The Cul-de-Sac War | ARC Review

Synopsis

All’s fair in love and prank wars.

Bree Leake doesn’t want to be tied down. She’s had more jobs than she can count, and she plans to move as soon as the curtains fall on her less-than-minor stage role at The Barter—the oldest live performance theater in the US. But just when it’s time to move on again, Bree’s parents make her an offer: hold steady for a full year, and they will give her the one thing she’s always wanted—her grandmother’s house. Her dreams are coming true . . . until life at the theater throws her some curve balls. 

And then there’s Chip McBride—her handsome and infuriating next-door neighbor. 

Chip just might be the only person whose stubborn streak can match Bree’s. She would move heaven and earth to have him off her cul-de-sac and out of her life, but according to the bargain she’s struck, she can’t move out of her house and away from the man who’s making her life miserable. So begins Bree’s obsessive new mission: to drive Chip out of the neighborhood—and fast. 

Bree isn’t the only one who’s a tad competitive, and Chip is more than willing to fight fire with fire. But as their pranks escalate, the line between love and hate starts to blur—and their heated rivalry threatens to take a hilarious, heartwarming, and romantic new turn. 

Review

While I was intrigued enough by the plot to finish the book, there wasn’t anything particularly sparkling or fantastic about this book. I’m not sure it’s a story I’ll even remember in a few weeks.

The plot did get me a little invested in the lives of Chip and Bree, the two main characters. They were each working through their own problems and trying to figure out what the future held for them so it was interesting to see how they moved forward.

Now onto the topic of romance. I appreciated that this book was very clean. It’s difficult to find adult romances without explicit sex scenes every couple of chapters so I was happy to find this book. However, there was a lack of many things in the romance department. I just wasn’t particularly invested in the romance. Chip started the book with a girlfriend and Bree had a lovely man interested in her. I just wasn’t feeling the spark. It heated up a bit towards the end, but even then I wasn’t completely on board.

Moving onto characters, a lot of them kinda threw me off, even the main characters. I was most confused by the relationship between Evie and Bree. It seemed like they weren’t really friends, but also they were? Evie was kinda annoying and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to have her as a roommate. I’m not really sure what she contributed to the story either. She was in or mentioned in a lot of the scenes so I’m just confused about her purpose in the story.

Overall, I’d give this book a 2.5. I was interested enough to want to know how the book ended, but also, not very impressed with the story in general. I’d probably still read another book by this author though.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

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