The Boys Next Door

The Boys Next Door #1

by Jennifer Echols

Cute, available, and one cabin over....

Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends—including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori's always been one of the guys.

But while Lori and the "baby" brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can't deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean's been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way.

But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she's girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girlfriend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard....

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, High School, Young Adult Romance, Teen

279 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 26, 2007

About the author

Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son.

Reviews

[Melannie :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowly but surely, I've come to love Jennifer Echols books.
It's just that she has this writing style, so carefree and fearless and teenagery.
I only know another author that writes teenagers this real, and that's Queen Meg Cabot,
so it makes me happy there's someone out there who portrays teenagers as real as they come.

This book didn't let me down.

I've wanted this book ever since I read the summary a looong time ago on Amazon.
It sounded fun, and summery and had the extra awesome factor that I loooove with passion:
boy and girl best friends turned something more *wink*.

But I wasn't prepared for all the funniness. No, really I was reading this yesterday at around 1 in the morning,
I was cracking up but at the same time trying to be quiet and it ended up sounding like an animal choking, my mom
even went to check on me to see why I was crying (I wasn't but it sounded like high pitched sobs, according to her)

I loved all the funny interactions between these five friends.
Lori new femme fatale, her tidy and composed brother McGillicuddy,
and the three brothers next door, Adam the youngest *swoon*, Sean the heartbreaker middle child, and Cameronthe forever cool first born.


And the reason of all this funniness was the main character: Lori. She is a tomboy that only hangs out with her
college brother and her neighbors next door, three extremely handsome, extremely manly, sailor boys.
Even though there were a lot of boys in this story, I never lost track of who was who, they might have looked
very similar on the outside but each of them had a different personality that made them stood out.

Lori is the best, she's witty and sassy and so freaking funny. She would always have the perfect comeback and she was no chiken when it came to try
new tricks with the boys. But some time now she has been feeling the need to become more girlish so she can catch Sean's (boy next door) attention.
But she's still a tomboy, she can't help but kick ass while wakeboarding.

Which Sean hates. Adam (baby brother and best friend) is another story, he's always
encouraging Lori to do what she likes and go get what she wants, even if it hurts him. (Due to his secret crush on her).

I loved Adam since I first laid eyes on him (so to speak). This boy is awesomeness, he has an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
gets called LD (for Learning Dissability), and is the youngest of three boys; you can probably guess he gets picked on ALL THE TIME.
And oh boy he does. But that doesn't stop him, he tries hard to be treated normaly, he tries hard to fit in with his brothers and friends
by doing stupid stuff and getting hurt. His life is like a jackass episode. And just as passionaly as he takes everything in his life,
he's madly in love with Lori, who (saddly) has THE BIGGEST crush on Sean.

Sean is Adam's brother, he's the one in the middle and opposed to what people might think, he is the one that gets all the attention.
Everyone is in love with him even though he could be the BIGGEST jerk. But he could be very charming too.

I also gotta say that when Lori confess to Adam why she loves Sean so much, and tells him that story about a young Sean crying, I knew! I JUST KNEW!
[SPOILER: that it was really Adam. I still feel my heart jumping when I imagine that scene]

All the book is made of awesome characters, extremely cute kissing scenes, and oh so funny and witty comebacks.
Now throw in some wakeboarding falls, and one or two fist fights and you have a book I would be re-reading pretty soon!

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was about 12/13, I was DESPERATE to read Jennifer Echols's books. I didn't have a Kindle and these books were never in my library, so there was no way (then) to get my hands on them. But I saw the blurbs on Google and they looked totally up my street.

Fast forward almost a decade and honestly, reading an Echols book is still (usually) an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. The Boys Next Door was her debut novel, and the prose is admittedly a little stilted and rough around the edges. But her great characters and signature humour still shine through.

16-year-old Lori McGillicuddy has had a crush on Sean Vader, the boy next door, for her whole life. He's a couple of years older than her and has always treated her like an annoying younger sister. So she hatches a plan with his younger brother Adam to fake date, so they can make Sean and Rachel (Adam's ex) jealous. Naturally, things don't go quite as planned.

Lori and Adam are great. They felt so refreshingly like NORMAL TEENAGERS - immature and irresponsible, sure, but not annoyingly so, and Lori in particular has a good head on her shoulders. Though to be honest, they both do. Although there was a little bit of the requisite 'angst and miscommunication' subplot, it was cleared up quickly. In general, they're both just funny and likeable people. It helps that 'oblivious heroine' is possibly my FAVOURITE trope and this book has it in spades. Insert swoon over Adam.

This came out in 2007 but it honestly doesn't even feel that dated. Yes, there's no social media, and we have an 18-year-old dating a 15-year-old with none of the characters finding it weird, but Lori even has a mobile phone (mostly unused) and none of it comes across as painfully 'early 2000s'.

My biggest bugbear is probably the lack of real closure. There's a HFN ending, and to be fair, there's a sequel. But DON'T READ IT - I had a quick skim and the cute couple devolves into more angst and miscommunication, this time a lot less bearable. Finish here and pretend it's a standalone. In some ways, though, I'm reminded why I occasionally dislike YA; I understand why authors don't usually give us 'HEA with a wedding and baby' epilogues in books about teenagers, but my cynical soul would have liked authorial confirmation that Adam and Lori do go the distance together. They're far too adorable to imagine broken up.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols has TWO of my favorite plot devices. Two!

1. Love for the boy next door, which is one of my biggest weaknesses! The heartbreaking, sweet idea of seeing someone everyday that you have the biggest crush on just makes my heart ache with love and anticipation! Plus if you haven’t guessed already—once upon a time, the boy next door stole my heart. :D

2. The pretending you are a couple scheme! The shenanigans and aching hearts that go along with this ruse always make be giggle and swoon!

I had fun with this book for those two reasons, but it had a few hiccups here and there. For one, I felt the scheming went one step too far causing me to roll my eyes a bit at our heroine. Adam was the heart of this love story for me. His feelings and attitude for his brother, himself, friends, and Lori were well developed, paced, and explained in such sweet, subtle little ways. His adorableness really got to my heart and made me blush and giggle. Adam and Lori had a very fun and sexy setup going on!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a crush on the boy next door! :)

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know if it's just me, but periodically throughout the book, I had trouble understanding many of the sentences and was confused about why they were there/ what purpose they served within the context surrounding them...

Also, I felt like the ADHD/ADD was sort of just thrown in there just to make a point/ just to be there.

And why exactly was Lori sooo self-bashing and dumb? Why would she think she wanted to be with Sean who is a jerk?

When I decided to read this book for whatever reason, I didn't realize I'd be in for a disgusting scene. I didn't want to read about my very worst fears in this book that's supposed to be light and happy..? She had like blood everywhere and underwater.. it makes me shiver. Don't like that much.

Well, I also felt like the confusion between Sean and Adam was way too frequent.. I mean they're not twins! I get it after she had the accident and when she was far away or at the party.. but other then that.. what's the point? It's just too often!!

I feel like I would've liked this more if Lori and Adam had been like best friends and stuff first.. because why was he in love with her after hardly seeing her?? I didn't like that very much either. :\

This book is so boring I can't stand to finish it. Sorry Jennifer Echols, I like some of your other books, but this one truly didn't capture my heart to say the least.
___
okay , i decided to finish it, because it deserves some chance, right?
I'll admit the ending was A BIT better, but I was also glad it was over :\ generally you don't want that in a book. Concluded fine I guess, but that wasn't the problem for me. The whole storyline was the problem. Yes, I chose it for a reason because it Sounded interesting. But it wasn't what I expected. Not really in a good way.

[Laurence R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Need an adorable book? Here you go!

