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Blurb

I’m The Other Guy.

No, it’s not what you’re thinking so calm down. And yes, I just dared to say the words “calm down”.

He’s the guy your mama warned you about.

I just so happened to be his number neighbor.

Yeah, you read that right.

I’m the Textdoor Neighbor to the guy having one night stands with seemingly the entire town.

And I’m the lucky one who gets to “break up” with his not so lucky conquests.

Turns out, breaking up with most of them wasn’t as hard as I’d expected it to be.

Until she came along.

I was content living my boring life, running a boxing gym and going home to an empty house.

She made me realize that maybe being content isn’t enough.

I’m Jack Cole.

And this is the story about how I became… the other guy.

 

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Review

4 stars

Another sweet, heartfelt, fun and functional romance from Jennifer Van Wyk! This author is my happy place – I love her stories, I love her writing, and damn, but I love her heroes! I can always be guaranteed an angst-free love story that will leave me with a smile on my face and that’s exactly what I got with this book. I loved it!

This is Jack’s story. Fans of JVW will remember Jack as the son of Carly from A Better Place – an absolute sweetheart as a teenager, and now we get to see him all grown up and melting hearts as an adult. This book can be read as a standalone but beware that it ties in to ALL of JVW’s other standalones and there is character crossover (see our JVW suggested reading order guide here). As a long-time fan, I loved seeing everybody again and enjoyed some fantastic developments and twists in the stories of previous characters. Newbies will most likely be lost trying to figure out how everybody fits together, but the full cast of extended family have little impact on the overall story, so you’ll be fine.

Anyway, this is Jack’s story. Jack is now in his 30s, running his own boxing gym and living a happy life. He doesn’t have much of a social life outside of his family, but he has recently been the recipient of dozens of texts from random women. It seems that Jack’s ‘textdoor neighbor’ (the person with one digit difference in phone numbers) is giving out Jack’s number as his own in an attempt to brush off his one night stands. And, frustratingly, it’s up to Jack to break the news to the these scorned women… occasionally after some entertaining banter and flirting himself.

(Going into this book, I didn’t even realise that ‘Number Neighbors’ were a thing, but apparently it’s a social thing where you make contact with the person with one number up and down from you, as they are your ‘number neighbor’. Consider me educated!)

Things in Jack’s life take a turn when he meets Sierra who, in all of her wild quirkiness, blows into his life like a storm.

Is there a way to be endearingly insane? Apparently so, because she is. In the way that makes people want to be around her. Want to be a little crazy as well. She brings a certain something to life that only people truly confident in themselves can bring. And unless you’re lucky enough to be around her, spend time with her, you’ll never realize it – she – was missing in your own life.

I love Sierra!  Smart, sassy and independent, she is a fantastically unique character who says it like it is and who holds nothing back.  She’s brave and bold, but she has some vulnerabilities, and she’s an absolute delight in this story from start to finish.

A fast friendship forms which very quickly turns into attraction. There’s the usual longing, flirting and teasing, and it’s all so much fun. Sierra is going through some stuff, so it takes them a little bit to get to a point where they can get romantic, but in builds fantastic sexual tension and chemistry as we watch them dance around each other, and once they get there, holy hot damn, these two are on fire! Sexy and playful, these two are so much fun together, and so much more than just mad lust, and they form a deep connection which is explored really well.

They get to know each other intimately, they have a strong influence on each other’s lives, and they really do complement each other. It’s beautiful to watch, and I loved the lack of game playing and angst as they laid it all out and just followed their hearts.

“This feels…different. And it scares me. I’ve never had this before and I don’t know what it means. But it’s terrifying how–”
“Right it feels?” I answer for her, interrupting her. She nods in agreement.
“Yeah.”

It’s not all smooth sailing, and they have issues they need to address, but they deal and they keep moving forward, and I loved that so much!

As I said, there is quite a bit of character crossover with JVW’s previous books, and I particularly loved James’ involvement. I fell in love with Jack’s step-dad when he was the hero of his own book, and I loved seeing how strong his relationship is with Jack. Family plays a big part in JVW’s books, and she writes it so well. The dynamics are fantastic, and it was gorgeous seeing Sierra with her own family, as well as bring brought into the fold.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s sweet, fun and sexy, and an easy read that left me feeling all fluffy.

4 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Jennifer Van Wyk Interconnected Standalones

 

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About the Author

From the Ground Up was Jennifer’s first published novel and now that she was bitten by the writing bug, has no intention of ever stopping. Jennifer makes her home in small town Iowa with her high school sweetheart, three beautiful, hilarious and amazing kids, one crazy Jack Russell terrier. This is where her love for all things reading, baking, and cooking happen.  Jennifer’s family enjoys camping, boating, and spending time outside as much as possible. You’ll be her best friend if you can make her laugh and follow up with asking her what to read next. When she’s not writing, you can find her cheering the loudest at her kids’ sporting events (read as: embarrassing them), sipping coffee or iced tea out of a mason jar with her Kindle in her lap or binging on Netflix.

 

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