I was really excited to get approved for an advanced reading copy of this one. I’ve read a few books by B.A. Paris and have enjoyed all of them. The Guest was not quite as good as Behind Closed Doors but better than Bring Me Back.

The storyline was interesting enough. It had me looking everywhere but at the guilty person. I have to say, I was not expecting the big reveal…which is my favorite part of reading a book. I want to be SHOOK when I learn whodunnit.

However, the ending felt pretty abrupt. In most stories, you get little reveals here and there that start to tie the story together. And while I loved that hardly anything was as it seemed, I didn’t love the way it was all wrapped up so quickly at once. Basically, you could read the Epilogue and there’s your story.

Overall though, it was a pretty decent read and I was surprised by the ending, which is what I love in a thriller.

The Guest by B.A. Paris, is a domestic thriller that follows the lives of 3 couples as their secrets are slowly revealed. Entertaining plot, and flew through it as the writing is easy to read. I do wish we had more twists or reveals during the book instead of everything revealed during the epilogue, but solid thriller overall.

The book started slow, and I thought the story would be just about the petty drama between two sets of friendships and their relationships. I was wrong, as the middle started the wild ride with the hits of twist after twist. It was easy to get consumed by the tension between everyone that the twists were a complete surprise. The ending was so shocking that I read some of the epilogue twice. Overall this was a great gripping thriller that will make you second guess everything.

Thank you to NetGallery and to St. Martin Press for giving me a copy of the book.

Wow! I have always been a B.A. Paris fan and this one is an absolutely thrilling piece of work. I could not get over the ending and did not see any of the twists and turns coming. I was hooked till the very last page. Although the beginning is a bit slow, it sets the story line as to what will happen in the end! Stick with it at the beginning and you will not be disappointed!

Wow. This book was a wild trip! I honestly didn’t know where the author was going with the story. Usually I’m able to put the pieces together before the author reveals the truth but this one got me. The story was so intricate, my mind was going all over the place and just when I thought the author was just going to leave the ending in some crazy mess that didn’t make sense, the story was tied up perfectly with no lose ends. I really didn’t see the end coming which is a true testament to the author’s creativity! This is a great book!

I am grateful for #netgalley for providing me with the ARC book and this review is entirely on my own.

I had such high hopes for this book. It definitely fell short though. 😔 There was so much mind numbing conversations and days between the main characters I found myself incredibly bored. The “twist” is so drawn out it wasn’t worth discovering and some of it was incredibly predictable. It was written from two POV but I don’t feel you could connect with them.

Once I started reading this book I remembered why it took me so long to get through the other books written by this author. The plot was good and the twist was plausible just lots in details and then still left with unanswered questions.

#netgalley #theguest #baparis #thriller #bookreview

I was super excited to receive a copy of The Guest after reading and loving Behind Closed Doors. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a suspenseful, quick read.

Gabriel and Iris return home to find an unexpected guest in their house, Laure. At first, they are happy to help out a friend going through marital problems, but as the weeks go on they are eager to get their house back to themselves. Meanwhile, Gabriel is also struggling with the trauma finding an injured local boy and being unable to save him. As time goes on, more details are revealed about each of the characters’ lives and the secrets they are keeping from their friends and family. As time goes on, you aren’t sure who is telling the truth or what the truth is. The suspense builds wonderfully. I thought I saw the ending coming, but boy was I wrong. The twists will leave the reader shocked!

A twisty psychological thriller that will hold you in suspense from the beginning.
When Laure, a family friend, comes to stay with Iris and her husband then extended stay begins to add more turmoil to their marriage. Secrets and lies from the past and present will draw you in keeping you on the edge of your seat. The ending alone is such a shock for that alone you need to read this asap.

B.A.Paris created another master piece! While the first half of the booker was a slower read, the twist was worth the wait?
WOW!!

This one wasn’t for me. I felt zero connection to any of the characters and they all seemed so…off. I can’t really explain it, but it made it hard to care what happened. The twist was good, as usual with this author. But it wasn’t anything unique or super memorable. I thought it was going to have more of a wow factor. The timeline seemed to jump around a lot, which made things more confusing than they needed to be as well.

Put this more in the mystery category, because you're kind of meandering along for a while and not sure where the thread will unravel. I did not guess the ultimate twist, which is why this book is 3 stars. The chapters are short and quick and you may be like "wtf get on with it" but the ending makes up for it.. def good vacation/beach read.

Laure crashes with Iris and Gabriel, after a falling out with her husband, Pierre. Pierre revealed to Laure that he had a child with another woman. Iris insists that Laure can stay with her and Gabriel for as long as necessary,. However, Laure starts to become completely intertwined with Iris' life - from wearing her clothes to crashing all her plans.

Iris meets a new woman in town, Esme, who is expecting a baby. Iris and Esme become close. Esme even sends her hunky gardener to help at Iris' house. This gardener may have a bit of a sketchy past...

