Stepbrother Dearest

By: Penelope Ward

Narrated by: Simone Lewis

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-seller and number one in romance.

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. But things started changing between us, and it all came to a head one night. Then, just as quickly as he'd come into my life, he went 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.

©2014 Penelope Ward (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Ms WARD I WAS EXPECTING GOOD & YOU GAVE ME GREAT

What a peach, what a find and what an addictive storyline between the deep, complex, moody, tattooed and pierced badboy Elec and his virginal caring step-sister Greta. He was a troubled boy coming to stay with his estranged father and his new ready-made family so the animosity and resentment between father and son was high.. but there were secrets too. And, from the moment Greta and Elec meet at age 17 sparks flew - and not always in a good way but, after many months of understanding, compassion and acceptance from Greta, some of Elec's walls had been scaled and a bond was formed. He was meant to stay for a year but circumstances suddenly change which made them confront their hidden desires and a forbidden night of passion and unspoken feelings followed.. but in the morning he'd still be leaving.

Fast forward seven years Greta's living in NYC with a failed engagement under her belt and she and Elec have to return home for his father's funeral.. and Elec's not alone - so Greta has to try and hide her jealousy, her true feelings and the strong sexual pull Elec has on her.. but it's difficult because she can see he's struggling too. And what follows is an emotional rollercoaster of heartache, joy, sadness, a deep connection and bitter-sweet memories because Elec, who hadn't physically crossed any lines but verbally.. wow, was again still going to be leaving Greta. However, it wasn't over because two months later Greta would get a text that would change everything.

What a great story this was as the misunderstood adolescent badboy finally showed his true feelings and the grownup man tried to hide his in a valiant but ineffective attempt not to hurt anyone. When you finally hear from Elec's POV (from the pages of his book) you see how much he cared, how sweet and tender his feelings were and that there were many layers to his character. Greta had always deep down loved Elec but the timing was never right for them until it was.. and it was everything I'd hoped for when they eventually got their HEA ending. Strong chemistry, a couple of sex scenes, humor, passion, heartache, butterflies, gut churning and toe curlingly awkward scenes, a mega twist and sighworthy romantic chapters made up this very enjoyable listen that was told from Greta's POV. And I couldn't fault the narration because each Chapter came to life as vivid mental imagery played thanks to a good narrator.

Worth a credit? I'd hoped for good and Penelope Ward gave me great - so YES IMO very very creditworthy.

All 5 Delicious Stars

LOVED this read. I was immediately sucked into the story and couldn't put it down until I knew how it ended. Full of angst and sexual tension, this story will make you swoon, laugh, and feel every other emotion under the sun.

Good book

It was a really good book and a little bit of a tear jerker. It would’ve been really good with a male lead. I almost thought it was going to end differently. I would definitely be happy with some more from them.

Wish it was longer!

Great story and a great narrator, I just wish it was longer & we got more of their story between their time together and more once they were back together, I feel this could have made a good trilogy!

Enjoyed It

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the book, it made me laugh, cry, had great sex scenes and defiantly had a twist you didn't see coming. The only part I did not enjoy is towards the end almost the entire book is re-visited from Elec's POV (there is a reason but I won't give it away), I wish this POV would have not been so redundant and maybe given more of Elec opposed to basically a quick do-over, I am not sure how long it lasted but I do remember fast forwarding through it because it was so long.

All in all defiantly worth a credit or like me bought the kindle and the audio version at the same time to Amazon for a bit less.

Fantastic book and narrator

My only complaint is that it got a little repetitive when Greta was reading Elec's book in the end. I know it was from his perspective but it was still repetitive. Excellent story though. It was unlike any other and I truly love unique books.

Very well written

I loved this story.

I'm not usually into the step-brother books, but I like Penelope Ward and I was feeling adventurous I suppose. The narrator did a good job of switching between characters and adding emotion to the story when needed.

I loved the characters. The story was so indepth as far as the story line was concerned, the whole time you felt what the characters were feeling and it felt like something that was really happening. She did a very good job with the writing. This also wasn't one of those books that was page after page of raunchy sex, there were a few instances spread throughout the book, but the story didn't really need it to keep you reading.

This was one of the better written books I've read in a while.

Loved the Story

I just wanted to let whomever might be interested that this book is VERY good. The narrator did a great job allowing both views to be heard and understood. The story was Better than I imagined...I really liked the characters and liked how the author allowed things to happen that maybe I didn't like, but in the end the story had a very satisfying ending. This story is in NO WAY distasteful not did it make me uncomfortable - it was exciting and interesting...I will look for more from this author...

Surprised

I figured reading this book would be pretty predictable for the taboo topic but I was pleasantly surprised by the full thoroughly thought out story line I just enjoyed.

I loved that it was not a taboo smut story but a love story. I also love how the author cleverly worked in both perspective in the one book. Well done. I have never experienced that and I found myself to be impressed.

Thanks for the all around pleasant surprise.

Incredible!!!

The story and the narration was absolute perfection. I couldn't stop once I'd started it!!