Love Next Door by Helena Hunting
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting comes an evocative small-town romance about family loyalty, finding oneself, and falling in love.
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When Dillion Stitch left her hometown, she had no intention of going back. But when her brother gets into trouble, Dillion reluctantly agrees to return home to take her place at the family business.
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Being back in Pearl Lake after all these years feels familiar but also brings a few surprises. She’s quick to notice that someone new has shown up at the cottage next door. Dillion gets more than an eyeful when she goes to check out the newcomer and meets Donovan “Van” Firestone—her beloved neighbor’s grandson—in all his unclothed glory.
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Having gotten off to a rocky start, it’s not long before they begin bickering with each other all over town. All that back-and-forth inevitably sparks an undeniable attraction. But Dillion’s family has issues, Van’s family resents him, and neither Dillion nor Van feels truly at ease in the small town. For these Pearl Lake exiles, home isn’t just where the heart is—it’s where things get complicated.
Love Next Door
Helena Hunting scores again, this time without a puck!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💛🖤💜💚❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 😳☺️🤫😍🥰
The Hero: Donovan “Van” Firestone – He arrives in Pearl Lake to clean out his Grammy Bea’s house on the lake only to find out he has been implicated in the theft of millions of dollars from the foundation he founded. Due to the accusations, he loses his high paying job in Chicago. So he is staying at the lake and out of the limelight while the investigation continues.
The heroine(s): Dillon Stitch – after breaking up with her boyfriend and losing her job, she finds out that her brother broke his leg and her parents need her to come to Pearl lake and help out with the family business. She never wanted to move back to the small town, but doesn’t have much choice.
The Story: Dillon and Van meet in unusual circumstances and neither are in a good mood at the time. They take it out on each other and the next time they meet things don’t get much better. Each of them thinks the other is attractive and Van kind of likes to piss off Dillon.
I like how these two met and the fact that Dillon was angry at Van for the first part of the book while he loved to get on her last nerve. He throws her a few curveballs that really confuse her as well. These two are both mid twenties and were successful in the careers they had in Chicago. Neither wanted to slow down in a small town like Pearl Lake.
As the story goes on they each find that their lives in Chicago were pretty shallow and that in the city they were each focused on making money and buying things to keep up with the Joneses. I like the whole idea of finding what is important in life.
Both Van and Dillon are dealing with family issues in addition to their own and the storylines are all great. I also like that they both really loved Grammy Bea, so can commiserate and reminisce about the beloved old woman who sounded like quite a character.
The narration was perfect. It was done by Teddy Hamilton and Andi Arndt who are both consummate professionals with terrific voices. I love them both and they were perfect for these two characters. This one was another great listen.
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