Melanie and Ben Harrison are a close-knit family living a quiet and content life. Their almost 17-year-old son Liam is handsome, bright, and ambitious, with dreams of going to college and then into politics. His sisters Lily and Imogene adore him and love when he babysits them so their parents can have date nights.

Mel actually had Liam when she was still in college. When she figured out she was pregnant, his father wanted nothing to do with having a child and offered to pay for a private abortion. Melanie only told her best friend Abigail about her pregnancy, and that she planned to have the abortion. Abi is surprised when Melanie decides to keep the baby and abruptly leaves college. They've since lost touch.

Raising Liam as a single mother was difficult, but he became Melanie's entire world. When she meets and falls in love with Ben, Liam is six. Ben adores Liam from the start, and they have a strong bond almost immediately. And when they get married, Melanie, Ben, and Liam are thrilled with their new family.

Mel is surprised when she comes across a message at work from Abi, who she hasn't heard from in 17 years. Abi's getting a divorce and needs a place to say, and Mel is the only person she feels she can turn to for help. Mel wants to help her friend and invites her to stay as long as she needs.

For a few weeks, things are fun for Mel and Abi. Abi tells her all about her glamorous lifestyle and friends, leading to late nights up drinking, waking up with hangovers, and neglecting her family. Annoyed with his wife's uncharacteristic behavior, Ben wants Abi to leave or to at least start contributing to living in the house, but Mel stands up for her friend during this difficult time. Neither of them realizes the trouble they've let in their home until it's too late...

I INVITED HER IN is a page turner you will be unable to put down until the end. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who loves thrills, chills, surprises, twists, and turns that will curl your toes, and a diabolic villain who I found easy to hate, while I just wanted to scream at Mel, "Enough already." You have a new fan, Adele Parks. This is a big winner!