What a twisted, chilling thriller, set in a remote location with creepy characters! Is that enough to entice you into reading this? I hadn’t read anything previously from Robin but the blurb on this was so intriguing that I just had to read it.

Victoria and Jamie are expecting their much wanted first child after some failed attempts at IVF. They take a weekend break at a remote Guest House run by an elderly couple, Fiona and Barry. They seem welcoming enough but the next morning, the young couple wake up to find themselves alone in the house with their phones and keys missing and all the doors locked! To add to the dilemma, Victoria starts having contractions. The baby is on its way and they have no way of getting to the hospital.

What follows is an extremely twisted plot written from the point of view of Victoria and Jamie in current time and during their stay at the Guest House.

A book full of lies and deceit with a shocking twist I didn’t see coming and an ending I didn’t see coming either!

I know some people will have mixed feelings about this one. Yes, some parts are slightly unbelievable, but are they really? In real life anything can happen. There might be a couple of plot holes, but this is fiction, so to me, it’s fine. I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in one sitting..

📢 Mentions of IVF and loss of a child.

Many thanks to netgalley, the publishers and the author for an arc. Really enjoyed this one and will be adding Robin to my favourite authors list.

So I’ve just finished the Guest house, it starts of strongly with Jamie and Victoria arriving at a secluded b&b before the birth of their longed for baby, but as Victorias contractions start early they find they are locked in and the houses owners are no where to be seen.
There are some unbelievable moments but it’s forgiven as it’s fiction, it doesn’t have to make actual sense but it’s an enjoyable read, a perfect length for a holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

We meet a young couple in this book, called Jamie and Victoria. Victoria is in late stage pregnancy and they decide to go for a last weekend away to a guest house before the baby arrives. Everything is going fine, despite the weirdness of the guest house owners, Barry and Fiona. The next morning Victoria goes into early Labour, and Barry and Fiona are no where to be found, and all the doors are locked.

This was a real psychological who is doing what type read. It was creepy and atmospheric, and when Jamie realised they couldn’t leave, they had no phones, and the landline didn’t work, I felt slightly claustrophobic myself. There were certainly twists and turns, and I didn’t guess how this story would end. The writing was great, and a real page turner. I managed to read this book in less than 24hours. The characters were written perfectly, and I especially like the sub story of Jamie having a disability. This is the first story I’ve read that included Cerebal Palsy, and I applaud the author for including this.
A great read that I recommend.

A young couple Victoria and Jamie check into a guest house looking for some peace and quiet while awaiting the birth of their first baby.
The next morning Victoria goes into labour and they find themselves locked in with no phones and unable to call for help.
A thriller with twist and turns and a story that’s unbelievable in parts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Groupfor my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Couple Jamie and heavily pregnant Victoria decide to take a weekend away before the arrival of their baby. To take a bit of time out before the times of nappies and late-night feeds kick in. But most of the guest houses of the popular areas of Cumbria are fully booked so they pick one that is slightly off track in a more remote area. When they arrive, they realise that it is not the typical guest house they are accustomed too and it is more a family home than a guest house.
The couple decide to take an early night. But when they wake up in the morning, they find out the Guest house owners Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen and their phones and the keys to the car are also missing. Where are they? And what the hell is going on. This is where the nightmare starts.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion for a copy of The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley.
Wow what did I just read. The Guest House is a brilliant, chilling, twisted, unputdownable read that I read mostly one sitting. It is a highly entertaining read and would suit all lovers on thrillers. This author is not too shy to push the barriers but this what makes this entertaining. Great read. I highly recommend. 5 stars.

This was a superb thriller that is full of twists and turns that kept me wanting to read on. It was thought provoking and I felt as though I needed to know what happened straight away so read it in one sitting. The main characters are Jamie and Victoria who decide to go for a weekend away to a remote part of the North Pennines, they are expecting a baby very soon so need a break but when things start to go wrong and Victoria starts having contractions will they all be ok? there is also a major twist in the story that was very unexpected but oh so good, I liked how we as the readers also find out what actually happened too, with the timeline that runs alongside the other story. Such a great read from Robin.

A dark and eerie thriller depicting the plight of a couple expecting a baby and stuck in a mysterious cabin with their hosts nowhere to be found and no way out!

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their much wanted first baby; after rounds of expensive IVF they are delighted to find out they had conceived naturally. They decide to go away to a remote guest house in the Lake District before their child arrives, and after a long journey, are delighted to be welcomed by the owners, Fiona and Barry, a former midwife and police chief respectively.
All thoughts of a relaxing weekend go out of Jamie and Victoria's heads when she goes into labour earlier than expected and they have no choice but to have the baby in a remote strange setting; but Fiona has reassured them she has delivered hundreds of babies and they're in safe hands.

But nothing goes to plan, and Victoria and Jamie don't return to London with their precious child, instead, hiding themselves away as they deal with their heartbreak.

