Reviewer: Holly
Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
Series: Cocktail #1

Publication Date: February 14th 2013
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 320
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Series Rating:

A bestselling hot, hilarious eBook by USA TODAY indie author Alice Clayton, the freshest voice to hit publishing in years. “An instant classic…highly recommended!” (New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Probst).

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a Kitchen Aid mixer to die for, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O.

Adding insult to O-less, she also has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Every moan, spank, and—was that a meow?—punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has—yep, you guessed it—no O.

Enter Simon Parker. When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has…well…mixed results.

Because with walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick. A delicious mix of silly and steamy, this is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight.

 

I laughed my way through this book. From about page two until nearly the end, I cackled, snorted and giggled non-stop. It isn’t a ridiculous comedy so much as a realistic, madcap adventure in urban living.

Caroline has just sublet an amazing apartment in the city and she’s thrilled to finally be moved in. Except during her first night there her next-door neighbor (they share a bedroom wall) has a late night guest..an extremely loud one. The next night he has a new, extremely loud, late-night guest. And, you guessed it, the night after that a different lady. At first this was hilarious, especially when she related the tale to her friends the morning(s) after. But as the weeks wear on, her temper runs short. Not only is this guy keeping her from sleeping, but her own sex-life is non-existent and she hasn’t had an orgasm in way too long.

She finally can’t take it anymore and jumps from bed one night to confront him mid-performance. She’s furious and he’s obviously aroused, which just makes her even more furious. She figures that’s the end of it until a few nights later when she’s introduced to him at a party…turns out he’s very good friends with some of her very good friends. And his best friends are interested in dating her best friends.

The idea of spending more time with him is annoying, but she puts on her big girl panties and deals..and surprisingly, once she let go of her resentment, Simon turned out to be a pretty amazing friend. The jump from friends-to-lovers shouldn’t be that hard – they both want it –  but there’s a lot at stake. For both of them.

I loved the antagonism between the main characters, and the tight friendships they both had. We don’t see enough healthy friendships between women (or men) in modern romance. Both Caroline and Simon have baggage from past relationships. I think Simon’s was probably a bit heavier than Caroline’s, but he dealt with it better. Their friendship was unexpected, but really worked. The late nights watching movies and marathon baking sessions made for good reading.

The novel began to drag toward the middle, then again at the end. I’m not sure the last few chapters were even necessary, and I admit my attention began to wander. I’m glad Simon pushed Caroline instead of walking away, but there was quite a bit that could have been dumped, in my opinion.

That aside, the turn from enemies to friends to more was at turns hilarious, sweet and exasperating. I was sucked in from page one.

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Gallery Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.