Another triumph from Casey Kelleher. I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. It was easy to read and I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be until right at the very end.

Kay lives on her own in her cluttered house and doesn’t realise she’s a hoarder. She is estranged from her daughter Amanda as Amanda is addicted to drugs and Kay hasn’t seen her granddaughter Stephanie for ten years.

Kay receives a troubled call from Stephanie and Stephanie comes to live with her. Kay is ashamed when she sees Stephanie’s reaction to the state of her house.

Kay discovers that there are people living in a tent in the woods behind her house and she has to go and see for herself. She finds a young girl, her boyfriend and a newborn baby, they are living in squalor and then baby is ill.

Kay invites them to come and stay at her house for a few nights- it’s clear that they are running from something bad. Stephanie doesn’t like them being there and is worried they will ask questions as she has secrets too.

A great read and one I would definitely recommend. It was clear that everyone had secrets but I didn’t guess the outcome and I loved all the twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.

THE PERFECT GUEST was the perfect thriller story for me! It was an easy read that I completed in one sitting. I could not figure out who was telling the truth. So the final twist was a great surprise for me! I highly recommend this one!

Many thanks to Bookouture for my gifted copy.

Thanks to bookouture and netgalley for this arc.
I am a great fan of this authors work, but unfortunately this book wasn't for me.. it's a physcological thriller, but it seemed slow in getting going and I thought too much was going on. Whilst others will love it, sorry it wasn't for me

The one word I have to describe this book is 'claustrophobic' - it's an okay plot but it pretty much happens within one house and while this adds to the tension, it just felt lacking in something. I felt disconnected to the characters, and I guessed the twist fairly early on too. I think this could do with another round of editing, too, as some of the writing felt really poor.

I was excited to start The Perfect Guest by Casey Kelleher and y’all I was not disappointed!
This was a quick and fun read that I finished in a few days.
A well written suspense filled with twists that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
An intriguing story with characters who draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
The characters were all realistic and very well developed.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself gripped, turning the pages, not knowing what was to come next.
It was suspenseful, mysterious and unpredictable.

Reunited with her estranged grandmother after the death of her mother Stephanie is thrown into a house of unrest, deceit and strangers.

I felt that this book could have been over alot more quickly than it was, I felt like I was waiting for something to happen.

A slow burn that was anticlimactic and repetitive.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




✨ Intense. Psychological Thriller.


✨ woo! I haven’t had any 5 star in a long time!
This book is actually really great. First time reading to this author and I’m quite impressed.

✨ who’s the victim? Who is the one to blame. The lies are in between the lines. The book is slow burn but it’s mixed with non stop thrill in every chapter!
Definitely worth the read.

P.S I would love to hear this in audible version as it will bring more life to it especially this kind of rare 5⭐️ plot.



Thankyou @bookouture for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review .



❤️ shaye.reads

This psychological thriller starts with chaos. Stephanie, Kay’s estranged granddaughter, out of desperation, is forced to reach out to her grandmother after the suspicious death of her mother. There's a lot of tension between these two right from the start particularly Stephanie’s intense animosity toward her grandmother.
One day they notice a tent has been pitched in the back yard. What they find is a young couple, Rosie and Ash, with a tiny baby. After great deliberation, her mothering instincts take over and she invites the couple and their new baby in and gives them a warm place to stay. Stephanie however, is very leery of their presence and takes an instant dislike to Rosie. I took instant dislike to Ash. However all four of these characters are hiding deep secrets, so it’s truly hard to know who to side with. My heart wanted to support Rosie and her baby. There was so much information that each character was hiding that I couldn't wait to for it all to sort out.
I enjoyed there being only only four man characters to keep up with. My favorite part was the way Casey wrote in such a way, I couldn’t read fast enough. The tension was electric. It was very realistic scenario that could actually happen in real life., one you might find in the daily newspaper.
As the tension begins to heats up, characters’ true colors rise to the surface still, things are not always as they seem.

The ending will leave you speechless.
This one needs to be on the big screen.

