REVIEW: Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward

Title/Series: Stepbrother Dearest
Author: Penelope Ward
Publisher: Penelope Ward
Published: September 18th 2014
Format: eBook | Pages: 232
Genre: NA, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Amazon
★★★★ (4/5) Stars!

Penelope Ward | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND #1 in Romance!

You're not supposed to want the one who torments you.

When my stepbrother, Elec, came to live with us my senior year, I wasn't prepared for how much of a jerk he'd be.

I hated that he took it out on me because he didn't want to be here.

I hated that he brought girls from our high school back to his room.

But what I hated the most was the unwanted way my body reacted to him.

At first, I thought all he had going for him were his rock-hard tattooed abs and chiseled face. But things started changing between us, and it all came to a head one night.

Then, just as quickly as he'd come into my life, he was gone back to California.

It had been years since I'd seen Elec.

When tragedy struck our family, I'd have to face him again.

And holy hell, the teenager who made me crazy was now a man that drove me insane.

I had a feeling my heart was about to get broken again.

Stepbrother Dearest is a standalone novel.

**Contains graphic sexual content and harsh language. It is only appropriate for adult readers age 18+

Thud.Was that my heart or the bag?

After simply reading the first line in the summary for Stepbrother Dearest alone, it was a foregone conclusion that, for one, I had to have this book and also there was no doubt I was going to love it. I'm such a sucker for angst, bad boys and even sometimes a little of the taboo. It was impossible to put it down once I started reading it. It lived up to my expectations and then some!

My vagina was a hopeless fool. The cruder he was, the stronger its attraction to him.

I really liked Greta's character. She was a lot tougher than she first seemed to me. I honestly thought Elec would end up chewing her up and spitting her out because she just seems so pure and innocent but she ended up giving just about as good as she got from him. She didn't take his crap. I loved how she saw beyond the surface with him and in a lot of ways became protective of him, even from himself. It made me like her that much more. Greta is one of those characters that's just so genuine and good that you instantly love them.

His lips were perfect--too perfect--for the filth I was sure came out of them.

Elec was something else. I couldn't find it in me to not like him and trust me there were moments I really wanted to not. It's easy to figure out that there's a bunch of baggage from his past that he's acting out against and this book really does a good job of stretching that out and keeping Elec for the most part sort of a mystery. You don't really find out the full extent of his messed up life story until towards the end of the book. Though the stuff you do see up to that point was enough to break my heart. He was a very interesting and complex character.

I hated that I cared.

Watching both Elec and Greta navigate the back and forth of their situation was a mix of emotions. Pain, heartbreak, anger and quite a bit of humor. There were moments I would burst out laughing as they antagonized and argued and pulled pranks even. I really wasn't expecting that but it was a welcome surprise. It made up for all the heartache and anger that filled in the gaps as they fought not only with each other but with their own feelings.

You have to treat addiction to a person the same way you would a drug problem.

Greta and Elec have this intense chemistry. I swear I could feel the zing shooting off the pages. I love that kind of sexual tension. Honestly I was worried that it would feel a bit wrong. I mean I realize it's not a blood related situation. Maybe just that it would come off as weird and off at the very least if not all together wrong. But that wasn't the case. At all. The two of them surprisingly really compliment one another and just sort of fit. You could see it even when things were at their lowest.

"The trick is to force yourself to open it even thought it's broken. A broken heart is still a beating one."

I laughed...a lot, my heart was broken, I got angry. Basically this book really made me feel. I love books that can inspire me to feel all kinds of emotions and this one really did it. The characters were flawed and real and made mistakes. Nothing was perfect and smooth. Just like life. I highly recommend this emotional and beautifully written story. Though my advice would be to not start it until you have time to sit down and kill reading because once you pick it up you won't be able to put it back down!