B.A. Paris has written another great book! So many twists and turns that you dont see coming! A marriage that seems to be crumbling turns into a murderous nightmare! A doctor and his wife come home from vacation to find one of their best friends living in their home. She tells them the reason she has left her husband and they are shocked and agree to let her stay with them for awhile. When you think you have it all figured out, Paris adds another twist to the equation. Due to be released in February 2024. The Guest by B. A. Paris is a 4 star read!

At first when I started this, I was so confused about the characters and what exactly was going on. But luckily it all made sense after I kept going a few more chapters. This one was definitely an easy read, easy to follow, and easy to binge. I enjoyed the different plot lines and wondered when it would all come together.

Did it get a bit annoying that Laure never left and they never got the balls to tell her to go? Just a bit. But it didn’t bother me enough to put it down.

I had my suspicions about a few things, but wasn’t able to guess the twist. I really enjoyed this book and usually have hit or miss experiences with this author, but this was definitely one of her better ones.

B. A. Paris is an auto read author for me. Although I feel like the story's are never quite finished, this one was a quick, enjoyable read that left me wanting more with my jaw on the floor...in the best way.

The Guest was an entertaining, mysterious, and problematic wild ride. This may be my favorite book by her yet. From the train wreck of a house guest to the lies and secrets unfolding, this slow-burn page-turner kept me on edge and the ending will have you throwing the book across the room cause you didn't see the twist coming.

Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Readers Copy. The Guest will be available Feb. 20, 2024

This book was a little hard to follow in the beginning. There were two couples and another person introduced in the prologue, then another couple soon after, and it took me a little while to figure out who was who.

Once I had everything situated, I never really got into the story. I spent most of the book being annoyed by Laure, and once she was more present, Beth. I didn't care for any of the characters, so I wasn't invested in the story and didn't want to pick up the book and read it.

I wasn't as shocked by the epilogue as a lot of other readers; I had figured out some of it and the rest of it didn't really do much for me. I think it probably all relates back to not caring about the characters. It was a good story, it was just 'meh'.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Really enjoyed the overall story. I was pretty hooked, but the pacing was tough at times due to the characters talking/ monologuing. I had a hard time enjoying the characters. They just were not likeable for me.
I loved the short chapters, I think that was the biggest pro to this book in regards to pacing.
The ending had a good wow factor that I always enjoy as well - really redeemed a lot of the annoyances I had with the characters.

Story overall was really decent. The drama kept me hooked - I needed to keep reading.
It was the characters in this one that fell short for me.

BA Paris is always a must read author for me but her books are hit or miss. This one was ok.. the ending made it all worth it. But I wish it was formatted differently. I was shocked at all the reveals! I did not suspect it at all! The story was a little monotonous and boring at times.

It took me multiple times of starting to read and then putting it down to finally get into this book. We spend a lot of time with the married couple Iris and Gabriel and their guest, Laure. She is having marriage trouble with her husband Pierre.
There is a good mystery woven into the plot, but I got tired of the characters discussions, worries and day to day lives that circled around a little too long. I also became annoyed with the guest Laure more times than I’d like.
There is also another troubled family that lives nearby and they also have a "guest" that is a bit unreliable.
I was invested and wanted to find out how all the loose ends would tie in and overall this was a good book once I was finally pulled into it.

I will read literally anything BA Paris writes and this was no exception. This was a dramatic domestic thriller full of twists and turns. It was so fun!

Dark and convoluted thriller that I couldn’t put down. I thought I had it figured it out but has some good twists that I didn’t see coming. It’s all completely explained at the end which I appreciate.

Iris and Gabriel have the perfect life. When they return from out of town, they discover that one of their friends, Laure, has come to stay with them after splitting from her husband. They invite her to stay as long as she needs. It isn’t long before she overstays her welcome though by following Iris around, and borrowing her clothes.

With secrets piling up all around them, including what really happened to Laure’s husband, can Iris and Gabriel’s marriage survive?

This was a fun slow burn domestic drama. I have enjoyed B.A. Paris’s other works so was excited for this one to hit my inbox.

The characters were a lot of fun in this one and it was interesting to figure out all of their dynamics. None of the characters were what I would consider reliable, and that made for a fun twist. It was a little confusing at first to understand whose point of view was being shared in each chapter until I got the hang of things, but when I did it worked. Normally I prefer clearer roadmaps, and while that would have been nice, I was able to figure it out. I would categorize this book as being more character focused instead of plot focused, so more time was spent on character development. I think that a little bit of the story could have been cut out to make the story flow a little more concisely, but it wasn’t horrible.

I enjoyed the twists that occurred throughout the book. I did see a few of them coming, but they were still really good and worked. The big one at the end was amazing and I didn’t see that one coming. The epilogue on this one was so fun and really made the story.

