The Aussie Next Door

Stefanie London

Aug 2019 · Patterson's Bluff Book 1 · Sold by Entangled: Amara

About this ebook

"A sweet, sexy read, featuring a couple that feels both true-to-life and aspirational.” Kirkus Review, Starred Review

American Angie Donovan has never wanted much. When you grow up getting bounced from foster home to foster home, you learn not to become attached to anything, anyone, or any place. But it only took her two days to fall in love with Australia. With her visa clock ticking, surely she can fall in love with an Australian—and get hitched—in two months. Especially if he’s as hot and funny as her next-door neighbor...

Jace Walters has never wanted much—except a bathroom he didn’t have to share. The last cookie all to himself. And solitude. But when you grow up in a family of seven, you can kiss those things goodbye. He’s finally living alone and working on his syndicated comic strip in privacy. Sure, his American neighbor is distractingly sexy and annoyingly nosy, but she’ll be gone in a few months...

Except now she’s determined to find her perfect match by checking out every eligible male in the town, and her choices are even more distracting. So why does it suddenly feel like he—and his obnoxious tight-knit family, and even these two wayward dogs—could be exactly what she needs?

Each book in the Patterson's Bluff series is STANDALONE:
* The Aussie Next Door
* Her Aussie Holiday

Ratings and reviews

After her life imploded in the states, Angie thought a chance to define her life and herself without all of the baggage from foster care and instability was a great idea. She headed off to Australia and found a spot that suited in little Patterson’s Bluff. The only hitch in her plan is that annoying neighbor Jace – who values his privacy and ‘alone time’ more than she thinks he should. But the time down under for Angie is coming to an end – with her visa extension denied, she has two options. Leave the country when her time is up OR find herself a husband and stay. Determined not to leave – she starts to find every available man around – and where better than her neighbor. It’s purely a marriage of convenience so they don’t really have to like each other, or live together – or even interact that much. But why does she want to? What is it about Jace that annoys and intrigues her in equal measure? Cute, rather sweet and fairly predictable - it is the interactions between Jace and Angie, and their slow warming to one another despite the circumstances that made this story sing. London’s ability to write conversations and reactions is wonderful – and the tension between these two built neatly through each of those interactions. With Jace’s need to be alone, and Angie’s desire for a family that is welcoming and accepting and most of all loving – the two slowly accommodate each other’s needs and desires in ways that show slow isn’t always a bad thing. A clever change in romance reading from a contemporary story, and one that left me with a smile. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

The Aussie Next Door by Stefanie London is a sweet romance set in a small town Australia. Angie Donovan has escaped her past in America and found a fresh start in a new place that feels exactly like she believes home should be. Renting a small apartment from one of the hottest guys she's ever laid eyes on doesn't hurt. Even if he is a bit quirky and distant. Jace, on the other hand, doesn't quite know what to make of his tenant. Her smiles, her non-stop chatter, her outgoing energy. It's a lot for someone as introverted as he is but she is a bright spot in his life that he soon learns he can't live without. Less a tale of how an American can stay in Australia and more a tale of how two people, vastly different, and each with their own issues, can learn to overcome their pasts and move forward. Sweet and sexy in all the right places, well-paced, and well-written, this was a great romance. Enjoy!

DNF at 42%. Angie Donovan left a life of unwanted notoriety in the US for a life of anonymity in small town Australia, but then she finds out she has to leave Australia unless she can fall in love and marry within a few short months. Angie's next door neighbour is hunky cartoonist Jace. Unbeknownst to Angie, Jace has high functioning autism which means he struggles to understand other people's feelings or how to act in certain situations. He likes that Angie doesn't know about his autism, that she treats him like a regular guy. He likes Angie and wants her to stay but it takes him months to decide on a new brand of trainers, a decision like marriage would take him years. Angie decides she will do everything she can to find someone, with the aim of falling in love and getting married before she gets deported. The blurb for this read made me think it would be romantic comedy: a large interfering family; a series of dates; unruly dogs; and Jace sabotaging Angie's dates. To a certain extent I did get this but it all seemed pretty muted, nearly half way into the book and Angie has only been on one date. I also struggled with Jace's portrayal which made him seem a bit simple. There have been some great books released in the last few years which portray autism with empathy - in contrast this felt like Jace was a 16 year old child rather than a man. Overall, I found the pace too slow, the characters overly sweet and the plot wasn't developing fast enough and I gave up. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

Growing up, Stefanie London came from a family of women who loved to read. After sneaking several literature subjects into her “very practical” Business degree, she got a job in Communications. When writing emails and newsletters didn't fulfill her creative urges, she turned to fiction and was finally able to write the stories that kept her mind busy at night. Now she lives with her very own hero and dreams of traveling the world. Recently she gave up her day job to write sexy contemporary romance stories and she couldn't be happier.
Visit her online at http://stefanie-london.com.