Title: Neighbors Author: Stylo Fantôme
Series: Twin Estates #1
Release date: September 24, 2016
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 315
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from TRSOR Promotions in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Things a good neighbor can do for you:
1. Give you a cup of sugar
2. Let you borrow his lawnmower
3. Water your plants while you're on vacation
4. Make your eyes roll back in your head with his tongue
Katya Tocci has never paid much attention to who lives next door - her career always kept her too busy. She's a good girl, working her way to becoming the most sought after cake designer in all of San Francisco.
But even a good girl's gotta cut loose once in a while, right? So one fake dating profile later, and she's ready to tarnish her squeaky clean image. Little does she know, her fun time is closer to home than she ever imagined.
Throw in a neighbor who wants to corrupt her, and another who just wants to own her, and her entire world is flipped upside down.
Who knew neighbors could be so helpful?
For some reasons I’m always a bit scared when I start a new Stylo Fantôme book. I enjoy her work, but sometimes the actions of her characters are a little too close to the edge of my comfort zone. Neighbors takes me to that edge, but I love it.
“Boring simply wasn’t good enough anymore.”
Good girl Katya is done with her boring, safe (sex) life. She wants to make a change, but she doesn’t know how to do that. With the help of her friend Tori and some liquid courage Katya makes a profile on a dating-site, hoping that would to some more excitement. It doesn’t take long before she meets Liam, who happens to live in the next apartment building. And shortly after, her childhood crush Wulf walks back into her life. With the sudden attention of two attractive men Katya doesn’t know what to do…
“I think I’m falling in love, angel cake. You are more fun than I ever would’ve thought possible.” “See? Never judge a book by its cover.”
Liam is a hardworking guy who owns and operates his own sex club. While browsing through a dating site he sees the picture of a young woman he frequently sees walking out of the building next to his. Her picture and profile intrigue him, making him want to meet her in real life. Wulf is his own boss as well. When he suddenly sees a woman – Katya – he grew up with again he’s more interested in her then he cares to admit.
“Ms. Tocci,” he sighed when he pulled away. She was panting and shivering, trying to catch her breath while he pushed her dress up over her stomach. “You are so sweet, in so very many ways.”
Going from no man in her life to two attentive men; Katya is a bit unsure how to handle the situation. Both men push her towards and over her boundaries, but wanting to leave behind ‘boring’ Katya, she doesn’t mind at all. While Liam is a man she just started to get to know, Katya is familiar with Wulf and his family, setting a different tone to their friendship. The feelings Katya has for both men change pretty fast; Liam is more of a good friend, while she sees herself in real relationship with Wulf.
Neighbors is the first book in ‘Twin Estate series’ and ends with a huge twist in a cliffhanger. I had some thoughts about this twist since the beginning of the book, but I loved how it played out. Neighbors is written in the authors familiar style, and her characters are real people. People who sometimes do things I would never ever do, but I love to read about it. Katya, Liam and Wulf each have their good and bad characteristics but that makes them only more real in my opinion.
“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered against her lips, shifting her onto her back. “Probably not,” she teased. “I don’t, Katya. I really, really don’t.”
I love this love-triangle, and I can’t wait for the next book. Unfortunately, we have to wait until December for the next part. I give Neighbors 4.5 stars.
Excerpt
It was no joke.
Liam had been waiting in the lobby for her at nine o’clock, sharp. Liam Edenhoff – “but everyone calls me Eden” – he’d introduced himself again to her before guiding her out to a taxi he’d had waiting.
She felt a little nauseous. She’d chugged down another half bottle of wine, and some crème de menthe, before heading downstairs to meet him. She’d almost talked herself out of going, but she’d made the mistake of telling her roommate Tori about the whole fiasco. Apparently, Katya owed it to women everywhere (and Tori in particular) to explore this opportunity to its fullest. She’d all but been shoved out the apartment, the door slammed and locked in her face.
“Nervous?” Liam Eden-whatever-his-name-was asked her as the cab slowed to a crawl.
“Nope,” Katya’s voice sounded overly loud.
“Liar. Tonight is gonna be an interesting night, angel cake.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“What’s your last name?”
“None of your business.”
“Okay then – when the gang bang starts, I’ll tell them to call you Katya X.”
She couldn’t stop the blush from happening that time. Liam burst out laughing, then soothed the sting by grabbing her hand.
Even when they got out of the cab, he didn’t let go of her. Normally, she would’ve been uncomfortable with a stranger assuming such a familiarity with her, but this time, she was thankful for it. She held onto him tightly as they walked down a crowded street. Then they turned into an alley, and his gang bang joke didn’t seem so funny. He led her to a plain door, above which a simple, small, neon sign spelled out “The Garden”. Outside were several small groups of people, chatting and smoking. Some of them called out greetings to him, all of them using his nickname, but a large and scary looking bouncer addressed him very properly.
“Hey, Mr. Edenhoff, wasn’t expecting you in tonight. Any problems?”
“Nope, just bringing a friend to show her the place, let her see what I do for a living.”
All the blood was quickly rushing from Katya’s limbs, pooling somewhere in her stomach. None of this was a joke. He really did own the place, that much was obvious.
As Liam led her through the door, though, Katya actually felt a surge of confidence. She was still nervous, still more than a little scared, but she was okay with it. Liam seemed like a nice guy, he wasn’t going to take her into some dark room and insert foreign objects into her orifices. She could leave whenever she wanted to, whenever it got too uncomfortable. Everything was fine, and for once, she was doing something exciting. She’d een have something interesting to talk about at work the next day.
Finally.
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