I was gripped from the start and enjoyed the story telling and twists, although some of the plot elements pushed the believability boundaries even for me! A solid 3.5 stars

This was such a twisted read it really kept me guessing throughout it was both clever and entertaining.
Whilst I was reading I must admit a few times I was wondering why the two main characters Jamie and Victoria was acting in a certain way it just didn’t seem to add up to me at all but wow as the plot progressed I was hit with a whammy of a twist and things started to become clear. I’m not going to say anymore as it would spoil the read but hell it was good.
The writing was excellent, the plot line as I say was twisty and shocking, I flew through the read in just over a day as I needed to know what was happening so badly. I love it when thrillers surprise me and this one sure did so it really is one I absolutely recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What starts out as a weekend away for an expectant couple quickly turns into a nightmare that weaves its way through various timelines with twists and turns right to the last page. A well written thriller that gets better and better as you discover the secrets and lies that unravel along the way.

I enjoyed reading this book I did find the first half of the book a bit hard to follow, and a bit slow, I couldn't believe what I was reading, and although I struggled with the plot a little bit, it had me hooked enough to keep reading, and I am so glad I did. The second half of the book was a cracker, I kept saying Wow and I loved it. Very entertaining book, well worth a read,..

This was a fantastic dark and creepy thriller. A real gasp out loud, holding your breath while you turn the page. A really great story xx

Jamie and Victoria arrive at a guest house a few weeks before their baby is due for a short break. During their stay Victoria goes into labour, and their belongings go missing so they can't leave.
A complex plot and twist of events sees the couple leaving their new born baby with the guest house owners and telling their family their baby died.
The book was slightly difficult to comprehend to begin with, the plot was so obscure. However around half way through the book, the twists began to explain themselves and it was a very cleverly written book. Events are never as they seem or you think they will be.

A relaxing weekend away before the birth of your baby, what could ruin that? I would highly recommend this book to… anyone with a pulse. Is that you?… This book will stay with you long after you've finished it, and in the most delicious way! Wow…!… I caught myself holding my breath more than once, genuinely worried about what would happen next… a breathless read!

The Guest House is a really tense, well paced psychological thriller. I enjoyed the first two thirds of this book slightly more that the last, but I still enjoyed this story enough to recommend.

Soon to be parents Victoria and Jamie are spending a night away from home at a guest house when something awful happens. They tell family and friends their son was stillborn but this isn’t quite what happened. I found this to be a really quick read as I was completely gripped throughout. It’s a proper page turner and I had no idea where it was going, would definitely recommend.

An entertaining tense thriller that I finished within a couple of hours sitting in the sun. It’s farfetched with some dodgy decisions but that’s what makes you keep turning the pages! I can see this doing well as a holiday read in the summer – something that keeps you entertained without much need to concentrate, with a couple of twists and turns. I give this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher Orion and the author for the e-advance review copy.

I really really want to love this book. I DID love this book. It’s gripping, tense and fresh, and unlike the predictable tale the cover hints at. I didn’t want to put it down. A story of love, loss and betrayal. Family and secrets, a mini-break from hell*.

(I liked the inclusion of lifetime disability of one of the main characters of the book, which is fairly unusual).

For me what let it down is the last 20%. It would have ended much better in my opinion without the protracted ending, and the last little twist at the final page just made me roll my eyes.

But. Ultimately I do recommend this book, and the last section didn’t ruin it, it just meant I’ve not rated it as highly as I really wanted to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.


*I don’t write a synopsis in my reviews as the publisher does this better than I could!
**It may have possible triggers including infidelity and post natal depression.

The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley depicts a nightmare scenario for pregnant women and new parents. Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby, and book a weekend away in a guest house in the remote North Pennines to relax before the baby is born. However, when they arrive, they realise that they can't leave. The couple who run the guest house have imprisoned them there, and, as Victoria goes into labour, threaten to take their baby from them as soon as it arrives in the world. The book jumps between this horrific past and Jamie and Victoria's present-day existence, where they are trying to get on with their lives - without a baby. But what really happened in the guest house, and are there more secrets to unfold?

This was very much a book of two halves for me. The first half felt like a rather typical and unbelievable thriller. I didn't find the situation very credible, and I wasn't especially captivated by the unfolding events at the guest house as I had a sense of what was going to happen. However, when the narrative caught up with itself and became fully focused on the present day, the tension really racketed up and the book became much less predictable. I really liked the developing characterisation of Jamie and Victoria, and although the very final twist, as is usual in thrillers, really wasn't necessary, the twists up to that point worked well. Although this was an uneven read for me, I'd look out for more from Morgan-Bentley. Three and a half stars.

I'll post this review on my blog and Goodreads nearer to the publication date.

In my head now, I will forever think of Morgan Bentley as the man with the killer twist.
The story itself, despite being sinister and strange, but pretty straight forward.
So I was more than pleasantly surprised when it took turns I didn't imagine at all.
Sped through it in two sittings, and now off to recommend it to all my fellow reading friends.
Fab stuff.