The Spare Room: A Novel
Staying with a friend and her husband is sexier—and deadlier—than anyone could have imagined, in this “delightfully salacious” (Shondaland) domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here.
“A fresh and sexy ride, perfect for reading poolside.”—People (Best New Book)
“Sexy, atmospheric, deliciously creepy, and ingeniously plotted: the best kind of up-all-night page-turner.”—Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and The Guest List
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Elle, PopSugar, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, CrimeReads
Kelly’s new life in Philadelphia has turned into a nightmare: She’s friendless and jobless, and the lockdown has her trapped in a tiny apartment with the man she gave up everything for, who’s just called off their wedding. The only bright spot is her newly rekindled friendship with her childhood friend Sabrina—now a glamorous bestselling author with a handsome, high-powered husband.
When Sabrina and Nathan offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, Kelly secretly finds herself falling for both her enchanting hosts—until one night, a wild and unexpected threesome leads the couple to open their marriage for her.
At first, Kelly loves being part of this risqué new world. But when she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing, she starts to wonder if they could be dangerous . . . and if she might be next.
Packed with Andrea Bartz’s signature tension, twists, and toxic relationships, The Spare Room marks an edgy, boundary-pushing new direction from the “master of the ‘feminist thriller’” (Los Angeles Times).
“A fresh and sexy ride, perfect for reading poolside.”—People (Best New Book)
“Sexy, atmospheric, deliciously creepy, and ingeniously plotted: the best kind of up-all-night page-turner.”—Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and The Guest List
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Elle, PopSugar, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, CrimeReads
Kelly’s new life in Philadelphia has turned into a nightmare: She’s friendless and jobless, and the lockdown has her trapped in a tiny apartment with the man she gave up everything for, who’s just called off their wedding. The only bright spot is her newly rekindled friendship with her childhood friend Sabrina—now a glamorous bestselling author with a handsome, high-powered husband.
When Sabrina and Nathan offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, Kelly secretly finds herself falling for both her enchanting hosts—until one night, a wild and unexpected threesome leads the couple to open their marriage for her.
At first, Kelly loves being part of this risqué new world. But when she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing, she starts to wonder if they could be dangerous . . . and if she might be next.
Packed with Andrea Bartz’s signature tension, twists, and toxic relationships, The Spare Room marks an edgy, boundary-pushing new direction from the “master of the ‘feminist thriller’” (Los Angeles Times).
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Community Reviews
"The Spare Room" by Andrea Bartz is my second book by her and I enjoyed "We were never here" so I was pretty excited to receive this advance copy to review.
The synopsis definitely raises the intrigue level..... We have Kelly who has just been been dropped by her fiancé during covid. Distraught she ends up being roommates with her roommate Sabrina and her husband in their mansion and soon those three start engaging in some "not so safe for work" escapades. But it soon takes a dangerous turn when something sinister may hay have happened to Sabrina and her husband's last roommate. Just how safe is Kelly living there??
Nope, this book doesn't really do it for me. For one, it's suppose to be a thriller and it's absolutely not. I would go so far as to call it pretty boring actually. The "thriller" part doesn't even happen until late and I was fairly checked out by then. And even if wasn't I can't get past the prose. Especially the dialogue! Every other sentence ends in a exclamation mark! Why are they yelling all the time?!?. lol. And the dialogue itself is really dumb. Like these characters aren't making any sense or making rational decisions. I love my new roommates! But I miss my finance... Oh, you want a three way, let's do it! But I miss my fiancé.
So not sure what this book is but if you like corny dialogue and badly written sex scenes then go for it. This book actually would make a decent beach read if you want to turn off your brain.
I really appreciate Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for giving me advance review copy for my honest review and this one has a publication date of June 20, 2023
The synopsis definitely raises the intrigue level..... We have Kelly who has just been been dropped by her fiancé during covid. Distraught she ends up being roommates with her roommate Sabrina and her husband in their mansion and soon those three start engaging in some "not so safe for work" escapades. But it soon takes a dangerous turn when something sinister may hay have happened to Sabrina and her husband's last roommate. Just how safe is Kelly living there??
Nope, this book doesn't really do it for me. For one, it's suppose to be a thriller and it's absolutely not. I would go so far as to call it pretty boring actually. The "thriller" part doesn't even happen until late and I was fairly checked out by then. And even if wasn't I can't get past the prose. Especially the dialogue! Every other sentence ends in a exclamation mark! Why are they yelling all the time?!?. lol. And the dialogue itself is really dumb. Like these characters aren't making any sense or making rational decisions. I love my new roommates! But I miss my finance... Oh, you want a three way, let's do it! But I miss my fiancé.
So not sure what this book is but if you like corny dialogue and badly written sex scenes then go for it. This book actually would make a decent beach read if you want to turn off your brain.
I really appreciate Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for giving me advance review copy for my honest review and this one has a publication date of June 20, 2023
The beginning of this book moved very slowly for me, but it did pick up in the middle! While I appreciated the twists of this book, some felt a little too left-field for me. Def an interesting read!
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