The Surrogate by Penelope Ward

Narrated by Jacob Morgan and Desiree Ketchum

Book 2 in a Series of Standalones. Contemporary Romance.

Thank you to Penelope Ward for gifting me a copy of this audiobook for an honest review. This review contains affiliate links. I never take payment for review, and my reviews are always honest.

When Penelope Ward offered me an audio arc of The Surrogate I jumped at the chance to listen. I didn’t read The Aristocrat first and you didn’t really have to but I could tell it would have been even better if I had because from what I understand, the hero of The Surrogate has a big part in it.

Sig is still lost 5 years after the love of his life died. They only had 6 short months together but he will treasure that time forever. For the 5 years since her death, he’s had a revolving door of 1-night-stands, but he’s not ready for anything more.

Until his late wife’s parents ask him to father a baby from his wife’s frozen eggs. They promise they will raise the baby and he could have as little or as much contact as he wants. They already have a young surrogate ready to go. Sig doesn’t want to but he also can’t deny his wife’s dying wish.

Abby is a selfless young woman from Rhode Island. When she flew to London to meet the father of the potential baby she would surrogate, things didn’t go very well. He accused Abby of ill intentions but there was an underlying attraction despite the 12-year age gap. He wanted to dislike her, and even though he was a jerk, she couldn’t help her attraction to him.

“I wanted him to love me that way. Although I wasn’t sure he’d ever be capable of it again, I could never accept anything less.”

Once Abby became pregnant it was such a natural evolution to become more. It’s confusing and messy as hell. Is it wrong for a man to fall in love with the surrogate carrying his and his late wife’s baby? It sure didn’t seem wrong in The Surrogate.

“I used to wake up in the morning and wish I weren’t alive. Now I wake up and think of you—some funny thing you said or wondering when I get to see you next.”

Once I started The Surrogate I shut off the world and listened straight through. I went through the full gamut of emotions with a few real tears. I loved both Sig and Abby and it was a slow road to get them together, but nobody else could have her either!

“No one is going to fuck you while you’re pregnant with my baby but me.”

I loved The Surrogate so much, now I want to go back and grab The Aristocrat before re-listening to this one again.

“You’ve taken over the dark places that used to exist in my mind.” His eyes were piercing. “You saved me, Abby. You really have.”

Likes:

I loved Abby, she was completely selfless.
Sig was grumpy on the outside but a sweetheart on the inside.
All of the side characters.
It really took its time with a slow burn.
Just the right amount of sex for the story.

Dislikes:

She was the aggressor in the relationship.

The Narration:

The voice acting was fantastic. Jacob Morgan with a British accent? YES PLEASE. Desiree Ketchum embodied Abby perfectly. I think the narration added to my enjoyment of the story.

The Down & Dirty (TLDR):

I absolutely loved The Surrogate by Penelope Ward. Though it stands alone, I wish I read The Aristocrat first because I think this may have been bumped to 5 stars if I had. The dual POV allowed me to get to know and love both characters. I laughed and cried and felt every emotion in between. I will be grabbing The Aristocrat and listening to that soon, and then I look forward to re-listening to The Surrogate. There are very few books I like to re-listen to, but this would be one of them.