This novel is sweet, funny and light-hearted, which we all know is something we crave for once in a while. It's predictable, but mostly because that's the way we want it to end, too. The only thing that really made me cringe was the ending, because it's too cheesy, even for me, which is something you won't here me say often. However, I still loved reading this novel and I'm convinced Jennifer Echols is one of the best cheesy writers out there - in a good way.

I'm warning all of you about the cheesiness, but if that's what you need, pick this book up right now and you won't regret it.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book based upon an older review of Steph's and that one of my podcast listeners had recommended Echols as someone to check out. I'll admit right here that I am a bit of a softie when it comes to romantic comedy storylines that don't insult the intelligence. This is one of those and now I have to figure out where to get more. Echols is the YA equivalent of crack (except without all the obvious pitfalls).

I loved the protagonist's voice, Lori is the inner dialogue that runs through every female's brain in their teen years. Not only that but she'd got some moxie, a healthy sense of humour and a love of Laguna Beach (it's so bad it's good). I loved Lori, loved the use of pop culture mentions in a sparing way. I loved the brothers and the description of how they interact with one another, so much like many of the boys I grew up with. I loved Adam - he's the kind of guy I always thought would eventually come along for me.

I adored the setting; the lake. I grew up visiting my grandparents and skiing on Lake Bonney in Barmera, Australia. My dad and uncle were state level water skiiers and I think it's one of the great disappointments of my father's life that all of his children sucked. The descriptions of being on the lake, of performing tricks and the spray of the water brought back the summer for me. I can still remember standing on my dad's trick skis as he held my middle when I was three years old. I thought I hated water skiing but this book made me remember what I loved about it. (The bryozoa, one of the things for the hate column.) For that I will remain grateful to Jennifer Echols as it made me incredibly nostalgic.

The best element of this book is the interaction between Lori and Adam. When they were on their faux date at the mud field (someone might need to explain what this is exactly as I didn't have a sphere of reference) I felt in the scene. The playfulness, the tension, the embarrassment, the nervouseness were perfectly captured. I felt like eleven years of my life had melted away. I am curious to know if a prodcution company had bought the right to this novel as I think it's ripe for a film version.

[Tough Critic Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

ROMANCE OR WHAT??

This may be my favorite Jennifer Echol's book! If you think this is going to be just another typical summer romance, think again. I was swept away into Lori's world from the beginning.

Lori lives next door to the Vader brothers. She's always wanted nothing more than to be just one of the guys; she dresses the part, acts the part. But this summer being just one of the guys is the last thing on Lori's mind. She is head over hills in love with "the boy next door"; one of them at least.

I have to admit, just like Lori, I fell completely in love with the Vader brothers. I was especially drawn to her friendship with Adam. He agrees to help Lori win his brother Sean's heart. She is willing to do anything, well ALMOST anything, even if that means losing her own heart in the process.

I truly adored the characters and their dialogue (yes, many opportunities to lol), and loved the heart fluttering romance found in unsuspected places. A unique and beautifully written book that you will devour in one sitting!

[Genesis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay so when Lori wanted Sean that was understandable in the beginning, although it got pretty stupid when Sean was smacking lips with Adams girlfriend by this time I knew Sean never liked Lori. As I read the story more I thought "Well maybe it'll get better" I was wrong at least in my perspective....anyways there was some good things I read such as the fact I thought it was cute how she wanted show her crush she was not just like the other guys and that she wanted to be treated and seen as a girl. Lori's personality annoyed me so much that I just wanted to strangle her or slap her until she was thinking clearly. I found it very rude that she always thought about Sean when serious kissing or gripping was going on and I know that they were fake dating, also another stupid idea from her stupid small peanut brain, But she was thrown many hints at her face by Sean that he wasn't and never was going to like her, it wasn't spoken through words just action. Again I wanted to slap her silly when she kept thinking she was after making Sean jealous but in reality he wasn't, just very annoyed by her presence. I wouldn't recomend this book to anyone because it just wasn't my kind of romance with dumb girls and pointless characters. Don't get me wrong though I do love most of Jennifer Echols' books I was just expecting something different and better. This is my opinion so this is my kind of warning before waste time reading this book.

