Neighbor Dearest

“You only get one true love, one soulmate. Not everyone is lucky enough to find that person in a lifetime.”5 stars!OMG, I loved this book! It’s a friends-to-lovers romance with fantastic and natural chemistry, great banter, delicious angst and sexual tension, breathtaking romance, and SO. MUCH. MORE! This book took off in a direction that I definitely wasn’t expecting and it made me feel EVERYTHING. I sat down and read it in one sitting and I’m on such a high after finishing it, I’m tempted to go back and start over at the beginning again. I absolutely loved it!If you’ve read Stepbrother Dearest, you may remember that the hero, Elec was with a girl named Chelsea, but left her to claim his HEA with Greta. Well, this is Chelsea’s story after Elec left her broken hearted and struggling to move on - but this one can absolutely be read as a standalone.It’s been a year since Elec shattered Chelsea’s heart, and she is still sad, lonely and full of questions about how it all went wrong. While pouring her heart out to her therapist on speakerphone one night, she hears chuckling from her neighbour on the opposite side of her bedroom wall, and it’s then that she realises that he has heard every single word. “You've been listening to me...through a glory hole?"” “No. You've been subjecting me to asinine conversations with people who are ripping you off...through a glory hole.” “You are such a...” “A-hole?”Chelsea’s neighbour, Damien, is super-hot and effortlessly sexy artist, but he’s also an angry, broody and sarcastic. They have never held an actual conversation, and they obviously don’t get off to a great start, but after he inadvertently learns all of her secrets and uncertainties, they get to talking and he offers her advice – the first piece of advice that actually gets her thinking and starts her on the road to recovery.They start talking more, and even hanging out, and before they know it, they’ve become the best of friends. Chelsea has been attracted to Damien pretty much from the beginning, but he’s made it clear that he’s not the man for her. So they try to ignore the sizzling chemistry even though neither of them can deny that they are wildly attracted to each other. “You have no idea how close I’ve come to losing it with you so many times. No clue … Don’t think I can’t tell exactly what you’re thinking when you look at me. You are so transparent, and it drives me crazy.”Chelsea and Damien are both wonderful characters, and they are so fantastic together. They’re both smart, funny and sensible, and they have so much fun together. Their friendship is filled with shared jokes, moments of bonding over Damien’s dogs, movies, internet dating and dirty texts, and they’re both straight-talkers, and I LOVE that! And even though they’ve openly talked about it, the angst and frustration comes when their feelings for each other become too hard to ignore, and I loved their honesty as through it all they don’t hide what they’re feeling and they talk from the heart. “You can’t have it both ways, Damien. You can’t look at me the way you do … You can’t keep me close and treat me as if I’m a huge part of your life and expect me not to get attached to you. It’s unnatural and unhealthy, and whether it’s your intention or not, you’re hurting me.”It’s an angsty situation that is just bursting with sexual tension, but OMG it’s so good! The banter, flirty conversations and intense stares create a fantastic feeling of want between them, but something keeps holding Damien back. And though they are brutally open and honest with each other about everything else in their lives, he never talks about his reasons for not acting on his feelings – not matter how much it hurts them both. And it’s not until the drama, angst and emotional intensity builds to epic levels that his secret is revealed and the story takes a huge shift. It’s very well done and with their hearts on the line, they can’t hold back from each other anymore. “You know why it didn’t work out with him?” “Why?” “Because God made you for me.” “You’re perfect for me, baby. I always knew that, never doubted it.”OMG, the swoon! After all of that build up, the swoon is off the freaking charts! This relationship is truly something special, and I love that by the time they get together, they are already crazy in love with each other, which makes everything so much more intense. And I love that the book takes us beyond the stage of falling in love and coming together to show us more of their journey. This truly is a complete story, and the emotion continues to build all the way through. This is the first time in a long time that I have actually cried in a book because it’s just. that. beautiful!! Seriously, the epic romance and swoon in this book is gorgeous, and at one point I had tears streaming down my face. “As long as I’m walking this Earth, I’m going to love you … You’re it for me.”*sniff*I have loved Penelope Ward’s other books, but with this one she has become an auto-buy author for me. I loved these characters, I loved their journey, and I loved losing myself in their absolutely gorgeous story. Here’s hoping for more with a book for Damien’s brother, Tyler very soon!5 huge stars.

