Product Description

Is it true what they say about first loves being forever? As the 1980s dawn in the sleepy English village of Rushton, Mickey and Fred are next-door neighbours and best friends, in and out of scrapes from the day they're born. They're convinced that nothing will ever keep them apart. But they're wrong. Fifteen years later, Mickey is beginning a new phase of her life, with a small flower shop in London. Meanwhile, Fred's life is also changing: he's set to marry his girlfriend in just a few short weeks. Then he bumps into Mickey for the first time since their worlds fell apart. As they pick up the threads of their friendship, Fred and Mickey relive their glory days growing up in Rushton. But can they ever really overcome the devastating events that once tore them apart?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216120 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Boy Next Door is the third offering from bestselling duo Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. Their previous books, Come Together and Come Again, carved out a niche in the popular romance genre with their alternating boy/girl perspectives; and this novel uses the same device to tell the story of childhood best friends pulled apart by tragedy and reunited by coincidence. Fred Roper is a technophile: "I'm into technology, it's a compulsion and a fear." He has a cool job as a marketing manager for an online company and a hot fiancée who has an "insatiable sexual appetite". But he's not really happy. Mickey Malony, his 70s best friend, hasn't seen him in 15 years. She's also living in London, runs her own flower shop and is bringing up her young son on her own. They meet by chance in a toy superstore, and the remainder of the book is a will they? won't they? get-it-together scenario against a backdrop of their shared memories from their small town past. The novel is nice, an old fashioned romance, but with a modern twist--techno boy rekindles lost love with the down to earth flower shop girl, even the language has a love in bloom quality to it: "her short curved lip turned tender and full". The Boy Next Door is an entertaining look at first love and the way it can all gone wrong and then go right. --Eithne Farry

Review
At the dawn of the 1980s Mickey and Fred are next door neighbours and best friends who are convinced that nothing will keep them apart. But that doesn't happen and 15 years later Mickey is beginning a new life whilst Fred is set to marry his girlfriend. Then he bumps into Mickey again for the first time since their worlds fell apart.Can they relive their glory days and overcome the devastating events that once tore them apart ?

She
‘A moving story of childhood friendship and grown-up love…you won’t want to put it down’

Customer Reviews

Fabby summer read!
'The boy next door' is a very good read as was 'come together' and 'come again'. Josie lloyd and Emlyn Rees wriing style complements each other and the book is light, simple, entertaining and funny. the story line is fantastic and believe me it's hard to put down. Im not a strong reader but i finnished it in 2 days (so much for studing for exams!).The authors have a superb style and an effective way of telling the story by mixing past with present. I highely reccoment the book to any young (ish) female looking for a top book to read in the sun.

So good it's real! Lloyd and Rees do it again!
What a treat this book was to read. Funny, sweet and VERY moving. I really cared about what happened to Fred and Mickey, particularly when it became apparent that this wasn't just another boy meets girl book, but a story based around a realistic trauma that happens to two kids and what they have to do to come to terms with it as adults and kickstart their lives again. 3D writing at its best.

A beautifully moving story
Having already read "Come together" by Lloyd & Rees I was confident that this would be a good read. I read the book in days as it became impossible to put down. The first person narrative style adopted is very powerful in conveying the thoughts and feelings of the protaganists in both their childhoods and the present. The plot is original, thought provoking and at times, incredibly moving. As the story unfolded I was on occasions moved to tears. The intertwinement of the past and the present was clear and effective in demonstrating how closely the two were linked for Mickey and Fred. The ending is built towards slowly, removing any possibility of it being cliched. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone.