Thanks to NetGaley and Avon who provided me with this arc in exchange for an honest review. I've been really into domestic thrillers lately so I was excited to dive into this family drama, but unfortunately it was not for me. I had a really hard time getting into the writing style and while I did find the short chapters enjoyable, the POVs switched a little too frequently for my liking. I think the biggest turn off for me was the "ick" I got from the inappropriate sexual relationships and longing within the family and the way the characters responded to this. I also found the story to be extremely predictable and unrealistic.

There is an unwelcome guest in her home and she is starting to feel paranoid...
Saffron has everything she could ever want in life; A loving husband, two young boys, and a well-paying job. Nothing can stand in her way...except for her monster-in-law, Caprice. Caprice would do anything for a new daughter-in-law. She doesn't approve of Saffron and wishes her older son, Miles, married a more suitable woman. Now that the new nanny is moving in, will Caprice give Saffron a break? Or will her actions become more sinister than ever?
Amanda Robson did a wonderful job writing this story. I finished it so quickly, as I did not want to put it down! I loved the short chapters; It made it very easy to read on the go. I also enjoyed reading from many of the characters' point of view. I highly recommend this book!
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

i galloped through this well written, tensely paced book. Told from the perspective of all five characters, we gain insights on the rapidly failing relations between Mother in Law and Daughter in law. It makes for riveting reading right up to the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book. It was very interesting and told from many different characters point of view. I felt very sorry for Saffron who is dealing with an over bearing and This can be confusing at times, and the plot really does become very unbelievable at times. The story is a little bit long,too. Overall a good but not amazing read.

I loved this audiobook!
Distinguished characters and excellent narrators to go with them, with many twists and turns to keep me engaged and constantly guessing the whole time too.
I love an audiobook that uses the narration to give clear separation with each POV, and this did it perfectly. I followed the story effortlessly.
The plot twists were strong but not mind-blowing, and whilst I did really enjoy it, I am just unsure how memorable the book will be in a few months time.

I feel sorry to say that this book didn't really interest me. I'll tell you why:

It's slow,
Couldn't connect with characters.

The story has been told from several points of view, and at some point, it gets confusing. Also, most of the story is written in second person perspective. Now, I find this perspective intriguing (I liked how the author used in her previous novel, My Darling) but in this book, it's too much. Every character is talking like, 'You, Caprice or Saffron' and so on. Moreover, it conveniently chages perspective from second person to first person. It was so disturbing.

It didn't work for me.

EXCERPT: Saffron: It's not Miles I have problems with, but you, Caprice. His mother. A frail and lonely widow, with kind eyes and a swan-like neck? Or the mother-in-law from hell with a witches cackle for a laugh? Either way, you have infiltrated our lives.

ABOUT 'THE UNWELCOME GUEST': 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…

MY THOUGHTS: I thought my first mother-in-law was the MIL from hell, but compared to Caprice, she was a mere amateur. Mind you, she never had Caprice's resources.

The Unwelcome Guest is told from many points of view, probably too many. Saffron; her husband Miles; Caprice, Miles' mother; Hayley, the nanny; and Aiden, Miles' brother.

I loved the idea of The Unwelcome Guest, but because we knew what an evil old cow Caprice was and what she was up to throughout, it killed the suspense.

But if you are looking for a quick, easy and entertaining read, or you have the mother-in-law from hell, The Unwelcome Guest will fit the bill nicely. There's not much depth to any of the characters, but that doesn't really seem to matter. There's not much reason, either, to like any of them but, again, that hardly seems to matter. Probably the nicest of the bunch, other than the children, is Julie, Aiden's ex-wife and Saffron's PA. Oh, did I mention that she is also Miles's ex-girlfriend?

Don't go into this expecting mystery or suspense. You won't get it. What you will get is an easy, fun read with a couple of satisfying twists at the end.



