She took a secondary character from Stepbrother Dearest that I wouldn't have even thought about again and gave her a story of her own.
Honestly, I probably would have never thought of Chelsea Jameson again. I mean Elec and
Greta got back together. Which was what I wanted to happen in Stepbrother Dearest. I never really gave a second thought to Chelsea's broken heart so I have to say I'm so glad Penelope Ward gave Chelsea a voice to tell her story.
In case you don't know, Chelsea was absolutely devastated by her break up with Elec. So broken that she wouldn't visit her sister in New York City fearful that she might run into Elec. So broken that she was spending a bunch of money on phone therapy with a super expensive shrink.
In the midst of all the heartbreak, Chelsea's sister comes to visit her and as they're sitting outside of her apartment building having sister conversation they happen to see a very sexy yet angry looking artist painting a mural. Now his description alone is delicious, dark hair, dark blue eyes, artistic type. Throw on that beanie and his tight body with tanned skin and well he just becomes irresistible. Irresistible and totally not interested in making friends with his neighbors. The sisters conversation about the angry artist is hilarious and it just so happens our neighbor dearest, has supersonic hearing, which makes it even funnier.
The angry artist? His name is Damien (insert Omen joke here) Hennessey and yes just about everyone he encounters makes some reference to his namesake. He not only lives next door to Chelsea with two very loud dogs, he also is the owner of the building. So when Chelsea goes to complain about said dogs, well she's not getting very far.
Damien turns out to be not completely anti social and he and Chelsea become friends. That is after they iron out some wrinkles, like Damien being able to hear her conversations with her shrink since their bedrooms back up to each other. He basically tells Chelsea stop paying this lady, she's not helping you. You can change your own story.
Of course, the more time she spends with Damien, the more she begins to develop feelings for him. Damien, however is not relationship material. He lets Chelsea know they can be friends, but nothing more. There's no real obvious reason for his aversion to relationships. He just doesn't do them.
As you read Neighbor Dearest, you can see the obvious attraction between Damien and Chelsea. Especially, when the two are out for lunch and happen to see Elec in the distance. To distract Chelsea, Damien gives her a "fake kiss". You can literally feel the heat coming off of the pages during their kiss.
So why is Damien holding back? Why doesn't he just get together with this girl he so obviously is attracted to? Well, that's Damien's secret to tell and I'm not sharing it. So I would definitely one click Neighbor Dearest to find out exactly what's going on in this picture.
I completely love the way Penelope Ward writes. You can feel the emotion in every scene between Damien and Chelsea, between Chelsea and her sister Jade and even between Damien and his brother Tyler. And then there's the humor. Ask Damien and Tyler their middle names.
I laughed and I cried while I read Neighbor Dearest. This was also a book that I could not put down. I had to read it all in one sitting, because it held my interest from the very beginning until the very end.
I'm so glad that Elec broke Chelsea's heart and she got her own book. Truth, I think I love Damien even more than I loved Elec. Maybe it's the beanie. I don't know.
Speaking of secondary characters, I'm hoping Jade and Tyler get a story! Talk about drama!
Five lip smacks from me for Penelope Ward and Neighbor Dearest.
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