I liked this book; however, the ending was a bit confusing. When Amber goes to prom with her tutee in 1997, she gets sick and has to go to their hotel room. She delivered a baby that she didn't even realize she was pregnant with. When the baby is found dead, she gets labeled Prom Mom, and goes to prison over it. Joe, her prom date, was labeled as Cad Dad because he failed to check on her.

Move forward 23 years, and Amber travels back home after her stepfather passes away. After putting her old house with her stepfather up for sale, she realizes that she doesn't want to leave. She opens a gallery, and begins a life she loves, until she runs into Joe. Joe brings with him drama, narcissism, and a history she doesn't want to remember. It took a while for Amber to find that out. When she does, the real action begins.

Once I figured out the ending, it is one that you will not want to miss. I only gave it four stars because of the issue with the ending, otherwise, it was a great read. ( )

Laura Lippman is one of my go-to authors for a solid crime novel. They tend to be on the lighter side and are always set in or around Baltimore, and she manages to keep things fresh. Her latest is maybe not as strong as her last few books, but still solid escapist reading for late nights or crowded beaches.

Amber Glass was a teenager when she became news fodder for having a baby during her prom. Now an adult, she returns to Baltimore, where she opens an art gallery. She runs into the one person who knows what she went through, her prom date, and they strike up a cautious friendship. Joe's having some issues; he loves his wife and the woman he'd been having an affair with is disinclined to let him go. And he has financial problems, exacerbated by the pandemic. If Amber's reasons for befriending Joe are murky, Joe's motivations may be even murkier.

I kept thinking I knew where this book was going and each time I was wrong. There aren't any truly likable characters and the plot is one that left me guessing to the end. Lippman is getting a little edgier as she goes, which is fun. ( )

I'm 3/4ths of the way through and nothing has happened. Lots of flashbacks and the non-surprise affair. Weird for Lippman who is usually more on target than this. The writing and characterizations as strong as usual, but I wish something would happen already. ( )

Prom night didn't turn out the way Amber would have wanted it to turn out.

Instead of partying, Amber was in pain and went to the room her date, Joe, had booked.

The pains were labor pains. Amber delivered the baby and then ended up killing it....something she didn't remember.

She went to a juvenile detention center, and twenty years later ends back in her hometown of Baltimore that she swore she never wanted to see again.

Amber knew Joe lived there with his wife and didn't plan to see him, but wanted to.

As Amber was getting her art gallery ready for its opening, Joe came into the shop, and it all started over again for her. What about for Joe?

Alternating chapters tell Joe's, Meredith's, and Amber's stories both past and present.

PROM MOM is a slow build up with mostly unlikable characters, especially Joe, and a plot that makes you wonder where this story line is going.

You will find out....BUT…the background information, the real estate information and other detailed information dragged for me, and I wasn't interested in it.

All of that took away from the story line for me.

The last ten percent of the book was the most interesting and had a big surprise, but not enough to rate the book higher. 3/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. ( )

Prom Mom by Laura Lippman is a highly recommended domestic psychological suspense novel.

Amber Glass was known as "Prom Mom," the girl who gave birth and allegedly killed her baby while her date Joe Simpson or "Cad Dad," chased after an ex-girlfriend. Even though Amber escaped from her past in Baltimore, which made the tabloids, she chose to return and stay after her stepfather passed away. She's opening an art gallery and plans to stay out of Joe's way, maybe.

Joe is still in town, a successful commercial real estate developer, and married to a plastic surgeon, Meredith, his soul mate but that doesn't stop him from having affairs. His current lover is a young realtor, Jordan Altman, but he pursues a relationship with Amber. When the pandemic and lockdown occur, it threatens Joe's way of life as well as his financial bottom line.

The writing and character development is phenomenal, as expected. Readers won't necessarily like any of the characters, but you will immediately know who they are and how they fit into the plot and the time period. The plot will pull you right into the story and hold your attention throughout. Prom Mom is a slow-moving novel but is worth the time to reach the end. There is a twist at the end that I didn't anticipate and appreciated quite a bit.

Parts of this narrative were very engrossing and parts made me roll my eyes. Any pandemic or lockdown plot element is an immediate negative for me. It sets the novel in a specific time period and immediately dates it. This one wasn't too pompous retelling those events, but enough to turn me off.

And if you have to write about the pandemic, give us some realistic action featuring the people who were working everyday with no time off at home to provide you care or toilet paper and frozen food. Call all of us essential but admit, at the time, we were expendable.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/07/prom-mom.html ( )