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. Soon, secrets from all their pasts will unravel, some more dangerous than they could have known
Brilliant suspense. Loved it.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an advance copy.

Is a marriage ever as good as it seems? Marriage is complicated to navigate, and throw in an unexpected guest it just complicates it even more. At first I found the house guest annoying and was wondering why they just didn't tell her she needed to go back to her husband and figure things out one way or another. The guest was not likable, she was shellfish and could not take a hint if her life depended on it. The new neighbors added an extra element that was much needed as they had secrets of their own to try and figure out. It was an intriguing story and you never really knew if you were getting the full story. Kept me reading to find out what was truly going on in everyone's lives.

2nd B.A. Paris for the win! The lies and secrets and twists and turns, whew Nelly. Didn't see the plot twist in this one - which I love since I'm always guessing as I read. The first 25% was a tad slow but informative. Overall - great read!

This book is full of twists and turns! The ending is so creative and unexpected. The Guest is a crazy good book!

Unfortunately this was a DNF at about 20%, which was unexpected as the last book by this author (The Prisoner) was one I couldn't put down even though I found parts of it a bit confusing at times. I thought this would be a fast-paced, domestic thriller but it dragged for me-I think I would have enjoyed it more if the characters had been more interesting. I wasn't curious about any of them--while I sympathized with Gabriel, I just didn't care enough about the rest to keep reading. I've heard the ending has a great twist, which I expect from Paris, but I just couldn't continue reading on to get to that point. I think others will enjoy this though--especially if you like domestic dramas.

This was more of a domestic drama than a thriller for me. While the premise was unique and kept me interested, the pacing is what I really struggled with and I found myself not caring much what was coming next. I also disliked so many characters, and while unlikeable characters are usually fun for me and I enjoy picking them apart and finding redeemable qualities so I can root for them... I couldn't do that with Lauren or any of the other characters in this novel.

I was eager to get to the end and see how B.A Paris tied everything up, but it still just fell at a three-star rating for me by the end. Not bad, not great. Just a fine and easy read.

SYNOPSIS: Iris and Gabriel have been through so much lately. They have just suffered the death of their beloved dog and Gabriel’s father. If that wasn’t enough, a young boy said his last words in Gabriel’s arms, he has become distant and depressed. Iris has been there for Gabriel, but his burden and guilt are causing tension in their marriage. They come home from a long trip meant to clear their minds, to find a best friend of theirs has let herself in. It turns out that the guest, Laure, has been having marital issues with her husband Pierre, who reveals that he has a child he hadn’t known about. Laure ends up long overstaying her welcome while figuring out her next steps. In the meantime they all befriend a new couple, Esme and Hugh, who just moved into their neighborhood with a “guest” of their own. Everyone has their secrets and everything unravels as time goes on.

MY THOUGHTS: I would give this a solid 3 stars. While it held my interest, there were elements that I do not particularly enjoy in mystery thrillers. There were many characters introduced in the first chapter that I had trouble keeping straight, but by the time I read a quarter of the book, I knew who everyone was. I did enjoy the mini suspenseful moments that felt like those scenes in horror movies meant to build up to the climax of the mystery and thrill. They added to the mystery of who the guest was and how everything was connected. The multiple points of view helped to understand what the main characters were feeling and move the plot along, but it did get quite repetitive. One chapter was literally repeated almost word-for-word. I feel as though this story could have been told without the timeline moving so slowly, but the short chapters that ended in cliffhangers made for quick reading. Although everything is explained in the end, it was done in one chapter. It is not a mystery that could be solved because you, as the reader, were not given even half the information by the narrators.

This turned out to be quite a wild ride!! For the first half or so of the book I wondered why this was marketed as a thriller. I found it to be more drama, domestic suspense, still very interesting, just not a thriller. But then things took a turn and I didn’t see any of it coming, and that made it even better. Really loved this one. Great characters, well-developed and well-written. Will definitely be checking out more from this author. Full review with link to come closer to pub date!

B.A Paris is back with another addictive domestic thriller.
Iris and Gabriel have an unexpected guest, Laure.
Laure is a friend of theirs who they had met on vacation years ago, Laure needs a place to stay she had some turmoil in her life.
Down the street, a new family has moved in who has a “guest” of their own who is to keep busy and stay out of their way.

i enjoyed this book and the ending was unexpected, however the pacing of the book was off. we spent a lot of time with Iris, Gabriel and Laure so it was hard to get to know some of the of other seemingly important characters.
some aspects felt forced and it was hard to pick the book up again, because it just felt like the story had stalled.
the story really picked up around the 60% mark. when it picked up, it was hard to put down because we were getting into the details of what truly happened.

overall, i would recommend this book, it’s suspenseful, and the ending was jaw dropping!

Not my favorite B.A Paris book but I did enjoy.It was a slow start at the beginning. I also was not able to predict the ending which I like in a thriller.

