Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward

Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward
Published September 2014
Spoiler Free Review by Krystal

Stepbrother Dearest is a standalone Forbidden Agnostic Romance. I was catching up on reading reviews for a couple blogs, when Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward popped up and the cover alone intrigued me and I had to read it!!

"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. Then, things started changing between us, and it all came to a head one night. 

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."

Greta paced nervously in the living room waiting on the arrival of her California-bred stepbrother, Elec. He was coming to live with them for a year while his mother took a yearlong work-related assignment overseas. Greta hoped they would get along, as she had always wanted a sibling, but she was not expecting for him to be a jerk,  and for him too look at her like he wanted to kill her. Elec, gorgeous, tanned, tatted and pierced (in places that don't meet the eye) was a disrespectful prick, but she was instantly drawn too him.  

The banter between the two was hilarious. I literally found myself laughing out loud so hard I was crying. Greta tried to kill him with kindness, but his attitude was uncanny. One minute he was rude and the next moment he was putting himself in harms way to protect her.  One thing for sure was that Elec toyed with Gretas emotions.

"He probably didn't leave me a tip. I opened it and gasped when along with a twenty-dollar bill was my f av black lace thong and written in pen on the check: "Keep the change, or rather, change into these. I'm guessing your current ones are a little wet."

Yes, he went there. After Greta stormed into this room and took his cigarettes from him, it was on. He stole all her underwear and her dildo from her dresser. 

As time went on, Greta and Elec grew closer and she knew that deep down there more to Elec. After a deep and hungry kiss in the cafe, she was sure it didn't mean anything to him, but knowing what his lips felt like on hers, and how he'd tasted, she was craving that feeling again.  Elec did feel the same way though, and eventually they were crossing another line.

"You're the only girl in the entire world that's forbidden, and fuck me if that doesn't make me want you more than anything."

One phone call. That's all it took. Just as things were looking up and changing between the two, he was going back to California. One night is all they had, and then he was gone.

Seven years later, tragedy struck and fate brought them back to where it all began. Once the two were reunited, it was clear their lives had changed. Greta is single, after a failed engagement. And Elec is in a committed relationship and planned to be engaged that weekend. Once the two come face-to-face, emotions come rolling back. Unable to conceal them, Greta puts her feelings in the open, and Elec tried to hide them, for the fear of not only hurting Greta, but his girlfriend, Chelsea.

“I know I’m not supposed to care. But when it comes to you, what I’m supposed to be feeling has never seemed to matter.”

I was glad to finally get inside Elecs head in part two , but I didn't like that we were re-told part one, just in his POV. I was elated that the sexual tension between the two was still very present in part two. I loved the ending, I just wish we could have seen them happy together a little bit longer.

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Amazon: Kindle Edition