical realism, thrillers and mysteries still dominate most of my reading time. So naturally, when I decided I wanted to write a book, a thriller is the first thing I thought of. There’s just something about diving into the minds of villains and trying to figure out what makes them do the things they do…and then I can’t help but jump into the mind of the protagonist to try and decide what I would do to fight back and survive if I was in their shoes.

 

 

Just knowing that the sky’s the limit, as far as my imagination goes. There are no rules and no limitations–anything I can dream up is within my grasp. Using my imagination is my single-most favorite thing to do in the world.

 

 

When I overthink my writing and try to imagine whether or not people will like it. I have to remind myself that I write for me, because there’s no way to please everyone!

 

 

I think, even if you may not usually like to read thrillers, that TBM might entertain you and it’s worth giving it a try. Though the core of the story is a woman who is being terrorized psychologically by another person, it’s also a touching story of friendship, a loving relationship between a mother and daughter, and a story that (hopefully) makes you root for the protagonist as she tries to build confidence back and better herself after going through a rough time. It also really makes you think about the relationships between women, and how we are constantly trying to compare ourselves to each other, especially when it comes to one’s mothering skills. I especially love how one reviewer put it: This is no “mommy thriller.” It deals with parenting issues, yes, but it’s so much more than that.

 

Readers have said it’s perfect for fans of authors like Kaira Rouda (Best Day Ever, Jill is Not Happy), Robyn Harding (The Haters, The Drowning Woman), Liv Constantin (The Last Mrs. Parrish), Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), and Frieda McFadden (The Housemaid).

 

Opinions can be so incredibly varied in this industry, even among professionals. Sometimes two professionals will even give you contradictory opinions, leaving you wondering who to trust. My advice is, trust yourself first, but be willing to try approaching your manuscript from a different angle–you n0.ever know, you could end up loving it. That’s what happened to me with The Better Mother! An editor I worked with made a suggestion for a change to my earliest version that I initially fought back against, but once I decided to give it a try and see how it would feel to take their suggestion, I was very glad I did, because it definitely made my manuscript better, and I quickly signed with an agent and then attracted a book deal after. That may not always be the outcome, but it’s always worth trying. You don’t need to delete the original version in order to try taking it in a new direction.

 

Yes! I have already completed another thriller, about a celebrity news reporter who faces a frightening backlash after exposing the biggest secret of one of America’s most beloved actors–and in the aftermath, someone winds up dead. It’s tentatively titled Even If It Kills Me. And while I wait to hear news about whether it will be published, I am already hard at work outlining another new thriller novel that I am very excited about.

 

 

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak. It was very engaging, and so, so clever the way he used original drawings to move the story forward and increase the readers’ sense of dread! I highly recommend it.

 

 

A woman ends up pregnant after a casual fling, but the father’s girlfriend has much more sinister intentions in this plot-driven suspense debut.

A modern spin on Fatal Attraction meets The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, perfect for fans of The Last Mrs. Parrish.

Still recovering from a devastating breakup, 34-year-old Savannah Mitchell has finally managed to put her life back together when she gets the shock of her life—after a brief fling with a man named Max, she is pregnant.

When she gets in touch to tell him, he reveals that he’s just gotten back together with his ex, Madison, and he will need time to break it to her. Surprisingly, Madison isn’t upset—in fact, she’s excited, and wants to help.

Max insists Madison has the best of intentions, but Savannah finds her efforts—popping by uninvited, demanding lifestyle changes, and pretty much trying to take over the pregnancy—anything but helpful. When Savannah finally stands up for herself, Madison’s treatment of her goes from casually cruel to downright dangerous.

All Savannah wanted to do was form a friendly co-parenting relationship with the father of her child—but his new girlfriend obviously has much more sinister plans in mind.

She has no plans to co-parent at all.

 

 

Jennifer van der Kleut (née McBride) is an award-winning former journalist of both print and digital publications, including the DC affiliate of ABC7 News. A graduate of San Jose State University, she spent most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, where she currently lives with her husband and two sons. For nearly a decade, she was the lead singer of the Bay Area-based band SweetDuration, and performed with artists like Jason Mraz, Big Country, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Stabbing Westward. When she’s not writing, she loves going to the beach with her family, going to concerts with her girlfriends, and getting lost in the pages of a book.