⭐⭐⭐.8

I: @amandarobsonauthor @avonbooksuk

T: @AmandaRobson @AvonBooksUK

#contemporaryfiction #familydrama #crime

THE AUTHOR: After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guy's Hospital, where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning. Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Avon Books UK via Netgalley for providing digital and audio ARCs of The Unwelcome Guest written by Amanda Robson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

If you are looking for an easy read that will have you hooked from the very first page then this is the book for you. A book that gives the whole ‘Mother-in-law from hell’ a completely new meaning !!

Saffron is a career driven woman that is married to Miles and they have two gorgeous children. Their life is picture perfect ……….. apart from the Mother-in-law !! She is determined that Saffron is not good enough for her beloved son and will do anything to split them up. To make matters worse Miles thinks his mother can do no wrong and really doesn’t believe that she would try and split him and his wife up.

This is a great easy read that I really enjoyed. It’s not a complicated plot but I loved all the deviousness involved with nearly all the characters. Told from the point of view of most of the characters you get a real insight into the way they were all thinking.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

This just didn’t end up being a book that interested me. When I first read the premise, I was very excited and invested, but getting into it made it clear that it just wasn’t for me. Hopefully it works for others out there!

If you’re looking for a pacy thriller, you need look no further than Amanda Robson’s books. In her latest novel, The Unwelcome Guest, she explores what it is like to live with the mother-in-law from hell. I’m lucky to come from a family where there are no quarrels at all between each side. But I know of a few people who can’t stand the thought of their in-laws. Meeting the in-laws is one of the things many people dread, and sometimes that relationship can go drastically wrong.

Saffron’s mother-in-law, Chrissie, really wants to stir the pot in her son and daughter-in-law’s marriage. She comes across as very bitter when Amanda first introduces us to her. I could see that she will go to any extreme length to get what they want. It’s clear that Chrissie doesn’t like Saffron at all and believes her son could do a lot better. Chrissie believes that Saffron is too career-driven and doesn’t devote as much time as she should to her family. It’s what made the book such a gripping read, and I had no idea how things were going to end up for Saffron and her husband, Miles. Would Saffron’s mother-in-law succeed in getting what she wanted?

Saffron and Miles have also recently hired a new nanny, Hayley, and she adds another layer of tension to the book. Hayley has come to the UK from New Zealand, but on her first day, she quickly falls head over heels for Miles. Chrissie can see this, and she uses it to her advantage to get what she wants.

I loved the short and snappy chapters in this book. It’s what made me fly through the pages, and it helped build the tension as events played out between the characters. I could feel Saffron’s frustration as she tried to form some sort of a relationship with Chrissie for Miles’s sake. Amanda Robson builds a very clear picture that these are characters who are close to breaking point. Miles doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t want to leave his wife, but he doesn’t want to abandon his mother. Miles faces an impossible choice, and I had no idea what he was going to do.

I thought that Amanda Robson delivered a very satisfying ending, and I couldn’t help but smile as I read the final pages. This is an utterly compelling character-driven drama. I really enjoyed it.

Saffron and Miles are married and the parents of Ben, 8, and Harry, 6. Both of them have good jobs and live in a beautiful house. Miles’s widowed mother, Caprice, lives with them. She has never liked Saffron because she feels that she should be a stay at home mother like she was. However, Saffron is well-educated and works as an attorney. Saffron has tried very hard to get along with Caprice, but the woman makes life very difficult for her. Miles has a younger brother, Aiden, who makes very good money and owns 3 homes. Saffron has just hired Hayley as a live-in nanny for the boys.

Thus begins the family war where each one is at the other’s throat. That is, except for the 2 sweet boys.