The pacing was on the slower side, but the short chapters and constant point of view switching did help keep things moving. It did take a little to get into the story, but when I did I didn’t want to put it down. The writing was also well done as to be expected from this author. I don’t think that fans of her work will be let down.

I recommend this book if you are looking for a slow burn, character driven suspense read.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press @Stmartinspress and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A copy of this review will be posted on my blog close to publication day.

B.A. Paris never disappoints with a thriller. This one was just as good as her last, or better. Can't wait for her next book!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

This was a slow burn which I normally do not enjoy (short attention span). I became fully invested at about the 100 page mark.

I'll make this short and sweet. Good character development. A bit twisty (extra star for that) but ultimately very predictable.

3stars

The Guest follows Iris and Gabriel , who come home from vacation and find their friend Laure in their home. The couple often open their home to Laure and her husband Pierre when they’re away, but this time Laure is alone. Her and Pierre are going through some marital problems and Laure finds herself quite at home with Iris and Gabriel. Gabriel is having some problems of his own, after finding a local boy near death in the quarry and being with him as he said his final words.

This was a captivating read and I really enjoyed it. The epilogue was a bit long and it’s a pet peeve of mine when books kind of word vomit the reasoning behind everything in the last 10 pages, so I knocked it down a bit. Overall I really liked it and did not see the twists coming! definitely recommend it!

Probably my favorite book thus far from B.A. Paris! I thought I was giving up on thrillers and that I’ve “read it all” but no, I was sucked in again! You can’t help but get hooked in the first few pages so I don’t recommend if you have somewhere to be! Kept me up into the wee hours for “just another chapter”!

This book had a unique murder mystery storyline and every other chapter alternated between a husband and wife’s perspective. I found the book to be slow paced and tired of the repetitive worries and problems the characters were facing. I will say that I didn’t foresee the major plot twist so I appreciated the story telling and shocking ending

4.25ish stars

As with many other readers, I was totally captivated by Behind Closed Doors and have been, I think, searching for something else that gives me the same thrilling intrigue from this writer. However, I haven’t quite found that yet; although I’ve enjoyed some of her other books, they haven’t quite lived up to that high standard for me. That being said, I did like the twisty details of this book, and it worked way better for me than the author’s last one. I didn’t quite see the ending coming, which was great, and although the reveals/unrolling of the explanations felt a bit heavy-handed, it was largely still a satisfying conclusion. I’ll be looking forward to what comes next.

Iris and Gabriel have a marriage under stress. Gabriel has witness the death of a young boy who was riding his bike near the quarry, With his dying breath, they boy gives Gabriel a message for his mother, The weight of of this experience has Gabriel withdrawing. Iris and Gabriel return from a trip to find Laure, their friend from Paris, staying in their home, wearing Iris's clothes. Laure explains that she did not know where else to go, Her husband, Pierre, has told her that he has child from an affair that he had not known about. Pierre did not want children and although Laure did, she wanted Pierre more, and so it was decided.

Iris and Gabriel are sympathetic and tell Laure to stay as long as she likes - this is something that they will regret. Laure is inserting herself into Laure's life, wearing her clothes, drinking too much. This is becoming a real life version of Single, White Female. There is no space for Gabriel to heal from his experience and he continues to pull away from Iris. Gabriel reached out to Pierre, but he only texts back saying her needs time to think. On top of this there are new young neighbors with a newborn and friend of theirs who is a troubled, handsome gardener who comes to work with Gabriel on their garden.

As things begin to fall apart even more for all the characters, more of a mystery begins to reveal itself. More than one mystery, in fact. The tense psychological energy leaps off the pages until it concludes with something I think no one will see coming,

A story of grief, betrayal, and secrets galore. This starts off a little slow as Paris builds the characters, but it becomes a delightful slow burn as the body count rises. The combustion comes with the shocking conclusion and a great payoff for the readers.,

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love B.A. Paris' writing and this book is no exception. The book starts off a bit slow, so I will say its a bit more of a slow burn, then what I am used to. I think one reason I felt that way was because there was a lot of characters, and plot elements that are introduced. in more of a telling then showing kind of way. But once the book starts to get going, there are so many twists and surprises that made me glad that I stuck around to keep reading. As one does while reading a thriller novel I made a lot of theories, which I did narrow it down at the 80ish percent mark and discovered that I was right. I definitely think fans of this authors work will like this one!

I was very excited to get to read The Guest being a fan of Behind Closed Doors. The Guest is more of a slow burn, but I found myself intrigued the entire book. The ending was the icing on the cake and it was something I had not predicted. I also enjoyed the different mysteries happening at once and figuring out how everything tied together. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

Thanks to St Martin's Press & NetGalley for the ARC!