Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Wedding Guest. OHMYGOSH this was INSANE!!!!! One of the BEST books I have read EVER!!!. Right from the beginning, my heart was beating fast, I was so nervous, what was going to be said. I LOVED the past and NOW, I was so confused why Emily in the past allowed the things to happen that did, it was very frustrating and then in the NOW, it was even more annoying, like SAY SOMETHING!!!!! The TWIST that happens, I HAVE NEVER, EVER READ ONE LIKE THAT, IT BLEW ME AWAY!!! Seriously The Best Book of 2023, thank you Again Soooo much for this early copy and thank you Kathryn Croft.

It’s your wedding day. It’s supposed to be perfect and a day you’ll always cherish. Your past is back to haunt you when a man from your past crashes your wedding…

I really liked how the book switched back and forth between past and present timelines. You’ll be desperate to know what happened in the past that is coming back to haunt her. The suspense builds throughout and I was so curious for answers. I could feel the sense of danger and knew that things were just going to continue to escalate which gave me so much anxiety! As Christian infiltrates every area of her life, the stalker vibes heighten and it’s so suffocating for Emily.

Thank you so much NetGalley & Bookouture for the gifted copy!

Why does Christian still have such a hold on Emily? What doe he know? Emily is about to marry Jeremy when she spots Christian in the audience. They knew one another at university and something happened- but what? Now he's haunting her. No spoilers but know that this has a twist that may not work for you (I was a little disappointed). That said, Croft's a good storyteller who kept me turning the pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me!

When a secret from the past comes back to haunt you…..
Emily is having her dream come true on her idyllic wedding day until a face from her past comes to haunt her by turning up. What follows is sinister and terrifying as he takes over her every thought and is a constant presence watching, controlling and threatening her.
The hold he has over her also holds the reader tightly as we wonder what has happened and why he has such powers over her even now. The darkness and suspense are sublime, edge of the seat stuff. Eventually the secrets are revealed in a twisty way and actually I felt the release a bit of a let down and wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. The general premise and the bravely tackled themes are very good though so I enjoyed the overall experience.

Another great book by Kathryn! Emily’s ex boyfriend comes back into her life and turns it upset down. Emily made his life a living hell so he’s back for revenge. I had no idea how this story was going to end and I was shocked by the ending. This book definitely kept me on my toes. I just never knew what to expect every time Christian showed up. I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading books by Kathryn. Thank you NetGalley, Kathryn and Bookouture for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kathryn Croft, and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really loved the premise of this book—the idea of an uninvited guest showing up at the main character’s wedding to seek revenge was exciting! The book had great potential, and the pacing was good. I loved the main character’s daughter, Lexi, and thought she added so much more urgency to the situation. The author definitely kept me guessing until the end, and I was surprised by the twist! However, I do wish the author had given us more at the end as I had so many questions and not enough answers to satisfy me. I do feel like the book could have contained more adrenaline throughout as I had to motivate myself to keep reading at times. While not my favorite book this year, it was definitely an interesting read with a surprise twist at the end! Great for this who want to be surprised at the conclusion!

(Trigger warning for emotional abuse)

2.5*
Disappointed in this book. The ending is a huge let down. The reader is led on a false narrative throughout and it just didn't make sense.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
*********************************************************

I’m lying to the man I’m about to marry. I’m not the woman he thinks I am. But my secret’s safe. Isn’t it? I feel like the perfect bride as I drift across the beach towards my handsome new husband, the sand warm between my toes, my ivory slip wedding dress showing off my suntan. Today is the beginning of my new life. My dark past can no longer touch me.

When I reach my husband, we kiss against the perfect backdrop of the shimmering turquoise sea. The congregation claps and I turn to smile at them. Then my smile freezes. I see him. Sitting there amongst my loved ones. An uninvited guest who knows the truth about me and the terrible thing that happened ten years ago. The man who won’t ever let me be happy. And as he steps forward, asking for everyone’s attention, my legs buckle. I know he wants to destroy my perfect new life.

But how can I stop someone who will never let me go? And how far will I go to keep my secrets?
OOOOOH, the dilemma of the secrets that we keep. And the duplicity of men who insist on controlling us in their wicked, wicked ways. (Been there, done that, bought the postcard! He’s still single at age 52 and lives at home!) The story was expertly crafted and utterly thrilling as we went along with the story at hand:

I will recommend this, without a doubt, to the thriller readers I have for patrons in the hope that they will love it as much as I did!
#shortbutsweetreviews

This was a difficult book to give a rating to as I wasn’t sure if I really enjoyed it or not. It covers a lot of triggering subjects; abuse, toxic relationships, gaslighting and mental health issues and the last third is quite a difficult read.

Emily and Jeremy are on a beautiful island getting married when she looks up to see Christian, bringing back memories from her university years. Their relationship has been toxic and she soon discovers that he is here to make her relive and repay for what happened back then.

The book is well written but I found some of it a bit slow and the end section, although a great twist, seemed rushed and the ending played out far too quickly.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kathryn Croft has nailed it yet again - this is another totally addictive psychological thriller where the use of 'smoke and mirrors' competes with epic plot twists to make this book utter unpredictable and delightfully dark!

Emily is getting married when an ex, Christian, shows up unexpectedly. From the get-go it is clear Christian has something on her, and from Emily's perspective we experience a psychological game of 'cat and mouse' between the 2, with Christian easing his way into Emily's new life despite her best efforts to keep him from ruining her newly found happiness.

