When your best friend is getting a divorce, of course you allow her to stay in your family home. This comes with many complications. As in this authors fashion the book kept me on the edge of my seat and you will not guess the ending.

Great book! BA Paris does it again. I’ve only ever read Behind Closed Doors but this one was also so good. If you want a fast paced read with some suspense and twists pick this one up!

This was lackluster for me, especially compared to Behind Closed Doors (the first book I read by B. A. Paris). I wanted more grit, more gruesomeness. The ending and heavy exposition also really really lost me. I enjoyed it up until then and was excited to find out what was happening though, hence the 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Latest B.A. Paris book and as amazing as all her others. I have them all on my shelf and I’ll be buying this one too. She’s a go to, auto-buy author.

I'd like to Macmillan Publishers and Netgalley for an advanced copy for review! When Laure decided to pop into her besties house while they were gone, and stay for an undisclosed amount of time- the awkwardness really had me hooked. I thought I had this book figured out several times, but rest assured, I never figured it out- the twists were just what a thriller needs and I enjoyed guessing along with it. The character building was strong as I felt connected throughout. I enjoyed this- B.A. Paris always knows her way around a thriller!

So much to figure out and people you just don’t know what is true. It was a quick read that I enjoyed. B.A. Paris wrote another book that should be popular and read by many.

This wasn't my favorite book from this author. I used to salivate awaiting the next novel year after year. As the time goes on, I seem to become less interested in the books from Paris.
This was a very slow moving, often boring, read. The plot left me feeling blah. The characters were flat and bland.
Needless to say, this was a book that I could take it or leave it.

2.75⭐️
This wasn’t a badly written story at all. I was intrigued and invested. But at the end of the day, tying all the strings together was messy and a bit convoluted.

I don’t mind misleading plot points if it adds to the WOW factor. But in this case, the epilogue was a very long “here’s what really happened” from start to finish, essentially rewriting the plot. It took no finesse in my opinion to write a book where you got to retell it in 5 pages.

Perhaps those who enjoy a quick, easy thriller will be less critical than I am. But I look for a bit more bang for my buck!

The Guest by B.A. Paris is an almost claustrophobic domestic drama where every character is full of secrets. Iris and Gabriel have just returned from vacation to find their best friend Laure has been staying at their home. This isn't too unusual, Iris and Gabriel met Laure and her husband Pierre on their honeymoons and formed a fast friendship, letting the other couple know their home was available when they were away in case the other couple needed a little get away of their own. However, this time Laure is alone and has been staying in the master bedroom suite, and has even been wearing Iris' clothes. She informs the couple that she found out Pierre has had a daughter and they're splitting up and she needs a place to stay until she figures things out. But as Laure's time at their home extends week after week, Iris and Gabriel feel that something is not right. Then, after Laure returns to Paris to have a meeting with Pierre, the police inform the group that Pierre has been found dead.

I went into this one without reading much about it and I'm glad for that. I found it to be almost claustrophobic, with Laure almost taking over Iris and Gabriel's home, friends, family, etc. There were a number of side plots and I enjoyed that they all tied together pretty nicely. Overall this was a good domestic drama, but not really a thriller.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

When Iris and Gabriel return home after a vacation, they find a guest in their home. Laure, one of their friends from France has let herself into their house and is staying there while she deals with a secret that her husband has revealed. He had a one night stand earlier in their marriage and just found out that he has a child. Laure leaves to have time to think about it, and allow Pierre to sort out what he wants to do. She stays long after she said she would, and she begins to be more and more erratic. Another couple moves into the neighbourhood, and they become friends, but their gardener seems to have secrets in his past, so when there are a couple of deaths (accident or murder?) he becomes a person of interest. Things become more dangerous and there could be another murder if someone doesn't figure out what is happening.

I found this a slow moving story, that seemed more of a drama story than a thriller. It didn't pull me in as quickly as I would have liked, in fact, until the twists began, it was just an okay read. I didn't feel the immediacy that I usually do with BA Paris' books. There were a lot of unlikable characters, including Laure who seemed to be out for herself and took advantage of Gabriel and Iris. I was actually getting worried about their relationship. Then, there was a huge twist that just had my jaw dropping and tied up the story nicely. That is the thing that saved this one for me, although it took too long to get there. Overall, this was a mystery, drama with some suspense that others may enjoy more than I did, especially if you enjoy a slow burn story.

