I Invited Her In was a psychological thriller that was packed with twists aplenty, although I did guess what was going to happen it was still a solid read.
Mel and Abi were best friends at uni from the first day but Mel fell pregnant after a one night stand so has to drop out. They loose touch until Abi contacts Mel when her marriage falls apart and needs a friend in England because whilst Mel has been bringing up three children Abi has gone on to have a successful career in America.
Mel for me was a weak character and got on my nerves at times with all the simpering to Abi she did, whilst Abi was the queen of manipulation, planning and revenge. There were a lot of twists along the way and although I guessed them all I didn’t guess the ending and it couldn’t have been any better!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

In 'I Invited Her In', Mel, a happily married mum of three, receives an email from an old university friend, Abi, after many years of silence. Abi then causes havoc in attempt to take revenge on Mel for a long-held secret.

This was an enjoyable book. I definitely would not class this as a thriller or a suspense novel - more like chick-lit or a trashy, beach read. The storyline is a bit slow moving and frankly, ridiculous, but it was a fun, forgettable book!

I tried really hard to get into I Invited Her In but I struggled and had to give up. Sorry this book was not for me.

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Forme this book is definitely a chick lit and not a thriller. There are however lots of secrets to be discovered..
Mel invites an old friend from university to stay, she feels she owes Abi. Wow, what an impact Abi has on Mels family life, her husband Ben is baffled as to why Mel is so enthralled by her, hanging on her every word. Mels household is turned upside down as Abi take steps to put her plan into action, she wants everything that Mel has including her son Liam. Abi is a cruel vindictive manipulator and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Another great read from beginning to end from Adele Parks, ithis book will definitely not disappoint her readers. 4.5 stars.

Only on rare occasions do I not finish a book and I am afraid that this was one of them. I just couldn’t get into it and picking it up seemed a chore thus I am afraid to say I gave up - I am sure that I am probably in the minority but the story line just didn’t grip my attention and I guessed the plot twists early on.

Mel and Abi were friends at University together until Mel fell pregnant and Abi moved abroad with her partner becoming somewhat of a celebrity. Nowadays Mel is happily married with three lovely children.

Mel hasn’t heard from Abi in 17 years when she suddenly contacts her out of the blue to announce she is getting divorced and coming back to England.

Mel quickly responds and tells Abi she must come visit and stay as long as she likes. And so the story begins ....

This was a slow burner from the start and unfortunately stayed that way. The story begins with Mel inviting her friend Abi to stay after they make contact after many years of not being in touch. Mel's life couldn't have been more different than the glamorous Abi's, having become a single parent in her teens. She eventually meets and marries Ben, going on to have two further children all while Abi is living a celebrity life of luxury in the USA. As Abi's life begins to fall apart she decided to move back to the UK and so takes up the offer to stay with Mel and her family. Unfortunately Mel is so accommodating she neglects to put a time span on the invite and Abi is in no hurry to leave much to the consternation of Ben who is not a happy bunny at them being taken advantage of. Slowly we see Abi's true character begin to emerge and so the plot thickens. A good story but it was too slow for me to pack much punch and at times I skipped pages to get through it.

It's been years since you last spoke to your best friend from university days. You'd been so close at the time, but life moves on and you both lose touch. Suddenly, an email out of the blue asking if she could stay for a couple of days. What would you do? Mel extends an invite to her old friend Abi and welcomes her into her family home. But what can she really know about who Mel is these days? Billed as a dark and unsettling thriller, I have to say I had high hopes for this, but thought it fell a little flat. Shocking twists which turned out to be fairly predictable, I wanted to enjoy this more than I did.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had just the right amount of interest to keep my involved to the point where I could not stop reading it.
I had to suspend disbelief towards the end when it all got a bit silly, but otherwise it was a great read.
The characters were well drawn and interesting and the family felt "normal".
It is a situation that many of us have found ourselves in...inviting an old school/college type friend to stay, only to realise that they are really not what you remember and you now, in fact, have nothing in common with them at all.
Friendships are made throughout life as you pass along it, many of them are fleeting, some are more of a commitment than others, but at the end of it all there are very few friends who remain the same for your life.

Although this book begins in a light hearted way, it soon becomes much darker. The plot is good but I didn't engage at all with the characters. This tended to ruin the tension, as I didn't really care about what happened to any of them.
A shame because it's a good storyline.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. It's an easy read, a bit of a psychological thriller from the perspective of multiple characters involved in a complex family dynamic and revenge quest.

My main complaint was that the twists were very predictable, and I would have appreciated at least one major plot point which wasn't easy to forsee.

I'm a great fan of Adele Parks and although in my opinion this isn't one of her best it was very enjoyable. It was a little too far fetched in places for me to fully engage with the story but is definitely readable.

What can I say! Adele parks never disappoints. Another great book from one of my favourite authors. I won't say too much about the plot as I don't want to give away any spoilers but I resonated with Mel as a middle aged mum of three. Keeping my family close from now on!

A lovely, classy read. Starts fairly lighthearted, then gets darker...and darker, with interesting twists and turns to the story.
I really enjoyed seeing how Mel coped with the various changes in her life, she was a believable, interesting character.
I also loved the way the story would switch around, from one character’s aspect to another - giving a different slant each time.
I loved it!

