Books Read: I Invited Her In by Adele Parks

‘I invited her in… and she took everything.’

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…

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

I'd like to thank Izzy at HQ Stories for inviting me to be part of this blog tour and sending me a proof copy of I Invited Her In to review.

It's been a few years since I read and reviewed one of Adele Parks' books, as it's been Emma who has reviewed her last couple, but when I saw the blurb for I Invited Her In I knew it was one that I wanted to read, and sooner rather than later as some of her other books are still waiting for me in my TBR piles.

From the moment that Mel receives the email from Abi, the questions kept coming as to why had the so-called best friends not kept more in touch in the years since leaving university.  Despite the differences in their circumstances, surely if they had been such good friends then they would have least been in some contact even if just the occasional email or birthday/Christmas card.  You could sense that Abi had an agenda, that she was definitely up to something and it's only over time that the whole of her scheming starts to pan out which made for some jaw-dropping moments of reading.

Both women had taken different paths over the years that was the right path for them, Mel was content as a wife and mother until Abi makes her reappearance and turns things upside down.  Abi had made a name for herself as a TV presenter in the US after following her husband Rob there for his work but there's something missing in her life, something she has always wanted and now that things haven't worked out with Rob she needs to make new plans...

I couldn't believe how calculated, vindictive and scheming Abi was, she really didn't care who she hurt and stepped on to get what she wanted.  As for Mel I really wanted to shake her and tell her to get over herself, her glamorous friend isn't everything that she seems to be and she should stand up for herself more and she should be thankful for the great life she has.  I couldn't believe how naive she seemed to be at first about what was happening under her own roof and then was in utter disbelief about how she was 'accepting' of things once everything seemed to be unravelling. Both women for me had their flaws so in all honesty I couldn't particularly warm to either of them.

With its core themes of jealousy, revenge and betrayal, I Invited Her In has all the ingredients for the  perfect domestic noir and certainly made for some gripping, late night reading for me, even if at times I did have to suspend a little belief at what I was reading.

As well as my review I've also got an audio extract, read by Joanne Froggatt, to share with you.  Happy listening.