I Invited Her In By Adele Parks

[amazon_link id=”B07B95FG63″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’I Invited Her In’ is the latest book by Adele Parks.

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.

‘I Invited Her In’ is Adele’s first book with her new publisher HQ Stories and it’s already sailing up the bestseller charts.

The story is primarily seen through the narrative of university best friends Abi and Mel, who did everything together, until Mel became pregnant at university and took time off to have her baby. Their friendship grew apart until nearly 18 years later, Abi gets back in touch wanting to meet as she’s going through a messy divorce. Mel feels guilty that she left her best friend at university and welcomes her into her family with open arms but nothing can prepare her for what her best friend has in store.

I adored this book, it consumed me. It kept me up at night and then at every quiet opportunity, I would seize it for a little bit more reading time.

The characters are fantastic. Mel is a traditional mother, who’s priority is her family and their welfare, but when Abi comes into her life again she’s in awe of it. Abi was once part of a celebrity power couple in America and Mel is transfixed by the stories and glamour that Abi regales to her, Mel also feels that she owes Abi after leaving her at university and never telling her who the father of her eldest son is. Whilst Abi is a scorned woman who’s heart is broken after catching her husband with a much younger woman. Distraught that her dream life is over and the possibility of ever having children has been taken away, she finds solace in the chaos of Mel’s life.

The twist in narratives make ‘I Invited Her In’ make for a complex and compulsive reading as both women have ulterior motives for getting back in touch with each other and this does make for shocking and thrilling reading.

With almost every chapter ending on the a cliff hanger and with an ending that will leave you bursting for more ‘I Invited Her In’ is a cleverly written and observational story about the dynamics of female friendship. Riddled with jealousy, deceit and suspense throughout, this book is Adele Parks at her very finest.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”B07B95FG63″ target=”_blank” ]I Invited Her In from Amazon[/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.