Playing Nice by JP Delaney

 

#blurb

Pete Riley answers the door one morning to a parent’s worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, who breaks the devastating news that Pete’s two-year-old, Theo, isn’t Pete’s real son – their babies got mixed up at birth.

The two families – Pete, his partner Maddie, and Miles and his wife Lucy – agree that, rather than swap the boys back, they’ll try to find a more flexible way to share their children’s lives. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an investigation that unearths disturbing questions about just what happened the day the babies were switched.

And when Theo is thrown out of nursery for hitting other children, Maddie and Pete have to ask themselves: how far do they want this arrangement to go? What secrets lie hidden behind the Lamberts’ smart front door? How much can they trust the real parents of their child – or even each other?

 

#review

Now I am a massive fan of JP Delaney’s writing and I have been since reading The Girl Before, but this is a whole other level!

Told at pace – a tale of love, rivalry and menace! 

The world tells us that the love a parent has for their child is the greatest love known to man. We have stories of nature and nurture claiming their effects, and trying to be champion over the other. This story gets right to the root of the debate – when babies are swapped at birth and raised by two quite different families – whose behaviours do the children display, whose interests do they mirror. The unfolding of the story tells us that love is strong, pride is unreal and the desire to win can conquer all!

There are so many issues explored within this book – disability, wealth, domestic violence to name just a few. And every one is told with the pitch perfect sensitivity. Reading as very real and authentic. Creating a read of depth as well as superb plot.

The best read from JP Delaney EVER! And that is saying something!

 

Five stars

Out now!