Love Next Door (Lakeside 1) by Helena Hunting-Review & Excerpt Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 27, 2021.
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.
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.
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.
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REVIEW:LOVE NEXT DOOR is the first instalment in Helena Hunting’s contemporary, adult LAKESIDE erotic, romance series focusing on the people of Pearl Lake. This is Chicago businessman Donovan ‘Van’ Firestone, and twenty-eight year old, business administrator Dillion Stitch’s story line.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Dillion and Van) LOVE NEXT DOOR focuses on the building romance and relationship between Chicago businessman and foundation administrator Donovan ‘Van’ Firestone, and twenty-eight year old, business administrator Dillion Stitch. In the wake of Grammy Bee’s death, Donovan Firestone returns to the small lakeside town of Pearl Lake, where he takes some time to consider everything and more but a tornado called Dillion Stitch is about to turn his well ordered life upside down, as she is the executor of his grandmother’s estate, and the woman with whom he is falling in love but not all is well back home in Chicago, and the backlash is about to come crashing down. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Van and Dillion, and the potential fallout pushes Dillion out of Van’s life, as his life continues to spiral out of control.
Dillion Stitch left Pearl Lake, never to return, but life in the big city wasn’t all it was promised to be. Her brother’s accident, and the family business struggling to make ends meet, Dillion takes over the office, steering everything in the right direction but rumors about Donovan Firestone begin to eat away at our story line heroine rumors that are about to gain momentum with a phone call from back home. Donovan Firestone inherited the bulk of his grandmother’s estate, and with it a potential firestorm of problems including one-Dillion Stitch but nothing was as it appeared to be for beneath the surface continuous surprises were about to shake up their world.
The relationship between Donovan and Dillion begins acrimoniously as both verbally attack the other for reasons unknown. Neither one recognizes the other from years before but Dillion believes Donovan is up to no good, and Donovan only wants time to himself in an effort to forget about life back home. A summer storm finds our couple taking refuge in a hunting cabin where secrets are revealed, and they both reconsider their future, together. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are introduced to Donovan’s brother Bradley, and their sister Teagan; Dillion’s friends Tawny and Allie, brother Bradley, mother Marilyn, and their father; and electrician/plumber Aaron Saunders-there may be something developing between Teagan and Aaron.
LOVE NEXT DOOR is a story of family, friendships, relationship and love; a story of jealousy and betrayal, secrets and lies. The premise is engaging, entertaining and engrossing;the romance is spicy and seductive; the characters are sassy, feisty and spirited although it did take some time to get over my dislike for our story line heroine.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
I keep going, toward Bee’s front porch and the blinding spotlight. Standing in front of the cottage is Van. Shirtless. Sweaty and shirtless. The bright light shines directly on him, accenting the dips and ridges, the smooth planes of muscle.
Van is ripped. Probably because he spends a lot of time at the gym, staring at his own reflection in the mirror. He lifts his ball cap from his head and runs a hand through his deliciously sweaty dark hair before he flips his cap around and replaces it, backward this time.
I roll my eyes at myself. What the hell is wrong with me? Deliciously sweaty. “Hey!” I bark.
He startles and the hammer in his hand goes flying, but he was on the back swing, so it heads in my direction. I sidestep it, and it manages to miss me by about six inches. He spins around, eyes wide as they land on me. “What the fuck?”
“Do you realize what time it is?”
“Do you realize that you scared the living shit out of me and I could’ve hurt you, or myself?” He motions to the hammer lying on the ground next to me.
“Wouldn’t that have been a pity,” I snap.
“What the hell is your damn problem?”
“You.” I point a finger at him. “You are the problem. It’s after ten. There’s a bylaw in place around here that stipulates all construction takes place between the hours of seven a.m. and nine p.m. from June to August, and you’re violating that. And for what? It’s not like whatever you’re doing is going to matter when your damn plan is to parcel out the property!” I’m yelling now, and heaving. And my nipples are peaking under the white tank I wore to bed. I hug myself to hide them.
“This is the second time you’ve said that. What the hell are you talking about?”
“What do you mean, what am I talking about?” I flail for a second and then cross my arms again. “You called me about it. Bee wasn’t gone a couple of weeks, and you were already asking about acreage and subdividing. It doesn’t take a genius to know what your plans are!”
“I don’t even know what you mean by subdividing, and I never called you.”
“Yes, you did!” He’s just so infuriating.
“No. I didn’t. Believe me, I’d remember dealing with someone as hostile as you.”
“I am not hostile.”
“Really?” Van props a fist on his hip. His narrow hip.
I follow the movement, which leads my eyes to his waist, that enticing V of muscle dragging my gaze down farther. Of course, because my brain is a jerk, the image of him naked pops back into my brain.
As if he’s reading my mind, his brow arches. “You’re picturing me naked right now. Aren’t you?”
“What? No!” My eyes snap back up to his.
“Yeah. You are.” His lip curls, somewhere between a smirk and sneer, his tone needling. “You were staring at my crotch, probably thinking about the last time you visually molested my junk. Is that why you stopped by? To check me out again? This whole fake phone call thing is an excuse for you to come back over here and get a look at the goods again.” He runs a hand down his chest.
“You’re an egotistical asshole. I realize that this might be some kind of fun holiday for you, and that you’re probably sleeping until noon every day, but some of us have to be up at the crack of dawn. Bylaw hours are seven a.m. to nine p.m. Next time you break them, expect to get a visit from the sheriff.” I spin around and stomp over to the extension cord, find the place where it’s joined to the lamp, and break the connection, submerging us in darkness. “Next time I won’t be so nice about it.”
“Hate to break it to you, but you weren’t very nice about it this time,” he calls after me.
It drives me crazy how easy it is for him to push my buttons.
A few seconds later I hear an oof and a clatter, which means he’s tripped over something in the dark. I smile to myself. Hopefully this time he’ll get the message.
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FOLLOW: NYT and USA Today Bestselling author of The PUCKED Series, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her two awesome cats, who think the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from contemporary romance to romance comedy, sports romance and angsty new adult romance.