Through this all, secrets are revealed, but mainly not until the epilogue. There is a lot going on and the plot is somewhat messy. The characters were somewhat annoying and frustrating. This really took away from the book. I could not connect with any of the characters.

This book had a very slow start. Well, more than just a slow start. I would say the first half or so was slow and at times, a tad boring. Sadly, I found the twist quite predictable and guessed "whodunnit". I am normally a huge found of B.A. Paris' work, but this one just did not do it for me. If you want a fast-paced thriller, this is not it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I’ll start by saying thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
* I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*


This book was crazy! I was never sure the direction that we were going in. I was surprised by the end. I will be honest and say that this book FELT extremely long, and the beginning was a little slow, but the end made it worth it.

This book follows Iris and Gabriel, and their temporary house guest, Laure. Laure is Iris’ best friend, and having marital problems, so she asks to stay with them temporarily. Though, everything gets WILD. 3.5* for me!!

This book was a very slow burn and more of a mystery than a thriller.

Iris and Gabriel return home to an unexpected guest, Laure. As time goes on, Laure decides that she will not be returning to her husband and has some suspicions about a big secret that he had just told her about. Only she’s totally wrong.

While the book did introduce a good amount of characters, I found myself being able to guess the the ending. If you like a slower burn mystery, you might just love this one.

Such a good book! I love BA Paris' other books so I was excited to get an ARC of The Guest and it did not disappoint! I was very surprised with the outcome and read it in 2 days. It was an excellent twisty storyline.

I really enjoyed reading this!! I didn't guess the twist and had no idea what was going to come out at the end. I really liked all the characters as well. B.A. Paris never disappoints and would highly recommend this one.

THE GUEST was filled with many secrets and lies. The story is slow to start, but I also couldn't stop thinking about it. I quickly became invested in Gabriel, Iris, Laure and Pierre's lives. Their friendship was unique to say the least. I thought Gabriel was the most gullible of all of them and I couldn't quite figure out why Laure would postpone her stay for so long. But I did get my answers soon enough! About halfway in, you may start to guess what's really happening and think you have figured it out. I thought I did, but when I got to the epilogue, my head was spinning! I never would have guessed the ending. B.A. Paris is an auto-buy author for me and I would recommend reading THE GUEST.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my gifted ARC.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) closer to pub date.

B.A. Paris does it again. Another book I could not put down!

Gabriel is on a run through the quarry and finds a teenage boy on the verge dying after a bad fall. His last words are to Gabriel who has to relay the message on to the paramedics. This experience changes Gabriel within himself, his job and his relationships, especially with his wife Iris. Gabriel and Iris decide to take a trip to get a way from the day-to-day stresses, and come home to find their long time friend, Laure, staying at their house. What they don't know is that this visit from Laure is just another stress to add to their plates.

Laure's husband, Pierre, had an affair, at some point in time, and is claiming to have a child that he just found out about. He wants to be a part of this child's life, but Laure cannot bare this idea. Laure's week long stay, turns to three weeks to then six weeks. Gabriel and Iris, although they love their friend, get to a point of annoyance and hope to see their friend leave soon as they start to see who she really is. Pierre will not answer any of Gabriel's calls and does not show to see Laure after he sets up a meeting for them for him to come clean completely to her.

Iris is left with two important people in her life dealing with these traumatic experiences and finds comfort in her new neighbors; Esme and Hugh..... and their gardener, Joseph?

5 stars!!

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and B.A. Paris for this ARC.

B.A. Paris has another winner with The Guest. This was another book that I could not put down. There were so many twists and turns throughout this book. I don't even know how to begin to describe this book without giving the ending away. Let's just say that the reader will be in for a ride. The ending was kind of expected but all the details still shocked me. I will also say that Iris and Laure's personalities got on my nerves, and I wanted to just yell at both of them to stop being so self-centered. Yes, Laure's marriage was in trouble, and she was going through something life alternating but her taking over Iris and Gabriel's life was taking her pity party to another level. Also why didn't Iris and Gabriel put their foot down?! I love my friends, but I would not have put up with what they did. Gabriel may have been going through his own issues, but he should still have realized what was happening and how much Laure was taking over Iris and his personal life. Be a friend but have boundaries. Iris and Gabriel also need to communicate with each other! They were going through their own personal hell yet not reaching out to each other. I wanted to scream "couples therapy" so many times. I think the only characters that I had any sympathy for was for Hugh and Esme, friends that Iris met during one of her runs. They seemed to have been dragged into everyone else's mess! They needed to run away from all the crazy around them.

Summary: A must read if you love drama!

I found The Guest to be a bit slow moving for the first half, but still an easy, entertaining read. The second half was where it picked up and had many plot twists and turns that kept me guessing and reading. I did not love the characters and I either disliked them or had little interest in them. I didn’t feel like there was much development beyond surface level and their current problem they were going through in the plot. What saved this book for me was the end (WOW!) because I did not see that coming!

I recommend this book for a quick, fun read! It seems predictable until the very end, but is an easy page turner.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars- Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my opinions and thoughts!