Wow! A real heart pounder! I loved this book! It was thrilling, it had intrigue, suspense, and lots of heart pounding moments! Lots of twists and turns!! Definitely some jaw dropping moments! I highly recommend reading this book! Its well worth the thrill!

Well, I just LOVED this book. It was written so well that at times I could actually - if I really tried - see both points of view..... but ultimately it also brought me back to my senses. Great read, and I would highly recommend to others. In fact I have already!
Thanks to the Author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

From the first Amanda Robson novel I read I've been hooked, and wait on tenterhooks for the latest edition to her repertoire.

This was no different, and I devoured it in two frantic sittings. However, the brevity and lack of depth surprised me. Like 'My Darlings', the style of writing had changed to short, sharp chapters, each with a different point of view in the story, i.e. it jumps between the characters like a high speed car chase. What didn't help in the preview copy is a few headings were missing so you had to go back and figure out where the story switched from one protagonist to the next.

But to the novel; it brought to mind 80s American trashy soap operas in its style, where the characters had little depth, and the story was so far fetched that there was no suspension of disbelief, but it was so glitzy and glamorous that you were compelled to watch it anyway, and enjoyed it as a guilty secret. The characters in the novel were unbelievable, with all of them purporting to be intelligent beings, an academic philosopher, his successful lawyer wife with an an exclusive boutique practice, the multimillionaire entrepreneur brother...but all so malleable to believe any nonsense told to them, enough to affect the course of their lives, and react so absurdly, with no attempt to employ critical thinking.

I wonder, however, if this novel is a reflection of reality, written during lockdown, where in the real world, intelligent sentient friends we've all known for decades have become robot sheep, no longer questioning the propaganda being fed daily through government and the media, but subserviently simply nodding and acquiescing to all manner of unscientific, fictional nonsense. In this respect, it is accurate when related to the last year.

Despite this flaw, I couldn't put it down, and raced through The Unwelcome Guest on a mission, determined that it would eventually make sense, and it would become apparent why these affluent, astute characters were not coming to their senses, becoming embroiled in all manner of incredulous behaviour. It did not, and sadly I felt disappointed at the end, owing to my previous experience of this wonderful author, who normally takes me on a rollercoaster journey with such intrigue and plausibility.

If I had no expectations, maybe I would've perceived it differently, but alas, I'd begrudgingly give this 3.5 stars at best.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amanda Robson for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

Saffron and her mother in law Caprice have a. strained relationship from the very get go. After Caprices husband passed away she moves in with Miles and Saffron. The relationship between mother and daughter in law becomes explosive.

The multiple point of views was refreshing and actually made this read go by faster. I kept thinking I was going to know what happened next but I was pleasantly surprised by the twists. At times the plot was frustrating because it felt like the author piled on problem after problem to pad the story. All in all I really enjoyed this novel. I will definitely be checking out this authors other works.

Wow! Starts a little slow, but just keeps getting better! A fantastic book - really enjoyed the story, and by the middle couldn’t put it down until I saw how it ended! Great read!!!!

I’m not sure what year this book is set in
But put your foot down SAFFRON
BUY A TAPE RECORDER AND DOWNLOAD SPYWARE ON HIS PHONE!
Saffron made me so angry , how is she a lawyer and act so naive and stupid.

This is not a realistic book to me
I appreciate the ARC, thank you NetGalley

The Unwelcome Guest is an psychological thriller. This was a quick read and had several twists that I enjoyed. Thanks Netgalley for this arc.

This book was hard to enjoy. The writing style with such short, stilted sentences and the hokey dialogue between characters really didn’t work for me. I don’t know one man who would use the term “sumptuous boudoir”to describe a bedroom suite. The multiple points of view was confusing at times as well. Lastly, it just wasn’t a believable story. So you’ve got your husbands ex-girlfriend working for you, they stopped dating 20 years ago and all of a sudden you’re beside yourself that they still love each other? Sorry, I just couldn’t enjoy this book. I appreciate the opportunity to read it though.

Thanks NetGalley for the chance to review an advance copy of this book. A slightly unusual writing style and a cast of characters that are interesting sets up a good story. Switching between points of view and building suspense held my attention throughout. I would certainly recommend this as a good suspenseful read!

I have enjoyed this author’s previous books so I was looking forward to reading this one.

