Unfortunately this book did not grab my attention.. I did not finish it. The characters are not engaging enough. The plot seems to be going in multiple directions.

I cannot believe I am having to write this review as I am such a big fan of so many of this Authors books, but here is my honest review.
I have read quite a few of B.A.Paris’ books, but this was by far my absolute least favorite. This book tells the story of married couple Iris and Gabriel (the main characters) however there are soooo many other characters thrown in it was puzzling why , how, who thought these characters and this story worked cohesively because to me it was absolutely ridiculous. Iris and Gabriel are struggling from a tragic event Gabriel went through. When his secret came out, insert eye roll. Then their friends Laure and Pierre were having marriage issues due to another secret… insert bigger eye roll when that was revealed. I absolutely struggled to get into this book, connect or like any of the characters, or want to keep reading.
Overall this was a huge miss for me and to be honest I could have skipped 80% of the book, just read the epilogue, and had all the answers I needed and not struggled through reading the book.
I will say I am still a huge fan of this author and will continue to read each book.


Thank you to the Author, Netgalley, and St.Martins press for the ARC!

Some secrets never leave.

Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all: a beautiful home in the British countryside, a daughter happily working in Greece, and good friends Laure and Pierre from Paris, who they often vacation with. But when a young man has a tragic accident in a nearby quarry, Gabriel is the one to find him and hear his final words, leaving Gabriel with a guilty burden.

A slow burn that took me a bit to get into. There are a lot of characters and everyone has their own drama (maybe too many characters, too much drama?). After a few weeks of Laure staying with Iris and Gabriel even I had had enough of her! Then things start to get mysterious and the story speeds up when Laure finally makes the trip back home to try to patch things up with Pierre. A dark twist at the end that left me surprised!

BA Paris books are always a bit on the wild side. This one was not quite as fast paced as the others. It’s a slowwww burn from start to finish. I really wasn’t taken aback by the twist and nothing really happened or was explained until the epilogue. The characters were all boring and unlikable. I’m still unsure of Charlie’s purpose…? The summary on GoodReads doesn’t even really make sense.

Read if you like:
🔪 a slow burn snoozy thriller
🔪 secrets, secrets and more secrets!
🔪 going on vacation with other couples

The Guest in the latest from B.A. Paris due out February 20 is Laure, a long-time friend of Iris and Gabriel, who has left her husband Pierre in France having learned he has fathered a child by another woman. Welcome at first, Laure is soon trying her friends’ patience as all she talks about is Pierre, and she is making no plans to leave their British countryside home and return to Paris.

Gabriel is already stressed having left his medical practice suffering from burnout and trauma as his father has just died, his dog followed suit, and Gabriel could not save a young man named Charlie who Gabriel encountered on his daily run. Charlie had crashed his bike at the nearby quarry, and his last words before dying weigh heavily on Gabriel. Added to his burden is the guest who will not go home after weeks and weeks of staying with Gabriel and Iris. As Benjamin Franklin once said, ““Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.”

Having left Paris with nothing, Laure continues to borrow Iris’ clothes rather than go shopping, follows Iris around like a lost puppy dog, and interferes with Iris’ interior decorating business. Worse, Laure quits her job in Paris with no plans for the future. Plus, Laure’s constant questions about Charlie’s death are unwelcome as Iris is doing everything she can to pull Gabriel out of his depression.

A new couple in the neighborhood brings some relief as they welcome Laure to visit. However, the downside is that Laure takes up with their gardener Joseph, a young man who was sacked from his previous gardening job at a school after becoming too friendly with a student, giving her his phone number and planning a trip to Thailand with her.

Before the thriller plays out, more characters will wind up dead, Pierre is indeed a father, and everything readers thought was true turns topsy-turvy thanks to an unreliable narrator.

