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With some more free time for reads, and not wanting to read ahead for my clubs, I went for another book that would work to clear some prompts for my summer challenges. A recent release (earlier this June) was Jackie Lau's third book in her Cider Bar Sisters series, The Professor Next Door. I was able to apply this read to the Romancing Summer Challenge's AAPI author prompt, Summer of Swoon's starts with a "T" prompt and Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo's educator prompt. I was able to hit all challenges!
In The Professor Next Door we get Nicole as our main character. She is very sex positive and as we've learned from previous books, very anti-relationship. At the same time she gets lonely. The last four people she had hook-ups with ended up finding someone to date. After a quick power outage she finally meets her new next door neighbor David. David is a geology professor and has been dealing with hearing Nicole's night-time activities through the wall. He tries to not listen and move rooms, but with the banging of her headboard and sounds, it's hard for him to not be affected.
I've mentioned this during my reviews for the previous books in this series, but I love that we are dealing with older people. Nicole, like the other Cider Bar Sisters is in her early 30s and we see David turn 40. He is also divorced after his former wife didn't really fight for him against her racist family. I love that they both connect more to not be alone and just get together for food (which is another great trait of Jackie Lau's books). When he finally cracks and tells her just how thin the walls are, things quickly escalate between them. I also loved how David both felt possessive of Nicole, but also knew that was an overreaction, especially since they didn't even really know each other when he started feeling like that. This is also one of the steamiest reads of Jackie. There's a lot of toys included (which you don't see too often). I also loved that there was no negative thoughts towards Nicole from David about her high sex drive outside of recognizing he would be jealous if she found someone else after they finally slept together.
I also loved seeing Nicole's family, especially her grandmother Po Po. Family is another big aspect that Jackie has in her books and whether it's blood or found it always hits a chord in me. I've said this before, but if I could choose any contemporary world to live in, it would hands down be in Jackie Lau's universe. Her characters feel so real and I want to be their friend. Can I be a Cider Bar Sister?
We get to see a little bit more of what's going on with Sierra, so I'm thinking she'll be the next book. There was an author's note at the end that there will be two more books in the series to release in 2022, one each for Sierra and Rose. I'm very excited to get to Rose. I mentioned this in my review for His Grumpy Childhood Friend, but Rose suffers from depression. Knowing (and liking) how Jackie deals with and addresses the more serious issues in her books, I'm really intrigued to see what she does for Rose. I can't wait for more! I do still have the Christmas novella to read from this series as well, but might wait until later in the year.
Have you read The Professor Next Door?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: The Professor Next Door, Jackie Lau, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 212 pages, published in 2021
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