Heather’s stories just get better and better. This one …. !! If you like to figure things out as you read a story, you will be challenged. Spellbinding storytelling.

I read this during an early November snow. The dark night, coupled with the wind set the tone for this novel of a true crime author completing her novel during a snow storm in a house where two people were murdered more than 10 years previously. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

The Overnight Guest
A Novel
by Heather Gudenkauf
A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstorm in this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf
She thought she was alone…
True-crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.


Thanks to Heather Gudenkauf and NetGalley for the advance copy for my HONEST review.

I liked the Overnight Guest. I did not love it. IT was slow and wordy. it does pick up steam after a few chapters in. I am one in a few I am pretty sure that will indeed LOVE it.

This book was amazing! It creeped me out in some parts and tugged at my heart strings in others. The alternating storylines flowed together smoothly. This author is a superstar!

Myystery writer is snowed in to a secluded farmhouse and finds a boy lost in the snow. This starts another great title from Heather Gudenkauf; an author that should be on everyone's "must read" list!

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I would definitely be recommending this book to readers on my Instagram bookstagram account.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A tragedy occurred at a farm house 20 years ago, which left 2 people dead and 2 people missing. Now, a true crime author is renting that house and trying to write her latest book. In the midst of a storm, she finds a child lying on the snow and tries to get to find out where he came from.

3.5 stars.

This wasn't a bad book. It was a solid story and it wrapped up neatly, but I found I had a hard time getting into it. I was interested in the current day situation more than the past. Still it was a solid story and I will read more from this author.

I really enjoyed this title. I liked the twists and turns and the writing style is nice and smooth. The story flows well and kept my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I will be recommending this one to friends.

Besides the fact that a majority of the actions taken in this book aren't plausible I actually enjoyed the mystery.
I saw where it was going from early on because the author laid the clues out very nicely.
The ending was pretty rushed and just over like that, but the build up was very medium paced.
Thanks for the review copy and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Solid suspense well-paced across multiple narrative perspectives. Just enough detail with the violence to where it captures the brutality and lasting damage to the psyche without being too much gore. .

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. Publication date is 25 January 2022. I offer my review freely.

If a book is so captivating that I can't put it down, I give it five stars. If I think about the story all day and rush to bed to read at night, I give it five stars. This is such a novel.

The book starts out with three seperate narratives that are each more compelling than the other. In one, we follow Wiley, a true crime writer who welcomes an unexpected guest in her rented house amidst a snowstorm. In the other, we meet Josie, who lives on a farm and finds herself living a nightmare. Finally, there is a little girl and her mom, locked in a basement for years.

The author caught my attention immediately. She made me care about each and every one of these stories. She expertly pulled me in until the storylines converged, at which point I simply could not put the book down. This was truly a great read!

4.5 stars

DANG.

I generally do enjoy Heather Gudenkauf''s works but this was especially gripping for me. I finished it in about 12 hours, blowing through it on a lazy Sunday. It's quite captivating and hard to put down.

I can see how the three separate timelines can confuse people but I think that it was easier for me to keep track of since I was able to read it so quickly.

I was especially into this story since my maiden name is Doyle (!).

Overall it's a tightly woven and well-written story that kept me on the edge of my seat. May have been a bit too easy to suss some things out but it didn't dimish the story for me one bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 Stars

“It isn’t the dark you should be afraid of…it’s the monsters who step out into the light that you need to fear.”

Wylie Lark, writer of true crime novels, has rented an isolated farm house to complete her manuscript on her latest novel. One that is set in the very location she is staying. During a snow storm, Wylie ventures out in the night to see why her dog is refusing to come inside. What she discovers is a young child frozen to the ground and barely alive. Frantic to do everything she can to help, Wylie takes the child inside her home. But as the fierce winds blow and the snow storm worsens, Wylie’s fear of the dark will soon take her on a dangerous path into her past…

Holy chill-fest! This mystery had me biting my nails to the very last page! Without giving too much away, just pay attention to the chapter breaks—there are three stories going on within these pages, and the author does a thrill-tastic job in tying everything together! Highly recommend to fans of this genre!



**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Trust me, whatever else you plan to do when reading this novel e.g. shopping, working, getting married - just plan on a few cancellations. After reading a previous novel, This Is How I Lied, I knew I would be in for a treat. This was beyond my expectations, think more of never ending buffet of your favorite things. Believable characters, strong women, two dark mysteries swirling around our central one, Wylie. Wylie is finishing up her final draft of a true crime novel, away from her family deep into winter at a lonely Airbnb. She finds a silent young boy injured in a snowstorm. So we have the ongoing true crime story and this new overnight guest. The descriptive isolating snowstorm makes for tense writing as we weave from one story back to the other. Brilliant twists, unexpected twists and explosive twists. Everything you want in a novel is right here and more.

