Tag: R.L. Mathewson

Review: Playing for Keeps by R. L. Mathewson

Posted October 5, 2014 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Playing for Keeps by R. L. MathewsonReviewer: Holly
Playing for Keeps by R. L. Mathewson
Series: Neighbors from Hell #1

Publication Date: June 1st 2011
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 250
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Done with being the world's biggest pushover, Haley decides that things are going to start changing. The first thing that she was going to do was to put a stop to all the crap that her aggravating neighbor put her through. What she hadn't expected was to be sucked into his world, but Haley has a game plan and she won't let herself forget what the bad boy next door is capable of. 
The last thing that Jason expected was for his shy little neighbor to go Rambo on him over some ruined flowers, but he quickly got over it once he realized exactly what he'd been missing. After he decides to take her under his wing, he can't help but notice how nicely she fits in his life. Now the only thing left to do was to convince her that this is anything but a game. 
*Author's Note: There is no rape in any way, shape or form in this book. That is one thing that readers will never have to worry about reading in any of my books. Haley does in fact save herself for the right man and since that man is a Bradford, I'm sure that many readers would agree that she made an excellent decision 😉

 I read this at some point before, but I didn’t mark it down and I can’t remember when. So I’m marking it as a new read, which might be cheating, but whatever.

Jason and Haley have been next-door-neighbors and co-workers for years. Unfortunately for Haley, they haven’t been very happy ones. Jason is the worst neighbor in the world. He’s loud, has zero respect for property boundaries and, in general, makes her life hell. She’s pretty shy, so she hasn’t worked up the courage to say anything to him. Until attacks her grandmother’s flowers one day and she finally snaps. She confronts him and they end up scuffling in the yard, until a swarm of bees forces them inside her house.

Once there, they both realize neither is as bad as the other assumed. Haley is pretty down to earth, loves baseball and baking, and isn’t interested in Jason at all. He kind of takes her under his wing and helps her come out of her shell. Rather than shying away from confrontation and letting people walk all over her, she gains confidence in herself and starts taking care of her needs, too. In return, she becomes his best friend. They spend the majority of their time together, and settle into a kind of domestic relationship, but without sex. Jason recognizes that Haley is an attractive woman, but he considers her his buddy. Until they end up sleeping in the same bed together one night (in the platonic way only) . Then they have trouble sleeping without each other and end up snuggling together every night. From there things develop into a sexual relationship. 

I kept remembering the hero getting all possessive of the food the heroine made, calling anyone who stole his baked goods a bastard. I remember thinking the first time around that it was a little weird, and that feeling didn’t change upon rereading. I think it was meant to be silly and cute, but instead I found it weird. 

The book is a little campy and parts of it are just over-the-top silly, but I enjoyed it for the most part. Their relationship developed well from sworn enemy neighbors to friends to lovers. The end drug on a bit and it should have ended at least 2 chapters before it did. I can’t deny it was an entertaining read and the story stayed with me, so there’s that.

3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , ,

Review: Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson

Posted February 2, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Playing for Keeps
Rowena’s review of Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson.

Done with being the world’s biggest pushover, Haley decides that things are going to change starting with the aggravating neighbor who has too much charm and not enough restraint. What she didn’t expect was to sucked into his world, but Haley has a game plan and she won’t let herself forget just what the bad boy next door is capable of.

The last thing Jason expected was for his little shy neighbor to go Rambo on him over some ruined flowers. After he decides to take her under his wing he can’t help but notice that she fits very nicely in his life. Now the only left is to convince her that this is anything but a game.

What a gem this book turned out to be for me. Ames recommended this book to me a long time ago. I can’t believe that I’m just getting around to reading it. I read this entire book in one sitting. I didn’t get to sleep until almost 4am because I couldn’t put this book down. It was such an enjoyable book that I didn’t want to put it down. Was it perfect? No. But I didn’t even care because I really came to adore both Jason and Haley.

Jason and Haley are next door neighbors. She’s the dutiful neighbor who keeps her yard clean and keeps to herself. He’s the worst kind of neighbor. He has parties and he never cleans up after himself and he only mows his lawn like once a month. But Haley keeps to herself and she avoid Jason like the plague. She’s not one for confrontation so she keeps all of her rage toward him suppressed but it all comes spilling out when she sees him ripping out her tulips. She literally blows up on him….and they never go back from that day.

Turns out Jason was getting stung by the bees in the nest that came about with Haley’s tulips and he was tired of it. So he’s digging them out and he’s pissed off and when Haley comes storming out of her house to unleash her wrath of pain, the bees come alive and they run for cover…at her house. That day starts the beginning of a friendship that becomes more than either one of them thought.

Jason is attracted to Haley, who wouldn’t be with her sexy, hot bookworm look and smoking body but they’re friends and Jason isn’t a relationship kind of guy. So he keeps things friendly between the two of them because her friendship is one of the bright spots of his days and he wants to keep things that way. Haley knows the score with Jason. She knows that he doesn’t do relationships and she’s okay with the way that things are right now. He keeps her life interesting and it’s fun to have someone to cook for who doesn’t talk down to her the way that her family does. They enjoy each other’s company and before either of them knows what’s up, feelings pop up.

This was such a fun book. It was cute and cuddly and it had me laughing out loud in the middle of the night. The pranks that these two did to each other, the conversations, the shenanigans that Jason came up with to scare Haley’s pursuers away had me laughing all the way through. I really enjoyed seeing these two laugh and care their way toward their happy ending. It was a bumpy road for sure and even though I wanted to smack the both of them from time to time, I enjoyed their story so much that I overlooked all of that. This was a fun book and I definitely recommend it. Seriously. Thanks to Ames for the pimp!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

This book is available from Rerum Publishing. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.


Tagged: , , , , ,