The world is in the middle of a global pandemic and the country is on lockdown, when Kelly and her fiancé Mike decide to pump the breaks on their engagement. Mike suggests they put things on hold after Kelly accuses (to put it lightly) him of cheating. The timing is perfect when an old high school acquaintance (Sabrina) and her husband Nathan open up their lavish home to Kelly, suggesting she stay in their spare bedroom, while she and Mike sort through their feelings.

Kelly falls in love with their beautiful home and quickly finds herself also having feelings for both Sabrina and Nathan. She is even more surprised when they reciprocate and open up their marriage to her. Things are going along smoothly until Kelly learns the couple has a secret, a former lover who has gone missing...now she must uncover the truth before she meets a similar fate.

This book had me glued to my kindle. As I was reading I waffled between 3 and 4 stars, but the ending is is truly what pushed this book to a 4 star read!

If you enjoy a thrilling mystery this book is definitely one to add to your TBR! Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

This book kept me wanting more and more. I liked the plot and the writing. The characters were very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and Ballantine Books for this ARC of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz.

I requested this book from my favorite thriller genre as I was intrigued by the “throuple” (a sexual relationship of three). I also have a voyeuristic hunger for all things pandemic-lockdown stories.

I found the main character Kelly ridiculous in her juvenile emotional headspace in which I was trapped for much of this story. She falls “hard and fast” for the wealthy, glamorous, and cool couple who live in an exclusive and gated neighborhood mansion.

I did not get a sense of substance feeding this love that Kelly possessed. Instead, Kelly’s adoration seemed more of that of a dog to indifferent owners: a kind word or gesture would be enough to send her emotions into rapture after a moment of questioning, “Christ, do I know these people?” No you do not, I wanted to scream many times.

Kelly thought and acted as if she were an adolescent over her sexual and romantic head and the story was quite repetitive with it.
There was lots of her self-dialogue and subsequent tedious dialogue with the couple, the latter of which felt scripted. Evidently not to naive Kelly.

However, the unique and twisty narrative was propulsive - I wanted to know what was really going on and the chapters flew by. I felt a dark undercurrent beneath the superficiality of the interactions between the threesome.
I too wanted to get to know Sabrina and Nathan and learn what motivated this weird poly-relationship.

The twist at around the 70% mark made things even more riveting. I cheered on Kelly’s newfound logic as she began to understand that her lovers might be dangerous.
She becomes book-educated about “ethical polyamory,” gaining further retrospective self-reflection, but ruining all with conclusive flowery drivel about the beauty and forever romantic “learnings.”
I actually loved the POV chapter from “darker, smarter” Elizabeth. Much more my cynical style.

So in summary, interesting and confusing premise, twisty narrative development, but with an unsympathetic protagonist.

Three stars.

This book kept me hooked from the beginning. I couldn’t put it down and finished within 2 days which I haven’t done in a while. The Spare Room is unputdownable. There was no smut but a few vague mentions of it , so if that’s something that might keep you from reading, then give it a chance. The last 25% blew my mind. I will definitely recommend this one. Thanks NetGalley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This would be fine for most older students, It discusses bisexuality and three way relationships. The storyline is both a mystery and a story of personal growth, setting boundaries. knowing who you can trust and what kind of life you want. A woman, at a crossroads in her life, gets infatuated with this couple and moves in with them and then discovers their connection to a missing woman. Did they hurt/murder her? Interesting story for older readers

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The story had good bones but like the proverb goes....too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth. I did not care for Kelly and her wishy washy personality. Did not care for the whole triangle relationship either. The only saving grace was the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley for this one! I picked it up and didn’t put it down until I had finished. Was it perfect? No - there were a few parts that felt a bit dragged out, but overall, it kept me guessing. A bit thriller, a bit sexy and a bit about a woman finding her way — would absolutely recommend picking this one up on pub day!

A woman, with a fractured relationship to her fiance and to herself, goes to stay with an acquantance and her husband and gets involved in a three way relationship. As she is forced to look at herself and look at them to see who can she trust, esp made more so by pandemic paranoia. While this becomes more of a thriller two thirds of the way through, I did enjoy it. But it is mostly a coming to terms with yourself story

I had complicated feelings- the relationships all were so weird. They felt so sadistic and strange so I really didn’t see the twist coming. I hated the main character so that made it a little hard. It does take like 60% of the book before the real mystery starts but once it gets going it really takes you on a ride. I enjoyed it, it’s worth reading for something different.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for a chance to read this ARC. When I was approved, I was immediately excited as I loved her previous book, We Were Never Here. While the premise of the book being set during the Pandemic and the cover looked thrilling, to me it sorta lacked and at times felt drawn out. It wasn’t a suspenseful thriller I was hoping for until the very end, but it was very well written. The author does a great job story telling and character depth, but the throuple part wasn’t my cup of tea. It went for a turn that I wasn’t expecting, so I will be giving this 4 stars.

