Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine publishing for the chance to read and review this book. So if I could describe this book using only an emoji it would be the eye roll emoji 🙄the amount of times I rolled my eyes was comical. Now I read the author’s previous novel “we were never here” and really enjoyed it but this was not a hit for me. I feel like the author maybe watched too much reality dating shows during lockdown and the contestants are who she based her characters on. They fell in and out of love so easily and quickly based on the most ridiculous reasons. There were so many instances in the book where literally one sentence was “I’m so in love and happy” and the next is can I trust them? What are they capable of? It was so ridiculous and far fetched. I did enjoy it enough to finish though and I kind of feel like I do after binging Love is blind, slightly dirty but would do it again.

This is my first Andrea Bartz book and while I enjoyed this, there were moments where I was taken out of the story. However, I definitely was hooked and wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next. I loved reading about the polyamorous relationships and Kelly's sexual exploration as a "throuple." I didn't trust Sabrina and Nathan one bit but it's probably because Kelly was so paranoid and suspicious throughout the book. She seemed to see-saw between uber suspicious and naive so much so that it was a little jarring. There were a few plot points and a-ha moments that seemed convoluted but it didn't take away my overall enjoyment of the story. The big twist in the end was something I did not see coming at all. I'll definitely pick up another Andrea Bartz book.

3.75 rounded up to 4. This book was a lot different than I was expecting, it’s quite heavy on the spice in the first half. The mystery that develops in the second half was a lot better and kept me reading to figure out what was going on. The pandemic is mentioned, as the plot does take place in summer of 2020. Overall a decent read if you can stick with it.

The Spare Room opens with Kelly temporarily leaving her fiancé after a particularly bad argument in Philadelphia to stay with some friends in a DC suburb during the pandemic. Being cooped up together leads Kelly to develop feelings for both Sabrina and her husband, Nathan. They eventually open up their marriage to Kelly and she struggles to come to terms with her new lifestyle. In the midst of all this, Kelly discovers that Sabrina and Nathan have opened up their marriage before and that woman is missing...

The true mystery of this book didn't come into play until about the last 1/3 of the book. It was twisty and kept my attention once it started, but it was a little unbelievable. There were also times in the middle of the chapter where the narrative was kind of lost, there would just be a jump in time with no explanation that made me feel like I had skipped a page while reading. I have read a couple of Andrea Bartz's other books and this one did not hold up like her others.

That being said I did read the whole thing and did have a decent time doing it, just wouldn't be in my list of recommendations to friends looking for thrillers.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced e-copy of this book.

Finished ✔️ The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz and it was decently enjoyable.
4 ⭐️’s
Publish Date: June 20th, 2023
Kindle Unlimited: No
Staying with a friend and her husband is sexier and deadlier than anyone could have ever imagined.
Provocative domestic suspense
Sexy, atmospheric, delicious creepy, ingeniously plotted
The best kind of up-all-night page turner
I enjoyed all the characters in this thriller
#DeesReading #DeesRecs #DeesBookRecommendations #BookNerds #BookNerdProblems #BookNerdsUnited #BookProblems #BookProblems101 #BookNerds101 #Bookworms #BookwormProblems #BookwormProblems101 #BooksOfFacebook #DeeTheBookReviewer #DeesReadOfTheDay #DeesBookOfTheDay #DeesBookReviewsOfTheDay #BookReviewer #NewToMeAuthor #AndreaBartz #ReadOfTheDay #BookOfTheDay #TheSpareRoom #NetGalley #MysteriesAndThrillers

Kelly reconnects with her childhood friend Sabrina when she feels completely lost during the pandemic and decides to be Sabrina's houseguest to unwind a bit. Nathan and Sabrina are a completely weird couple and this evolves into a dangerous threesome. But as time goes on and they continue their new relationship, more secrets come out, some character traits of Nathan come out which ruffle their whole arrangement.

Until now Kelly was like a doormat, agreeing to everything people in her life command but she understands things are not as they seem. There is also a missing person connected to this couple and Kelly is out to find out more. At the end, there are more twists which kept me hooked. There were quite a few bedroom scenes that gave a bit of erotic vibe to it and was fairly steamy. This was not an amazing thriller by any way but it was fast paced after a few chapters and it was completely binge worthy!

