The Guest by B.A. Paris is a domestic thriller about a couple, Iris and Gabriel, who return home to an unexpected house guest and the trouble starts there. At the same time, there is a fairly new couple to the neighbourhood, and Iris and Gabriel have befriended them, and they also have a house guest who raises some questions.

Told from the point of view of Iris, we watch as Laure sets up residence in their home, and seems to have no plans to leave any time soon. Iris and Gabriel have a lot more patience than I have because I think I would have tossed her out after the initial period she had indicated she was staying for.

While I found The Guest to be interesting at first, after a while I was just sick and tired of Laure, and wanted Iris and/or Gabriel to grow a backbone and throw her out. The saving grace of this book is that Gabriel didn't fall into bed with the house guest, which is half what I expected to happen.

It says something that at one point, it felt like this story was wrapping up, only for me to realize I was only at 63%, and I wasn't sure what was left to say. As it turned out there was more to the story, but I'm not sure it was necessary to do it in another 19 chapters (plus an epilogue). While there were some surprises, if you were paying close attention, it wasn't hard to spot where the ending was going. If you aren't paying close attention, then the ending may surprise you.

All in all, the story was entertaining, if a little long winded, and may be worth a read if you're a lover of slower moving domestic thrillers.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Guest was a little different from all of B.A. Paris’s books. It was a great mystery. I had no idea who the culprit was until the last chapter. I actually thought I had it figured out but I didn’t. I’ll admit that I’m just now getting to this book because I started with her first book. I’m proud to say that I’ve ready everything by her now. I’m looking forward to the next book!

Thank you NetGalley, B.A. Paris, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC of The Guest in exchange for an honest review!!
Description:
The Guest follows Iris and Gabriel a married couple and their married friends Laure and Pierre, and Esme and Hugh. Gabriel is struggling with grief after finding Charlie, a young man who had an accident by a quarry. Charlie was still alive when Gabriel found him and heard the last words spoken by Charlie before he passed away. Suddenly Gabriel pulls away from Iris which leaves the couple in an awkward spot.
In the meantime, Laure moves in with Iris and Gabriel after finding out that her husband, Pierre, fathered a child with another woman. But Laure is pushing Iris’ buttons. She’s wearing her clothes, rearranging her kitchen, and following her around every where. Esme and Hugh are new friends that recently moved into the neighborhood with their gardener. But how do their webs intertwine?
Review:
The prologue of The Guest immediately captured my attention and I am a HUGE B.A. Paris fan! If she writes it, I am going to read it. After the prologue though, the story was slow moving. I love a good drama so there were many parts that captured my attention, but they were alarmingly slow and dragged out. I kept waiting for the story to pick up, but it just didn’t. The last chapter, you find out everything and honestly I was underwhelmed. I found the big twist extremely far fetched or rather weird. Like how, why? It was very random. I also thought this books writing was a lot different than B.A. Paris’s other books so I was a little disappointed. I still think it’s worth the read though for a quick thriller.

Err I wish I had a better review to leave for this one. Unfortunately, I just didn’t enjoy the characters or the plot as it began to play out. In the end, you could just read the (too long) prologue to get a complete summary of the book, including the who and why.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was certainly more of a drama as there wasn’t anything particularly thrilling about this story. The characters were dreadful and I was not really interested in the story as it dragged on, but the epilogue was good and rather unexpected.

B.A. Paris has been a hit-or-miss author for me, but this is the best novel I've read by her to-date!

Also, this is the second book I've read this year about the unannounced houseguest from hell who shows up distressed at the door of a couple and invites herself to stay indefinitely. In The Guest, British couple Iris and Gabriel are surprised to come home from a holiday to discover that their friend Laure from France has let herself into their house after hastily leaving her husband (Pierre) due to her discovery that he had an affair and fathered a child with another woman.

While I always want to scream at the homeowners, "just kick her out already" in these types of novels, making for a shaky premise, I enjoyed all the twists and turns in the plot. I am rarely shocked in thriller books, but the epilogue of this book got me!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and the author for copies of this book and audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever had a non-family member show up to live with you for a while? It happens in the appropriately named - The Guest by B. A. Paris.

"Iris and Gabriel get back from their holiday and find an old friend has moved in. Laure has left her husband, Pierre, in Paris, (after he confesses an affair and secret daughter) and moved away to find herself. Days turn into weeks and Iris feels torn between helping her friend and getting her life back. She's desperate for some time away from Laure.
A new neighbor moves in - with a gardener who has a checkered past.
Soon dangerous secrets will unravel...with deadly consequences."

This is more of a domestic thriller. There's plenty of tension with Laure overstaying her welcome, and being oblivious to any hints about moving on. She is a pretty self-centered character with zero boundaries. (How would you like it if a guest rearranged your kitchen cabinets?) Iris struggles with having an unexpected housemate the whole time. Her method of dealing with it will surprise you.

The book moves along at a slow burn until Paris starts killing off characters. The epilogue makes for a wild ending.

