What could go wrong with renting a uterus?
Book review: The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden
The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden
Published: August 19, 2025 by Poisoned Pen Press
Buy this book at: Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Bookshop.org
Synopsis:
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.
Rating:
Review:
At this point I’ve read several books by Freida McFadden and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t enjoy them. I know she’s very popular and the covers and descriptions of her books draw me in every time, but I’m never left feeling satisfied with the story at the end.
My biggest problem with this book is that the female main character, Abby, was irredeemably stupid. I am supposed to believe that this woman is a high powered executive in the cutthroat world of marketing, but she lacks the ability to set any kind of professional boundary with her assistant. How did that happen? She has zero common sense, zero strength and zero ability to communicate or set boundaries. How has this woman survived into adulthood? Meanwhile, does her husband have a job? He seems to have a lot of time to hang around with a flirtatious surrogate and never seems to be doing much of anything. Well, unless gaslighting Abby counts as a activity. The man does lots of that.
The storyline started out alright but it quickly veered into being too unbelievable. The twists were predictable, the ending was boring. Frankly, the ending was so poor that I regretted reading all the way to the end. It wasn’t thrilling. It definitely wasn’t psychologically thrilling. I think this might be my last McFadden book. No matter how much she is loved by others, she is not my jam.