It's rare that I think that a story would come across better as a film/tv show than a book but this is one of those rare instances. The story's focus is upon Kay, her grand-daughter Stephanie and a homeless family - 16 year old Rosie, 18/19 year old Ash and weeks old George. The tension between Ash and Stephanie in particular is well-described and I think visually could be quite menacing. It is made obvious throughout that Rosie, Kay and Stephanie have something to hide (Ash's own perspective is not made clear - he is described by others only). At the end there is a bit of a twist, - although Kay's actual secret was fairly easily guessed the way that things play out at the end was the twist. I can't say that initially I particularly liked it or the characters but I got into it as I read and from about 65% was keen to keep reading to find out what happened. So for me a solid 4. With thanks to Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for the ARC of this book.

Reading the little summary you get on NetGalley, I really thought I was getting a whole different book, thought this was going to be all about Kay and her possibly difficult Granddaughter and their screwed-up path back to each other... What I got was ... something else. Holy Cow I'm not even sure how to digest this book and everything that happened at the end tbh. It was all so much I haven't quite figured out if I even liked it or not yet.. There is so much going on with all the characters, all the bickering back and forth, the "accidents" that you end up just focusing on Stephanie & Ash most of the story, seems "poor" Kay, Rosie, and little George just kind of fall to the back burner, you almost end up feeling sorry for them.. Almost..

I'll tell you one thing I know for sure of this story. Max deserved way more words in this book than he got. He probably would have ended up being my favorite character, had I read more about him!

Thank you NetGalley & Bookouture for the ARC

Review:

The story revolves around Kay, her granddaughter Stephanie, and a young couple, Rosie and Ash, who are on the run with their newborn, George. After losing her mother, Amanda, to an overdose, Stephanie moves in with her grandmother. As they try to navigate their new reality, Kay finds Rosie and Ash living in a tent with nowhere to go during a storm. Out of kindness, she brings them home to stay for a few days.

Kay, Stephanie, and Rosie are all dealing with the loss of their loved ones, while Ash remains fiercely protective of his family. However, Stephanie suspects that Rosie and Ash are hiding something important and worries they might be taking advantage of Kay's hospitality. Ash and Rosie seem willing to do anything to extend their stay at Kay's house. Each of them hides secrets they wish to keep buried, fearing the worst if the truth comes out. None of them wants the police involved—but what exactly are they hiding?

The book is an easy, fast-paced read that quickly draws you into the plot. However, I found the tension and suspense lacking for a thriller. Though, the last chapters were a pleasant surprise, unfolding in an unexpected way. The narration remains completely unreliable until the very end. I've never read a thriller that involves old-age people. Loved Kay's character overall. I highly recommend this one if anyone's looking for an easy, fast paced book and with an interesting plot.

The Perfect Guest by Casey Kelleher is a slow burn psychological thriller that is easily read in one sitting. Stephanie goes to live with her grandmother Kay after her mother's death from an overdose. Kay hasn't seen Stephanie in years and worries that Stephanie knows why it's been so long. One night Kay sees a young family in a tent outside. Being a kind person she offers them to stay with Stephanie and her. Stephanie thinks they are taking advantage and soon things start to go wrong. Is everyone hiding secrets? And how far will they go to keep them hidden?
This story was not what I expected but I still really enjoyed it. Multiple unreliable narrators, suspense and secrets kept me engaged throughout this book. I did find the first bit a little slow and somewhat repetitive but overall I really enjoyed it! I found it well written and while I didn't particularly like some characters I found them well developed. I will definitely be reading more from this author!
Thank you to NetGalley, Casey Kelleher and Bookouture for this ARC. Expected release date is January 28th 2025.

There are some thriller books that can have you feeling both on the edge of your seat while also feeling firmly in place. You know where things are going to go and what the reveal is going to be but you are still intrigued with how it is all going to plan out. This was how I felt about this book.

I knew from the beginning who to trust and who not to trust, I knew what the reveals were going to be and I just knew that while all seemed nice, something darker was approaching. While sometimes this is something I can come to enjoy, this book had me feeling disconnected and I think it was for this reason. I did not have an intense desire to keep reading but I still was left intrigued.

My other issue was the writing. Nothing really happened and then at around the 65% mark, it all seemed to happen all at once. It was just a bit much. I would have much preferred for a gradual build up. But this could also just be because the execution of this idea was not done in the way I would have preferred.