Fans of Paris's previous books will enjoy this one.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I love B.A.Paris and for that reason I pushed through the first half of this book. I was disappointed as it felt more like a rough draft that hadn't been sprinkled with magic yet.
I did find any of the characters likable, the twist was great and the Epilogue made the book.

I however wish the entire book had been written in the same pace and tone as the epilogue.

I had really high hopes for this book because I have really loved all of the B.A. Paris books I have read before. I did enjoy reading this book and at no point was I bored with it, but it just didn’t quite live up to what I have come to expect when I pick up a B.A. Paris book.

Iris and Gabriel are surprised when they come home from vacation to find their friend Laure has invited herself to their house unannounced. Laure’s husband, Pierre, told her he had an affair that resulted in his having a child with another woman and Laure needed some space from him. It is not long before Iris and Gabriel are feeling stressed from the invasion of Laure into their lives and the only bit of reprieve they seem to have comes from befriending their new neighbors.

This was a very tense and engaging book, but it felt like more of a domestic drama than a thriller. It was not until the epilogue that there was enough of a twist that it even really felt like it was a true thriller. In all honesty, the epilogue saved this book for me and otherwise I likely would have rated it a little lower.

I am still glad that I read it because I was engrossed in the drama of this story, it is just that as a mood reader I picked it up really wanting a thriller and did not feel like that it what I was reading until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

This book was unbelievable great. At first it started out with a bang. Then it got better about half way. It didn't happened the way I excepted but it was great. I loved it ! Great job.

If you want more be sure to grab a copy of this amazing book!

I think this might be my last B.A. Paris book. The first 90% is great, mystery, trying to figure things out despite very little to go on and thinking you must be missing clues. But then there is the "reveal" chapter where the responsible character lays it all out like in detail. I truly dislike this approach. It relieves the author of any need to sprinkle that information in during the course of the book, robs the reader of figuring it out short of randomly guessing it, and for me is a anti-climactic way to end a book. If this had been the first time she employed this trope, I might give the next one a try. But that is what happened in the previous book. I'm moving this author from a "must read" to a "let someone else read and then ask them before I maybe read it."

B.A. Paris always delivers a psychological thriller. The Guest is a heart pounding story filled with plenty of twists and turns. I highly recommend.

I think I am falling out of love with thrillers because I should have loved this but I could not finish it. Quite honestly I was bored

This story really kept me guessing and wanting to read more. I thought the suspense was built up very nicely. There are a lot of characters, but I found it easy to follow each character, and was never confused about what was going on. However, I just did not like how it all wrapped up in the end. But I still think this is a very suspenseful book, and I know our patrons will really enjoy it. I think this book would be better to listen to rather than read.

The Breakdown was one of my favorites when it came out, so I was really excited to get this arc. Unfortunately, The Guest didn't work as well for me. It's a slow burn domestic drama with lots of secrets, but the pacing was a bit too slow and not intriguing enough. The characters were all a little odd and unlikeable, but the relationships between them (and their deterioration) were well done. A lot of the mysteries seem resolved along the way until the final twist. I'm not sure how I feel about the reveal, or epilogue confession style reveals in general. Overall, an okay read but a bit slow.

CW: murder, suicide, infidelity, alcoholism

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advance review copy of this book.

what a great book and i loved reading this author. . loved the romance and how the couple came to be. Loved that they worked through their issues and found love. Loved this mystery

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I've read several books by this author and overall I feel like this fell a bit short of my expectations. I was irritated with Lauren for taking over Iris's life and the way Iris and Gabriel put up with it. There were too many conversations between Gabriel and Iris about their feelings towards Lauren, however, they just tolerated her. Lots of questions as to why Pierre, Lauren's husband. Why isn't he working to patch things up with Lauren? Their new friends that moved nearby and their guest added some much needed mystery. Overall I really enjoyed this book I'd have liked to have seen a bit more conflict with Iris having to deal with Lauren.

I was looking forward to reading this book and preordered it about a year ago. B.A Paris has sucked me in since Behind Closed Doors, and I have read all of her books. This book however was slow to start, and didn't pick up much in the middle. Iris and Gabriel have a troubled marriage after Gabriel witnesses a boys death and when return from vacation, their friend Laure is in their house. Laure is unlikeable from the beginning and overstays her welcome. Laure's husband Pierre has cheated on her and has fathered a daughter. Pierre has mysteriously not been answering Gabriel or Laure's phone calls and isn't confessing to his wrong doings. Gabriel and Iris find comfort in their new neighbors and form a quick friendship. The book was slow and took forever to get to the epilogue. The epilogue was fantastic and worth finishing the book for. It was true BA Paris writing and kept me wanting more! All in all it was an ok book but the ending will have me preordering her next book.

I’m not really sure that I would categorize this book as a thriller. It was certainly mysterious, and I didn’t know how all of the storylines would come together, but I didn’t find it particularly “thrilling”. I was very surprised by the twist, however I found the ending very abrupt and almost confusing compared to the rest of the book. The pacing felt a little off. It was still an enjoyable read, and I look forward to more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book.

I could not put The Guest down! B.A. Paris is one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors, and I was hooked from the get-go with this one. And there was a major twist that totally blind-sided me. (I just love when that happens in books!) Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.