Laura’s Review of Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell, #6) by R.L. Mathewson

Synopsis

Marybeth still couldn’t believe that she’d survived this long with a friend like Darrin, but somehow she’d managed to beat the odds and not give in to temptation and smother him with a pillow while he slept.

Of course some days were more difficult than others…

For twenty years he’s been biding his time, waiting for the right moment to make his move and now that it was here…
He couldn’t seem to stop screwing up.

Author’s Note:

Every NFH novel is written so that it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book with the exception of this one. When I started writing Double Dare it wasn’t meant to coincide with The Game Plan, but it does. So, if you haven’t read The Game Plan, you may want to wait until after you do so that you can fully enjoy this book. 

What I Loved

          Well this was another awesome Neighbor from Hell book to add to already amazing series.  Once again the Bradfords have me laughing out loud so much I have to stop and try to catch my breath.  I feel like I can’t read these books in public because I can’t stop laughing and people will look at me funny. Darrin Bradford is ranking up there to be one of my favorite Bradfords because he has devoted his heart to Marybeth since childhood and loves to drive her crazy. The tricks Marybeth and Darrin play on each other made this one very entertaining story and I couldn’t get enough of it.  Then to add some pretty hot sexual chemistry into the mix made this an awesome story. 

          The plot did remind me of Rory and Connor because they both have grown up together and love to push each other’s buttons to the extreme.  I absolutely loved when Marybeth would get her revenge on Darrin, I couldn’t wait to see what she would do next and trust me when I say Darrin totally deserved it.   

          I loved not only Darrin and Marybeth’s relationship, but Darrin’s relationship with his brothers as well.  Especially his twin brother Reese because when these two got together it lead to some pretty hilarious scenes.  Not only did I enjoy Darrin and Reese together but the rest of the gang is there as well and of course that always leads to chaos and laughs.

 

Not So Much

          This is probably one of my favorite Neighbor from Hell books so far so I don’t have a ton of complaints.  My only big hang up was Marybeth herself, the constant back and forth with her became frustrating and repetitive time and time again.  I was so sick of her constantly running away over and over again and Darrin always wheeling her back in.  It was just one too many times to me because instead of it being cute it became annoying.

          Another odd thing that kind of stuck out was that one minute Marybeth is running away from Darrin for the hundredth time and the next she’s okay and wants live happily ever after with Darrin.  There was some lead up and she was starting to be worn down, but it was literally in just one paragraph where her entire character changed.  It was weird to me that a girl who is so determined for so many years would just change so drastically in a matter of a sentence.

To Sum It All Up!

       

         Once again the Bradford humor has returned in full force and it was totally great to see these dudes back again in a lot of funny ways.  I totally love the Bradford family not only because they are completely crazy but because of how much they love each other at the end of the day.  This definitely seems to be a long running series since there are so many Bradfords left so I would love the next story (Reese’s) to have more variation.  The overall arcs are becoming a little repetitive to me.  I get that you don’t want to change the character’s personality from what we know them to be but the overall formula needs to change so the series doesn’t become stale.  I love this series so much and I don’t want to be tired with it so I’m hoping there will be a change up or a new twist.  There is a bonus preview of Reese’s story and I will say I was immediately hooked so I’m excited.  Marybeth and Darrin are obviously so soulmates so it was great to see them get their happy ending no matter how hard it was to achieve that.