Another beautifully written book by Penelope Ward. It was gripping me from its cover to its epilogue. Chelsea and Damien were beautiful together. This was big time romantic book that I have read in a while. Penelope has a way with words that I rarely see in an author. The best part are her covers, they are always gorgeous. After reading and listening this book I hope something similar happens to me, but than that is difference between fantasy and reality. Most definitely recommend it to all.

First off…it’s bloody hard (for an Aussie) typing neighbour without the u so don’t be surprised if a few neighbour’s pop up here or there. So what did I think about Neighbor Dearest? I actually really enjoyed it. There are lots of things buzzing around in my brain after finishing and I’m struggling to get it all clear in my head. I have to say, I’m absolutely stoked that I never read Stepbrother Dearest. That sounds bad, but I know the type of reader I am and there’s a bloody good chance I may not have even looked at this one if I had read that one first. I cottoned on half-way through the story that the douchewaffle ex, had his own love story. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of step anything story’s, but this guy (even though I'm content that Chelsea found her HEA with someone else) still makes me a little stabby. Up to the very last page of Neighbor Dearest, I didn’t like knowing that he was happy with his decisions.In the beginning, we see Chelsea’s heart broken into little pieces. As the story goes on we learn little bits and pieces of where she had been, who she had been with and what she was trying to get past. One of her steps in recovery was to hire a therapist who specialises is recovering after relationships break down. Unfortunately, Dr Little lives in Canada so Chelsea’s sessions are done by a phone call. After one of her very expensive sessions, she realises that her very HOT but obnoxious neighbor had heard the whole thing through a hole in their adjoining walls. He made it known that he thought she was wasting her money and that the advice was stupid. Chelsea’s mortified but also really, really pissed off. The following night she knocks on his door to confront him and is attacked by two ferocious beasts…who smelt bacon on her. Honestly, I was horrified for poor Chelsea, while also busting a gut laughing.Damien, the obnoxious and hot neighbor can’t believe this chick. She’s paying a fortune to some woman spouting crap about unicorns and relationships. He has no hesitations in telling her what he thinks about it but she doesn’t take kindly to his opinions. He soon finds out that his neighbour, Chelsea, is a wee bit unhappy about his dogs constantly barking. So, with him laughing at her therapy sessions about unicorns and the dogs' barking, it finally pushes her over the edge when his 2 rottweilers tackle her to the ground when they smell bacon on her. The funny thing is, seeing her so vulnerable pushes a button in him and he starts to see her in a whole different way.Damien and Chelsea form a friendship but it’s pretty obvious they have deeper feelings for each other. Chelsea has been hurt by love before, but she’s willing to take a risk with Damien. Damien keeps pushing Chelsea away because he wants more for her. Damien doesn’t want to let Chelsea get close to him because he knows he’ll break her heart.To me, this story can be broken into two parts. There was the sizzling attraction that made it seem like this couple would be perfect together. You spend the first half of the book waiting with baited breath for them to realise how perfect they will be together. The angst and conflict jump off the pages. The second half of the story is them dealing with life-altering decisions, learning to trust each other and sharing their deepest desires and secrets. I was seriously sucked in with the first half, and while the second half was also good, it just lost a little of the sizzle. The epilogue was pretty damn sweet.I really enjoyed Neighbor Dearest. Chelsea and Damien are sweet together. There are some steamy scenes but they are in no ways OTT or kinky. The additional characters were great too. I loved Chelsea's younger sister and Damien's younger brother. It will be very, very interesting to see if there is a future for those two. I loved Damien's rent trade-offs with some of his tenants. He can be such a sweetheart.I definitely recommend Neighbor Dearest.

