Needing the Next-Door Neighbor by Kristin Canary: Book Review

  *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

My next-door neighbor, Ryan Rosche, is pretty much the perfect guy.

He’s a freaking doctor, for one.

Humble…

Mature (Did I mention he’s eleven years older than me?) …

And flat-out gorgeous.

If only he wasn’t also … my boss.

Look, if I wasn’t the nanny to his nieces, I’d be all. over. that.

But I’m in the middle of a personal crisis of sorts—a recent move, a public breakup, a foiled career—not to mention beholden to a successful CEO grandmother who is withholding my trust fund until I can become “respectable” in a way my mother never was.

Falling for my boss—blurring those lines—is just the sort of thing my mother would have done.

And I refuse to be anything like Pippa Montgomery.

Besides, even if it was respectable to date my boss, a hot mess like me could never hope to land this guy whose life is 100% together.

Someone like him could never want someone like me. Not long term, anyway. And I’m tired of being discarded.

But when I move into Ryan’s house to make my job easier, and ignite the chemistry of late-night reality TV watching, meal sharing, and helping him raise his nieces, how am I supposed to resist the good doctor’s charms?

It seems inevitable. This man is just a heartbreak waiting to happen…

Fans of Jenny Proctor and Emma St. Clair will love this closed-door, age gap, forced proximity, boss/nanny romantic comedy with lots of sizzle and spice, but no on-page explicit content. It follows Kennedy Matkin, Alexis Matkin's younger sister.

Kristin is a thirty-something wife and boy mom who functions best on peach tea and cookie dough ice cream. She writes closed-door romantic comedies with lots of sizzle and spice but no explicit on-page content. A desert dweller, she always has her eye on the next trip to a beach somewhere—and if she can’t travel there in person, then you’d better believe she's going to write about it. Kristin is never fully satisfied with a movie, TV show, or book without a hefty dose of romance in it, and she's grateful to be living a true-life love story with her own crazy little family. Connect with her at KristinCanary.com.

I must admit that when I initially started reading this book, I feared that perhaps this wasn't going to be one that I was going to relate to well. I mean when the female lead refers to NSYNC as an 'old group', I felt my 90s kid heart break just a little bit! Ha! How was I ever going to connect with a character who believes such a thing!? And yet, I pressed on and am so glad I did because by the end, I actually enjoyed it very much. 

This book took on several tropes I enjoy- such as forced proximity and found family and also some that I don't usually enjoy quite so much--like an age gap. Still, I found that even those tropes that I don't particularly care for were done very well. The age gap between Kennedy and Ryan is only 11 years, so nothing over the top... and it led to some fun banter back in forth that I really enjoyed. To be honest, it reminded me a bit of the way I tease my husband about being old, and we only have a 4 year age gap between us. I really loved the chemistry between these two, and how they both cared for Ryan's nieces so wonderfully. While the chemistry was fantastic (and those kisses, wow!), it was still a clean read. Lots of swoon-worthy moments and attraction, but it goes no further than kissing, and no language either. 

This is the 6th and final book in the California Dreamin' series. I had not personally read the previous books in the series and found it read just fine as a standalone. I definitely suspected that some of the other couples that made appearances throughout were from those previous books, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. The epilogue definitely seems to tie things up for everyone though, so it definitely wouldn't hurt to read them all in order. I know I'll personally be going back and reading the rest myself. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. If you are looking for a good closed-door romance, this is certainly one worth checking out!