Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Description: "Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. 

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door."

My Review: This is a great companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss! It was charming, funny, and an all-around great romance novel. I didn't like it AS much as Anna's story---probably because I like the setting of Paris better than San Francisco---but the book itself was still pretty great. Perkins has a gift, a certain way with words where she describes them and you can picture them perfectly in your head. Lola was a great heroine---spunky and fresh and energetic, and also very funny. I loved that she loved fashion and I loved reading the descriptions of her crazy outfits. Cricket was also great! I laughed every time Perkins described his height. Lola's family dynamic was amazing; I love that Perkins actually created a unique family, different from the typical mom-dad-kid-and-dog type of family. I also thought it was great that you got to still see Anna and St. Clair a bit! (I will always call him St. Clair. Etienne just sounds weird to me.) I liked seeing that their story got a happy ending. In a way, these books remind me of the Perfect Chemistry novels by Simone Elkeles---great romances with characters from previous books popping up in the new ones. It's nice! Who doesn't like to see old characters they liked show up again? I do like to see secondary characters more well-rounded---Perkins fell a little short in doing that in this novel, because she didn't really flesh out Lola's best friend or Cricket's sister or even Lola's mom that much, and I wanted to see more of that. However, this WAS a fun and sassy book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I can't wait to see what Perkins writes next!

Cover: I think this cover is way cuter than Anna and the French Kiss to be honest; I love the pastel-colored typical San Francisco houses in the background, and I love the girl supposed to be Lola! Her outfit is adorable, as is her wig, and for some reason, she reminds me of Katy Perry, who I like. So I just think this cover is really cute. 

Overall Grade: A-