Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis:
Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. (Goodreads)
Review:
If I’m perfectly honest, I don’t know whether this book deserves 2 stars or 5. On one hand it was so enjoyable and cute and fluffy, one the other hand, compared to other books I’ve read, it just wasn’t the best.
If I start with characters, Lola was unique, however…I didn’t exactly love her. Like I literally just said, she was unique and quirky but I just found her annoying. She was different to other characters I’ve read about which makes it a real shame that I found her annoying. And I suppose she didn’t feel like she had as much depth as she could have done. It was almost like she was developed on the outside with how she dresses and her hobbies and all that, but there never felt like there was a lot of development on the inside. Maybe she was but I just really didn’t like her. But she didn’t feel like the most complex character I’ve ever read when she could have had the potential to be complex. But then maybe that lack of complexity is what makes it a lighter, fluffier read?
Cricket was so easy to fall in love with. I felt he was a tiny bit more developed on the inside more so than Lola. If Cricket was a dog, he’d definitely be a big golden retriever. There was something so lovable about him. Max, Lola’s boyfriend, on the other hand, came across a lot colder which I suppose was there to have the contrast between the two and make you fall for Cricket rather than Max.
I really loved Lola’s family dynamics. Lola has two fathers. I’ve not read about a character have two dads before and it was refreshing and hopefully an accurate representation. Lola’s mum is heavily present in the story and the story of how her dads became her dads made it an interesting read. I found both her dads and her mum pretty decent characters.
Anna and St. Clair make a reappearance which I loved! I think having them appear in this book ties the first and second book in the series together a bit more rather than them all being in a series but not really having any connections to each other, if that makes any sense?
What I did love about this book was how each character had a hobby of some sort and for the most part, I tend to see reading or painting/ drawing in books but we had a bit of textiles, a bit of baking, a bit of mechanics/inventing and again, it was all so refreshing to read about and therefore made it a bit more interesting.
I don’t feel I’m really in the right place to say much on the plot because it is romance based and I really don’t read much romance at all. But it did make me want Cricket and Lola together which is the main thing.
I really enjoyed the end where everyone sort of came together and it just generally felt quite well wrapped up between different characters.
The writing was okay. I think perhaps the writing is another thing that makes it light and fluffy but it didn’t blow me away. But it did do the right thing of, as I mentioned above, wanting Cricket and Lola together and I guess that’s the main aim of the book. And sometimes you want something easy to read and this book gave it to me.
So overall, it was enjoyable. I found some aspects of it really refreshing and I’m grateful for that.
Would I reread it?
I don’t know. At this moment in time, I’d probably lean towards no, but then I’ve only just read it and maybe in a few years time, I’ll want to reread something light and easy to read. This isn’t the sort of contemporary I usually go for anyway, but like I said, who knows?
Would I recommend it?
If you’re not into pure romance based novels, then probably not. If you are or you want something to easy to read, then, perhaps, yes. But I do recommend picking up Anna and the French Kiss first since Anna makes a reappearance and I think it would just work better to have read the first book in the series. However, if the first book doesn’t interest you, then it’s not completely necessary. This book will still make sense without the first book.
Have you read Lola and the Boy Next Door? What did you think?
Lucy 🙂 x
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Lucy and A Cup Full of Tea 