The Couple Next Door

I wouldn't even know how to review this one,so let's look at something pretty...<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1462323471ra/18982247.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Did I enjoy it...yes.<br><br>It's definitely not my normal M/M choice but it had me totally intrigued.<br>It's quite dark and disturbing and that's all I can say.....

<i>Review originally posted at <a href="http://sinfullymmbookreviews.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-couple-next-door-by-rick-r-reed.html" rel="nofollow noopener">Sinfully</a>.</i><br><br><b>4.5 stars</b><br><br>Be assured this is a spoiler-free review since it would be a disservice to give anything away about this book that kept me on edge until the final pages. With every secret and every twist I still had to wonder whether the truth was being revealed or whether there was still more to come. Sinister, creepy and intense, with a love story that only ratchets up the tension, The Couple Next Door is a wild and strange ride.<br><br>Returning from yet another disappointing date on his quest for Mr. Right, Jeremy gets a startling introduction to the new couple next door as he walks into the building lobby and into the middle of a fight. Before he knows it Jeremy is watching the larger man push the smaller man down the stairs before retreating into their apartment. Having grown up in a house where his father abused his mother, Jeremy knows what is going on, knows better than to get involved, but cannot fight his need to nurture and is soon ushering Shane McCallister to the ER and allowing him to spend the night in his apartment. Things get much stranger when the next afternoon Jeremy runs into the larger man, John aka Cole, in the lobby and John acts as if nothing happened, they never crossed paths and as if he is a kinder, gentler, completely different person than the one Jeremy saw the night before.<br><br>Despite Jeremy’s attempts to avoid the couple, and his better judgment, he finds himself incredibly attracted to Shane and unable to resist Shane’s further requests for help after the next beating. Drawn into his neighbors’ increasingly bizarre and violent relationship, and becoming friendlier and closer with Shane, Jeremy is soon beginning to wonder whether he is part of an elaborate prank, or things are actually as strange as they appear. He knows the closer he gets to Shane, the harder it will be to leave, but as Shane begins to tell Jeremy his secrets Jeremy wonders if he will be left with any choice but to run far and fast. While he can acknowledge his “too stupid to live moments” and see the parallels to the abusive relationship his parents had, he knows he’s a goner for Shane and rational decisions are no match for his inability to leave the man he has come to love.<br><br>I really had trouble putting this book down. Every time I thought I had things figured out or could guess what was going to happen, something else unexpected and often horrifying was added into the mix. There is more than meets the eye going on and up to the final moments I was left wondering if even all the players knew what the truth was anymore. Rick R. Reed did a great job of moving the story forward and dropping hints, clues and bits of information without stringing the reader along unnecessarily. Instead you are living out the story as Jeremy is, not knowing what’s coming, but knowing it probably won’t be good. Although there were a couple of very minor things I was left wondering about, I can absolutely recommend this story to those looking for a romance with lots of suspense, twists and thrills.<br><br> <a href="http://sinfullymmbookreviews.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1447774021i/17048962._SX540_.jpg" width="341" height="123" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a>

<br><b>BR, January 30st with Susan.</b><br><br>This would be me during this book. It's also my review.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1447850557ra/17058025.gif" width="400" height="225" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1450573651ra/17444606.gif" width="400" height="225" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1454363698ra/17950664.gif" width="400" height="225" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1454363698ra/17950665.gif" width="400" height="225" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Good lord... It's impossible to say anything about the story without giving anything away. So i'll refrain.<br><br>Just<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1454363698ra/17950666.gif" width="300" height="250" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>

<b>4 Stars</b><br />This book is what I would classify as mind-fuckery. Some of the main themes I was able to guess quite quickly...while others where way out in the solar system, and I'm still not quite sure what was real and what was not. Definitely a different kind of book, I've not read anything like this before and it definitely had my mind working overtime to try and make sense of what was happening. <br />

So it's not the darkest, or the most scary, thriller I've read recently (thankfully), but Rick R. Reed's <i>The Couple Next Door</i> is definitely the most fun!<br /><br />The whole way through I'm thinking, "there's no way this guy could be so <i>stupid</i>", and "there's got to be so much more going on behind the scenes"... well, of course there is!<br /><br />Rick R. Reed does a marvelous job building the layers here. Literally, to say anything more would give too much away so I'm not going to do it. But if you're reading the opening scene and thinking you know what's coming, well <b>you're probably wrong</b>.<br /><br />Great story, wonderful characters, and written in Rick R. Reed's lovely style, <i>The Couple Next Door</i> is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller.<br /><br /><i>Thanks to NetGalley and NineStar Press for this advanced readers copy</i>