[Lolita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great example of how a book with simple writing can still be extraordinary.

You don't always need complicated storylines, strange character names, fantasy elements and insta-love, to write a great book.

Don't get me wrong, this definitely was not a masterpiece in any way, but every single character seemed real and had it's own voice and story.

Both Lori and Adam felt like real teenagers, acted like them, talked like them and most importantly thought like them.

There were several situations in the story when I was just shaking my head at their clueless-nes (is that even a word?), but was grinning at the same time because it was such a teenage thing to do.

I remember being fifteen and having this massive crush on a boy, but I was convinced he didn't notice me, because I was younger and kind of tomboyish. It seemed so important to show him I was actually a real girl at the time and now I can't seem to remember why I even liked him in the first place.

Lori really reminded me of myself and the we girls really do concentrate to much on our 'faults', especially at that age, so it felt natural to read about her putting herself down and never realising that she could actually interest a guy.

All in all, this book made me smile, A LOT and brought back fond childhood memories. Those two things are the main reasons why I give this book 5 stars

[kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Re-read)
Is it cheesy? Yes.
Is the plot occasionally a bit too ridiculous to be fully believable? Yes.
Is the main character frustrating? Yes.
But good lord is it an endearing, cute read. It's silly. It's ridiculous. But every time I pick it up, I can't put it down. I reread this book in a single sitting and enjoyed every single second.

Side note: I've never read the sequel, but I have the ebook of the bind-up, so I might continue on to it. That being said, I tend to consider this a standalone. So that's how I'm going to consider it moving forward. Unless, of course, I do actually end up reading the sequel. We'll see what I do if that happens. IDK. I'm sleepy and rambling.

[Ashley Catelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revised Rating for 15/9/24 Reread: 4 stars
Revised Rating for 21/7/21 Reread: 5 stars
Original Rating for 3/9/20 Read: 5 stars

Adam must be protected at all costs.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway ages ago. It is actually a set of two books: The Boys Next Door and Endless Summer. Just so's you know, I would not actually purchase a book with the title, "The Boys Next Door." I don't generally go for books in which the central conflict is whether a fella is interested or not! A book should be able to survive without love interests.

However, I was looking for something light to read in my garden on a sunny day...

The book was okay, but it really was just about a decidedly predictable love triangle. I enjoyed the bits about wake-boarding and rather fancy giving that a go, but the rest of it really was like a cheesy episode of some tween TV show.

Lori, the main character, was vapid and selfish. She was one of those characters who had an unrealistic amount of bad ideas, never thought things through and never explained her ideas and intentions with the people whom would be affected. Most of the conflict of the book was engineered by her own stupidity. There were times when other were hurting and all she could think about was how if the situation might help her chances with the guy she fancied! I found her kind of appalling at times.

The two brothers involved in the predictable triangle were Adam and Sean. Adam was the obvious partner for Lori and her crush on Sean was juvenile. I also disliked the way the brothers behaved towards each other and the way the parents were so forgiving of Sean, who was kind of an asshat. It made for irritating and unbelievable reading.

Overall, though I don't sound too positive about this book, it was simply because it was aimed at a much younger reader. I am a big believer in the idea that YA books translate well for readers of any age. Middle Grade books, however, do not always translate...

This is a pleasant enough read for a much younger reader who never had the joy of groaning at the ridiculous schemes of the Saved By The Bell kids! For them, this might hold something a bit more original!

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I read Jennifer Echols, the more I’m convinced she can do no wrong in terms of fun and fast romantic comedy reads. All of the characters in this book are realistic yet quirky, endearing and fun. Adam, in particular, is my favorite, because he is not simply the perfect crush, the perfect boyfriend. Instead, he is wonderfully three-dimensional, ADD and a little spastic and a daredevil to the point of physical harm. In short, he is a giant, sweet nerd inside a hot body. Who can resist that?

