I think this was my least favorite of Paris' books. It just felt like it was leading to a big reveal and when it happened in the prologue I was very underwhelmed. It just felt like it should have been more and it let me down.

This had me hooked from start to finish. I was immediately engrossed by the story of Gabriel, iris, and their unexpected guest. And the ending, I absolutely did not see coming.

WILD. This trotted along like any other mystery/thriller, trying to figure out who did what in this loop of couples. I loved that nothing was revealed until the epilogue and my mouth was hanging open. BA never let's me down.

What an amazing book! I wanted to read this book because I loved Behind Closed Doors. It did not disappoint it was just as good as I thought it would be. This author is very good and can’t wait to read another one.

This is the third book I’ve read by this author and it’s solidified her as an autobuy for me. There are so many twists that I did not see coming, and the epilogue packs a punch! I will be recommending this come publication day and think any thriller lover will devour it! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!

I really enjoyed this story as my first thriller/mystery of the year. There were parts that became redundant in their story telling and the main characters are very unlikeable traits yet it worked in adding to the story line very well. I often thought I had connected the dots and figured out the plot twist and was wrong each time which I lived. The epilogue really made this book a 3.5 star read for me.

I received this as an ARC though NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley!

🏠 Two couples, a house guest who over stays their welcome & secrets that threaten to unravel … “ The Guest” by B.A. Paris will completely take you by surprise! It starts off as a slow burn .. but hold on tight because when shit hits the fan, IT HITS THE FAN 🤯🤯🤯!!!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Iris and Gabriel return home from vacation to find a friend of theirs, Laure, living in their house. Laure is distraught because she just found out that her husband Pierre has a child with someone else! Of course Laure can stay with them as long as she likes while she figures out her marriage … but how long is TOO long? Laure becomes a bit TOO comfortable in their house and inserts herself directly into their lives.

Laure goes to Paris to meet with Pierre after weeks away only for him to stand her up! No one can get a hold of him and his office tells them that he has gone away for a while. As secrets start to unravel and Pierre’s mysterious disappearance becomes unsettling, Iris and Gabriel get to a breaking point with Laure. WHERE did Pierre go?? WHAT is the deal with Pierre’s affair and secret child??

Thank you kindly to @baparisauthor @stmartinspress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This 5 star stunner releases on February 20, 2024!

Oh my gosh. The amount of things I didn't see coming.
When old friend Laure comes to stay with old friends due to issues at home, she turns the house upside down. Man oh man does she do that. Life will never be the same for Iris and Gabriel.

This book was everything I hoped for. I loved Behind Closed Doors and this might be my new favorite!

Thanks #netgalley

B.A. Paris delivers another solid thriller with a slow build but still utterly unputdownable. There are three couples are the core of the story: Iris and depressed Gabriel (he recently witnessed the death of a local teenager), returning from a holiday, who find Laure, their Parisian friend and wife of mutual friend Pierre, unexpectedly living in their British rural home, sleeping in the their bedroom, and wearing Iris’s clothes. A third local couple, pregnant Esmé and older husband Hugh, are new to the area and also insinuating themselves into Iris’s and Gabriel’s lives. Laure turns out to be the houseguest who is never leaving, and attempts to reach her husband, Pierre, are mysteriously fruitless. Add in a gardener, Joseph, supposedly a recovering alcoholic and with a tangential relationship to some of the characters, hovering in the background, as the couples get more entangled while they question Lauren’s continued presence in England.

If just the thought of an unwanted, over-staying, annoying house guest makes you queasy, then this is your thriller. Author Paris slowly builds the tension among the couples while adding a side story about Gabriel whose witness statement about the accident was fake (and he refuses to meet with the grieving mother). You can understand Iris’ initial reticence to evict her longtime friend, but as evidence mounts that’s something’s off, you want Iris to find her inner strength. As Laure became more exasperating, I needed to rush to the end..

Emily Joyce’s narration was incredibly nuanced for a novel with so many characters. The main character, Iris, comes to life as Joyce voices her and once you’ve become comfortable with the players, the narration easily delineates their conversations. 4 stars for both the narrative and narration.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors are mentioned at all.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO A walled garden is an essential element, but we just know it’s fabulous without detailed descriptions.

Thank you to St. Martin’s PressMacmillan Audio and NetGalley for free advanced copies in exchange for an honest review!

Another great read from B.A. Paris. My only rant is the overall pacing of the story. Story starts off slow and stays slow until halfway through the book. Most readers would not stick around for this long. However, the second half of the book made up for the slow trajectory. I do feel as though there were too many unnecessary fillers in the plot though.

🤯🤌🏻🤯🤌🏻🤯🤌🏻🤯

After reading Behind Closed Doors by @baparisauthor years ago, and still think about it - I thought it would be impossible for her to top that book, but by golly, she did it!

This book was perfect from start to finish! The drama, the secrets, the lies, the betrayals, the shocking conclusion. The whole epilogue of this book had me GASPING! I mean, this was the perfect thriller and you all should add this to your tbr right now!

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪/5

Thank you @stmartinspress for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Pub date: 2/20/2024

3.5 Stars. The Guest was a classic B.A. Paris thriller. Paris took us for a long ride wondering the whole book who did what and how everyone was connected, only to reveal answers in the epilogue.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!

I had high expectations for this book but it fell a little flat. It did not keep my attention like I wanted it to. It really did not get exciting until the final 10/20 pages.

B.A. Paris is always an automatic read for me, but I enjoyed her other books more. This was still a fun domestic thriller.
I had difficulty connecting with the characters. Much of the dialogue was repetitive and unnecessary. Unfortunately the storyline fell short for me. There are mystery elements but it takes a while to get there. I did like the big twist at the end. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this arc.

BA does it again. I think that she is going to be permanently on my must-read list and each and every new release will be highly anticipated.

My only problem with this book is that I read it in July 2023, 8 months before publication so I now have to wait so much longer for her next release.

The plus side to this is that I now get to see everyone read it and enjoy it for the first time. The buzz is well deserved.

This was a bit up and down for me. I liked it at first but then started getting bogged down by all of the characters and their relationships. It seemed pretty incestuous at times. I thought I had most of it figured out but suffice to say, I did NOT. The ending was quite shocking, I just don't know if the payoff was worth slogging through all of the rest. I loved Behind Closed Doors and did not like The Therapist. This was in the middle of those two for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I wanted to love this I just didn't. There were so many plot holes and twists that just came out of nowhere.

How well do you know your friends? If they randomly showed up at your house while you were on vacation? Allowing them to stay in your space for the unforeseeable future? I mean, a few red flags there, but I was seriously hooked on this one. The characters or wildly likable, the setting had me swooning, and each chapter left me wanting to read just one more!

This book took everything in me to finish. I didn’t enjoy the fact that the book was practically boring until the epilogue. It was an okay read and I wouldn’t say it wasn’t worth my time, but it’s not my cup of tea.

The first half was a slow burn. Once the first twist hit, I was holding on for dear life for the rest of the book.