Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Girl Next Door
AUTHOR: Megan E. Bean
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 40 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2018
BLURB:
Emily is about to start college in Arizona, a state where she doesn’t know a single person. But she has her parents and her dog and firm plans for her future, which include school and basketball. Love will have to wait. However, when their new neighbors pop over to introduce themselves, Emily is rendered speechless by the attractive and flirtatious Charlie.
From the second Charlie meets Emily, she cannot deny their chemistry. And though Emily is very focused on her studies and basketball, it does not discourage Charlie from showing her interest openly.
Sparks fly between the two, but when a new acquaintance warns Emily that Charlie is a player with a reputation, Emily puts her guard up, leaving Charlie to desperately try to win her trust back.
What will Charlie have to do to convince Emily that she is a changed woman?
REVIEW:
There can be love stories told in snapshots, but a really good romance needs time to simmer and burn. Emily and Charlie’s romance happened so quickly in this book that there was no time to fall for them as they fell for each other. I was done with the story before I even had a chance to process it!
Emily, who has just moved from Ohio to Arizona with her parents to start college on a basketball scholarship, is smitten with the cute girl next door the second she meets her. Charlie is bold and flirty, and she wants Emily just as much. There’s not a lot of room for conflict, but before these two can get together, they both want to be sure they’re in it for the long haul.
These two are sweet. There are definitely new-love butterflies going on. I like how hard Charlie worked to win Emily’s favor—it wasn’t weird or over the top, it was actually really charming. Sometimes you need the Big Gesture. With more moments like that strung together into a juicier plot, I could totally see these two being an amazing couple. But we just see the small moments with nothing to give them weight. Too much sweetness and not enough conflict can’t create a compelling story.
There are also some strange author choices that didn’t make sense. I think it’s really weird that Emily’s parents moved with her to a new house across the country when she started college—like, what are her parents even doing there? And the college experience sounds more like high school. The characters seem at least five years younger than they actually are, which took me out of the story.
If we got more time to get to know Emily and Charlie, I could’ve totally fallen for their relationship. But it’s just too short, rushed, and vague. I’d be interested in longer works by the author where she gets to play with her characters a little more.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: