I think after I read my last Gerri Hill romance I said I wasn't going to read any more of them. I hope I remember that the next time I get the urge.

Hill used to be one of my go-to romance authors. Her books weren't spectacular but they were consistently easy to read and had characters I could connect with and that I cheered for. But the last two or three that I've read had characters who were pretty unlikable and, honestly, participating in or supporting behaviors that I found morally unacceptable (stalking, blackmail, peeping, etc).

There were times when I nearly quit reading The Neighbor but ended up sticking it out. ( )

Strong Story, Abrupt Ending. This was a strong story of two women brought together by circumstances largely out of their direct control... wherein such circumstances happen to be a prison riot on the moon. Excellent tale from both the military and business sides, and without too much "science fiction" other than the setting itself (and *some* of the tech, but that level of tech is rarely mentioned in the story). Other than the very abrupt ending that feels like the author wanted to end the book with the final words of the last chapter and only tacked on an epilogue after an unknown third party insisted on it, the story was amazing. The ending was *almost* enough to drop it a star, it was that jarring. Still, a very much recommended book. ( )

I really liked this slow burn romance. It's rare that I have time to finish a book in one day, but The Neighbor captured my attention and did not let go. Despite the binoculars, Laura "Yard Girl" Fry is not the "nosy, creepy neighbor who spied." Instead, she is a thirty-eight-year-old writer (?) suffering from writer's block while taking care of her partially disabled mother and in a relationship dry spell. Under her circumstances, how could she not be curious about her Casanova neighbor who feeds her loneliness with petty, shallow "friends" and revolving bedmates? With Laura and Cassidy's circumstances in mind, their evolving relationship was well-paced and believable. With a good dose of humor, some pre-relationship angst, and lots of smiles, Laura and Cassidy's magnetic chemistry brought a smile to my face from cover to cover. I'm glad neither of them hid their attraction from each other. I hoped that once they put their fears/insecurities/pretenses/doubts aside, there would be fireworks. The end did seem a little rushed, but in the scheme of things, I'm happy with the results. I have nothing but good feeling vibes about their happily ever after. ( )

What’s more dangerous than a prison riot? A prison riot on the Moon. Gail Moore is the administrator of the prison, operated by Andrus, a private company. When a riot gets out of hand, the firm gets the US to send Special Forces. Major Charlie Hawk is the leader of the company sent to bring peace back, by any means. On arrival, the soldiers discover that the situation is way worse than they’ve been told. To make matters worse, the Moon rotation means that in a few hours, they’ll go across the dark horizon, meaning they won’t have any sun for 14 days. No more sun means no more energy than what has been stocked, and also no communication with Earth.

This was so fast-paced that it felt shorter than it really is. I really liked that it wasn’t as much set in the future as in a present where a company trying to outdo Boeing found, almost by chance, a way to make space travel possible. It felt as if this could really happen one of these days. Setting the story on the Moon also added elements of danger (being stranded in space, the lack of backup, the time frame of the dark side of the Moon…) and heightened the tension. While I’m sure some things could have been deepened (the relationship between the two MCs was a bit rushed, but I decided to see it as a side effect of fearing death), I couldn’t put this book down.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )