The Chad Next Door by Dana LeCheminant: Book Review

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

Torn between a quiet life and the chaos of unexpected love, Private Investigator Chad Briggs is set to find out if a snowstorm can melt his heart in Laketown. When Hope, the all too attractive—and far too young—woman next door, Chad’s life is thrown into a whirlwind he would rather not face, but he doesn’t have much of a choice.

Trying to navigate her new life after unexpectedly gaining custody of her dead sister’s kids, Hope knows she shouldn’t be interested in her much older neighbor, no matter how easy he is on the eyes. But when a snowstorm traps them together in one house, can they ignore the sparks between them?

With every reason to think a relationship is impossible, especially with the kids in the mix, they know a weekend fling isn't going to end well.

But their hearts didn't get the memo, and they might be in too deep to back out.

Dana LeCheminant has been telling stories since she was old enough to know what stories were. After spending most of her childhood reading everything she could get her hands on, she eventually realized she could write her own books, and since then she always has plots brewing and characters clamoring to be next to have their stories told. A lover of all things outdoors, she finds inspiration while hiking the remote Utah backcountry and cruising down rivers. Until her endless imagination runs dry, she will always have another story to tell.

The Chad Next Door is part of the Love in Sun City series. This series is really interesting because while this is the second book, all of the books actually take place around the same time, so there is some overlap between the stories. For example, if you've read book one, you'll recognize a phone call that Micah received from Chad--- which seemed a little more random in that first book, but in this one we understand the backstory behind it. This is a really interesting way to do a series, but I absolutely loved the depth that it added to the story. It also keeps me excited to see the other Briggs siblings' stories having gotten the hints of it here. 

As much as I enjoyed the first book in this series, I must say that this one was even better! I love a protective MMC and Chad certainly was that... with both his siblings and Hope and her kids, and I love it. He had a bit of a grump vibe when they first meet, but we very quickly see that that really is just that protective front. Seeing him with the kids? Cue the swooning! Though his overprotectiveness did sometimes get him in trouble throughout the story, I couldn't help but love Chad's character. Hope was just the perfect balance for him, and their banter added so much fun to the story... and a lot of that banter stemmed from their difference in age (she's 24 and he's 36).  Age gap is admittedly not always my favorite trope, but I feel like this 12-year age gap is just the right one--- it's just a big enough gap to really feel like the difference matters and to lead to some fun banter, but not so much that it feels inappropriate. This story had so much to love, and I absolutely enjoyed every single minute!! 

The Chad Next Door is a closed-door romance with lots of kissing, but nothing beyond that and no language.