This is my first Adele Parks novel but I will certainly be looking for more. I was sucked in straight away and couldn’t stop reading, the interaction between the two main characters is excellent. It is a good story with lots of twists, a very enjoyable read

This is a great book - I got it on pre-release review from Netgalley, and finished it over a week of going to bed early to make time to read it! Adele Parks is an author I have read frequently for a number of years - and a bit like Lisa Jewell she has moved from chick lit to something a bit thriller-esq.

This story resonated with me as I am still friends with lots of my old school friends on social media but would feel a bit nervous if one of them actually moved in with me! A lot of time has passed when Abi contacts Mel and asks if she can come and stay with her old friend as a stop gap when she unexpectedly moves back to the UK after her life working in LA as a TV presenter comes to an abrupt end.

Mel's husband is a little suspicious of Abi's motives but Mel is desperate defensive of someone she feels saved her at a vulnerable point in her life.

What follows is a turbulent story of intrigue, suspicion and deceit - a complete page turner. Enjoy!

If writing style portends a good read ahead then right from the start I was hopeful of an entertaining time. If someone can deconstruct an anglepoise lamp in to a very playful sentence then you’ll see what I mean: “She was all angles, like a desk lamp, and it seemed remarkable that she was poised to shine her spotlight on me”.
If we put a spin on Exodus; ‘visiting the iniquity of the mother upon the son’, it goes some way to explain the core of the novel. Egocentric Abigail never fully recovers from the knowledge her best friend slept with her future husband and seeks revenge by setting her sights on the fruit of that consummation in the hope it will destroy her former friend. I must confess to having guessed the father of single mum Melanie’s son when Abigail offered to coach him on interview techniques but it didn’t spoil a beautifully told story.

When i was younger i read every Adele Parks book there was, i was obsessed and if you were to look through all my packed up book boxes you would still find them all. I must admit it has been a while since i read any of hers but i spied all the hype on twitter about the launch of this book i knew i had to give it a go.

Mel was happy enough with her family life and then one day she gets an email from her old best friend Abi. She should of ignored it, she should never of invited her in. However Abi is in need, she has a glamourous life but its all about to come falling down around her and she needs somewhere to heal herself for a while, away from the public eye.

Mel hasnt seen Abi since they were at uni and when Mels unplanned pregnancy forces her to leave uni, whilst Abi did visit once, the pair never remained in touch. So this seems both a bolt out of the blue and a chance to catch up.

Abi has deeper motives though, and all Mel can do is stand by as everything unfolds. There is a few layers to this narrative and whilst pretty early on i figured out where it was going and what was going to happen. It non the less stopped me enjoying it the read and i don't want to discuss what actually happened because it would totally take the shine of the book.

What i will say is I felt for the characters. I felt they all had their reasons for the way the behaved and acted out. A story of reunion that takes on a deeper twists. I loved the concept and the title literally says it all. I would certainly reccomend this and it reminded why i have always loved and read Adele Parks.

This was an okay read. The plot isn't bad. But I really disliked the flat, cliche characters. Also the tension on the psychological side unfortunately falls short to impress.

There are a few things in the book that made me roll my eyes, and one is the single mum reflection by Mel. First of all: come on Adele Parks. It's year 2018 and no one blames single mums, and excludes them from playgroups. I have raised one son here in the UK and always had single mums in playgroups and never seen any discrimination towards them. Does it really help portraying Mel moaning like this? Why not a moaning single dad, but a mum? Why? So I found Mel's complaints about lack of friends a bit far stretchered.

Secondly, I really couldn't stand the way she compares everything Abi says automatically with herself. she is supposed to be the 'good girl' of the story but it's so pathetic. She's also a very calculating person, i.e. decorating the house before her arrival to impress her. When Abi was telling how her husband cheated, she's expecting Abi to stop talking as her precious girls are in the room. Come on , I have children as well. you'd just ask your child to go to their room, or move yourself to listen to your clearly upset friend, when she's telling
you how her husband cheated on her. Instead Mel gets annoyed that Abi speaks walking on her cheating husband near her children. Is that supposed to be a good person? Just selfish, sorry!
Cannot relate or sympathise with someone like Mel and found her portrayal for survival quite sexist.
Overall didn't like this book. Sorry!

I thoroughly enjoyed this tense family drama. Although I’d heard of Adele Parks, I’d never actually read any of her books, thinking they would be very ‘chicklit’. I was mistaken. This was compelling reading as the story of deception, revenge and false friendship unfolded. The ending was pleasingly satisfying.

A well written book with a solid believable plot. I’ll certainly read more by the author and can recommend it without reservation.

Meg receives an email one day from her old university friend Abigail, telling her of her impending divorce and need for friendship. Meg is ecstatic with the possibility of rekindling her greatest friendship with the fabulous celebrity that Abi has become. However she’ll quickly come to regret this when she invites her into her home.

The story begins very well, with an unyielding tension quickly blossoming through the pages. However I quickly realise where the plot is heading in several places, which leaves this ‘thriller’ much without the thrill. Of course, Parks has done brilliantly in creating characters we love to hate, but it is so intense and proclaimed so early on the novel quickly loses pace.

An excellent piece for stimulating anger and frustration, I just wish the novel stuck to being a thriller for just a little bit longer before the expected reveal