I love BA Paris’ masterpiece “behind closed doors”. The other books since have fell very flat, including this one. This is just your typical murder thriller. Started out very slow, got semi good about 85% in, and the ending fell flat. Typical trick authors use: the narrator/ main character is also the murderer!!!!! But didn’t tell us until the very end. They did it!!! I feel like this book will do well, but not my favorite at all. It was highly readable. Which I did enjoy.

I am a fan of B. A. Paris and this book did not disappoint. I removed one star from my rating only because the book did seem to drag on and then rush the ending; however, I did not guess the ending at all. I questioned every character at one point or another throughout the book and thought they were all well developed.

The story follows married couple Iris and Gabriel, who come home from vacation to find their friend Laure (one of the worst house guests ever) staying at their home. Laure learned that her husband, Pierre, was hiding a big secret from her and needed some time away to think about their marriage.

Gabriel is taking time off of work due to finding a teenage boy during his last few minutes alive. Despite being a doctor, Gabriel was unable to save the boy and struggles to understand the last few words that were spoken to him in those moments.

Iris soon meets (new to the village) Hugh and Esme and their friend Joseph, who they have hired to work in their garden. We soon learn that Joseph struggles with sobriety and is hiding a dark past.

This book, filled with murder and secrets, will keep you guessing and wanting to know how it’s going to end.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

3.5/5. After a slow start and inconsistent pacing, the latter half picked up the suspense and led to a better than anticipated ending.

I really enjoyed this very twisty thriller. I've read quite a few B.A. Paris books and am always so impressed with how she builds suspense and keeps me so engaged.

Iris and her husband Gabriel return from a vacation to find their friend Laure staying at this house, having just had a major upset in her relationship and not wanting to be around her husband.

I felt pretty suspicious of every single character in this book, but I did find myself also liking them - especially Iris and Esme. I also loved the descriptions of the town they live in, and the garden Gabriel is working on, and Esme's house. All so vivid and I could picture them perfectly.

The short chapters made the book move so quickly and I couldn't put it down! Some parts of it felt unbelievable, which often bugs me in a thriller, but in this one I was so intrigued by it that it really didn't. Some things I guessed but a lot of them I didn't - overall left me surprised and satisfied.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a twisty, fast-paced thriller! B.A. Paris has become an auto-read for me and I look forward to reading her future work!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I usually adore BA Paris, but this novel fell flat for me. The characters were not very engaging and I found myself unsurprised bu the actions of these very selfish men.

A wild and riveting ride with so many sharp turns and loops that turned the story upside down. Excellent characters and brilliant writing as always from Paris. But the best part of all was getting toward the end and then questioning everything you just read and thought you knew.

Wow! What can I say? This book keeps you on your toes right when you think you know everything you know nothing. Iris is the perfect wife friend and mother. She helps her neighbor in need while her husband deals with losing more people in a month then should be possible. He fights to keep his feelings inside and protect his family while Iris does all she can to help a unexpected guest that she soon fines out she is not who she thought she was. As they all agree to love and move on the last pages have you questioning the home book and what you thought of everyone. Great read entertaining so glad I got a rover for advance copy. Love the writer and style of mystery the books keep.

I was very excited to get an advanced copy of B.A. Paris new book, The Guest. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity. Like always, I only give my honest opinion so here we go...

The Guest starts out with a big explosion during a champagne toast after Hamish's christening... Then the reader to thrown back 6 month in time and we begin to learn more about who these characters are. Gabriel and Laure are a married couple with a 20 year old daughter, Beth who is taking a gap year in Greece. Paris does a wonderful job "introducing" these two main character. Often writing in Laure and Gabriels point of view, which at times felt redundant and over done.

Why 3 stars? Although the ending didn't surprise me, it's more the lack of "mystery" that lead me to give The Guest 3 stars. It's not till the last chapter that you get this rushed monolog by the killer of what they did. It felt like a last minute addition and not planned out. I personally enjoyed reading The Guest, I would read other books by B.A. Paris in the future.

This book was fantastic! Imagine coming home from vacations to find a friend has been staying in your house--and she won't leave! The friend is going through a rough patch in her marriage, which is creating chaos around you. The Guest is gripping from start to finish. I highly recommend this!

