When
Darcy returns home for her parents’ anniversary celebration, she postpones
telling them she has left her cheating fiancée behind for good. They will
find out soon enough, and she knows the moment her mother discovers her
newly single status, the not-so-subtle matchmaking attempts will begin anew
– and likely with the next door neighbor’s son and her life-long friend,
Mac. But one look at Mac and she suddenly starts to wonder why that would
be such a bad thing… She has known him all of her life, but he has never
stirred these feelings in her before! Risking their friendship is something
she isn’t so sure she is ready to do – no matter that he is inspiring the
most titillating dreams!
Mac missed his chance before, but now that Darcy is single again, he is
determined to convince her to take their friendship to the next level, and
he wants it all!
It
does not matter how many variations on the theme there are, I never ever
tire of reading stories where friends find true love and a happy ending
together! Jessica Jarman’s twist on this motif is absolutely wonderful and
will surely bring a smile to the face of the most jaded reader.
Mac is the typical Alpha male, complete with the ability to exasperate both
his heroine and the reader. But even when he is being frustrating, your
heart goes out to him, knowing that he is acting out of good intentions and
honest love.
Fresh from a bad break-up,
Darcy is understandably skittish, but finds in
Mac a trusted friend who can help her build the self-confidence her
thoughtless ex-fiancee so callously dashed to pieces. In the beginning, she
simply hopes their friendship will survive a frivolous fling. It isn’t long
before she realizes their friendship is deeper and stronger than she ever
realized before, and her feelings for Mac can never return to the way they
were.
Perhaps it is my own desire that my own soul-mate will begin as a friend,
but I find stories like The Boy Next Door endlessly
inspiring. Indeed, it is tales of this sort that have helped to rebuild my
faith in romantic love, and Jarman serves her readers well with this book.
This was my first read by Jessica Jarman and I am wholeheartedly looking
forward to more from this talented writer!
Reviewed by Jennifer
