BOOK DESCRIPTION

An unwanted pregnancy. A kidnapping. Escape…

University student Jemma Howell’s life has turned upside down: she’s pregnant and her boyfriend has just died.

A lawyer manipulates Jemma to sign away the child to her dead boyfriend’s parents, the wealthy Winchesters.

Six months after giving birth, Jemma is still obsessed with her baby’s welfare. A chance opportunity occurs. She makes a split-second decision.

She is now a kidnapper and on the run. Detective Constable Tim Findlay is assigned to the Winchester kidnapping, his first big case.

In the course of the investigation, he and his partner uncover deeply hidden secrets about the Winchester family.

For Tim, the difference between right and wrong becomes blurred.

BYE BABY BUNTING is a page-turning psychological suspense that explores society’s attitudes to single parenting and adoption and the laws that apply to birth-mother, child and adoptive parents. The story takes place in Auckland, New Zealand, Hawaii and Winnipeg, Canada between 1963 and the present.

Author Bio

Dr Tannis Laidlaw has worn many hats in her career as a psychologist: clinician in private practice, in psychiatric bins and in the prison service; researcher in schizophrenia, anxiety, psychopathy and other personality disorders, mind-body interactions, and the therapeutic use of hypnosis; research manager; writer and lecturer.

She has always been fascinated by the human condition, not only in those with crossed wiring but also when ordinary people are driven to behave in extraordinary ways. Her fiction reflects her psychological background; her non-fiction, her interests as a wife, mother and friend.

Tannis lives with her husband in Auckland, but spends half her time at a deserted beach in Northland, the semi-tropical northern part of New Zealand, and in a remote cabin in the woods on a Canadian lake – all places where she writes and writes and writes.

Website: www.tannislaidlaw.com

Follow @TannisLaidlaw

My Review:

I really enjoyed reading this book. It took a few pages for me to get into it, but once I began reading the story it was hard to put down. Being a child of the 1960’s it was easy to read this book and see where Jemma was coming from and her feelings about being looked down upon due to her pregnancy. I really liked how the story was written with the prologue giving you an insight into the story, and then the story starting from the beginning of Penny’s life.

This was a story of love, loss, and family but with the added psychological distress that Jemma went through giving up her baby and the despair that she felt about wanting her back and knowing her. Graemme was an added bonus to the story. He was a man that knew that Jemma was wrong, but his feelings for her overpowered his belief that she was in the wrong. Tim was a also an added bonus to the story with his detective work and his loyalty to his superior officer, Sarge. He was upset that they were given the low work, but he never really got angry with Sarge for the fact that his mess up caused this. He worked with him and he respected him.

I would like to know how things work out now with Jemma, Tim, and Penny’s family. I hope there will be another book coming along to answer the questions that were left at the end of this one. I give this story a 4 star review and look forward to reading more books by Ms. Laidlaw.