Always love a good psychological thriller that keeps ,e guessing until the very end, and The Guest does just that!
When Iris and Gabriel arrive home to find their friend, Laure in their house they never expect she moves in for weeks with the visit ending with multiple deaths.
Great read. Highly recommended.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for my honest review

When Iris and Gabriel come back home in England from vacation, the find their close friend, Laure, has moved in to their home after having a huge fight with her husband, Pierre. Pierre has confessed to having had an affair and fathering a secret child and while Iris and Gabriel want to support them both, they're finding it challenging. Pierre is still in Paris, where the couple is from, and Laure is increasingly underfoot and causing stress in their relationship.

When Iris and Gabriel make friends with a new couple down the street, they're excited to connect and have a new outlet outside of Laure and Pierre. But their troubled gardener has a lot of unknowns in his past, which seem to be adding to the stress and danger.

This is probably my favorite of B.A. Paris's stories since "Behind Closed Doors". As the body count rose, I kept trying to guess which of the character(s) may be behind it all and I honestly didn't see the reveal coming. I loved how the epilogue at the end explained it all in a "Clue" like fashion so the reader has all their loose ends tied up!

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with access to read this book!

3 stars for me. I found myself wanting to like this as I have enjoyed numerous titles from the author. I did love the ending and I was surprised. Still a fun quick read.

B.A. Paris quickly became one of my favorite authors when I read Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown. For a lot of this book, I didn’t know if it was going to live up to those, but it was still entertaining to keep reading. But the twist got me! Definitely pushed this one up with the ending. 3.5⭐️ rounded up.

Oh how I love this author! Anytime I see a new book by them, I know I'm going to devour it!

Great twists, an engaging plot. I was up until the wee hours reading to just see what would happen next!

✦ The Guest by B.A. Paris ✦
★★★ 3/5 stars
Pub Date : Feb 20

✦ Synopsis
Iris & Gabriel return home from vacation, they're surprised to find their old friend Laure staying in their home, sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris’ pajamas. She is distraught, confessing that she has left her husband Pierre.
Things begin to get a bit odd as Laure extends her stay, making herself completely at home, even rearranging their cabinets, with no end in sight. With a house guest overstaying her welcome, tensions are high - soon secrets, lies, & drama begin to surface.


✦ My Thoughts
My worst nightmare - a guest that just. won’t. leave. 🙈

I’m so glad I was able to read & listen to the audiobook, because the first half was super slow, but instead of building suspense it felt dull. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. It didn’t pick up until about halfway, then things FINALLY started to unravel with some action. I enjoyed the last few chapters, until the very dramatic & bizarre epilogue that really made me feel like 90% of the book was a lie. You definitely have to be willing to suspend belief for that ending. But it was neatly tied with every question answered even if it was a bit unbelievable.

The audiobook was read by Emily Joyce, I really enjoyed listening to her! She did a great job, even using different (and well done) accents!

✦ Read if you like :
•slow burn domestic drama
•whodunnit vibes
•unlikeable characters
•lots of lies & deceit
•unexpected twists
•neatly wrapped up endings

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martins Press + Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this ARC ◡̈

I am a huge BA Pairs fan and was excited to get my hands on this one, I love the way she tells a story! But this one fell a little flat for me, it felt like we got a whole book where not a lot happened, and even tho people kept on dying it still kinda felt like nothing was happening. Intill we got to the epilogue and we learn the truth, that was good but not good enough to make the book work for me. I just wasn’t invested in any of the characters really, and it felt like a lot of story lines going on it. I will read more of this author and do recommend you try this one out of your self and see how you feel about it! But for me it just missed the mark, i did listen to the audiobook and through the narrator did a good job telling the story and why I didn’t Iove the book as a whole I did enjoy listing to it and the narrator!

3.5 stars rounded up
This was a slow paced, light read. It was a little difficult at first to keep up with all the characters and the different directions of storyline. I did not see that ending coming! Overall another BA Paris book that I enjoyed.

Let me just start by saying B. A. Paris is one of my favorite authors. I have been in love with her books since I first found “Behind Closed Doors”. This is mainly because her books always leave me thinking wth just happened? So when NetGalley and her publisher approved me to read an arc of her newest book as you can imagine I was thrilled!


This book will have you wondering what would you do to make sure a secret never comes into light? Well if you’re one of these characters the answer is quite a lot. I was immediately engrossed in this book, like can’t put down, don’t disturb me engrossed. I will say I thought this book was going a different direction when I began reading it. However once again B. A. Paris surprised with the ending. I would definitely recommend this book to those that enjoy thrillers and spend their time reading trying to figure who has done what and where the story is going. Amazing!

The epilogue was great, however I wish I could say the same about the rest of the book. I was left feeling bored and wondering if the story was ever going to pick up.