Full review - <b>WITH NO SPOILERS</b> - can be found at -<br><br><a href="http://ontopdownunderbookreviews.com/the-couple-next-door-rick-r-reed/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1397133335i/9235533.png" alt=" photo Potential-OTDU-Banner-9-Smaller2_zpsf0878d67.png" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br><br>This is another great read by Rick R. Reed. Go into it expecting the unexpected and you should love this. Nothing is at all as it appears early on. Keep that in mind before reading. Also, if you've not read this yet and you plan to, don't read any reviews with spoilers. It will ruin the experience for you completely.<br><br>Highly recommended.<br><br><br><i>This book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.</i>

Wow, I’m still shaking, what a thrilling narrative! I didn’t expect this at all, awesome!<br /><br />Jeremy has new neighbors, two guys John and Shane. When Jeremy talks with Shane his own past rings in his ears. Denial, denial of the situation.<br />The only thing he can do is just be there for Shane after his partner is abusive, again.<br /><br />Saying It’s all very complicated is an understatement.<br /><br />“once a thing is known, it can’t be unknown.”<br /><br />Jeremy asks himself more than once what he’s gotten himself into. Even more, how to get out.<br />Being attractive to Shane doesn’t help either. John and Shane their relationship has secrets, dark ones.<br />When the three meet up at a bar Jeremy understands another side of John.<br />After that it’s all gets more disturbing and chilling.<br />And suddenly Jeremy is over his head into an intoxicating situation.<br /><br />“You love so much, Jeremy, you lose yourself.”<br /><br />I must say at times I got really irritated by both Shane and Jeremy, the further in the story I could put it aside. I did understand, once you commit there is no way back.<br /><br />What a story! I sat on the edge of my chair and couldn’t read fast enough. I inhaled this story.<br />Amazingly entertainingly written, unpredictable thrilling suspense. An absolute winner!

This pains me. Truly pains me. I saw this book come across my feed and knew I had to read it. It sounded perfect for me. <br /><br />It wasn’t.<br /><br />Sometimes a book, a character, a storyline or whatever just doesn’t work for one reason or the other. This just didn’t work <i>for me</i> for many reasons. It’s hard for me to read a book and enjoy the story, to care what happens next, if I don’t like the characters. In this case, I didn’t like either and I never understood, aside from liking how each other looked, what they liked about each other. So, in the beginning I just figured I’d focus on the “mystery” and not worry so much about the romance. That only worked for me for so long. I struggled and had a really hard time keeping my attention focused. Again, I just didn’t seem to care. <br /><br />Maybe I have just read way too many Romantic Suspense novels in my life and I expect something from them that was just missing from this one. It may not be missing for you.<br /><br />Give it a shot. It is an interesting premise and has the potential of keeping you on the edge of your seat. <br /><br />It just wasn’t for me.<br />

Reading <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/27798064.The_Couple_Next_Door" title="The Couple Next Door by Rick R. Reed" rel="noopener">The Couple Next Door</a> is like carefully prying open a set of Russian matryoshka nestling dolls, wondering if you've reached the final kernel of truth, and yet fearful there's another layer, another "truth" to uncover.<br /><br />Jeremy Booth leads a comfortable, lonely life in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, until the day Shane McAllister literally falls at his feet, thrown down the apartment building stairs by a leather-clad Tom of Finland look-alike, Cole. Jeremy learns the couple, newly arrived from Chicago, live next door and almost immediately, senses something is not right. Why does Shane call his partner John AND Cole? When John invites Jeremy to their apartment for a drink, why does Shane act like he's never met Jeremy before? Who is Vera? What exactly is the nature of Shane and John/Cole's relationship?<br /><br />Without revealing much more of the plot, the story unfolds as each "doll" opens to reveal a story that may or may not be the truth. Rick Reed keeps the suspense going throughout, and you wonder if <i>anything</i> is real or true. Even to the last page, I felt there could yet be another twist.<br /><br />The Seattle setting is a perfect background for the story. The cold waters of Chicago's Lake Michigan that Reed has depicted in many of his novels features prominently as well. An excellent book!<br />

This book is scary. Genuinely creepy. I think the cover art conveys it quite well. Jeremy Booth is an ordinary guy who falls for a neighbor. That neighbor though, has secrets. False identities, plot twists, close calls. They all add up to a book I couldn’t put down once I started.<br /><br />On the other hand, Seattle is a character in its own right here. Charming with its rainy vistas and gay bars. Jeremy is buoyed and supported by his city. It’s almost warm, and infuses the plot with substance and weight and location. <br /><br />Of the several Rick R. Reed books I’ve had the pleasure to review, this one is the best. As always, fans of his are in for a delightful journey.<br /><br />Four stars.<br /><br />~ C. E. Case<br /><br />I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated, coerced, or flattered into an opinion.