I love thrillers... I do. This was... not it for me.

There were parts I liked (and if I'm honest, I know I liked them but can't really name why). My problem is that the climax happened at 79% and then it fizzles.

I don't care that it was more of a romantic thriller in a way. I don't even care that it featured a poly relationship (In romances that's a hard no for me, but it's fine in a thriller). Honestly, I see that that bothered a lot of people, but it was fine for me.

But this book had SO MUCH GOING FOR IT and they decided to take the story a different way, which didn't even make much sense at all. It fizzled after the climax to the point where when the reveal happened (AT 92%?!?! There were THREE more chapters after that... leading to an epilogue that felt thrown in to the point where I genuinely did not care, there wasn't even anything we didn't know in it) I didn't care. I felt nothing towards it.

Ii also love an unreliable, unLIKABLE narrator. I know a lot of people have issues with unlikable women especially, but I love them. But this main character was so incredibly obnoxious and the jealousy used as a plot device seemed more annoying and cheap than anything.

I was hoping for more.

I will be the first to admit, I was not a fan of we were never here but decided to try The Spare Room as another chance. I am SO happy I did. I read a ton of thrillers so I am typically predicting the ending. At no point was I correct in this novel when I was guessing what was happening. I devoured this book!

3.5 stars

I would call this a popcorn thriller. It's easy to read, page-turning, a bit sexy, and kind of over the top.

When it starts off, it seems like it'll be a fairly predictable domestic thriller that happens to take place a few months into the pandemic. Kelly is having relationship troubles with her fiance, so decides to go stay with newly reconnected friend and her husband. They happily welcome her into their lives in more ways than one, but then she discovers that the last woman to stay in their spare room went missing.

It becomes very hard to know who can be trusted and where the lies end. It gets very twisty and goes through ups and downs. Lots of fun, but sometimes it felt like it was just a bit too much.

I think this will be a really fun beach/pool side read this summer that can be read in a day or weekend. Just let it be over the top and fun and go along for the ride!

I really enjoyed this book. This book had a good storyline and was set during the pandemic. I am normally not into books set during the pandemic, because who wants to hear about that? But it wasn’t too much talk of it and I was still interested, and always turning the pages to read more. It did drag a little bit sometimes, but I still wanted to get to the end to find out what happens for everything to be pieced together. I would say this is a 3.5 rounded to a 4. For any of you, animal lovers, there is an authors note at the beginning, that nothing happens to the cat. That was a very cute authors note.

I’ve enjoyed other novels set during the pandemic with a “meets stranger in a unprecedented time and lives in close quarters” basic storyline and enjoyed them, but I didn’t fully get that this would lean so heavily into the erotic romance side of things.

Others have compared this to a thriller with a heavy influence of erotica or 50 shades of grey vibes and I agree.

Kelly, the main character was so unlikable and frankly..: clueless throughout the book. It was honestly hard to believe and overly far fetched that someone in her position wouldn’t leave the situation.

Things started getting more “thriller” around halfway through and again around the 70% mark. Not my favorite, but those who love thriller and erotic romance would like this combo!

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me on my toes the entire time with twist after twist! Although I thought I had it figured out I was wrong everytime! I enjoyed the addition of some smut as well!

I wouldn't label this as a thriller til at least the last quarter or so. That being said, the thriller-ness at the ending left me on my toes, and once everything was revealed surprised me! The beginning was somewhat slow and took me a while to get to the point of not wanting to put it down. This book is set in the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. Originally I hesitant on The Spare Room because I had seen several mentions of sex with Kelly, Sabrina and Nathan. While it does touch on this topic, this is nothing to be compared to 50 Shades of Grey! Nothing is gone into great detail and if it bothers you that much, it's skimmable. Back to the ending. Wow, I did not see that one coming! Great twist! I really enjoyed this one and look forward to future Andrea Bartz books!

