I’m a huge fan of BA Paris and was very excited to be approved for this ARC. I have mixed feelings about this book. The entire twist was revealed in the epilogue and I didn’t see it coming at all. That’s both good and bad in my opinion. I would have loved to have been guessing about who had done it throughout but no one really stood out as suspicious enough. It also was hard for me to correctly picture all these people. It seemed like the setting was not 2023 but the 1990’s. That said, I read this in one sitting; unable to put it down so that says something I guess?

This was a fast paced book, but in the middle it lagged a little. Didn’t know where it was going. I found it a little long, but did enjoy the ending and the secrets that people held and how it all unraveled.

Thanks to Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for my electronic advanced readers copy.

Publish date: February 20, 2024

The Guest by B.A. Paris 🌿
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
Release date: Feb 20, 2024

Another psych thriller from Paris that will have you reading late into the night. What a disappointing ending until you read the epilogue and woo 😅 Lots to unpack from that. Definitely not as captivating as BCD but totally worth the read. I didn’t really love any of the characters but the story still had me invested.

Thank you to Netgalley, St Martins Press, and B.A Paris for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Received this as an ARC - Thank you! Being a long time B. A. Paris fan and must say this is one of her better books. Most everyone in this book has a secret, big ones! When friend of 20 years Laure comes to stay with Iris and Gabriel after she leaves her husband Pierre in France, the visit keeps extending. There’s enough on Iris’s plate with Gabriel and now piling on Laure’s problems and constant boo-hooing she is grateful for her friendship with new neighbors Esme and Hugh and noting the odd Joseph living with them. There’s enough twists and turns in this book that the epilogue totally threw me for a loop (in a wowza kind a way), was not expecting that! Solid 4.5 on this one. Would be a 5 if Laure’s whining was reigned back a bit

I really appreciate this author’s commitment to thrillers. This one definitely kept me guessing up to a certain point when I figured it out, but what a wild ride.

Iris and Gabriel are returning from holiday and their friend has taken up in their home while they were gone. Their friend’s husband has just told her he has a child, and she is devastated. She ends up overstaying her welcome, while Iris and Gabriel are walking on eggshells around each other after Gabriel came upon a young man he knew dying.

Loved how this one was told in third person, opened with an explosion, and went back in time. The epilogue being in first person was a nice touch!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bit of a slow burner, but nonetheless still a good read by BA Paris. There were quite a lot of characters so it took a bit to keep track of everyone, but the last chapter was a good twist. A who dunnit that keeps you guessing to the end.

Don’t go thinking you go this book figured out, because you would be totally wrong! I had to know the who, what, when, where, and why before being able to put this one down, so needless to say this one got finished in one sitting, and it was totally worth putting off everything that I needed to do today!!! A definite must read!

This book was a little too long to me. The beginning was repetitive and a little annoying and the payoff didn’t seem worth it. Slightly predictable.

3 stars

As a lover of B.A. Paris this book fell a little flat for me. Maybe if this name wasn’t attached to it I might’ve rated it higher. The Paris name holds quite a bit of weight so my expectations were high. For an unknown or a completely different author this would’ve been a 3.5-4 star read.

It’s quite a bit of a slower burn than her past novels. And the twist didn’t hit quite as hard as previous novels either.
It is a great book, and if you’re new to her works this is a great place to start because it will only go up from here, it’s just not HER best work. Still a great book though.

Holy crap I loved this book. B.A. Paris is known for being an amazing thriller author and she did NOT let us down with this one. Thriller is hands down my favorite genre, and after a long break branching out and trying different things this was a perfect welcome home. I absolutely DEVOURED this book in less than a day. The story follows married couple Iris and Gabriel after a series of traumas have left Gabriel in a deep depression. In the midst of Iris trying to figure out how to connect with her husband again, their close friend Laure shows up at their house after leaving her husband when he confessed to gathering a secret child. As the story progresses, you start to wonder just how many of the characters are keeping secrets. As someone who typically guesses the twists in stories pretty early on, this actually kept me guessing and coming up with new theories- while also leaving enough breadcrumbs to make you go “it was right in front of my face the whole time!”. If you’re looking for a book you won’t be able to put down- this one absolutely delivers.

The Guest will be available from @stmartinspress starting February 20th, 2024.

Upon returning home from vacation, Gabriel and Iris find one of their good friends, Laure, in their house, wearing Iris' clothes, and sleeping in their bed after she's left her husband. Laure and her husband, Pierre have been best friends with Gabriel and Iris, so this separation is especially difficult. The breakup comes from Pierre's confession of marital infidelity which has produced a child.

When Laure continues to stay longer, becomes unstable, and becomes a nuisance, overstaying her welcome, Iris and Gabriel look to a new couple in town for friendship.

This book, as all of the author's books, has a number of twists and turns. Each of the three couples has a story but there are also some unexpected connections between the couples. It did get pretty hard to follow all of the plot twists and some of the main characters dialogue became tiresome and repetitive. I think most of us would have kicked Laure out a lot faster than happened.

All-in-all, this was an entertaining book, not Paris's best one. I did remain engaged and it was hard to put down just the same.

The Guest was a slow burn. Felt like the story was not overly twisty .. and then the ending hit and BAM. Unfortunately, I think the twist just happened way too late to keep my attention throughout.
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Iris and Gabriel return from a vacation to find their close friend, Laure, in their home after fighting with her husband, Pierre. Laure’s visit comes with a bunch of surprises and a lot of problems for everyone involved.
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I love BA Paris and she is definitely my favorite author. Although The Guest started off a little slow felt like it was worth reading it. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will preface this by saying that B.A. Paris has been one of my favorite authors since she first burst out on the scene-- Behind Closed Doors took my breath away and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. So, no matter how each subsequent book delivers, she is an auto-buy (or in this case, an eagerly expected auto-read for an ARC) for me.