This review is hard for me because Stepbrother Dearest was and still is one of my favourite books, so when I saw this was to be released I was a bit apprehensive, I felt like I was being a traitor to Elec whom was the main character in Stepbrother, and I love him dearly to this day. This is the story of Chelsea who was Elec's girlfriend in the book Stepbrother Dearest. I didn't particularly like Chelsea at first if I'm honest but I loved the character Damien who is just wonderful. This can be read as a standalone but I personally think it would be better understood if Stepbrother Dearest was read first to get the feel of the characters.Chelsea is heartbroken after Elec dumps her and she moves out into an apartment block where she meets the arrogant but gorgeous Damien and his double D's, they have both been hurt and they start off on the wrong foot but the chemistry between them is undeniable and this is what makes the book. Both characters are good and well written but Damian stole the show and the story itself was a good one. It's a roller coaster of emotions and feels that make you smile and laugh, cry and despair, the book started off a little too slow but it redeemed itself as it went along and the ending was amazing and gave me so many feels. Penelope Ward can do no wrong in my eyes - I adore her work, she has never written a bad book yet and she properly never will. A thoroughly enjoyable story that should be read - a must read !!!!!

Having read Step Brother Dearest I really wanted to read this book to get Chelsea's story (Elec's ex) because in the first book Elec leaves Chelsea for his true love Greta. This book did not disappoint at all it was just as good, better even but on a different level. This is the story of Chelsea and Damien and how neither of them have really experienced the wow factor of true love until they meet each other. I didn't really like Chelsea's character at first I thought she was too soppy and weak but as her character developed I found her to be really sweet and true to herself. I wasn't sure what to make of Damien's character either until the story started to unfold and we got to know a bit more about him. I thought his storyline was going to be predictable but the author threw in a twist that I wasn't expecting and she'd obviously done her research on the matter from how she wrote it into the story. The way she makes the link with Elec from the first book by mentioning him a few times, particularly the ending with the email exchange I thought was very apt! Each book can be read as a stand alone but if you've not read the first book Step Brother Dearest, after reading this book you will want to. Even Jade and Tyler (Chelsea's sister and Damien's brother) get their own story in a short novella which I was compelled to read just to finish everything off! I will definitely be reading more form Penelope Ward..Both books were about that special kind of love with that special someone but told from two different perspective - I liked it and would definitely recommend!

This might be a little controversial but I enjoyed this book way more than Stepbrother Dearest, I know never thought I would hear myself say those words but I really did. Going into this book I didn't really know a lot about it, I knew it was linked to Stepbrother but not how a few pages in I soon realised it was about Elec's ex Chelsea. To begin with I didn't know how I felt about this, I didn't want my memories of select to be tarnish but it was nothing like that in fact I really connected with Chelsea and felt for her so much.Loved the tango that Damian and Chelsea played he kept pushing her away and she kept pushing towards him, at times I shouted " for gods sake do it " lol but their coming together was well worth the wait !I absolutely LOVED everything about this book it left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling !!!!

I don't even know where to start with this one. I'm a massive fine of Penelope Ward and have read most of her books. However, I haven't read anything of hers since Stepbrother Dearest. After I had read that one, that was it. It flew to the top of my charts and has remained there ever since ... until today! I read Neighbour Dearest in 11 hours. I could not put this book down, I was absolutely hooked right from the start. The storyline is brilliant and Damien and Chelsea are just wowzers together. Their chemistry is off the scale. I loved the banter between these two, and really enjoyed the funny quips from the two of them. This is quite an emotional read too, but it's such a great story. I'm so glad I picked Penelope up again. This is my most favourite book of 2016.

Yet again a fabulous stand alone novel by this very talented author. Chelsea Jameson is a girl with a few hang ups, her greatest, was her break up with her ex Elec, resulting in long distance conversations with a quack of a therapist. Damien Hennessy her neighbour can hear all of these clearly through a hole in their adjoining wall. The story unfolds and I won't spoil this excellent book for you. Damien is an artist so has a colourful character, and Chelsea was mentioned in Step brother dearest, so we are already aware of her character, if you've read this previous book. Not essential, but with such a great author, silly to miss such an excellent read, as this one is. I hope we explore other characters mentioned in this book or expand on Damien and Chelsea. Worth far more than 5 stars