This book was very interestingly thought out. A thriller, clearly, the premise of the book becomes obvious early on, and there are various insane twists. I really enjoyed this book because it was unlike others I had previously read and the ending was not what anyone would expect in any situation. The story revolves around a couple who are about to give birth and decide to go on a last trip before the baby is born. They struggled to originally become pregnant but now that they are, they are getting a last few days of relaxation in before the baby comes and go to a nice remote place. However, things are not what they seem, and neither are the people in the book or those they encounter. The writing was excellent, and the book was compelling so that I was unable to put it down for any length of time without picking it back up and sneaking in a few pages here and there. I would recommend it if you love something with a wonderfully creepy vibe that doesn't give you any sense of what will occur next.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book has an interesting storyline - one that I can't divulge too much without giving away the twist. We follow Jamie and Victoria (in alternating timelines) as they battle with a couple, who has kidnapped their newborn son in an attempt to replace the son they lost. Truthfully, Victoria is a pretty awful person and I couldn't get onboard with her as a character, whereas Jamie tries so very hard to please Victoria and goes above & beyond to try and get back their son. I felt for Jamie because he succumbed to "love is blind" . There are some cringey scenes (which add to the storyline & character development) as well as sensitive scenes (with child death, infertility and child birth). Overall I gave this book 3 stars. I've read more compelling thrillers but yet I did enjoy the book - the plot twist was a bit of a redeeming moment for me.

Thank you NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
My anxiety was through the roof for almost all of this book.
I was initially a bit creeped out by the story, but it sucked me in and I wanted to keep reading to see what happened. I loved all the twists as well which I didn’t see coming.
Written from dual time lines and dual narrators you get to see husband &wife perspectives.
Jamie and Victoria have gone on a baby moon but come home empty handed. Fighting to keep secrets and their marriage together, Victoria and Jamie stop at nothing to save their family.
Jaime was my favorite character & I liked the ending.

This book came out of no where. The twist got me.

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first child and decide to take an impromptu trip before the baby is due. They go to a remote, countryside guest house run by an older couple to spend a relaxing weekend. However, it soon turns into a nightmare. Not only does the baby decide to come early, but they realize the older couple isn't going to allow them to leave or get help. Can they live with what happened during that nightmare trip?

I really thought I knew what was happening. This triggered a primal rage and fear in me and it took me a minute to really get into. I found myself so angry with most of the characters. Maybe that anger is what blinded me from the crazy twist. In hindsight I feel like I should have saw it coming, but instead I thought I was being too hard on one of the main characters.

This is told in two timelines and two perspectives which deepens the mystery. It's done very artfully and kept me reading each page because I just needed to know how it ends. I'd like to not say too much more as this book is best to go in blind, but highly recommend for those who like a good thriller. I also recommend reading TW's if you're sensitive to subjects of motherhood and relationships (however, may spoil for some which is why I'm not including any specifics in this review).

Dark thriller that had you hooked from the off. The book was very well written. Great plot. Very exciting. Fast paced to get your heart racing. Lots of twists and turns to keep you interested. Loved this book

The plot line focuses on Jamie and Victoria who spend the weekend in a remote country guesthouse when Victoria is pregnant. When Victoria goes into labor much earlier than expected, the plot begins to thicken as they find that they might not be able to leave the guesthouse. Told in alternative points of view between Jamie and Victoria, most chapters also end with somewhat of a cliffhanger, and twists and turns abound. Although I have read reviews which disparage the ending as “out there” and “wholly unbelievable,” I did not think that at all. This is an entertaining and well-written domestic/psychological thriller that is definitely a page-turner and a quick, great summer read.

I did not care much for this book. Perhaps because I had just read one right before it with a similar theme...child loss. Jaime and Victoria take a mini-vacation at a sec;uded guesthouse a few weeks before she is due to give birth. Of course, things go wrong almost from the start. I don't want to give away any spoilers. I just have to say that the whole thing was just a bit unbelievable to me. And that, as the story goes on, it is hard to accept that Victoria could do the things she did. What kind of parent would go to the extremes that she did to keep her secrets? I also got pretty tired of Jaimie's whining about all the things that he could not manage. due to his disablities. He acted like he was ashamed of himself throughout the whole book. Accept yourself for who and what you are and move on!

I enjoyed reading this book, although it did take me some time to get into the story. I found the characters a bit unlikeable and a little annoying. Jamie and Victoria often made choices that did not make sense to me that left me wondering why. The plot was quite different and suspenseful. Some unexpected twists left me surprised. I recommend reading The Guest House if you enjoy reading a fast-paced mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5 on here)

Jamie and Victoria have gone on a baby moon. They wanted one last vacation of the two of them before the baby came so Victoria found a perfect retreat in the countryside in a guesthouse. Barry and Fiona are the couple that run the guesthouse and they appear to be more than nice and accommodating.

However, after the first night Jamie and Victoria awoke to an empty and locked house, and Victoria’s contractions have started coming on strong. Even though the baby isn’t due for another couple of weeks.
*
Wow. Where to even begin with this book. I absolutely devoured it. I didn’t want to put it down because I just needed to know what was going to happen. The story goes back and forth between the present time and the events that occurred when they were in the house. The twists were amazing and were so unexpected.

I also loved how the author included a MC with a disability because I feel like that is not something that is included in a lot of books. Overall, I would highly recommend this one if you are looking for an anxiety provoking and suspenseful book!
*
This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby. They go to a small guest house located in a small village and befriends an elderly couple who runs the guest house, Barry and Fiona. But on the night, Victoria gets contractions and as Jamie is trying to take Victoria to the hospital, they find that the guest house is locked. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be found and all their car keys and phones are nowhere in sight. Now the baby is coming and there's no way out.

