The Unwelcome Guest

by Amanda Robson

I have just been introduced to the “domestic suspense” novel in reading Amanda Robson’s The Unwelcome Guest. The focus is a power couple: Miles a philosophy professor and his wife Saffron who owns her own niche concierge law firm. They live in Great Britain with their two children and most importantly with Miles’ wealthy, widowed mother Caprice who has decided that living in the annex to the house she bought for them is not suitable. She moves into the big house to be closer to the son she adores.

Caprice detests Saffron from their first meeting and proves herself manipulative, deceptive, and downright evil. The author adds in to that toxic setup Mile’s financially successful brother Aiden who never met Caprice’s standards. He is in love with Saffron, and is divorced from Julie who is Saffron’s assistant. Having gone through a number of nannies, the couple hires Hayley from New Zealand who is good with the children, delighted to live in their luxurious house, and has eyes for Miles.

I did not actually like any of the characters, except the kids. The intrigue within the household made the plot, but I didn’t enjoy reading about it. Evil arose in response to evil, showing the worst side of the characters and often bubbling to the surface.

The format of the book is appropriate for the story which is told in short chapters, sometimes less than a page. Each one is entitled with the name of the character whose point of view is related in the chapter. In this way the action moves forward showing much of the the emotions and motivations of the characters, all the while hiding some of them as well. There are lots of twists and surprises to the very end. I did not fully engage for the first quarter of the book. After that, it was a page turner for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: General—4/5, Personal—3/5

Category: Fiction, Mystery & Thriller

Notes: Trying to be objective as a reviewer, I can share that the book was well written. I liked the way the characters’ thoughts were exposed along with what they actually said. Thus my rating of 4/5. What I learned, however, is that domestic suspense is not a category that attracts me, and for my personal reading pleasure, my rating is 3/5 with no recommendation to read it.

Publication: November 23, 2021—Harper 360 (Avon)

Memorable Lines:

I became Aiden’s challenge. His revenge against his brother for being the one that his woman wanted. If he could bed me, he would. A stag thing; wanting to rut his competition’s mate. Despite the fun I have being with him, the disingenuous nature of his attention always annoys me.

“Caprice’s world centres around Miles. No one else matches him. No one else is good enough. It’s a sadness we both have to face.”

Are you right, Saffron? Is Aiden hitting on you to get back at me? Or is it worse than that. Is he truly in love with you? Aiden Jackson, we have shared much in life, but I am not sharing my wife. My fist clenches. Be careful, Aiden. Still waters run deep.

This book has so many crazy characters and multiple pov's that I found it hard to keep up with the action. If you are looking for a book that is over the top like a roller coaster then this is the book for you. For me it was to far fetched.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I received an eARC of The Unwelcome Guest by Amanda Robson from Harper 360 and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
4 stars! What a crazy concoction of characters and a twisted storyline ( I mean that in a good way!) I'm glad to have read this.

Oioooooooh holy cow! What an amazing and utterly twisted story. I couldn’t get enough of the twists and turns.

This was the typical mother-in-law from hell trope. It was still a suspenseful read. There are an outrageous amount of chapters but the chapters are very small, averaging a single paragraph to only a few pages each in length. Multiple POVS which were interesting, including some odd second-person POV dialogue. I thought it was suspenseful and engaging!

I couldn't finish this book, I tried so many times but honestly, I decided to be kind to myself and quit it.

The Unwelcome Guest by Amanda Robson was the perfect scalp tingling thriller! I thought I saw where this was going from the start annoying mother in law, pretty young nanny and lecherous brother in law someone’s going to snap. But who and how? Robson wrote a windy and dark enough book that you stay up way to late reading it. I’m truly sad it’s over and looking forward to her next one.

When families live together than do not necessarily like one another, malice misunderstandings, manipulations and more occur.

Saffron and Miles have a happy family, even with Miles’s mother living in an attached apartment. But when she moves into the family home, things between Saffron and Caprice escalate. Saffron’s life begins to fray but she simply cannot believe that her mother-in-law could be so hateful. That is until it is patently obvious to everyone except Miles that Caprice no longer wants Saffron to be part of the family.