This is not a plot I can elaborate on for fear of providing spoilers, but I would highly recommend it to readers of this genre (readers of any genre in fact as this is a book to attract new fans to psychological fiction!). The book shifts between current and past time lines with great effect - both timelines are entertaining and merge to let the truth behind those smoke and mirrors shine through.

All in all a great read and easily a 5* read from me!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

Thanks to netgalley and the author Kathryn croft for an early copy of her book. I enjoyed the book and devoured it in one day!. Told in a dual timeline which was easy to follow. Emily marries Jeremy and is head over heels in love, she also becomes a stepmother to Jeremy's daughter Lexi. Emily has he own secrets and hoping that this marriage will enable her to rid some of her past as she will take Jeremy's surname. Clues are given but we do not know what this entails but as the book progresses, more information is given. I somewhat struggled with the ending because of how it all came together which was a bit too blurry in some respects. #netgalley #theweddingguest

(This review is based off of an uncorrected e-galley of this novel)

This is my second Kathryn Croft novel and like the first one, she didn't disappoint me. This novel was slow at times, but I was absolutely hooked and definitely did not predict the ending of this one.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an e-ARC of this novel. Review will be posted on Instagram (@ellie.reads.a.lot) by or before the publication date

This book is totally brilliant & blew my mind. I read it in one sitting and at no time did I foresee the massive twist at the end.
A must read! Fantastic!

I have never gotten a book so wrong 😂 I read so many books that I can almost always guess the twist but I missed this one. by a mile. I was so shook and confused at the end! It was such a mindf**k. But, maybe that was the point. We meet Emily on her wedding day, when an invited man from her past shows up and tries to bring her world crashing down. The rest of the book switches from flashback to present day, telling all of the details of their past together as we try to figure out what exactly he wants. I do feel that this trope is a tad overdone but man, that ending was wild! If you love an unreliable narrator, or being absolutely surprised - then I think you’d really like this! Personally, I’m too much of a control freak and it left me not trusting myself!

I picked up my first Kathryn Croft book earlier this year, which prompted me to add her to my regular reading list. The Wedding Guest is one of her newest releases, and I received an early copy through NetGalley. For the most part, I enjoyed the book and devoured it in one long afternoon. From the beginning, readers are curious as to what hold this mysterious wedding guest has over the new bride. As the plot unfolds, the backstory becomes more clear but there are several twists near the end. I liked the characters and plot, even the villains, but there were too many liberties taken with missing information that played on the reader's imagination, then failed to deliver properly. I struggled with the ending because of how it all came together -- too blurry in some respects and readers never could've solved the mystery with the intentional misleading. For those reasons, I couldn't give it a solid 4 stars and had to drop one... but the author is brilliant at weaving suspenseful and charismatic situations that left me breathless a few times. Will continue to read more of her work.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and optinions are mine

I absolutely loved this
Not my usual fare but the write up drew me in

On what should be the happiest day of her life Emily is horrified to discover someone she hasn't seen in years in the wedding congregation. This person could ruin her new life by exposing their past history.
This book is definitely a book of two halves in my opinion. The first half of the book I found myself frustrated with Emily's naivety and the overuse of the past secret/someone revealing it genre. I found it slow snd quite repetitive. However, I persevered and I'm glad I did as the last quarter definitely picked up pace and I ended up enjoying it to the extent I was surprised by the ending.
3.5 rounded up
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this advanced copy for which I'm under no obligation to leave my review

Emily is getting married. She finally found happiness, with Jeremy and his daughter Lexi, after years of being not-so-happy. Jermey believes he has found the perfect wife, the second time around.
But the real question is: did he? Find happiness? Really?
Emily's old boyfriend Christian shows up unexpectedly and uninvited on their wedding day threatening to share past secrets with her new family and ruin her happy-ever-after.
And so the roller coaster ride of phycological cat-and-mouse begins.
A really strong beginning with great unexpected nuances but it lingered too long on the "what ifs" for me.
Good character development and great plot line - just a little too stagnant in places for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping, twisting read and the secrets and betrayals that lie within. From the beginning, we know the bride, Emily, is holding a secret from her new family but we have no idea as to what it is or the devastation it will unleash. Croft then flits between the past and the present to tantalisingly hint and reveal as to the dark secrets that exist between Emily and Christian. When the truth is revealed it is shocking, and it really is! I was completely surprised and thrown by the reveal which does not always happen. I was impressed by the turn of events and the surprising direction it then took things.
'The Wedding Guest' has an astonishing plot and the characters are strong too. This has everything you could want in a thrilling read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy.

It’s Emily’s wedding day. She can finally stop looking over her shoulder and enjoy her new start in life. She can’t wait to marry Jeremy and be a step mum to Lexi. But in walks an uninvited guest who will spoil all that is her ex-boyfriend, Christian. Who has a secret to tell from her past, that will change all that in an instant.
But what are the secrets that Emily is hiding that are so bad that Christian blackmails Emily to do his bidding.
Thank you Bookoutre for a copy of the The wedding guest by Kathryn Croft. I am a big fan of this author and I have read all her books. This is slow but suspenseful story of Emily and Christian and secrets they both hold about an incident when Emily was studying at university. Which leads to blackmail and Emily keeping secrets from those she loves. I did enjoy most part of this. But some excerpts of this story, I am not sure why but just made me feel uncomfortable. 3.5 stars from me.