Absolutely genius. This book had absolutely everything I love: spice, betrayal, secrets, murder, & a cat. From the beginning to the end-it had twists & turns. I found myself gasping out loud multiple times. I really enjoyed this one.

Honestly this is my favorite Andrea Bart’s book yet.

I love that she writes in two different tones. Not just flipping characters in the epilogue but she has two different tones for the main character. The weaker version at the beginning and the stronger version at the end.

I have enjoyed seeing her writing develop over the 4 books of hers that I’ve read.

As always advanced reader copy from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of Spare Room in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own & may not be reproduced.

The first novel I read by Andrea Bartz was last year when I read We Were Never Here. I was not a huge fan of that novel. However, I usually have a 3-strike policy with authors as long as I saw promise that I might like other works, so I thought Bartz’s new novel The Spare Room would be a great opportunity for me to give her another shot!

This story centers around Kelly who is living in an apartment with her fiancé who just called off their wedding. She has no friends & no job and is just hating life at the moment. She then rekindles her friendship with an old childhood friend who is uber rich & famous now. Her friend, Sabrina, also has a gorgeous husband and a huge remote mansion. Sabrina & her husband offer Kelly their “Spare Room” to live in while she gets her life back in order. Everything is going great, but then Kelly begins having feelings for both Mr. & Mrs. Sabrina at which point they open their marriage up to her and they all three begin having relations. Everything is wonderful until stories start to change and not add up. Turns out there was a woman before Kelly and she is now missing. Will Kelly figure it all out before she becomes a victim as well?

Oy Vey! Sadly, I can’t say that Bartz gained any ground with me on this one. I am still willing to give her one more shot.

The pacing was SOOOOOOOO slow. It took me forever to finish this book and I almost DNF’d it. When I say forever, I mean that I can normally finish a book in 24-48 hours. This one took me a couple of weeks reading off & on. And the pacing was not the only problem for me, unfortunately. The characters, especially Kelly, were insufferable. I hated every single one of them and just wished some new, amazing character would come in and do away with them all. Then there is the pandemic. I’m a bit over the pandemic, so I wish this part had just been left out, but that’s just me.

I HATE giving bad reviews – like absolutely hate it, because so much of a review is based on personal opinion. I know that while I didn’t like it, others likely will.

I will not be discouraging anyone from reading it, but I will not be recommending it either. I’m sorry!

2.5 Stars from me. I actually liked We Were Never Here better & I didn’t like that one either.

Goshhhh I loved Andrea’s book “We Were Never Here” so I was thrilled to get an ARC of Spare Room!

Setting/atmosphere: okay so a BIG reason why I couldn’t connect with this book is that it’s taking place during the height of the COVID pandemic. (My brain is trying to block those memories I swear)

Characters: I didn’t find myself connected or rooting for a single character :(

Lesson/life changing: nope

Plot: it had A TON of potential but I wasn’t a fan of the dialogue or the main characters internal dialogue. Also… the whole covid thing.

Thank you to Andrea Bartz, Ballantine books, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I think this is the first book I've read that's set in our current pandemic world and that was interesting and a little weird to read! Not quite to where we are now in the pandemic, but sort post initial lockdown. The vocab of the characters felt very online to me as well. Neither of these things are bad, just initial observations I had from the start, I guess I haven't read many new books that include the pandemic so that was new!

Onto the plot. I don't love posting negative reviews, preferring to rant incessantly to my fiance about things I don't like, but here goes. I was disappointed with the book, it felt like there were all these hints and lead up to what could've been a predictable ending but at least the groundwork was there. The twist made sense just fine but how it all unfurled was very anti-climatic, the suspense never really building to what it should've. Possibly due to the main characters reactions. As some reviewers have noted, this felt more like a romantic suspense novel than a thriller and I would agree.

Before I started this book I was mentally going on about how I don't get how people don't like "unlikeable narrators" and how I always love them, and then.....I did not like the main character lol so jokes on me! I found her incredibly delusional and she just bothered me so much. I felt like the book had a lot of loose strings that could've been tied up much better, but ended unraveling in a lackluster story. The epilogue felt a little too little too late, a bit of a throwaway note. Anyway, this just didn't land for me but I'm happy for those who really enjoyed it, I may give Bartz another chance with a different book.