Caprice is as two-faced as they come. Her evil tongue flicks out of her mouth at Saffron and nothing but hearts and flowers come out of her mouth to her sons. She tells lies and more lies. The funny thing is that everyone believes her. This leads to dissension among the other characters and Caprice sits back and watches the fur fly. Come on, people. That’s what made for a problem with this story. These characters are so gullible and that’s how Caprice keeps things in an uproar. It also appeared to me that Hayley had a pretty cushy job. When did she actually work and what did she do…besides make trouble. The plot has a few holes in it that doesn't make sense, but discussing that here would lead to spoilers. I definitely feel that the book could have been edited down somewhat. It’s way too long. Suffice to say, I will give the book 4 stars because the I felt the author deserved anyway.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Unwelcome Guest is a book that I’m glad I don’t check reviews before I read it as I think I could have been put off from a book I found hard to put down.
Saffron and Miles are very much in love, they have two sons and have good jobs, they have a nanny for the children, the only thing that saffron has to put up with is her awful mother in law. Caprice treasures Miles and feels he should be with a better woman than Saffron. She has managed to get out of the annexe and into the house so is constantly undermining saffron and to be honest pulls some chuffing awful stunts to try and split the couple up.
I loved the writing style of this book, I liked each character had their own chapters and they weren’t too long so kept you interested. This was an over the top couple with an over the top house and an over the top plot that for me worked well with lots of twists along the way.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

No one does bonkers like Amanda Robson. Period. I discovered her last year with My Darling and immediately became a fan. That one was totally insane and while The Unwelcome Guest didn’t reach that level of craziness it was still a really enjoyable read.

I’m sure if you asked a large group of people who would they consider the most undesirable guest more than half would say their mother-in-law. Although in this case the most appropriate term would be monster-in-law, cause Caprice is the mother-in-law from hell! She’s quite a handful! And if you don’t believe me ask Saffron, her long suffering daughter-in-law (she’s not a saint either!). And as it happens in every battle, it can only remain one. Who will win this war?

I love to read these mother/daughter-in-law hate stories and all the crazy things they do to one another cause I always think they’re no that far from reality.

Told through lots of POVs (I think there were 5), it works really well in portraying the really toxic environment inside that house. The characters have different levels of unlikeability but at the same time you can’t help but root for some of them. Things didn’t stop happening during the whole story but I felt some conflicts were resolved way too quickly.

The changing POVs, sometimes in the same paragraph, made it a bit confusing at times and called for some re-reading. I don’t know if it was just an ARC issue or it was the same in the finished version.

Overall, a really fun and OTT story with some crazy characters, especially Caprice, that made a fantastic beach read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. If you like domestic thrillers written from multiple povs this book will not disappoint. That being said I usually struggle keeping up with more than a couple of povs in a thriller but I not only kept up with the multiple povs in this book I was hooked and read it in no time. A warning for anyone who is detested by their mother in law. Plenty of deviousness, maliciousness and deceit to leave you wondering. #amandarobson #theunwelcomeguest #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy #thestorygraph #netgalley #bookqueen #bookstagram #thriller

This book wasn’t very good, I found it very difficult to get into and was bored from about chapter 2. I persevered with the book but i was overjoyed to finish it.

I’ve read all of the author’s books and enjoyed them all. This one didn’t disappoint and look forward to the next one.

I wasn't sure if I'd like this book as I've read quite a few "my mother-in-law is out to get me" style books but I really enjoyed this. It was darker than I was expecting and the plot was very well structured. I didn't expect the ending and I was kept interested throught. A really good read.

Another evil mother in law story that reads much like any other. I followed through to the end hoping for an interesting twist, and it was there, but very interesting or believable. A sub-par effort.

This book is...not good. Not good at all. There's too many people with too many weird names and it's all jumbled into a drama that frankly was kind of boring.

The mother in law from hell. A nanny. A rushed marriage. It's....all there. It's...all what you would expect. Just....not written in a good way.

Thanks anyway, NetGalley!

Only got to about 25% done but wanted to ensure that I wrote a review before it was archived. I want to thank both Netgalley and Avon Books for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can say that although I'm not that far into the book I really do enjoy it! The writing is very well done in my opinion and everyone knows that I lOVE books with multiple POVs and this book is not lacking that at all! I will update this review once done but I am REALLY enjoying this book thus far and would be shocked if I don't makes this a 5 stars read by the time that I am done!