Sorority Secrets: The virgins of Beta Kappa Nu would do anything for each other. Even auction off their most valuable asset… I’ve been in love with Emma since we were thirteen years old. That part is real. But nothing else they say about me is true. The way she looks at me from across the room, how she makes my old T-shirts look good, how perfect she feels when she’s in my arms. That’s what … she’s in my arms. That’s what I want to picture when I think about Emma. Not a crazy auction where she gives it up to some random creep.
I can’t let it happen. I won’t let it happen.
Despite the tattoos, despite the rumors, despite my reputation as a class-A player–there’s never been anyone else. In my bed or in my heart.
It’s always been Emma.
This book is approximately 19,500 words.
For those times when size does matter. The Dirty Bits from Carina Press: quick and dirty, just the way we like it.
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
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There just aren’t enough books out there in which the hero is a virgin. It’s such an underused trope and I’m so happy that this author took advantage of it. However… don’t act like you didn’t expect a but… I didn’t like that despite the fact that he loved the h since they were kids, that he messed around with so many females and basically flaunted it in her face. Might as well have had sex bro. I really like friends-to-lovers romance, but maybe don’t make the virgin hero who I would love to praise be an all-but-intercourse manwhore.
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads, so here is my review.
Here we are with another sorority girl and her auction story. But what she doesn’t realize is what is being auctioned off.
Emma and Evan have been best friends for as long as she can remember. And she has been in love with him for almost as long. But she doesn’t want to tell him how she feels because she doesn’t want to lose her best friend.
Evan has loved Emma since he has known her but he can’t tell her for fear of losing her for good. So he will protect her and be her best friend.
Can Evan stand aside when he finds out about the auction? Will Emma go through with the auction when she realizes what is really at stake? Will Evan and Emma finally tell each other how they really feel?
I have read a few others in this series and I have liked the all but I loved the relationship between Evan and Emma best. If you are looking for a quick read and a HEA in the end, them you can not go wrong with the Sorority Secrets series.
**Wicked Reads Review Team**
“Yep, leave it to me, the typical good girl virgin to fall for my manwhore best friend.”
I loved that The Boy Next Door gave me the opportunity to try a new-to-me author without having to invest a huge amount of time testing the waters. It was the perfect introduction to the author’s writing style and verified what I’d heard about her talents.
While this story is indeed short, the words aren’t wasted. The author had my attention in the first paragraph and never lost it. The main characters are really likable and I felt their connection. I enjoyed the dual POV and knowing how they each felt about the other, it just ramped up the suspense because I was then even more anxious for things to go the way I wanted them to. I also loved the fact that they were best friends and knew each other so well, but not that well. They might have enough dirt on each other to blackmail, but they weren’t privy to their dirtiest fantasies that featured each other.
Of course, there are obstacles in the path of the future that they both want but refuse to pursue. They are both afraid to risk their friendship, unwilling to lose each other if a relationship didn’t work out. They’d gone too far to just be friends with benefits, too much was at stake. But when she ends up on the auction block with her virginity on the line, will either of them be able to accept what happens next? Which risk will do the most damage, and can their friendship survive it?
After this taste of quick and dirty, I’ll most definitely be back for more. The line forms here…
Another fun, sexy short read. These Dirty Bits are addictive. They aren’t all 5 star reads, but so far I am enjoying the heck out of them.
With this story we have two best friends since childhood taking a leap into romance and I had a smile on my face the entire time. Evan and Emma made it easy to like them. They’ve both been attracted to each other but never made a move because, reasons ….
This was a nice way to pass a few hours of the day 🙂
The Boy Next Door by Stevie J. Cole is book three in the Sorority Secrets series. This is the story of Evan and Emma. This can be a standalone book if you wish to do so.
Evan and Emma are friends that have been dancing around going further with their feelings. When Evan learns what Emma has planned for her Sorority he steps up to take what is his. Its Emma’s turn with her Sorority sister’s to fulfill a promise they made to help a charity out but it also pushes her and Evan to face they next step in their feelings.
Another great book to to this hot series.
Stevie J. Cole has a winner with this short story. I believe out of the entire Series this was my favorite book. A steamy page-turner about Em who has been in love with her best friend Evan since she was a child but terrified to act on it and believes Evan to be a manwhore. Can he save her from a rigged Virgin Auction? This is such a great feel-good story.
Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author…(netgalley) This was another short book. Emma has been in love with the boy next door who is also her best friend Evan. Both of them have the hots for each other but none of them want to ruin their friendship. Emma is a virgin and now she is auctioning it off, she thinks that Evan is a manwhore because he has a reputation to match, only he is not one and he refuses to allow her to auction off her virginity especially knowing that their is this frat scum who is planning on winning her, but does he?
3.5 stars
Emma is the second sorority sister to take part in the auction for her v-card, to help the rescue shelter and her sorority sis’ brother with his medical bills. She’s quite naive, though, and doesn’t realize it’s an actual auction for her v-card, and isn’t thrilled when she finds out from her best friend, Evan, exactly what she’s agreed to.