Saffron and Miles are happily married until his mother Caprice moves in with them. Caprice has never liked Saffron and doesn’t think she’s good enough for her son and she is determined to break them apart. So she embarks on a hate campaign to get Saffron out of their lives with unexpected repercussions.

A good solid domestic drama with twists along the way which made for an entertaining read.

The characters in this one. Holy cuss. They are unlikable which makes them likable??? I don't understand my brain either, don't worry. Miles was not my favorite though. I know men are a bit ignorant sometimes but his character was just too forgiving for my style. This was fun, but not groundbreaking.

I have been privileged to receive an advance review copy of 'The Unwelcome Guest' by Amanda Robson, an author that for me, has never failed to cook up the perfect recipe to satisfy my hunger for a good psychological thriller.
I must say I was not disappointed.
Miles follows his dream of a career in academia as a professor of philosophy, whilst his wife Saffron, mother of their two children, Ben and Harry, owns a Belgravia law firm for select billionaire clients, which meant that she could not be at home with her family as much as she would like, hence the need for a nanny.
Hayley a pretty nineteen year old from New Zealand who had previously been living in a squat with her boyfriend Jono, felt she had landed on her feet when she secured the position of nanny at the couple's opulent home.
It would have been all too comfortable if Mile's doting widowed mother Caprice hadn't been added to the mix and living in the home. She served to be a proverbial wedge in this blissful relationship. Over the years, Saffron has found Caprice increasingly impossible to like, whilst Caprice had made her mind up on day one, that her daughter-in-law would never be liked and never be good enough for her son.
This is a tale of the mother-in-law from hell who continues to plot and scheme to discredit her daughter-in-law and ultimately separate her from her son, and there are no limits to the lengths she will go to.
There is no explanation as to why Caprice loathes Saffron with so much venom, but for me, this makes the story all the more credible, reflecting everyday life where everything is not always clear for us to understand. In my own experience, I can think of people who I have been friends with, but for some inexplicable reason, they do not like each other. It happens, and it's good that it happens in this book The Unwelcome Guest.
Some people may say that it's unlikely that a man of Mile's intelligence, is blind to his mother's hostile behaviour. But I would argue that it's not unusual for some individuals from a scholarly background to have limited social experience, hence less likely to sever maternal bonds in adult life.
In summary, it's a clever plot with unexpected twists and turns.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of The Unwelcome Guest. This is my first book I’ve read from this author and I really like her writing style.
Saffron vowed to love Miles no matter what life threw at them both. But when her mother-in-law moves into their happy family home, Saffron’s shiny life begins to tarnish.

Even as Caprice’s barbed comments turn to something more sinister, Saffron hopes the new nanny’s arrival will shield her from the worst of it. She’s starting to feel paranoid in her own home.

Little does she realise that Caprice longs for a new daughter-in-law – and she’ll do anything to make that happen…

Holy smokes! so.much.craziness! This is one heck of a story.

Saffron has a beautiful family. Has her own business, a supporting husband Miles, and two young boys she loves so much. She has alwas tried to get along with her mother-in-law Caprice. Even before Miles became her husband. There was just no winning over.
It becomes unbearable once Caprice moves in with them after Caprice's husband passes away. The constant ridicule, belittling, remarks verbal abuse Saffron cannot take it anymore. Things become unraveling once Caprice knows she will stop at nothing to get her son Miles to leave Saffron with nothing.
Watch out because Saffron is ready to win this battle. With short chapers and several POV's this story leaves you guessing who is going to do something next!
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this advanced egalley in echange for my honest review.

My first impression of this book was that I wouldn’t to like it, based on the writing style of the first two chapters. I generally like when authors flip between the perspectives of multiple characters, but in this, they use the word “you” a lot outside of dialogue referring to another character. It doesn’t appear that these are purely to suggest dialogue between the pair, and to me it reads much like Joe’s narration in the Netflix show You.

As the book goes on, the writing style still bothered me a bit, but the action was enough of a distraction. Once you get through the first 100ish pages, the story picks up and the writing draws you in. While i wasn’t in love with the story at first, there was enough build up that I needed to know what was going to happen in the end, so I had to finish the book quickly.

After a whole book of Caprise trying to ruin Saffron’s life with the help of Hayley, the new nanny, the ending has a really wonderful twist that was worth sticking around for.

