This book popped up on my Goodreads feed this morning, and couldn't help but be intrigued. The cover and the title just screamed forbidden love and sexy times--two of my favorite things in a New Adult novel. And I am so glad I put almost everything in my life on pause to read it.

Greta's entire life is about to be turned on its head. Her stepbrother, Elec, whom she has never met, is moving from California and into her small Boston home and she's thrilled to have a sibling. But from the instant she sees Elec, she knows there will never be anything sisterly about her attraction or affection for him. All she knows is how her entire body reacts incredibly to his nearness and how no matter how much he teases her, she wants to be around him every second of the day.

He makes her feel like she's never felt in her entire life...in love. But just as quickly as he entered her life, he leaves. And seven years later, after a tragedy brings them back together, he's moved on--and Greta hasn't. Not really. She's still in love with Elec and even after all this time, it seems that he might still care for her too.

This was one of the best, sexiest New Adult novels I've read in a long time. It was fun and funny, but also heart-breaking and realistic. I truly felt for Greta, and related to her greatly. She was kind and naive, but fiercely loyal and passionate. Plus, she fell hard and quickly--that's something I understand immensely.

And Elec...DAMN! That's basically how I would describe him in one word. He was the epitome of a bad boy, lip ring and pierced nipple to prove it. And even though he was a douche to Greta at the beginning, it was obviously a facade meant to scare her away--he didn't actually mean the things he said. Sometimes, in the beginning of a novel, when the love interest is acting like a douchebag, he does or says something that I find just completely off-putting or unforgivable; but it wasn't like that with Elec. He was kind and snarky and dirty, and you just needed to get to know him before you judged him.

The only problem I had with the novel was Elec's story. About two thirds of the way through Stepbrother Dearest, Elec sends Greta the autobiography he's been writing and she reads it for at least 50 pages of the novel. So basically, you just read scenes you read earlier in the novel again, but from his point of view. And I didn't like it. Elec felt exactly how Greta felt--so why was it necessary to write the same scene, dialogue included, twice? It just didn't make sense; I would have rather read more scenes about his feelings about Greta outside of their interactions.

Other than that, this book was the exact amount of fluff I needed. It's a great New Adult novel in a sea of mediocre ones.