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group and Andrea Bartz for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Look for The Spare Room to hit shelves June 20, 2023

The Spare Room
A Novel
by Andrea Bartz
This book was listed under mystery/thrillers. I suppose the mystery to me was what the hell am I reading? The thriller, I was not a fan of the thrills. It was just more long, long with plenty of a man, wife, and Kell-Bell and their sexual romps and cheesy. I just really could not or hard as I try to relate to this.

Meh. Not my favorite andrea Bartz book. I liked we were never here and the herd better. This had too much smut for me and not enough thriller. I didn’t like the main character Kelly. She was very annoying. I also didn’t love that it was still based in the pandemic. We already lived in the Covid era and quarantined and it’s still too early to write books about being quarantined. The ending was good though. If I got this book from the library or only read the sample, I would not have finished. Only pushed through because I like the author’s previous books and I wanted to rate this for NetGalley.

This was a slow burn domestic thriller that was really good but also not my thing? Does that make sense? I just didn’t like the characters at all. It was hard for me to feel invested in the plot because of just how completely clueless the main character was. But with that said, the thrills were real, and the ending was phenomenal. So definitely worth the read, and I’ll chalk it up to personal preference. I’ll still keep reading everything this amazing author writes.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Good storyline, I enjoyed the characters. I do feel like it did drag on at times though. Would have been better as a faster paced book.

This was a spicy book that is thoroughly enjoyable. Kelly tries to find happiness in the middle of the pandemic by escaping her fiance and her city life. Her and her cat, Virgo, temporarily move in with an old friend and her husband. Things turn spicy and then to love while the three navigate their relationship. One night, things turn deadly and that has Kelly questioning her partners and herself. As Kelly attempts to pick up the pieces of her life she learns something shocking but there is not a thing she can do about it.

I wouldn’t really say this is a mystery thriller. It was more of a dark romance but then it became a thriller towards the end. I actually enjoyed this book and the open relationship between the characters. It really had my full attention. I just HATED the FMC so much. She was just so naive and with all the red flags waving at her she still stayed and never questioned her situationship. The ending wasn’t all that great in my opinion. i enjoyed the first 50% of the book but then i really didnt like where the story was headed so thats why i rate it only 3 stars

This is probably going to be a horrible confession…

I couldn’t help but snicker and sigh through this book. I’m sorry. I don’t normally have such a horrible response, but this book was an eye roll and continuing sigh all the way through.

The premise wasn’t to bad, main character is on a downhill slide between work issues, a boyfriend issue, and being in lockdown. As a result, she is invited to stay with friends at their large mansion in a remote area of Virginia. Our protagonist, Kelly, takes the offer without a look back, an opportunity to rebuild a friendship, and a chance to restart her life. Also, this is a romance of sort ?

Sounds really good doesn’t it? It’s so not! For so many reasons! Before I segway into my diatribe, please note, I really loved this author’s book, “We Were Never Here.”

This book was a not a thriller. I need to rephrase that, this book was not a thriller until the last 15% and that is being generous. Our setting is during the pandemic, our protagonist Kelly is the most unlikable, irritating, half-wit, to come along in a long while. I don’t mind unlikable characters, but please, give them depth and intelligence.

I don’t mind a sexual relationship in a book, not in the least but when you advertise this as a thriller the book should be just that, and the romance and/or sexual relationship should be secondary. This book was backward in that regard.

Sadly, for me, I did not find the story the least bit entertaining or suspenseful. I was bored, bewildered, and down right disappointed. The only reason I didn’t give one star to this book, the cat, Virgo. I did finish it, but it was a chore.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow. This book threw me for a loop! So many unexpected twists and turns. I read it so quickly because I needed answers! Andrea Bartz's books never disappoint. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

