A twisty domestic drama/thriller that had me hooked from the start. The Guest was just what I needed to get out of a reading slump. With constant twists, good character development, and different perspectives, I couldn't put it down.
Following three separate couples, BA Paris introduces them wonderfully to give you enough time to understand each of them & not mix them up.

Another masterfully drawn thriller by one of my auto-buy authors, B.A. Paris.

"Some secrets never leave."

Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all, but as you know, nothing's as it seems in a B.A. Paris novel, and this is no exception. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time, and received the gift of an unexpected twist at the end. An excellent novel by a Queen of Suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In true BA Paris fashion, I was intrigued from the beginning. This book is a slow burn, with small bread crumbs being left along the way. When the final twist was revealed, I was shocked!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this. This one was somewhat a slow read. Not a whole lot of details. While I thought the plot was good and liked the twist at the ending, this wasn’t one I’d recommend to others who like the fast paced thrillers.

Iris and Gabriel come back to London from a respite trip to find their longtime friend, Laure, in their home. Laure is getting some distance from her husband, Pierre, and their home in Paris, after he told her he had an affair and a child was born out of that.

Iris and Gabriel are figuring out what to do with Laure, as she’s overstaying her welcome. Meanwhile, they become fast friends with new neighbors, Esme and Hugh, and a gardener who came with them. The gardener friend, Joseph, comes with a troubling history.

Secrets begin to surface, and some prove to be dangerous.

Commiserating with Esme, after finding out her husband had cheated on her wasn’t difficult. Her actions, though worrisome, were understandable.

Paris also did a nice job of showing the difficulties Iris and Gabriel struggled with, in their relationship and in figuring out what to do with their close friend.

A few obstacles prevented me from fully enjoying the read. First, the red herrings needed to seem more like believable contenders in the story. Second, more hints of the culprit needed to be sprinkled in the main part of the novel. Too much explaining was done in the Epilogue. The thirty-some pages shouldn’t have been spent explaining what had already happened but should have focused primarily on after it was all over.

N.B. I really wanted to enjoy this newest work of B.A. Paris, especially since she (in writing BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE PRISONER) was a catalyst in enjoying thrillers as a genre for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed thoughts after reading The Guest by BA Paris. I previously read and loved Behind Closed Doors, so I was really excited to read this book. I loved all the different elements of the storyline of The Guest. It was one thing after another that kept the pace and story moving really quickly. The story had an eerie feel to me, which I loved for this thriller/psychological thriller. Where I struggled with the book, is that it felt like all the pieces didn't come together and read a bit disjointed. The characters felt a little bit disconnected, and the timeline of the story felt off. It was hard to tell how much time was passing, and I felt like the cadence jumped around a bit too much. Overall, I thought this was a good thriller, but didn't have as much depth or storyline development as other thrillers.

Thank you @netgalley for sending me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

I was very excited to read this book as I am a fan of the authors other books.

At the beginning I was very intrigued at who the guest was. Following both Iris and Gabriel and their house guest, Laure there is a lot going on! Biggest problem is Laure having marital problems with her husband Pierre and needs somewhere to hang for a while.

Lots of different moving parts throughout the story to keep track. This is what I found hard or difficult to keep track of. A lot of different characters all with different problems or secrets. The main problem was Laure and the secret was Gabriel as first. As the story went on more secrets kept being revealed.

Many loose ends as to why Laure left Pierre. Where was Pierre when he was needed to be contacted, what was Charlie running from and what is Jospeh’s past.

In the end it was shocking but all too much as to why it all happened. A bit unrealistic and dramatic in a sense.

Thank you for the ARC copy.

I liked the theme of this book as well as how it built over the book. The. Characters felt very real. I could not guess the ending which was a nice surprise. Love this author overall!

Great book! Gripping from the beginning, doesn’t drag and amazing twist! Better than the prisoner but the breakdown and bring me back are still my top 2.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this thriller. Iris & Gabrielle are living a nice quiet life when one of their long time friends, Laure shows up on their door step saying that she & Pierre are separating because he is having an affair and has a daughter with this woman. Iris & Gabrielle cannot believe it. They are good friends with both Laure & Pierre and often go an vacations together and now all of that is coming to an end. They agree to let Laure stay with them until she can straighten things out with Pierre. However, things start to get a little uncomfortable as Laure is making herself a little to "at home" in their house. Gabrielle decides to take a trip to see Pierre as he is not returning any of his texts but Pierre is on a sabbatical for a month and he will have to wait until Pierre returns to get the full story. The twists in this story were good and the whole storyline leading up to them was very believable. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. Enjoy!!!

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

I love BA Paris and couldn’t wait to read (and listen!!!!) to her latest! “The Guest” was a wild tale with A LOT going on. It took a bit for me to get hooked (slow burn!!!) but I enjoyed all the different story lines. Some aspects were predictable and others had me guessing! A fun book for sure!

Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This started out kind of boring, more like a family drama. But stick with it, because it gets good! Secrets continue to be revealed until the final page.

This book was a sloooooow burn, but wow did that ending make up for it 🤯

I thought I had it figured out… I was so very wrong 😅

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Read and enjoyed a few of B.A. Paris books last year and decided to check this one out. Although I would've preferred this to be a faster-paced thriller, the book had a good story and interesting characters (although the guest annoyed me a few times and I wanted to kick her out myself! lol). And the big twist at the end....did not see that coming at all! Would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a slow-paced psychological thriller.

I really wanted to like this one.

I was so bored though, then I thought it was going to pick up around 50% and it did for a little bit then it just felt so rushed at the end. The twist also was just not great.

I also don’t love the writing style that BA Paris uses so I think this will be the last book I read by her.

I really enjoyed this book and all the sub stories that it contained. There were 3 main couples that are important to the story and the ways their lives intertwine set up the perfect mystery. I found myself needing to know more and more - not only about the characters themselves but about everything going on behind the scenes and who was really telling the truth. From betrayals, secrets and ever changing relationships, this one kept me turning the page until I devoured it all. Overall a great thriller for anyone who enjoys suspense!

When Iris and Gabriel arrived back home from holiday, they are shocked to find their friend Laure in their house.
Laure ends up staying with them for a while because of a situation happening with her husband. She overstays her welcome and gets on Iris's nerves.
Iris and Gabriel deal with Laure's presence in their home and life. They become annoyed with her. Thankfully they have new friends that they just met. They spend time with these friends to help them deal with Laure being with them. With these friends comes their gardener, who has a past.
Secrets from all of their pasts will come undone.
This book didn't intrigue me like I thought it would, which makes me sad in a way because I have other books by this author on my TBR list, The build up to the end took to long for me. The book felt like it dragged out. However, the ending of the book did take me by surprise and I did like the ending.
I'd rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

B.A Paris does it again! This book was a good slow burn thriller. A friend shows up uninvited, and in crisis, to stay at a friend's house, but she quickly overstays her welcome. I can honestly say I had no idea where this book was going but just enjoyed the entire ride it took me on to get there. This was a good one. I felt like I really knew the characters but didn't really know who to trust and I really enjoy that in a good thriller book. The twists kept me guessing and made me really want to fly through this book so that I could get all the answers. I was not disappointed.

Best friend couples with secrets. Insert a troubled gardener and a local tragedy. Multiple deaths but are they murders, accidents, or suicides? Loads of turmoil and guilt that are at times misplaced but sometimes not.

All in all, I did not find this as good as I hoped it to be. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel drawn to any of the many characters; I prefer less characters who have solid depth, purpose, and are more believeable. However, the story has good mystery and the loose ends are tied up fairly well at the end.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early e-book.