Penelope Ward 

Stepbrother Dearest

Jennifer Eggleston 

4:42 am and I finished. I could not put this book down. Oh my damn. I am hangry that it is over! I want more, seriously. Elec with his tattoos and piercings ... rowr. 

Greta and Elec's romance was a fucked up one but I'm glad they got their happy ending. Their story had me hooked but I felt cheated. LOL. I wanted them to overcome obstacles sooner so there could have been a lot more smexy moments. I am just a book whore; hate the book not the reader. 

If you love a hate to love story then this is a book for you.

Sven Test

That was such a great story! The feels hit me hard with this one. My heart broke so much for Elec and Greta, but ugh, what a beautiful heart-breaking romance! Penelope Ward keeps surprising me with her amazing writing.

este es el libro más tortuoso que he leído en mucho tiempo. ¿Qué estaba pensando Penelope Ward al escribir este libro?

no soporté a Elec. no soporté a Greta. no soporté ni la historia, ni el drama, ni el final. ¿Por qué lo leí? Nunca lo sabremos, me tengo 0 respeto a mí misma por lanzarme lecturas tan horribles simplemente porque no sé qué es abandonar un libro.

La única cosa que me gustó fue el asunto de los anagramas, pero del resto…

Missy Zuber 

Seeing everybody saying how good Stepbrother Dearest was pushed it up to the top of my reading list. 


Definitely enjoyed it.

Nicki

The two stars are for Elec. I'm a sucker for the way he was described because I know someone exactly like this or rather could picture someone like this. Greta was bland as fuck and this didn't feel like a novel, but more like a novella because of the repetition. I think I would have rather the book been told from Elec's POV tbh.

Grace Martinez

Updated review!!!

I picked this up as a reread and it was a pretty fast read. I got done in about 6 hours. 

First off yess the Forbidden Taboo romance is there and it starts of sweet and angsty. We have the tension building and the sweet moments shared when they are young at 17-18. And then we have a time jump 7 years later, when tragedy bring them back into each other’s live and what they both believe had faded long ago sparks up again. 

I gotta say even though it’s step-siblings it’s not really. At least for me other May view it differently but agin you have to read to understand what I mean. 

The last 1/4 of the book was what really makes me like it because we get His perspective on everything that’s happened and I love those scenes in books. 

Older review: 

I really thought this would be a corny and supper predictable story. But it wasn't. There was so much hot and cold and so much depth. You feel in love. I felt that this book was fast paced and it kept me going and yearning for what was to come. I felt that their story could've ended at any point. You know that moment in a movie where you sense the end in in the next scene. That was the last entire 3/4 of the book. Kept me on the edge of my seat. The graphic content wasn't suffocating the story which was perfect.

Adrianne

One of the best stories I've ever read. Couldn't put it down!

Lauren Lopez

Quick and satisfying read

Obviously the premise behind this story is considered a bit taboo by many, but you have to remember that Elec and Greta didn’t grow up together and are not related through blood. 

The smut wasn’t overbearing which is a good thing, but I kind of felt the pace of the book was a bit rushed. It was a very fast read - one that you could easily ready in just a few hours. I would recommend for those who are interested in a fast-paced, sexy and slightly taboo read!

Shawna Gavas

What an emotional rollercoaster! Loved it!

Raven Dean

***5+ Stars***

This is my 2nd time reading this story and it is still one of my top favorites!!! I am just so in love with Elec!!! His childhood was definitely not one of the easiest but, he came out a strong and remarkable man. Throughout this whole story, you feel every single emotion he and Greta go through. Just breathtaking and the ending was beautiful!!

celeste

this was hilarious and depressing at the same time. i did not expect to enjoy reading this one this much lmao and the banter between the two main characters was hilarious. the writing was kind of average but i honestly loved every page of this book. the only thing i disliked was that everything felt way too rushed. since the book has two parts, one when they are teenagers and one when they are adults, i feel like the author was trying to get to the part where they were grown up way too fast, so everything that was happening felt rushed, where weeks and months passed within a single chapter. but other than that, i really enjoyed myself while reading this one.

I had tremendously high hopes for this book. It sounded like it would be the awesome result of mixing a bit of Penelope Douglas' Bully with Lisa Desrochers' A Little Too Far. And while I enjoyed this book – or I should say specifically PARTS of this book – as a whole I was a little underwhelmed. 

I love a good forbidden love story, so I was all over the mere idea of this one when I first heard of it. Unfortunately, the relationship between Elec and Greta just never felt all that forbidden to me. Elec was a difficult guy to like and I never fully connected with his character. I did like Greta. I was able to relate to her and I definitely had a vested interest in her happiness. I loved the way these two went at each others' throats. They had a ton of chemistry and I got sucked into that aspect of the story. Where I was lost, unfortunately, was in the second half of the story. I loved the concept behind all of it, but the execution didn't work that well for me. 

For the most part, the pacing of the book was pretty decent. It jumped forward large amounts of time at a time during certain parts, but it always seemed clear to me that it had. There was one long, drawn out segment during the second half of the book, near the end, that slowed things down way, way too much for me. (view spoiler)[I *LOVED* the idea of Greta reading Elec's autobiography. It was a unique way for her to learn about where Elec's head was. The first part of it was intriguing. I liked learning about what made Elec the way he was and why his relationship with Randy was so strained. I didn't, however, need to read a total rehashing of the conversations and events that took place during the book. I was there the first time. I think that portion of the book was clearly important to the overall story and the ending obviously, but I would've liked to have seen it cleaned up a bit. It felt like too much deja vu to me. (hide spoiler)]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of this book. (Despite what some might believe, three stars isn't a bad thing. In the rating system I use on my blog, it means I liked it.) With the exception of the portion mentioned in the hidden spoiler section above, I was completely sucked into the book. I couldn't wait to see what happened with Elec and Greta. Did I love every part of their story? No. But I knew I wouldn't love all of it. Elec was a complicated character with a lot of flaws. He totally grew on me though. There were plenty of sexy and swoony times in this book, if you're into that kind of thing. (Which I totally am.) I wasn't sure where the story was going to wind up. It could've gone so many different directions. I was definitely kept guessing up until the final chapter or so. I'd definitely give this one a shot. You might get a little more out of the portion of the second part that didn't work for me. Everyone reads a little differently.

Stepbrother Dearest

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