I had high hopes for The Spare Room because I have loved everything else written by this author, and maybe that's why I was a little disappointed. This is a very slow-build thriller that never became suspenseful to me. It was steamy as the characters explored a relationship with three people, which made up the majority of the book. So much so it often felt that nothing was happening. I was hopeful the book would be more thriller genre, but it was lacking that shocking twist/end that I was expecting. Overall, I thought it was a good book combining two different genres, but just not for me. I think fans of Verity should give this book a try!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Spare Room.

The premise was interesting and had potential but the narrative fell flat for me.

First, I couldn't stand Kelly. She was needy, desperate for attention, and a doormat.

She made so many ridiculous choices it was hard to take her seriously.

Second, I didn't mind the polyamorous relationship (I'm no prude), but I didn't feel the relationship between Sabrine and Nathan was genuine.

I enjoy erotica and a sexy Bridgerton love scene as much as the next person, but I felt the author just added the love triangle to heighten the tension.. It rang false.

Third, the narrative was unnecessarily long, and the sudden appearance of Beth was silly. So silly I laughed out loud which I'm sure was not the author's intention.

There was barely any suspense and the story read more as a story about a difficult relationship between a couple and their needy submissive.

I didn't buy that ending, who killed Beth and Kelly's growth and evolvement into a more self sufficient person, but I didn't like her or anyone else.

if you're not comfortable with unconventional relationships or semi-explicit content, you won't enjoy The Spare Room.

Kelly is annoying, naive, and exhausting. For a 35-year-old she seemed clueless about love and relationships. (She loves this couple and thinks they’re equal partners but barely knows them and doesn’t trust them? I kept picturing a character who was a teen or early 20s- someone with less life experience). I didn’t care about any of the characters. This book was so disappointing. I read two of the author’s other books and they were far superior. The writing in this book seemed like the author was trying too hard. This dragged. She uses a lot of descriptive writing which I typically live. However, how it was done takes you out of the story or feels over explained. If it wasn’t for the need to write some type of review I wouldn’t have finished it.

It was ok. I didn't like the twists and the plot was sub-par at best. I wanted to love this, but it just didn't happen. Thanks to Netgalley & Random House for the E-ARC!

This was difficult to rate; some of the twists were surprising, and the polyamory angle was interesting, and yet many of the characters felt vapid and annoying. Sabrina and Nathan both felt much more alive in Kelly's thoughts and musings than in actual scenes in which they appeared.

Kelly was seriously annoying. She seemed so - clueless?

The only likeable character was Virgo haha

I really liked Andrea Bartz's first book so I'll definitely read another of hers but this one was a miss for me

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried to like this one but just couldn’t. I appreciate the advanced copy. Pandemic is still too fresh and want to read to escape from it.

I was conflicted during this entire book wondering what was going to happen. Who could I trust? When was something going to happen? Why do I find this unconventional relationship so interesting? When all was said and done, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I loved the author’s last book so I had high hopes for this one as well. The cover is GORGEOUS and would have drawn me in if I wasn’t familiar with the author. I think this is a fun, hanging out by the pool read for the summer.

I was going to give this 3 stars but the the last 25% or so of The Spare Room bumped it up to 4 stars.
This was definitely a slow burn to a fast-paced
twisty finish!

Kelly is floundering after her fiancé Mike decides he needs to slow down their wedding planning. With the pandemic raging, Kelly reconnects with an old friend over Instagram and ends up going to stay with her and her husband to give her fiancé space. Obviously nothing goes as planned and Kelly’s life is thrown for a loop.

I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed the overall premise of this book because it was interesting and familiar. Kelly, however, may very well be my least favorite main character in the history of novels. She came off so insecure, whiney, self absorbed, dense, and desperate. It was hard to root for her at all or even really care what happened to her. I ended up liking Sabrina and Nathan more. Once you get over how insufferable Kelly can be at times, it’s very easy to get lost in the pages of this book!

