Review | The Bad Boy Next Door by Jody Holford

The Bad Boy Next Door by Jody Holford | Kendrick Place #2
Contemporary Romance
Published on March 20th, 2017
ARC from Netgalley

| Review |

I’ve been excited for The Bad Boy Next Door ever since I read the first book in this series, More Than Friends. And while this book was a decent read, it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. Wyatt was introduced in book one as one of the residents as Kendrick Place, and he was very growly. Well, it’s a damn good thing I like growly heroes, because that growliness was in full force in this book. Wyatt is just about the growliest hero I’ve ever read. (That’s FOUR ‘growlies’ for anyone keeping tally – five now!) I loved that he’d recently come out from being undercover and how he was having a hard time making the adjustment back to his ‘regular’ life after the things horrific things he’d seen, and the betrayal he felt from one of his informants. Wyatt wasn’t so jaded when he went undercover, but he had trust issues galore after what happened, and it didn’t work out so well for Shay. Shay was a likable character, and I think she’s someone I’d even like for a friend. But I don’t understand why everyone around her had their protective instincts kick in when she was around. It felt very much like a contrivance because Shay’s ‘thing’ was getting away from her family to be more independent. And I understand that, but there were times her determination to be independent got on my nerves when there were much better solutions available than going something alone. It was sheer stubbornness, and it’s adorable in the two year old I babysit, but not so much a grown woman I’m reading about.

Why did he always sound so calm? And why didn’t he ever get caught in ridiculous, Target-stalking, fighting-with-cardboard moments? Though he had run his cart straight into her butt, and she’d enjoyed the shade of red he’d turned.

What I find is often the case for me in Contemporary Romance is that Shay was an average heroine. Which I am fine with, but there has to be something (especially when we get the hero’s perspective,) that makes her extraordinary in the eyes of her hero. I didn’t get that here. Also, there was so much build up to how sexy Wyatt was, and then the sex scenes were…fade to black. I even had to go back and read the first one because…ahem…I’d missed it. I wish sexy Wyatt hadn’t been so fade to black, because I think there was a lot of heat to be had between those sheets of his.

How could one tiny woman take up so much space? She didn’t sleep on a bed. She conquered it like her goal was to touch every single inch of it at some point in the night. Even if he was on that inch. He looked down at her as she snuggled into him, her head in the crook of his arm.

Never in his life had he asked a woman to let him spend the night so he could be close to her. When he’d shown up last night, he just wanted…needed to be with her in any way he could. She rolled away from him and even in his somewhat-blurry-not-quite-awake state, he laughed that she was still moving. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back against his front.

“You’re a tornado when you sleep,” he said into her ear.

Shay gave a sleepy giggle. “Yeah. I didn’t want to tell you.”

“I should probably wear protective gear if I’m going to sleep here.”

Her fingers twined with his over her stomach. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

Of course this book introduced us to a few new people who could be prospective players in the next few books, and I may stick around for them. I did enjoy Wyatt’s character very much, I just wish he’d been fleshed out a bit more, so it makes me want to read more from the author. Overall, The Bad Boy Next Door was a good read, and if you enjoyed the first one in the series, I think you’ll find things about this one to enjoy.

| Rating |

Series: Kendrick Place