Review: The Player Next Door by K.A. Tucker

K.A. Tucker has been a go-to for me ever since I read & loved The Simple Wild a few years back so I was over the moon when I received an e-arc of her newest small town, second chance romance, The Player Next Door.

What it’s about: After twelve years of trying to leave her humiliating childhood behind, Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls. With a new teaching job and buying her dream fixer upper, Scarlet’s excited for what’s to come…until she finds out her high school fling who broke her heart is her new next door neighbor.

What I loved:

Shane and Scarlet’s relationship. I loved reading the progression of Shane and Scarlet’s relationship the same way that I love shows like The Vampire Diaries—it’s filled with drama and romantic chaos. Their love story was messy and complicated and had so many moving pieces but I found myself completely addicted to their love.

Deals heavily with the past. I loved how the story tackled moving on from your past and not letting past hardships disrupt your present (i.e. Scarlet and her relationship with her mom, Shane trying to fix the way he handled his relationship with Scarlet in the past and his time with Penelope afterwards).

What I didn’t connect with:

Also the past. While the topic of the past was something I did mostly connect with, there were times when it was a little much for me. I found myself mostly feeling this way when it came to Scarlet and her complicated feelings with Shane. I completely understood that her struggles with her mom probably made what happened with Shane in high school feel even worse, but I still struggled at times with how hard she resented him thirteen years later.

Rating 3.7-4/5

Steam Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 /4

*I received an arc courtesy of the Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review.