Name: The Boy Next Door
ISBN: 9781250061461

Katie Van Ark

In this intensely romantic debut novel, a teen figure skater falls in love with her skating partner--who is also the boy next door.

The Boy Next Door

laura

It was not my fav book. i did like the backdrop of iceskating but nothing real special about the characters. I did like them though

 Bruna Acioly Leão

The Boy Next Door is about the friendship and blossoming romance of Maddy and Gabe. Maddy has been in love with Gabe since they were six years old. But they are figure skating partners, and Gabe doesn’t want to jeopardize either of their careers with a romance that has a great chance to fail, since all his other romantic relationships have. They also live next door to each other (hence the title) and their parents are friends, so they pretty much hang out together all the time.

As the story begins, their coach sets up a new program for them, a romantic one inspired by Romeo and Juliet. That’s when practice starts to become a little more between them.

Here are my bullet points:

Good Things:

The romance:  Wow, Maddy and Gabe have great chemistry both as friends, as a romantic couple and as skating partners. Every scene between them is sizzling. This right here is what I want when reading romance. Maddy and Gabe might work on the ice, but their romance is pure fire. God, that line was cheesy, and I guess some people might find their romance a bit fluffy and cheesy, but I love those. I also happen to love the “friends with benefits”/“friends turned lovers” tropes.
There are some sexy scenes, but nothing too explicit if that makes you uncomfortable. 

The skating: I love watching ice skating, but I don’t know a lot about it, so reading about the technical jumps, programs and competitions is really interesting. That’s also a really romantic setting and it fits the story really well. When Maddy and Gabe are skating, I feel like I’m watching them right there on the ice. 

The dual POV. I know some don’t like them, but I love dual POVs, especially on romance novels, because usually those are female centered, and I like knowing how the guy is feeling as well. It also makes the reading more engaging in my opinion, because you’re not constantly just in that one character mindset.

I also really liked the character growth that both of them go through. By the end, they understand each other better and work together as well as on their own.


Minor Not so Good Things:

 I felt a little bit like Maddy’s life revolved around too much on Gabe and skating. She had very little connections with other females and most of her affection was centered towards Gabe and their partnership. While that is a problematic thing, it’s not a thing that made me hate the character of Maddy or dislike the book. I think it was a realistic portrait, but I should mention that it is not a healthy way to live life.

  The plot is a little too easy and convenient, though there are some sufferings here and there. But again, nothing that bothered me too much, since fluff stories are meant to be like that.

  I didn't like that near the end, the romance gets complicated because of a miscommunication. That type of plot device really annoys me and it is usually very unnecessary. That was probably the thing that bothered most in the book, but luckly it got resolved fast, since it only happened in the last 50 pages or so.

  Maddy's lack of female friends.


Overall

The perfect rom com to feel good and relax. I really, really liked this book and it reminded me why I love reading romance so much. It’s easy and fun and not too much is expected of it. It’s pure fluff and that’s just what I need sometimes!

The Boy Next Door

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