**Spoilers Ahead, Read On With Caution**
First of all, thank you so much for the ARC that was sent to me to be able to read and review this. I’ve been a big fan of K. A. Tucker for a few good years now, and have avidly read most of her publishings almost as soon as they’ve been released; so getting to read THE PLAYER NEXT DOOR early, and especially with a great blurb to go off of, I’m very excited to tell you all my thoughts on it.
There is something so very comforting about KA’s writing style that feels a lot like pulling 
an old blanket out, getting cosy, and being swarmed by the heat and familiarity of it all. The book starts with us being introduced to a seventeen year old Scarlet Reed and Shane Beckett. She’s a nerdy, overlooked girl and he’s the school’s star quarterback. They date for a summer, and then Scarlet is broken up with and finds out that on the first day back to school for senior year, Shane is already locking lips with Penelope Rhodes, the most popular girl in school, and the reason for her outcast status.
Frankly, I enjoyed this immensely. I didn’t want to put it down because I was rooting for Shane to redeem himself to Scarlet, and for Scarlet o no longer hold a thirteen year grudge. This book is a complete book of the summer as it has everything you could possibly want from a steamy romance. There’s angst, sexual tension, twists, and a couple hunky firemen. Scarlet is a strong minded woman, so seeing her return to her hometown with her dream job, getting to buy her dream house, and discovering that she gets her worst nightmare neighbour was hilarious; but Shane has other ideas. Shane is all for friendly reconciliation, and flirtatious banter. Scarlet has quite the chip on her shoulder from her mother’s promiscuous life choices, and a particular incident that happened at middle school, so she’s colder, distant, basically unwilling for there to be any familiarity or friendliness there. It was a treat to see Shane start chipping away at her ice wall, and then for her the stamp it down finally.
I really though that the book concept was sweet. I’m a big sucker for an enemies to lovers, second time romance fan, clearly, and so this was a ‘duh’ choice for me to pick up. A lot of the books I’ve read recently have been centred around alpha male leads, such as the men of L. J. Shen’s books, but although Shane is a great guy with tons of sexual prowess, he was more of a sweet talking charmer, than a biting alpha. So that was a nice change of pace. I do wish that within the book we’d have got a redeeming moment between Scarlet and her mother, Dottie, as throughout the entire book she carries such a torch for her anger towards her mum, constantly taking shots at her, that that character growth really could have been a beautiful moment. I also really think that an epilogue that was further into the future would have been a nice touch, as it would have been a full circle moment for them. Now I’m going to spend forever wondering what happens next with Scarlet, Shane and Cody. I really wished we could have got that, especially because their relationships are the majority of the books, and we only saw the beginnings of Cody and Scarlet’s bond bloom.
Everything in this book was so well rounded and so well written, I adored Justine and how brilliant she’d be as a friend, how loud and loyal she is. There wasn’t a single character that we didn’t get a detailed description of to really cement them in our heads, and that’s one of my favourite things about KA as a writer, she doesn’t skip anything, everything is so crisp and clear in the world she’s setting up, that all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it.
THE PLAYER NEXT DOOR is set to be released JUNE 16TH, and I highly highly recommend you pre order yourself a copy the second you finish this review, I know I will!
BECAUSE BOOKS 