So, it’s said that this book is “sexy,” “wild,” and “edgy” and while there is certainly nothing mainstream about threesomes and open relationships, I disagree with those reciews that are comparing this to 50 Shades! For starters, Andrea Bartz’s writing is superior to E.L. James, and I would not categorize this in the same genre either. The Spare Room is certainly sex positive and sensual, but this does not have any over the top sex scenes and doesn’t really go beyond surface level in its encounters either, so don’t let that deter you! It almost deterred me because I don’t love reading smut but this didn’t translate as such for me.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read that kept me guessing! I didn’t figure out the twists at any point and that is always my favorite type of reading experience!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book just wasn’t for me, it started out very interesting but than it slowed down a lot, sadly I wasn’t invested in any of the characters. I wasn’t able to finish it.

I really enjoyed Andrea Bartz’s We Were Never Here, so I was very excited for the opportunity to read this book. I love a fast paced, dark and twisty thriller, and The Spare Room did not disappoint. None of the characters were particularly likable, yet I found myself invested in what happened to them. And while I sort of predicted one of the twists, there was one that I absolutely did not see coming. This was a very entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Yes, it is a domestic thriller...

Yes - it evolves into a dangerous threesome...

No - It did not really ruffle my feathers , and it was a long, slow burn for me.

To be honest:
I felt like I read this book or watched the movie before.

I will start by saying this book will be for some people, but it also won't be everyone's cup of tea. I love the author's previous book We Were Never Here. When I saw this one by the same author, I immediately added it to my TBR list without reading the synopsis. That was my mistake, as if I had read the details I probably would have skipped this book.

The author went out on a limb here and wrote something very different than her previous books. This book is more a messed up romance book until about 65% when it actually becomes a thriller. However, the storyline in the beginning seems to be more thought out and the ending rushed and tacked on.

Kelly gives up everything to move with her fiancé to a new city when the pandemic hits and he decides he wants to postpone their wedding...indefinitely. She reconnects with her childhood friend Sabrina and decides to ride out the rest of quarantine with Sabrina and her husband, Nathan, in their gorgeous mansion. Kelly finds herself falling for both of them which leads to a wild threesome and the couple opening up their marriage to her. Kelly discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage has gone missing. She begins to uncover more about the couple and questions what she really wants.

Kelly is cringe worthy. She is suspicious all the time and doesn't trust anyone, yet continues to stick around. She appears to be very desperate...to the point of putting her own life in danger. There were red flags going up everywhere that she recognized but kept choosing to ignore. She was a frustrating character. I didn't love the pandemic setting and multiple references to the pandemic. While I can appreciate that the author did a fine job tying the pandemic into the storyline (and she did it well) I just don't want to hear anymore about the pandemic. Perhaps it's because I am in healthcare and we are all burned out from it. Maybe it's just too soon for me and this might just be more a personal issue.

If you're looking for a page turning thriller, skip this one. If you want to read about a threesome (with spice) and a female questioning her sexuality and on a journey to discover it (with a side of thriller) then this is the book for you!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kelly is heartbroken and alone. Her relationship with her fiance is coming to an end, right as Covid quarantine is ramping up. Looking for solace, Kelly reconnects with Sabrina, a childhood friend. Kelly is elated when Sabrina invites her to quarantine at her sprawling estate in the DC suburbs. Kelly takes Sabrina up on her offer, hoping to relax and figure out her life and future. Upon arriving at Sabrina's house, Kelly becomes enthralled with Sabrina and her husband, Nathan. When their friendship slowly evolves into something steamier between the three of them, Kelly is all in. The sensuous relationship continues to develop as Kelly falls deeper in lust with her hosts.

Until Kelly finds a photograph. Another girl from the past. Also invited into Sabrina and Nathan's life and bed. Until the girl disappears and Kelly begins to wonder if Nathan and Sabrina had something to do with her disappearance. Are Nathan and Sabrina her soulmates....or do they have more nefarious intentions?

Interesting book and concept with a fair bit of sex to keep things spicy. Just an FYI if that's not your thing. There was a definite twist at the end that I did NOT see coming. While I would not characterize this novel as a must read, it checked off the boxes of a fun and thrilling ride. Check out for a great beach read!

While this didn’t live up to Bartz’s last novel for me, I still really enjoyed this. The atmosphere was so tense, and I appreciate how the author veered toward more of a romantic thriller as opposed to her previous books. This was on pace to be my favorite of her books, until I got to the last 15-20%. I really didn’t care for the final big twist, but this is still a book I will be recommending.