All in all, the book was pretty good and worth finishing for the plot alone. I understand that the author’s writing style with the constant use of “you” was likely a choice to help keep the idea that anyone could be “the unwelcome guest” at any moment, but it just wasn’t for me. If you’re someone who doesn’t mind reading a whole book from the inner monologues of the characters, you would be fine.

I really liked The Unwelcome Guess, although you have to suspend belief it’s a spicy little thriller full of action and bad mother in laws!
I didn’t care for any of the characters but definitely recommend!

This was a really good psychological thriller, and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading this genre. The plot was excellent, the characters were interesting and the style of the writing was perfect. This is an easy read with plenty of suspense throughout. The first book I have read by this author but I will be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A new Amanda Robson book means a new cast of wackadoodles to read about.

Saffron and Miles are happily married. Everything in their shared life is perfect...with the exception of Caprice. She’s Miles’s mother, and she resides with them in their house.

Caprice hates Saffron with a passion, and doesn’t think Miles should be with her.

When Saffron and Miles hire a nanny named Hayley for their children, Saffron hopes that she’ll have less time to be around Caprice.

Caprice, however, has an agenda all her own...and will use any means necessary to come between her son’s marriage.

I am a huge fan of Amanda Robson and her BONKERS characters. More often than not, I find myself deeply entranced by the wicked goings on.

While this book is entertaining and fast-paced, the characters are so unlikable and dense. It’s really hard to believe any of their actions are realistic. Especially Miles, who clearly has his head in the sand. He doesn’t seem to understand the terrible things his mother does even when it’s staring him right in the face! There’s a nice chunk of cheesy dialogue too.

Another thing that bothered me is that I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what Caprice’s issue was with Saffron.

That being said, while it doesn’t offer anything new in the crazy mother-in-law genre, this is still an amusing and quick read. I look forward to Robson’s next book.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Available in the U.S. on: 11/23/21.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

This was a fast-paced, albeit somewhat predictable read. It centers on Saffron, who is married to the man of her dreams and has 2 young kids, but her mother-in-law Caprice has recently moved in and is making her life very difficult. Caprice hates Saffron and will stop at nothing to break up her marriage. We are also introduced to the new nanny, Hailey, who has malicious thoughts of her own. The POVs shift between the 3 of these characters as well as Saffron's husband and brother-in-law.

The pacing of the book was fast and there was lots of action, but there were a few things that didn't work for me. Each chapter was written addressing the person they were talking about, which I found to be an odd writing style. Instead of "I watched Saffron do xyz", it was "I watched YOU do xyz". Also, sometimes the POV changed mid-chapter, which was jarring and confusing (I am hoping that this is because it was an ARC and will be cleaned up_). Lastly, I never truly understood why Caprice hated Saffron so much, and didn't find all of the loose ends tied up at the end of the book.

This being said, I did enjoy the story and I read late into the night to see what ended up happening. Though I found the culmination of the story to be somewhat predictable, I was able to prove my guesses right, which is satisfying in its own way. The story doesn't stand out a lot against similar books in this crowded genre, but was still a fun read. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An addictive and gripping plot that talks about a universal issue - not climate change or disease - but the power dynamics between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

68-year old Caprice, mother-in-law from hell, is the thorn in Saffron's otherwise happy and content life with her husband Miles and their two kids. While Saffron initially tried to bond with the older woman, Caprice detests being relegated to the sidelines in her favourite son's life and constantly undermines Saffron's authority, presence and importance. Both ladies hate each other with a passion and wish to be rid of the other. When Saffron hires a new nanny, 18-year old Hayley, Caprice finds the perfect solution to all her problems.

The author employs a journal entry-like technique to narrate each character's POV. This is perfect to perceive individual emotions; be it Saffron's frustration, Caprice's bitterness or Hayley's infatuation. The writing style is so compelling that 25% into the book, you are already seething, having witnessed the vindictive schemes against the protagonist.

I admired Saffron, a smart, confident businesswoman who has the balls to fight for and protect what is hers. Though she is depicted as the monster-in-law, you can't help but sympathise with Caprice, lonely after losing her husband, and desperately clinging onto her son and inserting herself into his life, to have a sense of purpose.

Overall, this was an awesome read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon books for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.