However, stating all of this, while it may appear negative, I did actually read this in one sitting. I found the atmosphere that was created to be addictive, so while I was not fully invested, I was sucked in regardless. I also did enjoy the little bits of information we got along the way and the parting sentence. I liked the storyline ideas and the characters too, these elements were done well. I do wish we had more information on the characters but the mystery with them does add to the narrative.

Overall, while this may not have been my absolute cup of tea, I would recommend it if you're looking for a quick and easy, suspenseful thriller book to read that does not approach heavy topics and stays relatively predictable.

The plot line is a slow burner, the characters all have their own issues and flaws and at first it's difficult to figure out the is the bad guy
and who is the good guy. However the story is great and intense and it's a book you cant put down once you have started.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC copy in exchamge for my honest review.

This is a great psychological thriller.
Stephanie goes to stay with Kay when her Mum dies and appreciates her helping her. However, she can’t quite bring herself to calling her her grandmother as she barely knows her.
It’s a bit of an awkward relationship but Kay wants it to work due to her failed relationship with her daughter.
Kay then discovers a young couple and a newborn baby staying in a tent near her home. With cold weather and a storm lashing their tent, she asks them to stay in her house for the sake of the baby.
This is where things get interesting as Stephanie doesn’t trust them one bit.
I won’t say anymore. but there’s some great twists and turns in the story.
Thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Big thanks to Bookouture for a copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Psychological thriller author Casey Kelleher is back with a brand new book The Perfect Guest.
A story that is easily read in one sitting.
Stephanie comes to live with her grandmother, Kay after her mother Amanda dies from an overdose.
Kay has trouble sleeping and one night while looking out the window she sees a tent with a young girl exiting.
The next morning she investigates and stumbles on Rosie, Ash and baby George, they have no food and the weather is freezing.
Being the nice person she is and worried for them, Kay invites them inside her home for a meal, shower and a rest.
Stephanie believes they are taking advantage of her kindness and is totally against the idea of them staying.
Soon things don’t add up, mishaps are frequent and everyone is hiding a secret….
The blurb is evasive, the plot is easy to foretell, I did work out the twist and the end was just the little bit anticlimactic.
It’s fast paced, a quick read and was ok.

Kay offers her granddaughter Stephanie the chance to live with her after she has lost her mother, despite having not seen her in years. Kay has secrets about why she hasn’t seen her for so long and wonders if Stephanie knows. When a new young family comes to stay with them, Stephanie immediately does not trust them. Are they hiding secrets as well?

This is my first book by this author and I wanted to read as I found the synopsis intriguing and I was drawn to the cover. This story was not what I was expecting from the synopsis, however it was still an enjoyable thriller. The story is told in the voices of multiple unreliable narrators, which helped build the suspense and atmosphere. I enjoyed the profound, intense writing style as this helped create a dark, disturbing vibe to the overall story.

Although this was well written, I did find it very slow at times and quite repetitive. The characters were well developed, although not that likeable. I enjoyed how there were also moments of raw emotion and serious themes. This ended up being a very compelling mystery and is definitely not the last book I will be reading by this author. 3.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I have to rave about The Perfect Guest, it was just sooo good!! There are brilliant characters and plenty of twists, enough to make me change my mind on what I thought was going to happen, that’s for sure! No spoilers, but certain people are slightly batty!!
Casey does it again, this will be another bestseller, that’s for sure!

I really liked this one. It didn’t jump around and the twists were pretty interesting. It dealt with a lot of lies, manipulation of truths and how misleading sometimes people can be.

First, I want to thank Casey Kelleher for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.

Casey Kelleher is back with another one of her twisted psychological thrillers in The Perfect Guest. The Perfect Guest is fast paced, addicting, dark, suspenseful, and at times heartbreaking.

Right away Casey captures her readers interest with the shocking prologue leaving you wanting what happened that lead up to this point! What a great hook to the story that made me want to continue reading! I just love when authors do this!

Casey, you freaked me to the core with the storyline of the character’s daughter being buried alive! Oh the emotions that that scene brought up in me were real! Seeing I am still grieving my father (he passed away in December) I could see me very well react the way she did in this scene.

The character in this book that pulls hard on my heart strings is the adorable baby George who is really sick and needs medical attention. What pulls on my heart even more is his living conditions in which he is living are not suitable for any baby!

Ash was not a character I was very fond of. He rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning.

This book had a lot of wicked twists and turns, ups and downs, and shocking moments.