#BlogTour: I Invited Her In by Adele Parks @HQStories @izsmith95 @adeleparks #IInvitedHerIn

Book Synopsis:

When Mel hears from a long-lost friend in need of help, she doesn’t hesitate to invite her to stay. Mel and Abi were best friends back in the day, sharing the highs and lows of student life, until Mel’s unplanned pregnancy made her drop out of her studies.

Now, seventeen years later, Mel and Abi’s lives couldn’t be more different. Mel is happily married, having raised her son on her own before meeting her husband, Ben. Now they share gorgeous girls and have a chaotic but happy family home, with three children.

Abi, meanwhile, followed her lover to LA for a glamorous life of parties, celebrity and indulgence. Everything was perfect, until she discovered her partner had been cheating on her. Seventeen years wasted, and nothing to show for it. So what Abi needs now is a true friend to lean on, to share her grief over a glass of wine, and to have some time to heal. And what better place than Mel’s house, with her lovely kids, and supportive husband…

This dark, unsettling tale of the reunion of long-lost friends is thoroughly gripping exploration of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy and revenge fromSunday Times bestseller Adele Parks.

I Invited Her In is available in all formats now and you can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

I Invited Her In is a fantastically gripping and original story of friendship and revenge which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The reader knows from the start that something happenned to end ABI and Mel’s friendship but is unaware what it is.  This along with the blurb hinting that something bad is going to happen really adds to the tension and makes the reader feel anything could happen at any time.  I was certainly gripped from the start and found the book very hard to put down, staying up much later than I should have to try and read just one more chapter.

The story is told in alternate chapters between the two women, and others as the story progresses though I’m not going to say who for fear or ruining it for others.  This means that the reader gets to know the two women very well and starts to understand what makes them tick.  The dual narrative makes for fascinating reading as sometimes I  discovered something in one narrative which the other woman wasn’t aware of.  This kept my interest and ensured I turned the pages faster and faster as I wondered if and how they would find out.  My opinion of the two women changed over the course of the book.  The reader is encouraged to like Mel and dislike Abi but as the story progressed I found myself feeling sorry for Abi.  Yes she’s completely despicable but I did feel she had been given some hard knocks which made me understand her a little bit.

The twists in this book and what happens took me completely by surprise.  I actually gasped out loud at one point as I realised how utterly devious Abi had been.  I’m not going to give away what happens but if I was Mel I wouldn’t have been so calm about it!

Huge thanks to Izzy from HQ stories for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.  If you like gripping, original stories that are almost impossible to put down you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

I’ve always dreamed of being a writer and my first novel – Playing Away – was published in 2000; that year the Evening Standard identified me as one of London’s ‘Twenty Faces to Watch’, which was very nice of them!

I like to keep busy and I’ve published seventeen novels in seventeen years, and I’m thrilled to say that they’ve all hit the bestseller lists. I’ve sold over three million books in the UK alone and I’ve been translated into 26 different languages. I have written 15 contemporary novels and two historical ones, Spare Brides and If You Go Away, which are set during and after WW1. My latest novels, The Stranger in My Home, The Image of You and I invited Her In are twisty, domestic noirs. I like to scrutinize our concepts of family, our theories on love, parenting and fidelity. Whatever period I set my novels I’m known for examining the thorny issues of the lives people lead with my trademark, up-front, tell-it-as-it-is style.

I passionately believe that reading is a basic right. I’m a keen supporter of The National Literacy Trust and a proud Ambassador of The Reading Agency’s Six Book Challenge, a scheme that encourages emerging adult readers who are becoming passionate about books. In 2008 I wrote a Quick Read, Happy Families as part of the celebrations of World Book Day, which went on to win Quick Read Learners’ Favourite Award, as voted for by the public. In 2017 I was awarded the Romantic Novelists Association Outstanding Achievement Award.

During my career I’ve lived in Italy, Botswana and London. Now I live happily in Guildford, Surrey with my husband, teenage son and cat. I guess, that’s it, so far…