B.A. Paris, known for her page-turning plots, does not disappoint with The Guest. The author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, Bring Me Back, and The Dilemma, she was a bank trader and teacher in France before turning to writing fiction. She lives with her husband in a cottage in Hampshire, England.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting January 6, 2024.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

As a fan of other B. A. Paris novels, I was excited to read The Guest. The story started slow and even felt repetitive at times, but kept my attention enough to continue going. I considered lots of possibilities as to what was going on “behind the scenes” but I didn’t see the twist coming. Overall, the book was a good, quick read to cleanse my palette. I wish I loved it as much as her others, but this one was just ok for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced read copy.

3.5 Stars

B.A. Paris is so good at writing about the slow deterioration of a relationship as events and secrets unfold. I love how she mixes family problems with suspense and thriller.

Iris and Gabriel are having one hell of a year. After Gabriel finds a dying boy in the quarry, their long-time friend, Laure, comes to stay with them, accusing her husband of fathering another woman’s child. She is fraught, needy, and blurring boundaries. While they reckon with that, their new neighbors move in and bring with them a gardener with a shady past. With both Iris and Gabriel carrying secrets and neither willing to lean on the other, what was once a solid relationship is now unraveling during a time when awful circumstances should be bringing them together.

I enjoyed the small twists that came throughout the whole book, never quite knowing who to trust. B.A. Paris once again warns us that we may not really know those we love.

I am docking half a star for the epilogue. I think it would have worked as a movie montage ending where it shows you the true twist and villain, but in a book it was longwinded (it’s 10% of the book) with some unnecessary explanations. I think it would have been more effective to have just been a paragraph or two with the reveal.

I enjoyed the guest very much! I’m glad I had the chance to read it early. BA Paris its quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This book has a slightly different feel than the other books however it was still well rounded and extremely well planned out. My only complaint was the first half of the book was pretty slow and seemed repetitive I was able to speed read it with out missing anything important. Which can be a good or bad thing depending on the reader. But other than that it was definitely a good mystery/thriller and it definitely recommend it!

How to I begin to write this review. Well one word that would describe it is FANTASTIC! It’s definitely a page turner as I did not see that twist coming in the end…..wow!

BA Paris is my favorite author and her books are always intriguing till the end. I highly recommend everyone to read The Guest, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC of The Guest! Following the lives of Gabriel and Iris, their worlds are turned upside down when their friend Laure shows up out of the blue, needing a place to stay after her husband, Pierre, informs her that he has a child with another woman. Gabriel and Iris agree to let Laure stay at their home, but Laure quickly overstays her welcome.
Unfortunately, this book was not for me. The pacing of this book, I felt, was very slow up to the final chapters. Once the “twists and turns” start coming, they never stop, and it feels like a rushed ending for everything leading up to this point to reach a conclusion. I did enjoy the multiple point of views and Iris’s character development. Overall, I’m giving this book 2/5 stars.

This book was impossible for me to put down. it is a wonderfully written slow-burned that gets you from the beginning and it doesn't let you go. I loved the different POV's and the characters all had a little mystery in them that kept you wondering if there was more to them that meets the eyes. There is a lot to follow but please hold on because that ending was so worth it.
This is a must read so please add it to you TBR as soon as possible!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of "The Guest" by B.A. Paris in exchange for my honest review.

Iris and Gabriel are a regular couple. They have one child, a grown daughter named Beth. Esme and Hugh, move to their neighborhood and they become friends. Hugh is a bit older than Esme.

Gabriel and Iris are best friends with Pierre and Laure whom they met on a vacation. One day they come home after a trip and are surprised to find Laure at their house. She seems to be living there! She explains that Pierre found out that he has fathered a child with another woman, and she can’t bear to stay with him. She didn’t stick around for the details. Iris and Gabriel want to be there for her but she is beginning to become a nuisance after months on end.

It’s kind of a bad time in life because Gabriel has recently witnessed a young man die and is going through his own trauma so dealing with Laure is stressful for everyone. And now unexplained things begin to happen and Iris grows suspicious of everyone. Her husband isn’t the same since he witnessed the death and now Laure is acting oddly as well. Then there is Joseph, a gardener of sorts with a past and as she starts delving into him, she doesn’t like him around.