I love Andrea Bartz and her books are always easily 5-Star reads for me. I hate that this one was not, especially coming off of a great page-turner like We Were Never Here. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars before deciding on 4 more out of loyalty to the author and the last quarter or so of the story. This seemed more like a romance novel than a thriller until that point. I struggled to get into the characters at first. The threesome aspect was definitely an interesting and unique plot point and I liked that it wasn't overly sleazy in descriptions. I liked the creepy mansion next to a graveyard vibe and the name Virgo for a cat was great! It just did not feel like the author's previous "can't read fast enough" stories. The last quarter was definitely what I am used to from Ms. Bartz. It's okay, though. All of my favorite authors have one or two just didn't connect with me and I am definitely still looking forward to the next one! I think this would be perfect for the romantic suspense lovers out there who prefer more romance than suspense.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Andrea Bartz and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

I was lucky enough to receive this ARC from the publisher and as a huge fan of Andrea Bartz’s, I was super excited. This book takes place during the pandemic, a period of time I would rather forget. However, it does play an important part for brining the characters together under one roof. When Kelly needs to distance herself from a break-up, she decides to accepts Sabrina’s invitation to quarantine with her and her husband outside D.C. A writer by trade, Sabrina is know for her romance novels and Kelly is intrigued at the opportunity for this change of pace. Upon her arrival, the flirting begins and it’s not long before the concept of the “Throuple” is offered to Kelly. Told through erotic interludes, Kelly finds herself as a willing participant in the newly formed threesome. It’s not long, before Kelly realizes she’s wasn’t the first to join the married couple and she quickly learns the couple last partner is missing. Was she murdered or did she go missing in her own? This book was interesting with some interesting twists. It’s not my favorite by Bartz, but it’s an interesting story that’s sure to thrill fans.

Really enjoyed this author’s previous book “we were never here” and I enjoyed this one just as much. This author has a real talent for twists and turns and I loved this one!

It’s the beginning of the pandemic, and Kelly’s engagement is in trouble. She and her fiancé agree that they need space to think. After reconnecting with Sabrina, who Kelly knows from high school, over the internet, Sabrina offers Kelly their spare room to stay in. Kelly is fascinated by Sabrina’s life as a best selling author with a handsome husband in a mansion, so she decides to quarantine with them. Once she arrives, she discovers that she’s even more enthralled with their lifestyle than she thought. She also discovers that their former partner, who could be her doppelgänger, is missing. During the quiet of the pandemic, anything can happen in their big house.

I will start by saying that this is unlike any other thriller I’ve read before, but I was here for it! I’d almost classify it as a romantic suspense because a large focus of the book is on the building of relationships. However, the last 25% of the book is full of twists and turns and definitely has thrills and suspense. I appreciated the creepy setting of the mansion next to a cemetery. The characters were fascinating and I often suspected each of them of wrongdoing but never guessed the real culprit. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend to those who appreciate a slow burn thriller with character building and romantic relationships.

Thank you to Andrea Bartz, Ballantine books, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Quick synopsis: Kelly and her significant other decide to have a "break" right before they get married. Things just aren't working out as expected so her friend from school who she recently got in touch with invites her to stay for an undetermined amount of time with her and her husband during the pandemic. The idea is they will be in lockdown together and just to give Kelly time to evaluate everything.

Thoughts: This just didn't work for me. I felt it was really drawn out and could have been way shorter based on the plot. Nothing really happens that you don't expect for most of the book. Obviously relationships form during the time frame as they are holed up together and you can certainly see that happening, but then it just kept going. Nothing stood out as a mystery or thriller, just people co-existing. It seemed more of a rinse/repeat telling and then finally around the last quarter it picked up, but there was no build up to it and IMHO the thriller/mystery I wanted came out of left field. I like to try and vet out where a book is going and why but I had nothing to build off of, I just wish more of the mystery was dabbled more into the first part of the book.

For those who are on pandemic overload and just done hearing about it, this will not be for you. However, I will say I live somewhere that had no restrictions so to hear the reiterations of other locations that had more strict lockdowns and "pods" it did give me pause to think how things are handled differently and affected people. Anywho, this just wasn't for me. It just didn't have what I was expecting, however the author is one I will still give a try again, she changes up her style and plots to the point some will work but others may not, but how will you know if you don't give it a try?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I think I'm going to go 2.5 stars on this one, but round up to 3. I think if it was shorter it would be a 3 read.

A Must Read book! 5 stars or more. I am so thankful to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book for the purpose of this review.

I loved all of Bartz's other books and this new one is no exception. It's filled with mystery and thrilling moments. The characters and the story are unique and I haven't been this invested in a book in a long time. Superb spice too!

I LOVE Andi Bartz’s books but this was definitely an unconventional one.. With thriller templates having the ability to get repetitive, I appreciate the fresh take here, and the path to the reveal took some interesting direction. But the MC was a bit frustrating and the relationships were *a lot*. My fave part was her author’s note that nothing bad would happen to the cat character! I really hate bad things befalling animals so that was amazing. I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for something totally different and unpredictable.

