Mr Right Across the Street (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 4)

DNF at 51%. Argh! I usually like Kathryn Freeman's books but I just could not like this one. Mia Abbott moves to Manchester, she works from home and is kind of lonely in a new city so she becomes a little bit obsessed with the people who live in the flats opposite, particularly the sexy guy who likes to work out every morning in front of his window. Sexy guy is local bartender turned owner, Luke Doyle. He's cruised through life having friends with benefits type relationships and very little commitment as befits a bartender. But recently things have changed, he's bought the bar he works at and he's starting to want more from life, like the girl with the green hair who walks into his bar alone. Mia annoyed me, she got all bent out of shape about Luke's love life based on gossip from girls she'd only just met in a bar. She got rabidly jealous because another woman was trying to attract him. She ignored the fact that he was chatting her up and asked her out. Then she did it again. And again. Yawn. There was an interesting story in there about Mia helping Luke to pull the bar out of the red when he finds out that someone has been skimming the business for years but it was buried under tweenage angst and I lost interest. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If you need a boost, what better way than to read a good book - and this is a very good book! Mia has a poor dating history; she always seems to pick wrong 'uns. After her latest mistake won't leave her alone she moves from the south of England to Manchester in the north. Working from home, it doesn't take long for her to notice the hot guy in the flat opposite - the one who works out each day at 10am - not that Mia's looking, you understand. When he begins to leave notes on his window for her, an uneasy friendship begins to blossom, but Jake has problems of his own to deal with. When he offers to show Mia the hot spots of her new home city, there is a definite spark between them and when he creates a cocktail purely for her, she is definitely under his spell. With both their pasts to deal with, is there a future? What a lovely story! An original tale, beautifully written with well-developed characters - and the cocktails are rather intriguing! The places visited around Manchester were interesting to someone who used to travel there regularly on business. Jake would be every women's dream of a neighbour; I was reminded of the Coke advert where the women used to gather at the office window, same time each day to ogle the very fit guy on the other side of the glass! There are plenty of giggles and a big slice of fun in this one, mixed in with some awkward moments and and some 'cor-phew' ones. Not a straightforward romance by any means, but definitely a very cute one worth reading. Highly recommended to all who enjoy a good romance with plenty of content, and one I'm happy to give 4.5*.

This was a fun and light read filled with amusing and wry humor, family drama, and a fledgling romance between two people in transition. Mia was a small nerdy woman with technicolored hair, and Luke was her sexy, rabbit-loving, bar owner, neighbor who had a way with women, lots and lots of women. The pair had instant chemistry and gave clever and witty banter, but his reputation as a ladies man put her off, and truthfully, it was putting him off as well. Although that didn’t keep her from perving and lusting after him every day while she watched him exercise from her window. The storylines were easy to follow, engaging, and converged slowly with the plot being more character-driven than action-packed, which was fine by me. I enjoyed these surprisingly endearing characters as they struggled with their inner musings and worked through their issues to find their way to each other. And I picked up a new entry for my ever-expanding Brit Words and Phrases List with, threw his toys out of the pram – which Mr. Google informs me means to react with ill-temper. I really like the visual on that one.