I did not read the genre category of this novel before diving in and, had I, I would have adjusted my expectations accordingly. B.A. Paris is unique in that you never know what story you are going to get. It could be a thriller like Behind Closed Doors, psychological suspense like The Breakdown, or a family drama like The Dilemma (which gutted me and had me in tears by the end).

The Guest was a slow-burn mystery that ignited into suspense. The first thirty percent read more like contemporary fiction and I, the reader, could feel the frustration of the main couple as they tried to deal with their friends of twenty years separation with grace and patience despite the female friend ungratefully taking full advantage of their hospitality by continuing to live with them full-time.

Until the sixty-ish point, we had the main couple with secrets, their friends (the fighting couple) harboring secrets, and a new couple that lived down the road with a landscaper who also appeared to be withholding secrets of their own. It was a cesspool of who was hiding what from whom, and then BAM there is a body. After that sixty percent mark, the bodies lined up like dominos and plot-wise, it felt as if the rollercoaster had finally made its rushing descent after the slow and steady tick-tick-tick of the suspenseful climb to the top of the drop.

I did figure out one of the big twists, but what kept me going was finding out the why and the how of it all, so I wasn’t at all disappointed. B.A. Paris delivered a new twist on a familiar trope with her originality and connected what appeared to be seemingly unrelated plot lines that all intersected at the end in a satisfying way.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. And B.A. Paris for writing it!

Description from Amazon...Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and again: sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris' clothes, even rearranging the furniture.

Laure has walked out on her husband―and their good friend―Pierre, over his confession of an affair and a secret child. Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive of their friends, but as Laure's mood becomes increasingly unpredictable, her presence takes its toll.

Iris and Gabriel's only respite comes in the form of a couple new to town. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past.

Really enjoyed this book! Read it over two days and could not put it down. When you think you have figured it out and then say wait, what?! Well done B.A. Paris, I will absolutely look forward to reading another one of your books. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

While I’m a huge fan of this author, this story sort of fell flat for me. It was a quick and easy read but I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I appreciated the twist, I was just hoping for more shocking truths a little earlier on.

I was excited to read The Guest because BA Paris is one of my absolute favorite authors, but sadly this fell a little flat for me. It felt like it took until about 60% into the book for anything big to really happen, where before that it was a lot of repetitive activities by the characters. I never really connected with the characters, good or bad. I just kept expecting something to happen. A lot of the book seemed choppy and disconnected. All of the relationships between the characters seemed confusing and there just didn't appear to be genuine connections. The characters didn't seem very developed. Positive was I didn't suspect the ending.

Gabriel Pelley, a medical professional, finds local boy Charlie Ingram in the quarry of their village after his bike went over the edge. He is at the point of death when Gabriel reaches him and Gabriel remains with him until the boy dies. The boys last words are a message to his mother.

Gabriel tries to move on with his life but the boys last words continue to haunt him. When he and his wife, Iris, return from a trip to find their friend Laure in their home, claiming an argument with her husband, Pierre, forced her to leave their Paris apartment and come stay with Gabriel and Iris, thanks to an open door policy shared between the two couples.

As the weeks go on, Iris meets a new couple that has moved to the village, Hugh and Esme. As they become closer to Hugh and Esme, along with their gardener, Joseph, things begin to unravel.

This book was a great story by B.A. Paris. Paris’ writing style is always fast paced and easy to read. There are never any lulls in the story and she knows how to do a twist so well!!

The Guest by B.A. Paris, set for publication of February 24, 2024, is an excellent edition to her bibliography and I enjoyed the read very much.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and netgalley for the ability to review this ARC.
I'm a huge B.A Paris fan. This wasn't my favorite but still a great read.

This was a slow burn but once it picked up, it did not disappoint. If you're a fan of her other works then you should enjoy this one. If you're new to B.A Paris, please don't let the slower beginning discourage you. This is a psychological thriller involving a married couple and their new guest. It gave me The hang that rocks the cradle vibes. Another great book by B.A Paris. I'm glad I didn't have to wait to get my hands on this one.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I saw that one of my favorite domestic thriller authors was coming out with a new book, I knew that I needed to read it right away! The Guest by B.A. Paris is a domestic thriller with plenty of twists and turns. The story revolves around Iris and Gabriel, an ordinary couple with an unexpected house-guest. Their friend Laure has turned up and asked for a place to stay. She's decided to leave their mutual friend Pierre over allegations of cheating. At first, Iris and Gabriel are happy to let her in, but she soon overstays her welcome.

Here is an exciting excerpt from the Prologue:

"“Oh, they’re back!” Esme exclaimed.
Iris turned her head towards the terrace, but before she could register that anything was wrong, Esme had thrust Hamish into her arms and was hurrying across the lawn towards Hugh. Alarmed, Iris caught Gabriel’s eye, and her heart dropped at the desolation on his face... And then a wail started, and at first she thought it was coming from Hamish.
But it wasn’t Hamish, it was Esme, weeping brokenly in Hugh’s arms."

Overall, The Guest is a domestic thriller with plenty of twists and surprises. One highlight of this book is the relatable premise. Who hasn't allowed a friend to stay the night or had an unexpected house-guest? It would happen to anyone. Another highlight of this book is the shocking surprise midway through, which is in addition to multiple twists and turns throughout the book.

If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I'm not a huge fan fo multiple 3rd person POV's. I prefer when a book follows one central character. In addition, there were a lot of telling of plot points, not showing. Still, everything is also explained in a satisfactory way at the end, and I enjoyed reading this book overall. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in February!

I do love BA Paris but would not say this was my favorite. Still a fast-paced read and plenty interesting but in general just not a unique story.