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.