This was actually a gripping psychological thriller. The first part of the book was OK and the story divides between the past when the events inside the guest house is taking place to the present where Jamie and Victoria are trying to get on with their lives with Jamie trying to find ways to get back his son. There were some couple of twists and turns along the way many of them were unexpected and there were different POV's--mostly Jamie's and Victoria's perspectives. The ending was a complete unexpected ending and overall in this book, I felt like I was watching an interesting thriller book that is going to put me on the edge of my seat. There were some parts, particularly the first few chapters were slightly boring but it got more interesting towards the middle of the book.

If you like a dark thriller with a little family drama in it, then this one is for you--worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Thank you to @netgalley & @poisonedpenpress for this eARC!

★ ★ ★ ★ ⭑ / 5

Woah. First of all, my anxiety was through the ROOF for almost all of this book.

All of the characters were developed so well and I felt like I could feel the intensity of situations as they were experiencing them. I thought this was a terrifying concept that definitely did not play out the way I thought it would!

Something I really appreciated about this book is the way Morgan-Bentley seamlessly incorporated Jamie’s cerebral palsy into the story. I felt I was able to gain a very basic understanding of the disorder & loved the representation that is so often lacking in novels.

My only knock against this book is that I felt some of the situations that involved Danny were very intense and disturbing. Just be warned if things involving children trigger you.

Bottom line: this is a great psychological thriller and I would definitely recommend it!

4.5 ⭐️

WOW

What a wild read this was!

A couple that go on a “babymoon” come home empty handed. Fighting to keep secrets and their marriage together, Victoria and Jamie stop at nothing to save their family.

Written from dual time lines and dual narrators you get to see husband and wife perspectives.

The twists and turn of events… I didn’t see coming… and that’s all I can say!

Incredible fast paced read!

It's every couple's worst nightmare, playing out for our main characters in this book, Jamie and Victoria: the London couple has booked a getaway to a remote guest cottage, run. by a charming, if slightly offbeat couple. But the morning after check-in, their hosts are nowhere to be found - along with. Jamie and Victoria's car keys and cell phones. Oh, and did I forget to mention Victoria is heavily pregnant and the baby chooses that moment to start pushing its way into the world? Yeah. Talk about the trip from hell.

The book takes place in two timelines: One from that fateful trip, which would forever change the couple's lives, and the present day, when they are dealing with the aftermath.

I have to say I absolutely ran through this book because I jus had to know how it was going to end! There was so much suspense and the author does a great job of just ramping up the anxiety and pressure with each passing chapter that I was just completely caught up in each of the storylines (past and present) as they continued that I absolutely needed to read JUSTONEMORECHAPTER!

The ending was a little out of left field, with a couple twists, some that were believable, some that were a little less than believable. But overall, I really enjoyed it. I did not see things coming, I can certainly say that, to the book's credit! And I was invested in the storyline, right up to the last page, which I recommend you read until, hint hint! You won't want to miss a single detail of this one, because it doesn't slow up, even for a minute.

This was a fast-paced thriller, right from the first pages to the last, so if that's the kind of edge-of-your seat oil you're looking for, this is the one! I for one greatly enjoyed it, devouring it in about a day-and-a-half!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

A couple goes to a remote getaway weeks before their baby is due. But after the weekend, they come without their baby and having other secrets.

This was a bit slow for me. Part of it was I didn’t find the characters relatable. However, there were some good twists toward the end that I legitimately didn’t see coming!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Robin Morgan Bentley's The Guest House has many unexpected twists. It is a quick read with some jaw-dropping scenes.

Synopsis:
Jamie and Victoria are expecting a baby soon. The couple takes a trip to a bed and breakfast to spend time together before the baby is born. All appears well until Victoria goes into labor. As Jamie rushes to take Victoria to the hospital, he discovers they are locked inside the guest house. The keys to their car and phones are missing. There is no way out. What will happen next?

To fully enjoy The Guest House readers must suspend belief and follow along with the story. At times the book tests the boundaries of realism, but there are some very clever plot twists that make it fascinating. There are wonderful creepy elements that kept me flipping pages.

The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley is available on September 13th.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for sharing this unique domestic thriller with me. I appreciate your kindness. I look forward to reading more from Robin Morgan-Bentley.

I struggled with this book from the very start. For the first half of the book, we're given very little information about the two main characters except the fact they've been through some unknown traumatic event. This made it incredibly hard for me to care about either of them, or what had happened to them.

As the event is laid out for us, I found myself disconnecting more and more, becoming frustrated with how unrealistic the story was and just not enjoying the read at all.

If you do like slow-burn mysteries, this one could be a good read for you. I've read many positive reviews about the book so others were able to see something I couldn't, but it just wasn't one for me, unfortunately.

Loved the cerebral palsy representation in this storyline. A quick insightful read with lots of twists and turns that I didn’t expect at all. The things we do to protect the ones we love, indeed.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

With a few weeks to go until their first baby is due, Jamie and Victoria head off for a weekend break in a small countryside guesthouse.

The next morning, Jamie and Victoria awake to find the guesthouse has been emptied. Both their mobile phones and their car keys have disappeared, the owners are nowhere to be seen, and all the doors are locked. Even though it's a few weeks early, Victoria knows the contractions are starting. And there's no way out...

Unfortunately this one did not do it for me. The premise sounds so good and even as I was copying the synopsis to include it in this review I got so excited about it. But then I remembered what I read and sadly I did not vibe with this book. Looking at goodreads though I saw there's many readers who highly enjoyed it so whatever doesn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you!

I was initially a little creeped out by the story at the beginning, but it sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to keep reading to see what happened. I loved all the twists as well that I didn’t see coming.