The writing is crisp. The characters are well written. The mystery is complex.


I received an ARC from Harper 360, Avon through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Really great read that holds your interest. Written in a multi narrator format that went back and forth amongst each character and really worked to make it a unputdownable read.
A family with trust issues, a Nanny and a Mother in law that made a great psychological thriller with many twists and turns.
My first read from this Author and won't be my last.
Thank you to Netgalley, Avon books, and the Author Amanda Robson for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Y'all know with a title like this it is going to be fantastic. Definitely a thrill and one that will make you look over your shoulder at times. Fantastic characters and the author writes beautifully! Must read!

Reading Between the Wines book review #122/115 for 2021:
Rating: 4🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Unwelcome Guest
Author: Amanda Robson
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction
AVAILABLE NOW!! Released November 23 in the US!

Sipping thoughts: This is the way an Amanda Robson’s book reads:
-Ooh I know what is gonna happen!...Oh crap! That is NOT what I expected.
-So I KNOW that is NOT gonna happen…Oh crap! It definitely did happen.
-Wooh okay that is finally coming to an end…Oh crap! There’s more??!!
When people say that psych thriller authors are losing their shock factor then these people must have not had a chance to read Robson’s books. While you will see some things coming, trust and believe there are many things you won’t. I also wonder if the things you see coming are meant for you to see so you are shocked with all the other twists and reveals.

Quick Synopsis: Saffron and her MIL do not get along due to Caprice being the worst MIL ever. She does anything and everything to undermine Saffron as a mother and to prove to Miles she is an unworthy wife. Diabolical craziness ensues!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @amandarobsonauthor and @Harper360 for an advanced copy of @TheUnwelcomeGuest.

#TheUnwelcomeGuest #AmandaRobson #Harper360 #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

I enjoyed this book and the short, fast paced chapters. Kind of saw the ending coming but it was still fun reading it play out! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this pre release in exchange for my honest review!

What a bunch of characters. I loved some. I hated some. And some (ahem, the brother-in-law) I just wanted to smack and knock some sense into them. This was my first book from Amanda Robson and based on other reviews it seems like her books always have some crazy characters. Even though there were some terrible ones (umm, hello MIL from hell), I couldn’t help but be roped into their story. This was an absolutely page turner. This was told from the point of view of 5 different people and due to the short chapters you couldn’t help but keep going.

Saffron had the perfect marriage with Miles. Successful career. Beautiful house. Two wonderful kids. But with that came the worst mother-in-law ever. However, when Caprice moves into the house with the family, things begin to go from bad to worse. A new nanny also joins the house. Saffron wants her mother-in-law out and Caprice wants her daughter-in-law replaced. This one really becomes a battle and everyone else begins to become collateral damage.

If you are interested in checking this one out, it’s out on Tuesday, so you do not have to wait long.

Thank you Net Galley, Harper Collins 360 and the author for the e-arc in exchange for my unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this one. It was well written and fast paced with short chapters. The twists and turns had me glued to the pages.

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.

I’m torn on this one as there were parts I really enjoyed like the storyline but parts I did not, like the too many POVs especially the transitions between. At times it felt chaotic but it all did come together.

I absolutely enjoyed this book and how it was written in each one’s own point of view. The story kept me interested and I did not want to put it down !
Will definitely follow this author thank u for the book

This is the first book I have read written by this author and I look forward to reading more! This a quick read told by the POV of 5 main characters. This gives you a little more insight into their motivations which helps to move the story along. Great story, lots of action and interesting twist at the end. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360, for the arc. The plot of this book sounded great, but the writing did not resonate with me. There were five POVs and they were all in the first person so it got confusing because they all sounded the same. There were 'chapters' that were only a couple of lines that made the narrative choppy.
I disliked all of the characters. I also thought the last chapter didn't make sense at all. 2.5 stars rounded up to three