The Spare Room

January 1, 2023

Stuck during Covid lockdown in the apartment she shares with the man who just canceled their wedding, Kelly gladly accepts an offer to move into the secluded Virginia mansion of childhood friend Sabrina--now a best-selling author--and her master-of-the-universe husband. Soon, she finds herself enchanted by her hosts, and they indicate their willingness to become a threesome, but then she learns some things about their past that give her pause. Following We Were Never Here, a Reese's Book Club Pick.

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April 10, 2023
Bartz (We Were Never Here) delivers a cleverly plotted page-turner that doesn’t quite stick the landing. After unemployed marketer Kelly Doyle gets dumped by her fiancé, she leaps at an invitation from Sabrina Lamont, her high school pal turned successful romance novelist, to wait out the pandemic lockdown with her and her husband, Nathan, a high-level Department of Defense analyst, in the couple’s secluded Virginia mansion. As soon as Kelly passes through the luxurious property’s gates, not even the adjacent cemetery can keep her from feeling like she’s stepped into one of Sabrina’s steamy novels. That sensation only intensifies as Kelly finds herself unexpectedly attracted to both of her hosts and swept into a throuple. Kelly feels desired, daring, and empowered—until she discovers she isn’t the pair’s first lover and that her predecessor has vanished. As an increasingly anxious Kelly attempts to learn more about the last woman’s disappearance without jeopardizing her relationship with the Lamonts, Bartz expertly whips up a dizzying kaleidoscope of suspicion (including two truly game-changing twists) before serving up a regrettably far-fetched denouement. The only misstep comes at the end, and it’s one that will unfortunately leave readers disappointed. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA.

May 1, 2023
A woman's pandemic-inspired lifestyle change might just become a nightmare. Kelly Doyle moved to Philadelphia for her fiance's job, and it's been miserable. She hasn't been able to find a job or make new friends, and after a fight, her fiance wants to pump the brakes on the wedding. So when Sabrina Lamont, a school friend she recently reconnected with over Instagram, invites her to stay in her spare room for a break, Kelly makes her way to the D.C. suburbs. Sabrina and her husband, Nathan, live a seemingly blessed life, she a bestselling author of erotic thrillers and he high up at the Department of Defense; their beautiful mansion is also a perfectly private fortress. As Kelly adjusts to her new life in their guest room, she finds herself moving on and falling for both of her hosts. But just as the two open their marriage for her, Kelly discovers that their last partner went missing. Is this a sexy new beginning or a terrible mistake? Bartz is known for her thrillers, and there's a constant thread of tension as Kelly ignores red flag after red flag in favor of her new and exciting relationship with her hosts. At times it all becomes slightly unbelievable, as Kelly seems to almost willfully wave off the most dire of warnings. Though some plotlines ultimately go nowhere and there are a few too many small twists that will throw you off rather than pull you further in, readers looking for steamy sex scenes with their suspense will have plenty to look forward to. Unfortunately, though, the mystery itself is melodramatic and ultimately does not live up to all the groundwork laid out for it. A thriller with plenty of sex but little sense.

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