Andrea Bartz's WE WERE NEVER HERE was one of my favorite thrillers in recent years. Unable to put it down, I binge-read it in two sittings. So I was excited to see that Bartz had a new thriller out to keep me turning the pages way too late.

THE SPARE ROOM is a bit different from WWNH in that it operates on a smaller canvas—instead of focusing on globetrotting travelers, THE SPARE ROOM effectively uses the paranoid limitations of the pandemic to heighten its rollercoaster of a plot. However, some things are consistent for both books. THE SPARE ROOM is filled with those out-of-left-field twists I've come to associate with Bartz's thrillers. Even better, while WWNH focused on toxic female friendships and THE SPARE ROOM on dark romantic partnerships, her deeper themes remain the same: How well do we really know those we love? More importantly, can we trust them with our lives?

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the throughly enjoyable early read!

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's...complicated. It took quite awhile before this hit "thriller" territory, and I wouldn't even really say it was a thriller, but rather maybe domestic noir??? I wanted to punch our main character in the throat so many times. I couldn't believe how clueless she was and how many warning signs she overlooked or simply preferred to ignore and how many things they all did and got wrong. And please do not let me get started on who the real culprit turned out to be...arggghhhh. One the positive side, needing to know what was going on pulled me right through to the end.

That book was…interesting. That was one of the spiciest and awkward books I have read in a while. Props to Andrea Bartz for simultaneously making me hot and bothered and excruciatingly uncomfortable. Shout out to Virgo for being the GOAT.

I loved Andrea Bartz’s We Were Never Here” and was excited for the ARC. This is the first book I’ve read that is about the pandemic. The main character,Kelly, leaves her struggling relationship to join her old high school friend and her husband’s quarantine pod. Sabrina and Nathan are sexy, mysterious and rich. Kelly quickly becomes obsessed with Sabrina and then Nathan. She’s in a relationship with both of them before we know it. It’s all downhill from there.
This is definitely what I would classify as a sort of erotic thriller without being smutty. It’s fairly PG with sex scenes ending with “and when it was over” rather than graphic details.
I thought I knew what was going on and I didn’t. At all. It kept changing all the way to the final pages. The whole story is weird and different and new. The author references this big thing that happens to drive a wedge into Kelly’s relationship with her fiancé. She flashes back to images and descriptions of it. When it is revealed what it was- I thought MURDER- it was lame and super boring- but maybe that was a red herring for the whole plot!
Definitely an interesting read!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine/Ballantine Books for providing me an advance copy of Andrea Bartz’s latest thriller, The Spare Room, in exchange for an honest review.

It takes a special sort of writing and story for me to care about (or even consider) the characters in a novel. I am typically more invested in the elements of plot, setting, and writing style. After devouring #TheSpareRoom in a single day, I started to write my review only to realize that the majority of the novel is character-driven. I reached the same conclusion when I attempted to reduce the plot to a single sentence. Did I really just award five stars to a book that focuses on the intricacies of a throuple? Why yes, I did.

#TheSpareRoom gives new meaning to the phrase “romp of a thriller” as the reader is guided by the protagonist’s, Kelly Doyle, lockdown experience with a married couple. Reeling from her fiancé’s request to postpone their wedding, Kelly escapes her dreary life in Philadelphia and accepts an old high school acquaintance’s invitation to take shelter in their gated community mansion outside of DC. What begins as a two-week stint of fresh air and relief, slowly transitions into a summer-long stay that challenges Kelly to explore and expand her views on the meaning of marriage and relationships.

Only there is a catch…

Kelly may be a replacement for the Lamont’s missing ex; a shiny, new play toy to distract them from the hurt and loss of their previous lover who vanished without a trace. Kelly’s past, which is fraught with cheaters and a slew of bad relationships, rears its ugly head in the form of jealousy and shameful behavior when she discovers the old flame looks eerily similar to herself—or in Kelly’s words, “a glow-up version of me.”

Caught up in self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy, it isn’t until the neighbors of Tanglewood Estates start to drop hints (or in some cases, roadkill) that Kelly realizes the Lamonts might not be the cool and sexually liberated couple that they seem.

I adore Andrea Bartz’s writing and was absolutely thrilled to be selected to review this novel. #TheSpareRoom might be her best book yet, and I highly recommend it for readers searching for a suspense novel that is actually filled with plenty of twists.

While I usually enjoy this author’s writing style, the plot was only ok not my favorite of hers.. would still recommend cause some may enjoy more than me. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

I'll admit this premise, a threesome permanent relationship, is unique (definitely not in the mystery genre)! The 'mystery' took some time to reveal itself and the ending was definitely unpredictable. My second Andrea Bartz book and have enjoyed them both.