Publication Date: January 17th 2017 by Intermix
About the book:
New York Times bestseller Penelope Douglas introduces Quinn, younger sister to Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon, in the latest novella in the series that began with Jared and Tate in Bully....
Quinn Caruthers has several problems.
Her father, Jason, and her three older brothers, Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon.
Under the close watch of the men in her family, Quinn has found it nearly impossible to spread her wings—or even date—without them jumping in to hover. And when a family friend—several years older—from her childhood captures her heart, she knows they’re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man—experienced, sophisticated, and important. And knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.
But Lucas left town years ago and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn’t wait for him anymore.
But then a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn Quinn’s world upside down. She’s never asked about the tumultuous path of her parents’ romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.
As she begins to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she’ll keep waiting…or finally go after what she really wants.
My Thoughts:
Next to Never is
told from Quinn’s POV, Katherine (Jared and Jax’s mom) and Jason’s (Madoc’s
dad) seventeen year old daughter. This
isn’t really Quinn’s story, it’s the romance and history of Katherine and
Jason, but there is definitely a set up for her story to come next. Katherine and Jason’s story was passionate, at
times toxic and heartbreaking, but this is a romance so you know ultimately
there’s a HEA! That’s no spoiler since we already know Katherine and Jason are
together in the present, but I had no idea what they went through to get there!
I have to say, I felt more pain for Katherine than Jason; she lived her life
around Jason’s because she was so in love with him; basically let him call the
shots for so many years. I wanted to shake some sense into her, and then let
her cry on my shoulder after sharing some ice cream! I wanted to kick Jason in the goods, but I
could understand why he held back, too.
I didn’t expect to like Next
to Never as much as I did, because let’s face it, Jared’s mom was kind of a
train wreck, and selfishly didn’t put her son first in her life. This highly contributed to Jared being a monumental
ass for a lot of his teenage years! But
Penelope Douglas has a way of putting you in a person’s shoes, even the unlikable
characters, and I had a very different opinion of Katherine by the end. Not that I condoned some of her decisions,
but I could understand and sympathize. Ms.
Douglas really captured the mixed feelings one can feel toward a parent who has
screwed up or the pain of regret over our own errors. Most of us have made mistakes and wish we
could go back and hit the redo button, so I get it. Katherine felt genuine
regret and tried to right her wrongs. She has a lot of wisdom and love to share
with her family. I was moved to tears a few times, swept up by all the emotion
while reading!
I had no idea Ms. Douglas was going to fast forward so many
years! Interspersed between chapters of
Katherine and Jason’s romance are present day snippets from the teenage
children of Jared, Jax, and Madoc. Quinn is one of the teenager’s of the bunch,
just a couple years older than her nieces and nephews. With all the happenings I’m very interested in what happens next
with Dylan (Jared & Tate’s teenage daughter) and Kade and Hunter (Madoc and
Fallon’s teenage twin boys)! There is some definite drama between those three!
Keep in mind that they’re not related.
Seventeen year old Quinn has had a mad crush on her older
brother’s friend, Lucas, who’s been abroad for the last three years. At present she is seventeen and he’s close to
thirty, but I think the story will happen when she’s in college. Still, that’s
a big age difference and I think there’s going to be a lot of flak from the
family if/when he returns Quinn’s feelings!
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