Lori’s narration brings everything together; she is not merely a tomboy trying desperately to win her crush, but also a witty and cool one, despite her absolute cluelessness when it comes to the romantic feelings of those around her. The last several dozen or so pages felt the tiniest bit rushed: a million things needed to be resolved, but they were resolved in ways that involved the introduction of more plot twists and events.

All in all, however, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR was a delightful book that never pretends to be more than it is: a quick but lighthearted read about romance in the summertime.

[Zemira Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but I can't say that this is my favorite Jennifer Echols book ever. That would be Forget You. Even though I love Going Too Far Forget You was much more fun.
The Boy Next Door was a book you should definitely pick up in the summer.

[Marguerite · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars... This book was sooo cute! The love triangle wow! I love Adam so much! The whole book I wanted to yell at Lori that she wanted the wrong brother!!! This book gave me butterflies oh I just loved it!

[Peaches Tiu · Rating 1 out of 5]

shallow plot. bad writing.

[Sam Chase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 stars

Eh. An overall fun read, but short and suuuuper predictable.

[FICTION REBEL]

DNF@10%
I just couldn't take it😭😭. The heroine was quite judging, whiny and acted like a total baby....
The writing literally was just teenage-ish and bored me from the start. Maybe I would've liked it if I had picked it up when I was younger but that too is doubtful🤐🙄🙄
NOOOOOOOOOOOO total disappointment:(
From what I understood of the blurb, I thought it would be similar to The Summer I Turned Pretty series but man, I was so wrong:(

Stay out of my net, little dolphin.” I bumped his hip with my hip. Or tried to, but he was a lot taller than me. I actually hit somewhere around his mid-thigh.
He folded his arms, stared me down, and pressed his lips together. He tried to look grim. I could tell he was struggling not to laugh. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“Dolphins don’t live in the lake,” he said matter-of-factly, as if this were the real reason. The real reason was that the man-child within him did not want to be called “little” anything. Boys were like that.

"Boys were like that" WTH🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🤐🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[Mystic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic story combining young love and coming of age. As always with books outside my genres of interest a friend recommended it to and I can honestly say I'm glad she did. It's light hearted and fun, don't expect a serious and thought provoking depiction of its themes. Some might struggle with Lori and her almost Disney-esque thought process and ideas and the predictability of the ending but at the end of the day you want it to happen and that's where the charm is. Sweat and cheesy a good summer snack for those who can appreciate it

[Skyler Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Summer I Turned Pretty but make it god awful

[tash]

man this was the first rom com i read or can remember reading. i wanted to give it a reread because it really stuck with me. it has to be 18 years ago that i read it for the first time but i have to say this is smelling like the summer i turned pretty. anyways i can’t possibly have any notes, i finished this on a flight with time to spare. i could remember so many details and even page numbers that i would skip to to read the juicy bits ahahahah

[♫✯Em loves Hollenstein✯♫❤the summertime and butterflies all belong to your creation❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wtf they're fighting over a lifesaver and she's just like sitting there...
shes all "ooh look at me preening for the cover ooh"

update-
on second thought the guys look like they are flirting with each other

[Ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Image source

[Glass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best make out scene ever!!!;)

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn’t sure about this book as I found it a little boring at times. But once I finally got into it I really enjoyed it. Lori has only got eyes for Sean her next door neighbor however he’s not interested in her. His brother Adam is more interested in Lori and they both decide to start a fake relationship to win over Sean and Adams ex Rachel. Only things don’t always work out as they seem.

[Emma Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light hearted (probably 7th) reread from middle school. Still so cute!

[Neha Maddali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read of one of my favorite books when I was younger; safe to say Adam is still just as swoon-worthy as he was 10 years ago <3

[Hamna · Rating 3 out of 5]

No idea why I read this book except maybe to see how far the hilarity and ridiculousness went.
I think it's enough to say that it went far past the logical constraints of the situations the teenagers were in, but hey, they were teenagers, so I guess that was excuse enough for the extra dramatics.