Emotional Whiplash

 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Level: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

Aria and Eric

Because this book made me feel many things, I have two versions of this review.

 

Short Version – posted on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, BookBub, Booksprout

This was a steamy novella. Quick read too. The spicy scenes certainly were spicy. These two have very, very vivid imaginations and wet dreams, and their chemistry was off the charts when they finally got together.

This one was my least favorite book in the Naughty Neighbors series. However – overall, I’ll give this book four stars because it made me feel things. It made me feel a lot of things, especially about the use of the Best Friend’s Brother and Ugly Duckling Tropes. But for the purposes of this review, I’ll focus on the emotional whiplash these two gave me. I’m not sure I liked it, so I spent quite a lot of time rage-scolding these fictional characters. Their emotions were all over the place. One moment they are resisting their feelings for each other, the next, they are fighting, and the next, they are drunk-making out.

If this is what Ms. Monroe was going for – mission accomplished!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

 

 

Detailed Review – for this Blog

I’ve read other books by Olivia Monroe, and I have to say, the writing style of this particular one was…different. The pacing was all over the place – moving fast in some areas, awkwardly slow in other places, and very rushed in others. Some of the transition scenes were cobbled together, making it seem like it was added as an afterthought. Even the ending – though satisfactory – felt rushed too.

The spicy scenes indeed were spicy. These two have very, very vivid imaginations and wet dreams, and their chemistry was off the charts when they finally got together.

This one was my least favorite book in the Naughty Neighbors series. However – overall, I’ll give this book five stars because it made me feel things. It made me feel a lot of things. Especially about the use of the Best Friend’s Brother and Ugly Duckling Tropes.

If this is what Ms. Monroe was going for – mission accomplished!

Here we go…

I’ll preface this by saying I read all 3 books in this series, the Naughty Neighbors series (Book 1: 2 Doors Down, Book 2: Apr 2E, Book 3: Apt 4B). Books 2 & 3 each had a theme that fits with the series title of Naughty Neighbors. Book 1 did not. And here’s why. Having your little sister disapprove of you sleeping with her best friend and you doing it anyway does not exactly make it naughty. You are both single, consenting adults. Not particularly taboo.

While I am a huge fan of the Best Friend’s Brother trope, this one didn’t do it for me. I wasn’t sold on Aria and Jenna being best friends in the first place, so that ruined it for me. Jenna and her control issues were probably not needed for the story. It was clear from the start that she was jealous, immature, and acted like a two-year-old who didn’t know how to control her emotions. That was some catty grade-school antics that she kept pulling with no rhyme or logic to it.

Eric came across as a tool – he was very superficial and not very likable in the beginning. I’m also a fan of the Ugly Duckling trope, but not when a character – who’s very clearly a tool – keeps playing it up. And making it so obvious that all he was after was her body. She’s smart, but he can’t even list a single attribute about her that has nothing to do with how hot she looks. Urgh! Even when he said he missed her, I still failed to see what it was about Aria that he missed besides her body.

Although this was quite steam-filled, so can almost forgive him for that.

Almost.

Don’t even get me started on the emotional whiplash this two gave me…I’m not sure I liked it. Their emotions were all over the place. One moment they are resisting their feelings for each other, the next, they are fighting, and the next, they are drunk-making out. I’m not sure I liked it, so I spent quite a lot of time rage-scolding these fictional characters. How about consent? Alcohol and make-up sex is not a good combo! And why are we having sex in your sister’s pool? Just why? She disapproved of the relationship in the first place. Her childish antics broke you up too. So why are you having sex in her darn pool?!

Why is Eric even listening to Jenna on whom he can or can’t sleep with? He’s a grown man, for crying out loud. He knows what his sister is like, even says it himself that he doesn’t particularly care what she says or thinks, but then goes right ahead and listens to her.

And Aria – girl, you’re smart. You know that your so-called friend is bad news. There’s a reason you two went so long without talking. So, why on earth are you listening to anything she has to say now when it’s so obvious that her motives are self-serving?

Long story short – I don’t think either Eric or Jenna were good for Aria. They were both bad news. The immature sister and the tool of a brother. That sounds like a nice combo, right?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is the first book in the Naughty Neighbors series. Read my reviews for Book 2: Apr 2E, and Book 3: Apt 4B.

 

PS: Can somebody give Alex (Eric’s buddy) a medal? Also, is he the same Alex in Book 3?!

PSS: He wasn’t. Shucks!