Bad Neighbor by Molly O'Keefe | Rating: ★★★☆☆

"You're soft, Charlotte. You're part real, part dream. You're half here and half... someplace else." 

Oh, boy. I have a lot to say about this novel that will be very conflicting in terms of my review. First of all... the biggest thing you need to know about Bad Neighbor is that, despite its flaws, it's hot. We are talking the lovely Molly O'Keefe may as well set the entire novel on fire once we've finished it. Phew. Phew. Phew. Is that steam I see rising from my Kindle? I swear, it's caught fire from the damned novel.

At its very core, Bad Neighbor is a stereotypical bad-boy fueled love interest. In fact, it's chop full of cliches and a series of vague details about the characters. Despite the fact that it is told in dual narration, I feel like I know so little of the characters. A lot of the times, the backstories felt like an afterthought. We're told, and we are maybe even shown on occasion, but I didn't feel some sort of intimate connection to the characters or their families.

Bad Neighbor has the perfect formula for a sexually tense read. When I got past the otherwise lacking plot lines, I found myself enjoying it deeply. It's just so sexy and steamy that I couldn't put it down. I can't say many novels accomplish that in the overcrowded genre but this is one that will keep you pulled in when it comes to the chemistry between Jesse and Charlotte.


Even though it has that sense of normalcy in the way they meet (good girl with a past moves next door to bad boy with a past; all kinds of tension ensues due to the overall rudeness one expresses to the other) and how their story unfolds, you have a few surprises thrown in for good measure that practically set fire to the pages.

I wanted to know more about Jesse and Charlotte and their lives outside of the apartment building they were presently residing in. Because with what we know, there was a lot more that could have been explored. From their conflicting personalities, to the clashing of  "before" and "after" and forward, I felt like we didn't get to see as much as we could have. They both had a chance at being some of the best developed characters in the genre but at the end of the day they didn't live up to that potential.

(I sound like I am hating on them. I'm not. I liked the novel. I liked them.)

There's a lot of tragedy and frustration in both of their lives and at the end of the day, a lot of it is connected to their siblings. And how their families sort of parallel each other without really running deep. I loved how it tied into the central plot but I can't help but to wish for more and I don't mean just more of their siblings stories; I wanted to dive head-first into more of Jesse and Charlotte and their lives from this moment forward.

Overall, Bad Neighbor was a fun and sexy romance that will leave fans breathless.