Naughty-ish

A Naughty Next-Door Neighbor Holiday Romance

By: L.B. Dunbar

Narrated by: Stella Hunter, Teddy Hamilton

With the name Holliday, you’d think I’d be all about the Christmas season. Most years, I am, but this one not so much. Between my ex being a real Scrooge-in-the-backside, re-entering the workforce, wrangling my two children, and evading my eight-year-old’s questions about Santa’s existence, I’m struggling to believe in the magic myself.

Enter Nick, my next-door neighbor. My very hot, single, fireman neighbor. He’s full of the seasonal spirit from hanging my outdoor Christmas lights to playing Santa for the local church breakfast. Funny thing about Nick, he kind of resembles the man in red, in a younger, sexier, silver fox way, complete with snow in his beard but rather tight abs suggesting cookies are not part of his diet when they are a staple of mine. Anywho, he’s sweet in a rugged sense, and if he were the man making a list and checking it twice, I’d like to be in his naughty column. Because something tells me being a little naughty-ish with Nick from next door might bring me tidings of comfort and restore my joy in this season. When he discovers I have a seasonal list myself, he’s determined to help me accomplish all the to-dos, only falling in love with my next-door neighbor wasn’t one of them.

From L.B. Dunbar comes another SHE-grump Christmas tale of holiday shenanigans and jingling bells with a sunshine silver fox fireman.

©2023 L.B. Dunbar (P)2023 L.B. Dunbar

Naughty Elf

Very sweet story for the holidays to listen to near the fire place. Worth it.

Hot neighbor Holliday meets helpful hot St. Nick

This is a next door neighbor Christmas fantasy. Leave a cheating husband, buy a new house for you and your 2 kids. Move in next door to the hot, helpful, fireman Nick. He keeps doing things for you and your kids. You can't tell if it's because he likes you or feels sorry for you. You try to show your appreciation by bringing him token gifts. Then after after a Santa Breakfast where Nick is St. Nick, things heat up. Before you know it Holliday has put Nick on her Christmas list. 🎆

I enjoyed this story a lot. I related to Holliday dragging herself through Christmas for her kids sake. I enjoyed all the creative ways Nick thought of to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. Nice duet narrative, as well.

Fun Holiday bood

OVERALL:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
▪︎Spice Level:  🌶🌶🌶/ 5
•Recommend: Yes
▪︎Re-read/re-listen: Aslo, yes!
•Trope: Single mom, hot neighbor, Christmas novella
•Narrator: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5

• Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this novella. It was sweet. It gets you into the holiday spirit. It leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy. I honestly wish this could have been longer than a Novella. I would say that is my biggest complaint. In the first book of this series, Scrooge-ish, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. It felt like a completed story for it being a novella. and I know with novells generally everything happens at an excellerated pace, and I am completely fine with that. For Naughty-ish, however, I do truly feel the story had a lot more to unfold, more meaning to the story had it been longer. Now, don't get me wrong, it was a great story. I very much enjoyed it. I just felt as if something was missing. Truly though, I did enjoy Naughty-ish. I want that to be known. Ha.

Narrators: I did listen to this on audio. It was a duet style, but it was also a first-person point of view. Stella Hunter and Teddy Hamilton were so good! I love it when they narrate together. I am learning that I am not as big of a fan from First Person POV. I kept waiting to hear from Nick's POV.

Christmas puns

This had a cute story line to it. It was a great short listen for holiday season. Can't wait to find what else they have in the lineup.

What a fun listen

If there is one thing I know, it is that L.B. Dunbar never fails to deliver an entertaining story with characters who are engaging and so easy to relate to; probably because her characters are more mature and closer to my age and that resonates with me.

I love any story that is centred around Christmas; it’s a time for family and friends to get together and celebrate life. I enjoy L.B. Dunbar’s style of writing; Naughty-Ish kept me entertained from the first to the last chapter.

Add in that our heroine Holliday is a single mum to Eloise and Nash and our hero Nick is a fireman so for me Naughty-Ish was a win/win.

This is a beautifully written, witty, and at times emotional story that ticked every box for me as Nick did his best to convince Eloise that he is the man for her and her children.

Narrators Stella Hunter and Teddy Hamilton did a stellar job with narration. Not only did they bring the fun and romance to life for me but they also did justice to the story that Ms.Dunbar wove.