Book Review: Checkmate

Checkmate by R.L. Mathewson
October 29, 2012
Source: Personal ebook purchase

Goodreads Summary:

There’s nothing worse than living next door to your childhood nemesis, except maybe being forced to share your dream project with him, being blackmailed into going along with something that was just wrong on so many levels, and having your hot cocoa stolen by the person that drove you to drink it in the first place.

As long as she has plenty of hot cocoa, a pair of pliers on hand and is able to resist Connor O’Neil’s bad boy charm then Rory James should be able to make it through this project with her sanity intact. If not…..

She’d probably face a few more nights in jail, have a few more restraining orders slapped against her and lose her heart to the man that ruined her life.

My Review:

 

I love the Neighbors From Hell series. The first two books were great, and Checkmate is no exception. It's not as funny as the first two, but the characters still have plenty of personality and chemistry to make up for it. Connor and Rory have been driving each other crazy for 25 years. I liked how we were introduced to bits of their history in the beginning, but then had to wait for the rest of their history to unravel throughout the book. And they have quite the story. It's picking on the girl you think is cute to the extreme of all extremes.

 

As the school bully, it had been his job to make her life a living hell and he had taken his job quite seriously all those years ago. Hell, he still did.

 

So not only have these two grown up together and driven everyone around them crazy, they are also neighbors, and now have to work together and cooperate to complete a big contruction project. Let the craziness begin. And it does. I love the absurdity of some of the situations Connor and Rory would get into, or the hints at what they did before. Are all these things necessarily plausible? Probably not. But it's sure fun to read about and imagine.

 

He really couldn't expect the two of them to work together? Could he? They'd kill each other! The entire town knew that. Hell, there were several betting pools over who would kill who and how.

 

Connor was actually really annoying to me in the beginning. So I had to trust that R.L. was going to turn him into a good guy and not some pig who gets the girl anyway. Rory was great. She had to be, growing up with five big brothers. Everytime I thought she was getting the short end of the stick, she'd turn around and get back at Connor and even things out again. Somewhere between their retribution and deal-making, their true feelings for each other started to come out.

 

Once upon a time he'd hoped for something else, but... It was never going to happen, and it was pointless to wish for something that common sense told him would never happen.

 

But along with feelings come crazy situations involving five big brothers, chains, rotten wood, renegotiations, more renegotiations, town-wide bans, lots of hot cocoa, and lots of steamy situations. Oh, and don't forget lots of Bradfords thrown on there. I was so happy when they finally made their appearance. Love those Bradfords. But will all this be enough for Connor and Rory to change their relationship and turn it into romance? Will the past get resolved? Will the trickery be forgiven? Will their true feelings come out?

 

"But I'd take you because you're the best part of my day, Rory. Always have been and always will be." Connor O'Neil.

 

All in all I liked Connor and Rory. I liked their characters (once I got past Connor in the beginning). They had some lovely, touching moments that made me really want to cheer for them. Connor really did have a sweet side that I was glad came out. There was also a side storyline that brought a bit more depth not only to that character, but to how Connor and Rory dealt with it. There were also plenty of hot moments that made me want to snuggle my husband. This is another great read by R.L. Mathewson. I hope there will be many more books in this series, because they're just so much fun.

 

4 1/2 STARS

  

*Personal note: This book includes adult scenes and situations. I'm married and feel comfortable reading this. If I weren't married, I wouldn't, but that's just my personal feeling.