{"id":6611,"date":"2012-09-11T04:12:16","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T11:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=6611"},"modified":"2017-03-08T15:34:07","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:34:07","slug":"6611","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=6611","title":{"rendered":"Review: Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell, #1) by R.L. Mathewson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\r\n <\/div><\/div>\n
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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

4.5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a great little book that grabbed me from the very beginning, and sucked me straight into the story. I was laughing within the first couple of pages and most of the way through, and I absolutely loved it!<\/p>\n

Hayley and Jason live next door to each, work with each other, although have barely said a word to each other. This is because Hayley is painfully shy and Jason is a man-whoring, childish and irresponsible jerk and (funnily enough) a neighbour from hell. Though when they actually meet and get to know each other, a very special friendship is formed that slowly develops into more.<\/p>\n

I loved their relationship. Even while just friends they obviously cared deeply for each other, but they were also incredibly playful and teasing, with heaps of sarcastic banter, and they played the most hilarious jokes on each other. One scene in particular had me crying with laughter. I absolutely LOVED it and just had to share\u2026<\/p>\n

Set up \u2013 Jason wants revenge on Hayley for an earlier practical joke , so sets her up one night when she is returning home with a date.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp me, please! Somebody please help me! Why won\u2019t somebody help me?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d Jonathan asked nervously.
\nHayley didn\u2019t stop to answer. She was already running towards the direction of the screaming. Her room? She threw the door open and nearly tripped as she came to a halt five feet into the room which put her right in front of her bed.
\n\u201cWhat the hell\u2026\u201d Jonathan stopped behind her.
\n\u201cOh, thank god you\u2019re here, Hayley!\u201d Jason said, sounding happy for someone who was tied to her bed, wearing only a pair of boxers. \u201cI know you said it turns you on knowing I\u2019m tied to your bed waiting for you, but I really need to use the bathroom and stretch my legs before we begin\u2026,\u201d his voice trailed off when he caught sight of Jonathan.
\nJason sighed dramatically. \u201cI thought we agreed that you would tell me ahead of time before you added someone to our bed.\u201d With a roll of his eyes he said, \u201cIt\u2019s fine this time. Lucky for you I think we have plenty of lube.\u201d He looked thoughtfully at Jonathan who was still staring at Jason dumbly. \u201cI hope you\u2019re not a screamer. The last guy screamed his head off every time I\u2013\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the date essentially runs screaming from the room. LMAO!!! And Hayley\u2019s payback for this little stunt is also brilliant!<\/p>\n

The progression of their relationship was natural, and when they got together, I love that their relationship didn\u2019t change that much, they were still very playful and had fun with each other, just with the addition of MAJOR hotness! My God, these two can steam it up!<\/p>\n

But there is some depth to the story \u2013 Hayley has the family from hell, Jason doesn\u2019t feel like he\u2019s good enough and then, of course, there is the inevitable misunderstanding which gets blown way out of proportion, and they both get a bit stupid. But there is a HEA so all is good.<\/p>\n

This a perfect \u2018escape\u2019 book \u2013 fast and fun, with lots of laughs and romance and nothing too complicated. I loved it and am looking forward to reading more from this author.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Neighbor from Hell series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Playing\u00a0\u00a0\"Perfection\"\u00a0\u00a0\"Checkmate\"\u00a0\u00a0\"Truce\"\u00a0\u00a0\"The \u00a0\"Double<\/p>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Playing for Keeps (#1)\u00a0<\/strong>(Jason & Haley)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Perfection (#2)\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0(Trevor & Zoe)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Checkmate (#3)\u00a0<\/strong>(Connor & Rory)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Truce (#4)\u00a0<\/strong>(Robert & Elizabeth)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

The Game Plan (#5)\u00a0<\/strong>(Danny & Jodi)
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Double Dare (#6)\u00a0<\/strong>(Darrin & Marybeth)
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas from Hell (#7)\u00a0<\/strong>(Duncan & Necie)
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Fire and Brimstone (#8)\u00a0<\/strong>(Lucifer)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Delectable (#9) <\/strong>(Reese)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

The Promise (#10) <\/strong>(Reed)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Irresistible (#11)<\/strong> (Aidan)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally (#12)<\/strong> (Devin)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are also some great bonuses for fans of this series!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HoneymoonHoneymoon from Hell Box Set 1
\n<\/strong>(A\u00a0collection of the first six Honeymoon from Hell Novelettes)
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

R.L. Mathewson also has bonus shorts on her website –\u00a0R.L. Mathewson Chronicles<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy: Kindle Ebook \u00a0| \u00a0Paperback Review 4.5 stars This is a great little book that grabbed me from the very beginning, and sucked me straight into the story. I was laughing within the first couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,65,9,29],"tags":[313,314,48],"class_list":["post-6611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-friends-to-lovers","category-lol-funny","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-neighbor-from-hell","tag-r-l-mathewson","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Playing-for-Keeps.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s7gaNL-6611","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}