I loved Behind Closed Dore, so I expected a lot from this one !
The guest is about a group of friends. iris and Gabriel, Laure and Pierre.
Iris and Gabriel came back from vacation and found Laure at their home, she left Pierre because he confessed her a secret. Soon, nobody is able to talk to Pierre, and Laure is always at their house definitely moving in and becoming friend with their new friends !
A secret can hide another one and everything makes sens after.
I still don’t know if I loved or hated this book ! He leaves me with a lot of uncertainty about life and friendship. Do we really know our friends ? Our family ? Can we trust them no matter what ?

Thank you Net Galley for the book! it was enjoyable at the beginning but a little too long winded for my taste. The twist ending is definitely surprising though!

The character development in this book was great. So many secrets. Looking forward to reading more books by B.A. Paris

This was a really great book! It had a lot of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. This is the second book I've read from this author, and both times the ending was fantastic! I definitely recommend, and can't wait to read more from this author.

I was prepared to love The Guest since Behind Closed Doors was one of my favorite books. While I ended up liking the book okay, it just took an unbelievable long time for the story to be told. None of the characters were particularly likable, but the ending had a good twist.

I think I'm entering my thriller slump era.

I LOVED Paris' Behind Closed Doors and the rest of her books have really paled in comparison, but this one is an improvement over her last few which ranged from incredibly forgettable to "ok?" When I finished, this one seemed to remind me a bit of the author who wrote Behind Closed Doors so much so that I wondered if, on a reread, I'd love BCD as much as I did on my first read.

This is a short thriller, that feels lengthy. When I say nothing happens the first 40% of the book, I mean nothing. In the end there was 1 twist that I did find myself surprised by, but I think it was more-so because I didn't necessarily care about that particular mystery. The big mystery was incredibly predictable and this novel ends with one of my least favorite tropes in mystery/thrillers ("Wanna know how I did it? Let me tell you!").

This novel seems to be another example of "it was very fine." Did it do anything inherently wrong? Not really. Was it groundbreaking for the genre? No. Was it incredibly shocking? No. Did I enjoy my time reading? I mean I wasn't miserable reading it.

This is a good weekend read for the winter when the weather is crappy and you're forced to stay inside the whole weekend. You can knock it out fairly quickly, enjoy your time reading it for the most part, and then move on not having read that something that was either great or terrible.

My appreciation goes out to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for supplying me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wordy! That's how I would describe this book. Over explained descriptions of mundane actions.
Despite being overtly slow paced, I enjoyed the twists through out the book. I wondered how the 3 main conflicts would all relate to each other.
Tho I wasn't expecting the final twist, the epilogue, all of a sudden told in first person, just kind of tied up all the loose ends. It almost felt rushed to finish the book and explain everything.
Would definitely be an enjoyable Lifetime movie!
Thank you, Netgalley, publisher, and author for the ARC.

Quick psychological thriller; dual POVs in third person; secrets & betrayals; suspenseful - don't know who to trust; a lot of moving parts that come together slowly but too slowly; the epilogue that provided the twist was great but the story was so drawn out that by the time I made it to the final twist, it didn't have a lot of impact; repetitive, w/unnecessary details; frustrating characters; dialogue felt choppy & unnatural

Special thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Releases 2/20/24!

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of The Guest by B.A. Paris. This was a slow read I thought for the most part. There were a lot of characters to keep up with. I do have to say, the twists and secrets, especially towards the end, I did not see them coming! If you think the book starts off slow, keep reading! I would recommend if you like slow paced, domestic dramas! 😊

I literally couldn’t put this book down from the moment I picked it up. This author is legit one of my favorites. Such page turners always and this one did not disappoint. A best friend goes through a situation and needs to move in with her best friend and her husband. Honestly so many twists and turns. What I thought was going on wasn’t even close. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was so excited to receive an arc for this book, but this was a snooze-fest. I have read a lot from this author, and I feel like I’m just chasing that “Behind Closed Doors” feeling. The characters bored me, the plot bored me, and I almost DNF’d. I literally did not care what was happening or going to happen. The “twist” was weird. The epilogue was weirder. I’m sad.