The Good Neighbour Review

The Good Neighbour by Kristian Parker | Goodreads | Amazon | Bookbub | My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Good Neighbour (British Spelling Purposeful)

The Good Neighbor by Kristian Parker is a British MM Romance set in a rich neighborhood in London called Queens Crescent. It is book EIGHT of a series and I haven’t read any of the other books. The main characters and love interests are Josh, a fashion designer in the throes of a divorce, and Hugh, a drag queen who is house-sitting for one of Josh’s neighbors. Hugh is down on his luck after an embarrassing national TV appearance and Josh is coming out of a fog that he’s been in for years dealing with a narcissistic partner.

The Good Neighbour features an entertaining batch of background characters, adding a charming and homey feeling to the story when they are on the page.

The Good Neighbour of Queens Crescent

The neighborhood they live in, called Queens Crescent, is upper class. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, indeed. The people who live there include movie stars, models, fashion designers, racecar drivers, and more. Movie star Madeline flounces through scenes with all the dramatism one might expect in a starlet. Josh is a fashion designer and his soon-to-be ex is a filmmaker.

Ms. Wimpole and the Professor

Ms. Wimpole and the Professor are the highlights of the neighborhood. The Professor is a Dicken’s expert and a professor, obviously. Ms. Wimpole’s profession isn’t ever discussed, as I suppose she is just a rich person who comes from money and lives in the neighborhood. Ms. Wimpole could be described as the neighborhood busybody if the way she’s in everyone’s business was mean-spirited. But luckily it’s not. She cares, and that’s why she’s in people’s business.

The Fashion Designer and the Drag Queen

At the start of The Good Neighbor, Josh has been off work for more than a year so he could take care of his douche of a husband who has been sick. Josh dropped everything to help take care of Winston. Josh’s character seems adrift away from work, but he has found himself fully involved with taking care of the cancer-ridden husband. But Winston flips the script and does some narcissistic magic to make Josh feel guilty about… well everything I guess.

The Ex: Winston

Winston is not a nuanced character to put it very, very lightly. He’s the villain and has no redeeming qualities that play out on the page. He’s just an ass. His one-note characterization detracts from the overall story in The Good Neighbour. I wish the author had developed his character more, in a different way, to make it so the later drama that plays out would be at all reasonable.

As it reads, there would be no reason to believe that Josh would get back with Winston. He’s just an asshole. A more developed backstory here would have added to the drama. A husband who, newly cancer-free and with a new lease on life, decides to explore who he is on his own, a journey of self-discovery that leaves Josh bereft. Then, when he comes back into the picture, there might be some smidgen of doubt in Josh. Has he fully moved on, or not? As it plays out though, Hugh’s reaction to this issue seems juvenile because there’s no reason to suspect Josh would even think about going back to his ex. Winston is just a heel character, one who is written to be over-the-top, mean, and evil.

Josh

Josh barely has time to process his singleness before he meets Hugh and there isn’t a huge swath of time between meeting and they are in bed together. While Josh makes some motions to ‘resist the temptation’, he clearly wants Hugh from the start. They’re hot together, I’ll give you that.

Hugh

I liked Hugh from the start, and wished for his success as he develops his new act, figures stuff out with his family, and of course, ending with a HEA. His character is more likable than Josh, who seems like a doormat sometimes. It’s almost like Josh doesn’t quite know who he is beyond having a lot of money and a nice house.

Hugh, though, we do know. I wish there were more descriptions of his drag looks in The Good Neighbour. It seems like a missed opportunity. The dress described after making the new character sounds nice, if not a bit matronly but that’s fine considering the character he is playing. I just want more emphasis on the look, I guess. Like what does his hair look like, what color? Heels, boots, little kitten pumps, what is on his feet? What is the makeup style, etc. As a longtime fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race I just want to be able to envision the fits!

Maturity Levels

I did have an issue with some of the maturity levels that some characters display. They are suspect. Like they act like teenagers sometimes, with reactions to things completely over the top and dramatic, which is funny since this is a very British novel, and aren’t they usually stiff upper lip types?

Speaking of… Britishisms

This is such a British novel and that’s not a bad thing in general. However, I felt like it was written for other British people, if that makes sense. For example, I didn’t understand that the show Hugh was on was a variety show because it wasn’t explained at all. What’s more, some of the turns of phrase are so posh I can’t help but read them with the most put-on British accent. And why is everything a “little” something? Your little movie, your little street, your little act, etc. It was a lot of little.

Overall Take for The Good Neighbour

I enjoyed The Good Neighbour. It’s part of a series, but I haven’t read any of the other books. Thus, I would like to go back and read more. Overall I recommend this book. It’s easy to read, and a story that has ups, downs, twists, and turns. It’s not terribly deep, but it has a heart of gold.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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