Evan and Emma have been best friends their whole lives. He knows she thinks he’s a big playboy, and he is, but only to a certain point. He’s been in love with Emma as long as he’s known her, and when he finds out about this ridiculous auction, he’s determined to rescue her from it. No one is going to take his girl’s v-card, not if he can help it. And boy does he help it…
The Boy Next Door, like its predecessor, is exactly what Carina advertises it as – the dirty bits. It’s short, hot, and entertaining in a cute, NA kind of way. I preferred the first one, Bidding for Keeps, but I like this one, too. This series is pretty fun so far, can’t wait to read the rest of the stories.
This is a steamy quick read. The friends to lovers theme adds some cuteness and sweetness to this fun, over the top romance. I liked Emma but I found Evan to be an acquired taste that never really clicked for me. I am posting a voluntary, honest review.
4 Quick Reading Stars
Review by Elizabeth
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
I have never read a book by Stevie J. Cole before reading The Boy Next Door and I have to say she caught my attention with the first few pages.
Emma is kind, so kind that she decides to put her virginity up for auction for a friend. When her best friend Evan finds out he flips.
There really is not much to say without giving the entire book away as it is a short read. I can say that those two have battled the friend line for years and have yet to clue in on the fact they are crazy for each other. The auction really puts things in perspective for both of them, to say the least.
If you love short reads with sexy times, then The Boy Next Door is for you.
Yes, Yes, YES!!!!
Childhood best friend.
Sexy bad boy vibe.
Known man whore.
And the sweet God girl virgin.
The only thing better than these combined. The Truth!!!
The epitome of dreams come true, The Boy Next Door, is everything you wish for. It all comes true. Stevie J. Cole has left us with a satisfied smile on our faces and begging for a cigarette (even as a non-smoker)!
Not too bad for a super quick friends to lovers story. Like the rest of them, it dives right in and gets the job done. It’s cute and enjoyable.
3.5 Stars. Love the cover! It’s smoking hot and gave me a good mental image of Evan right from the start. The story follows the blurb with no surprises. Liked the flirty-friends dynamic between Evan and Emma. They were sexy and charming. The “bad guy” was one-dimensional and over the top, but I suppose that’s what a steamy short story needs. Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone looking for a steamy, friends-to-lovers short story.
Loved the build up! This has the perfect mix of sexy time and humor in a quick read!
This is a Dirty Bits book from Carina and it’s a cute, fun read. If you are a friends to lovers fan, then you will fall in love with Evan and Emma, I did!
Emma and Evan grew up next door neighbors and best friends. Both toted that line and never crossed it although both secretly pined for the other. Neither wanted to lose their friendship if a new relationship tanked.
Emma is signed up for a charity auction by her sorority. She’s dumbfounded when she finds out it actually auctioning off her virginity! There is only one person she has saved it for-Evan, but what is she to do? She agreed to help out!
Evan finds out about the auction and goes ballistic. He takes measures to ensure Emma doesn’t fall into the wrong hands! Only things do not go as planned!
This a quick read with just the right amount of heat! I really liked Emma and Evan together. They seemed like a very good fit. Why then only 4 stars you ask? There were a couple of loose ends that were never addressed. I wanted to know how they were resolved. So other than that, this is a fun book to read!
This is a sweet but spicy novella that only took me a couple of hours to finish.
The synopsis gives you more than you need to know. The characters are likeable and sweet and romantic – that unrequited love – but there’s also a little steam.
The characters didn’t come to life as much as I usually find with books by this fantastic author, but I think that had more to do with the length of the book (being a novella) than the quality. It’s well written and edited but I could have delved a little deeper. I could easily have read more.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you’re looking to kill an hour or two, I highly recommend you give this a try.
I picked this series up on a whim and the last thing I expected was a good story with well rounded characters, but I’m glad that’s what an got. I really thought it was going to be a decent but mindless read, Evan and Emma were both likable, and had great chemistry together. The plot was good, even if the premise is a little out there. Over all I really liked The Boy Next Door.
***4 Stars***
This was a fun, quick, smexy best friends to lovers read that I devoured in no time flat.
What made this Dirty Bits a fun read was that I had no doubt that Evan and Emma were best friends. That their love for each other was soul deep and that their fear of ruining the connection they had by becoming more made them blind to the others attraction even when it was absolutely obvious to everyone around them that they belonged to each other.
The outside issue/nudge that gets them to finally take the plunge was a very believable one and I really liked how that issue was dealt with in the end.
~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~
I liked it! I have read other short stories that don’t have a lot of context and where the story is a bit superficial but not this one. I liked that the story has a a history between the characters, there is a problem that needs to be solved and they work on it with the addition of being sexy hot in the process. I really appreciate that the author put effort into giving them a background. I wish that the problem they encountered would have been more of a struggle to solve but I understand that for it to be a short story, it couldn’t. I wouldn’t have mind to read more of it. I think this book was good, to the point and entertaining.
An extremely quick, light, easy, friends to lovers romance following manwhore Evan Drake and his best friend, the sweet and innocent Emma Jacobs, as they both battle their feelings for each other, neither one wanting to risk losing their friendship. Agreeing to auction off her virginity for charity may not have been Emma’s best idea, but it certainly gets Evan’s attention, the spark to finally ignite the fire. With a little bit of added angst from Winston the evil creeper, this story really is the whole package. Predictable and addictive, sexy and sweet. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.