Too many threads in this story. Did not like it at all. It was too jarring to keep switching between 3 different storylines. Not for me.

Another awesome book by the always awesome author Heather Gudenkauf. Gudenkauf always delivers and fans will be on the edge of their seats while reading this one.

August 2000: Josie and her friend Becky are exploring outside after midnight because they couldn’t sleep after witnessing a fight between Josie’s dad and brother Ethan. Upon hearing gunshots, Josie takes off running for her house and sees flashes in her parents’ bedroom as another gunshot echoes in the night. Realizing she needed to get away, she urges Becky to follow her into the cornfields so she can make her way to her grandparents who live a mile away. Hearing someone say her name, Josie turns and see the male raise a shotgun and fire. Feeling a searing pain in her arm, she realizes she’s been shot and has to find a place to hide. After Becky falls from tripping, Josie takes off on her own. The next morning, Josie cautiously returns to her house and the horror she finds inside causes her to immediately leave. Upon exiting the house, she finds her grandfather who goes into the house to see what it was that Josie found. Traumatized, he calls the police who process the crime scene. Who would kill Josie’s parents, beloved by the town? Where was Ethan and her best friend Becky?

Present Day: Wylie is an author of true crime books and after hitting a rough patch with her son, moves into a house in Iowa where the town’s bloodiest crime took place twenty years before. With a winter storm moving in, she hunkers down for the night. After letting the dog she took in when getting to her rental doesn’t come back after being let out, she goes in search of him. She finds him sniffing a small boy who looks dead in the growth down the gravel road leading to her house. Getting him back into her house, the boy is frightened and doesn’t communicate with her. After he falls asleep under a couch, she pulls the couch away to check the bloody head wound he had. This leads her on a search for what happened and who could possibly still be out in the frigid weather. She comes across an overturned truck and laying in barbed wire a woman. Upon discovering the woman is alive, she covers her with her coat and reassures the woman she will return after getting wire cutters. But when she returns, the woman is gone.

The Overnight Guest gripped me from the beginning. There are three intertwined storylines within the novel, but there isn’t confusion. The timing of skipping from one storyline to the next is seamless and helps you to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. You find yourself thinking this person did it and then the storyline switches and you start questioning if that is the right person who murdered Josie’s family. You try to figure out why Wylie decides to write about true crime after you get clues that she also has a traumatizing event in her past. You find yourself wanting to shout, “How does it end?!” It ends deliciously and keeps you on the edge of your seat. This one would make a great thriller movie! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#netgalley #arc #theovernightguest #harlequinbooks

Thank you so much for letting me read The Overnight Guest. I thought this book was great and I loved everything about it. It did start off a bit slow but finally started to pick up and I was consumed in this one and couldnt wait to find out what was going to happen and who killed Wylie's family all those years ago and who took Becky. I love a good psychological thriller and this one hit the spot! It was intense, very suspenseful and full of action. I also liked the use of the different timelines in this one to finally bring it all together in the end.
Lots of twists among this one too which I really liked! Definitely shocked by the end. Great job Heather!! Cant wait for your next book in the future!

Another 5 ⭐️ read from Heather Gudenkauf! I absolutely loved this book. Heather has a way of grabbing my attention from the very beginning and it doesn’t let up. This book is filled with twists and turns and without giving anything away, there was one twist that had me like WOAH!!!

Thank you NetGalley for my copy and I will be anxiously awaiting the author’s next book.

Cancel your plans because you won’t be able to put this one down until you turn the very last page. You’ve got a true crime writer holed up in a remote house with no one around for miles, a furious snowstorm, a loss of power, an inability to communicate with the outside world – and an unexpected guest. The perfect recipe for a chilling book, perfect for a January read. Get cozy. You’re not going anywhere.

What I Loved 🌿

✨The well-paced suspenseful narrative
✨The various timelines that seamlessly come together in the end
✨Just the right amounts of twists and turns
✨Those holding my breath moments and the audible sighs and gasps as the story unfolded

I have read several books by this author and have loved every one of them. You’re definitely going to want to add this to your 2022 TBR.
•
•
My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book before its January 25 publication date.