Thank you Netgalley & Ballantine Books for an eARC of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz. This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023, so as soon as I got approved I knew I needed to dive in. The cover was calling my name - It is beautiful, right?!

Kelly's living with her fiance during lockdown, and he just called off their wedding. She's rekindled a friendship with a childhood friend Sabrina and decides to stay with her and her husband in Virginia for a bit. What's the worst that could happen? What starts as a fun arrangement quickly takes a sinister turn.

I really enjoyed this book! The first half had me like - OOH, whoa, we are getting some steamy open marriage scenes with an atmospheric creepiness that is clearly lurking. I had a lull in the middle that had me utterly confused about the direction the book was taking - And then again loved the ending when it swerved and hit with a final BOOM. This is a unique novel that is, like Bartz's others, extremely well written and will have you guessing throughout. I don't want to give anything away, but if you're looking for some steam and a bunch of WTF-IS-GOING-ON moments, look no further!

The Spare Room is Andrea Bartz’s best book yet! Set in the pandemic, there are so many twists and turns that you won’t be able to put it down! This is also one sexy book that will grab you from the start!

The Spare Room is a bit all over the place - a little steamy, a little romance, a little suspenseful, a little thrilling towards the end, and a little annoying the entire time. The writing style felt like it was trying too hard, the MC is as dumb as bricks, and ultimately the ending did not feel realistic to me. I really loved Andrea Bartz’ We Were Never Here, so I’ll still check out her future works, but this was a real stinker.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Kelly's life is in a downward spiral. She quit her job to move to a new city with her fiance, but then the pandemic lockdown starts and she is trapped in a tiny apartment with nowhere to go, no one to talk to, and a fiance who decides he needs to take a relationship break. Kelly's friend from high school, Sabrina, offers her the chance to get away for a little while and come stay with her. Sabrina is a successful author with a powerhouse husband and they live in a mansion outside of DC. Kelly takes her up on the offer because there are worse places to wait out a lockdown. Once Kelly arrives, things start to change in her relationship with both Sabrina and her husband. Suddenly their dynamic is very different and Kelly starts to question everything about their past and their future. Kelly discovers that the former occupant of her spare room is now a missing person, but the stories aren't quite adding up. Everything starts to unravel as Kelly digs deeper to find the truth.

This book was not what I expected, but I still really liked it. There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. I found the relationship between Kelly, Sabrina, and Nathan to be fascinating, while also not being something I could personally relate to. Overall, this is a good thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publish Group - Ballentine for the ARC of The Spare Room.

I had to quit reading at 30%. I didn’t realize this book had an open relationship element and that’s not what I was looking for.

This book does take place during the pandemic - and while I am often cautious with those sorts of things, I decided to give this one a shot. I liked it overall, though I think I would have preferred for there to be more thriller elements, but that's just my own personal taste!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the chance to read this book!

A fun, steamy thriller set in the pandemic, bringing the meaning of the words ‘locked-room thriller’ to a whole other level! Kelly and her long-term boyfriend are on a break, so she temporarily moves in with childhood friend Sabrina and her husband Nathan. Romantic feelings soon develop between the three and they enter into a throuple, sexy interludes included. But then Kelly finds out they’ve done this before. And the last woman is missing. A clever, unique and sexy sizzler!

I don't normally like books that surround the pandemic because living through it was nightmare enough but this book was really good! Andrea Bartz brings her A Game with The Spare Room and readers who enjoy twisty thrillers are going to love this one.

This isn't a bad book, it just wasn't for me. The description of the plot was intriguing, but I wanted more thriller and less steamy romance. I did like the authors writing style how she made the Main character add in some snark. It was refreshing.
Thank you for the Publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Andrea Bartz never disappoints!! Her latest novel The Spare Room is a domestic romantic thriller that will have your head spinning! I always love that Andrea Bartz creates a storyline that is fresh and original and this gem definitely delivers! The characters are realistic and although their situation wasn’t relatable (for me), I could not put my kindle down because I HAD find out the who, what, where, why of this crazy situation! The pacing was perfect and trust me when I say you need to read this 5 star read until the very last page—wow! If you are looking for a summer read that completely captivates and keeps you on the hook from start to finish, than I highly recommend The Spare Room!