The Better Mother

A Thriller

By: Jennifer van der Kleut

Narrated by: Xe Sands

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.

©2025 Jennifer van der Kleut (P)2025 Jennifer van der Kleut

Wow! So stressful.

Great book right out the gate. Twisty to the end and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Kept my attention

Good story and maintained my interest. Sadly, the narration made it less enjoyable than it could have been.

Likable main character

Loved everything about this book! Narrator and story. I couldn’t stop listening to this intense thriller

No Spoilers…

I think this is good and worth the credit. That being said, the last 1/4 of the book goes off the rails and becomes less and less plausible. If you can get past that, it’s a great book.

Good book but.,,

The narrator’s voice was too weak and trembling for me. That was ok for parts of the book but didn’t work overall.