The story seemed to drag on with events unfolding painfully slow. Even so I really like this author and knew she’d come through. I kept reading and at the end I realized that all of the things that happened tie into the conclusion in a nice little package. The epilogue was the best part of the book! Here I realized I had not solved the mystery at all. It was worth the wait.

I really enjoyed the character development, I didn’t like Laure, and was aggravated by Gabriel, and felt Joseph was a pest, funny though, I really liked Iris.

WOW--B. A. Paris does it again! This one starts off fairly simple, just some odd things happening and then the plot slowly starts to get more thrilling/suspenseful. By the last third of this book things were getting SERIOUS. Truths started spilling out like crazy. I was 100% shocked at the ending when everything came to light, I highly recommend!

The Guest will be released February 20, 2024!!

I have read numerous book titles by B.A. Paris and always enjoy the action that keeps me entertained throughout the story. There are always many twists and turns where I continue to guess what will happen next. This book did not disappoint.

This is a good read by B.A. Paris. The writing kept me interested and wanting to know how it ended. I loved how the ending tied everything up and appreciate when authors give me an ending!

Thanks for the ARC St. Martin’s Press, Net Galley, & B.A. Paris!

B. A. Paris will suck you in with her writing and keep you hooked to the end! Wow. This was a fun and wild ride.

Iris and Gabriel are a happy couple with an adult daughter, Beth. A nice couple, Esme and Hugh, move in down the road and they become friends. Esme and Hugh have a May-December marriage with Hugh being the elder of the two. What is most awkward about this is that they have a male live-in helper, Joseph, on the property who is about Esme’s age.

Gabriel and Iris also have best friends, Pierre and Laure. Laure arrives at their house while they are on vacation; unbeknownst to them. They walk in and find her living there! She explains that Pierre has fathered a child with another woman, she doesn’t know any details about it yet, but she can’t bear to stay with him any longer. They want to be here for her but she is beginning to become a nuisance.

Gabriel has just witnessed a young man die and is going through his own trauma so dealing with Laure is stressful for everyone. As the relationships between friends grow, odd things begin to happen and Iris grows suspicious of everyone. Her husband isn’t the same since he witnessed the death and now Laure is doing strange things. Joseph has a past that she starts digging into and she doesn’t like him around.

This is a very action packed story chock-full of suspense, skepticism and just plain uneasiness amongst the characters. At one point about halfway through I felt like there was a lot of story and just wanted to get to the meat and potatoes. I held out, kept reading and at the end I realized that all of the things that happened tie into the conclusion in a nice little package. What an ending it was! I did not have this mystery solved at all. Paris gives us an Epilogue that will stupefy even the best detective.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book.

I can always count on B.A. Paris to deliver the craziest psychological twist that will have me thinking about what I just read for days. WOW was my initial reaction.

“The Guest” follows the lives of Gabriel & Iris, their neighbors Esme, Hugh and Joseph, and their life long friends Laure & Pierre. The events that unfold between them is sad (but entertaining to the reader, I loved it) and I promise you will not be bored with this one. At first I was drawn into the drama and mystery of the story but then I knew a bigger twist was coming so I could not stop reading. Fantastic story, 5⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this title via NetGalley.

WOWZA! What a great book! This was my 5th book by B.A. Paris and it did not disappoint! Her writing sucks you in and makes you become invested in all the drama. Truly a book you can’t put down! This book does have a slower pace to begin but as the lies and secrets and betrayals add up the suspense really picks up. I had lots of “oh no” moments as I was trying to piece everything together. The epilogue was quite the explosion! I was left shocked!!

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS is still my favorite book of hers but this one takes second place!

Be sure to add this book to your TBR if you are in need of a solid psychological thriller that will leave you shocked! It comes out Feb. 20th!

▪️Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review!

4 🌟

What a wild ride!

The Guest by B.A. Paris was a thriller that, right from the start, you knew something was going to go sideways. The twist at the end shocked me but there were a few pieces that I wish would have come together that didn't. Overall, a really enjoyable, wth twister.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!