This is my third book by Andrea Bartz and I was not disappointed. I liked the premise of the story and how different things were the summer of 2020 with the pandemic in full force. It did give me some anxiety thinking about those days and how things changed but not as much as I was nervous it would. While I liked the initial idea of the story main character is having relationship troubles and wants to get away decides to stay with old high school friend and husband in their mansion for a few weeks. It never totally felt like a thriller to me until maybe the last 25% of the book. It mostly felt like a dramatic suspense and even that is a stretch. My main issue with the book was Kelly the main character you never knew if you could trust her which I didn't really mind I just always felt she seemed really immature and not 34 years old and engaged to someone else. I wasn't crazy about the other characters in the book that didn't really make or break the book for me. I would recommend this book for sure but not really as a suspense/thriller and I know some people will probably be put of by the idea of the throuple relationship which I wasn't crazy about but didn't stop me from reading the book. I rounded up 3.5 to 4 stars because I did enjoy reading it and it definitely made me think about it for a while after. I want to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Spare Room was my 4th book by Andrea Bartz. I devoured We Were Never Here and The Lost Night, and liked The Herd. She is the queen of the unreliable narrator, and The Spare Room is no exception...or is it?

The Spare Room begins in May of 2020...remember those days? We were wiping down our groceries, the streets were quiet, and hearing someone cough felt like a gun shot went off.

Kelly, like so many of us in the Spring of 2020, is not thriving. Months before, she quit her job in Chicago because her fiancé got a new job in Philadelphia, so she moved with him. She couldn't keep her position because the marketing company she worked for did not like the idea of remote work (oh, the pre-pandemic irony). So, she's stuck at home in a new city that is shut down. She has to postpone all of her wedding festivities until things open back up again. Her wedding venue needed a new date from her ASAP or else she forfeits her deposit. When her fiancé says maybe they should pause on the whole wedding thing, she is worried. There are allusions to something happening recently that Kelly did...something bad that may threaten to end their relationship.

Fortunately she reconnects with an old high school friend, Sabrina. Sabrina writes a popular series of spicy action romances and lives with her husband in a mansion in Virginia. When Kelly shares her relationship woes, Sabrina is all, "Hey, girl bring your cat and come stay with us for a couple weeks." Kelly decides this is a great idea and leaves. I mean, it's only been like 18 years since they've seen each other. It's not like they are strangers, right?

Sabrina and her husband are the perfect couple and welcome Kelly and her cat into their pod with open arms. She is at peace in their house and they all get along so well. And soon Kelly wonders, could the three of them be something more? But, also, are they to be trusted?

I think it's interesting that we have been getting some fiction that takes place during the beginning of the pandemic. The way the author described Kelly's days basically being trapped at Sabrina's house (we were allll trapped in our houses) was very descriptive. At one point, Kelly mentions she's only been there two weeks and I thought to myself, "Wait, it's had to have been months there." But that's what 2020 was all about. It was the longest shortest time of times.

For the most part, I enjoyed The Spare Room and the sinister undercurrents of the house and it's owner. I do feel like it could have gone even more bonkers, and the ending didn't land as well as I wanted.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

It’s early in the pandemic and Kelly’s relationship is struggling. She reaches out to an old friend and they rekindle their friendship. Kelly hops on a train to head to Deerbrook, a small town outside of DC, from Philadelphia to get some much needed space from her fiancé. She never expects what she’ll endure in the mansion of Sabrina and Nathan.

The Spare Room was not what I was expecting from this book. I felt like there were constant twists that really kept me engaged! The final twist really tied the whole book together. Andrea Bartz really knows how to write suspense and I think this is going to be another hit!

This is the type of book I love, where I kind of dislike everyone and don't know who to trust because they all seem shady in their own way. Pre-warning: if you don't like books involving a lot of sexuality, stay away. It doesn't go into great detail in the many scenes but it's there throughout the entire book. This is another one that gets right into it and drew my attention immediately. While I've been sitting on "We Were Never Here" for a year, this is my first by this author and now I am dying to read that one. Her covers alone are so appealing and once I read that first page, her writing is as well. I definitely recommend this one and will give it Four Stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC.

Shortly after I started this book, I realized it was not for me. The cover intrigued me but I only got to 20% before throwing in the towel. I did not connect with any of the characters at all. It's supposed to be a mystery/thriller but to me, it's 90% Fifty Shades of Gray and 10% thriller. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.