The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts
Wary, Jaded and … Falling in Love?
Would you date a neighbor that looks suspiciously like a murderer (even if you were attracted to him)? That’s the question on Zona’s mind in The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts.
While this novel looks to be more cozy mystery than romance in the beginning, somewhere along the way it drops some of its cozy mystery to reveal that it was a romance all along.
Zona has a streak of bad luck with love. Her last husband had a gambling addiction that forced her to not only divorce him, but also to get an additional job to earn back her daughter Bree’s college fund that he squandered and sell their house and move in with her mother back into her childhood home.
Zona’s mother Louise, the ever optimist about love, suggests that she try again with her new neighbor Alec James, but after a few run-ins and some eavesdropping sessions, Zona and Louise are wary of that suggestion. Alec is coming off sinister in a big way.
Louise is having her own transition period with love. Her longtime husband (and Zona’s father) died a while ago, and now she’s ready to find someone new. While her neighbor Martin has been her close friend for years, there was never that “spark” where Louise saw him as more.
Instead, she tries a singles cruise to Hawaii. But before she can even get out of port, she breaks her leg and has to leave the ship. This may end up being the most disappointing summer ever for Louise. Or is it the one where she finds love?
Zona’s daughter Bree is also caught up in the fray of mysterious happenings and love troubles. Bree’s had a tough go lately with her father cheating on Zona and leaving to be a father to another family, and then her stepfather gambling away her money for nursing school.
Bree’s working and staying far away from guys, and she wants her mother to stay away from them, too. So, when she sees that her mother may be attracted to the neighbor across from her grandmother Louise’s house, she’s adamant that Zona not get involved.
And then when they see him arguing with a redhead and grabbing her arm, Bree’s even more convinced that everyone should stay away. But when Bree’s high school boyfriend Fen comes back into Bree’s life, will she be able to keep to her own stay away rules?
Using Mystery to Create a Slow Burn
For fans of a slow burn romance with a tinge of enemies to lovers (are they really enemies if they just have their walls up?) this book may be for you.
Zona’s been burned twice by love in a very big way, so even though neighbor Alec James is attractive, she can’t … won’t … put her love on the line again. Especially when any fallout would further harden her daughter Bree’s heart.
But there’s another angle to the Zona-Alec relationship: Alec’s acting in some really weird and off-putting ways, especially with this redheaded woman that keeps coming around. What’s his relationship to this woman? And why is he so hostile to her? What’s really going on in the James house?
For much of the novel, Alec James is a mystery to Zona, but that doesn’t make him any less intriguing. It just makes him a line she can’t cross. At least not until she figures out what’s going on with him
Unintended Effects
I love when a romance makes you think about how to make your life better. Alec’s love language is definitely service, as that’s when he’s most romantic. Helping Zona when she’s most in need is his way of breaking down her guards to friendship and possibly love.
And because of the times we’re in while I’m reading this, it strikes me even deeper. Many of our neighbors may be in dire straits, some working two jobs like Zona to get back what she lost, some unable to do much for themselves like Louise.
Helping our neighbors physically with acts of service or giving is also showing that we care. It’s not just a practical win, it’s an emotional one, too. Not just for them, but for us as well.
Reading this reminded me of the power of love and care, and how it can bring down barriers and bring people together.
Multiple POV, Multiple HEA
This one is a different kind of romance from what I usually read. While I see the obvious connections early on, there’s a cozy mystery element I feel I had to “solve” before these characters can get together.
Also, The Man Next Door has three points of view — which means three potential HEAs. Unlike many romances that are in series with one big HEA per book, here we have a single book with single women who all deserve love.
And because they all have a POV, we are rooting for all of them. So if one couple is having a lull, keep reading. Another couple will get their moment.
That’s what makes this one a can’t put down read. If the mystery doesn’t keep you turning pages, the three journeys towards HEA will
About Sheila Roberts:
USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly best-selling author and fan favorite, Sheila Roberts has almost fifty books to her credit. Under different names she’s written Regency romance novels as well as devotionals and personal development books. She did lots of things before settling in to her writing career, including owning a singing telegram company and playing in a band. Her band days are over, but she still enjoys writing songs. Her novel “On Strike for Christmas” was a Lifetime Network movie and her novel “The Nine Lives of Christmas” was made into a movie for the Hallmark channel. When she’s not speaking to women’s groups or hanging out with her husband or her girlfriends she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate. Sheila divides her time between Washington State and California.