This book was full of surprises!

Upon returning to their home after what should have been a vacation to reset their marriage, Iris and Gabriel find their close friend, Laure, in their house. Laure has discovered that her husband has a child that she nor he ever knew about, and Laure asks to stay while she sorts out her life. A tangled web is weaved between the characters, with more links between them adding to the drama already facing them, not only because of Pierre's adultery and now silence, but also because of the secret that Gabriel has been keeping- the true final words of a teenager that Gabriel found in the quarry, on death's doorstep. As more secrets are uncovered that link the characters together, more deaths occur. What other secrets are Laure, Iris, and Gabriel hiding, where is Pierre, and what does the gardener have to do with any of this? Full of shocking twists, I couldn't put this book down and was truly surprised by the end!

Well done Ms Paris! I did not see that coming! Nor will I spoil it for anyone else. Couples meet while honeymooning and become lifelong friends. One of the couples are going through a rough patch so one moves in with the other couple. So the mystery begins with an unexpected ending (for me anyway).

I’ve been a fan of B.A. Paris since Behind Closed Doors, that was an amazing book with the embers ending I’ve ever read. Ever since then I’ve been a fan, I’ve read all of her books and they keep getting better. This one did not disappoint at all.

Good mystery plot, character dialogue, and the twist at the end could not have been any better. It was a good shocker and it delivered what Paris books are all about.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the advance copy

This book was a slow burn for me and I was prepared to give it 3 stars...until the epilogue! WOW! Just when you think you have it figured out and everything is over, it's NOT! B.A. Paris with the slow build and the big mind explosion at the end!

This book was a solid three stars for me. I thought it was paced well and I did find it engaging. However, I wish the things revealed in the Epilogue had come out sooner in the plot and been developed a little more. I don't usually like when an author waits until the last second to reveal the twists.

B.A. Paris is very talented and this one was no exception. It was such a crazy read, but in a good way. There were so many secrets in this book and twists along the way. I was pretty surprised by the ending about how everything unfolded. You really have sympathy for one character but realize by the end it was misplaced. Of course the writing is done in such a way that you feel that way otherwise it would give away certain things too early. This book genuinely surprised me and I love that about books by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

This is another hit by B.A. Paris! You’ll be guessing until the very end!

This book wasn't my first from this author. The others have been so good, but almost too dark for me. This one was much less distributing which made it easier for me to read. Don't worry, it still has plenty of dark deeds for the tried and true fan. I tore through this book, which was nice because I was having a bit of a slump. I would recommend this book to fans of the author and anyone looking for a dark read.

This is a slow psychological thriller with dual POVs. If it wasn’t for the way things unfolded in the end, I probably wouldn’t have rated it as high. To start - the prologue had so many characters that you don’t yet know and it was confusing and pointless. I want the prologue to engage me and reel me in, but it had me worried for the amount of characters I would need to keep track of 😅 However, it was very easy to keep track of all of them the way it was written! The plot point of having someone stay with you indefinitely is anxiety inducing. I felt for Gabriel and Iris! As someone who values alone time, I was getting annoyed for them. As a whole, I wasn’t super intrigued by the book until about 60% in and then I didn’t want to put it down. It had a little lull at about 80% , but boy was that ending satisfying. There are so many characters and simultaneous storylines that I would have a theory, but couldn’t make all the pieces connect no matter how much I tried. I did not see things unfolding the way they did, but it all came together with a big beautiful psychologically demented bow in the end 🎀


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I am sooo bummed I was hoping this book was gonna be really good but it just kinda dragged and was not holding my attention.
I feel like the author was wayyy off on the pace of this book, and it hurt the whole book for me.
I tried to give another book from this author a chance a while ago and had to DNF it and now this book and how it was I think I am gonna have to be done with this author. :(
I was just so bored and I felt the characters were pretty boring also.