Book Review – The Cul-de-Sac War by Melissa Ferguson

Is All Fair In Love And War?

Book Summary (Thomas Nelson)

Melissa Ferguson’s new novel proves that good fences make good neighbors—and that sometimes love and hate share a backyard.

Bree Leake doesn’t want to be tied down. She’s had more jobs than she can count, and she plans to move as soon as the curtains fall on her less-than-minor stage role at The Barter—the oldest live performance theater in the US. But just when it’s time to move on again, Bree’s parents make her an offer: hold steady for a full year, and they will give her the one thing she’s always wanted—her grandmother’s house. Her dreams are coming true . . . until life at the theater throws her some curve balls. 

And then there’s Chip McBride—her handsome and infuriating next-door neighbor. 

Chip just might be the only person whose stubborn streak can match Bree’s. She would move heaven and earth to have him off her cul-de-sac and out of her life, but according to the bargain she’s struck, she can’t move out of her house and away from the man who’s making her life miserable. So begins Bree’s obsessive new mission: to drive Chip out of the neighborhood—and fast. 

Bree isn’t the only one who’s a tad competitive, and Chip is more than willing to fight fire with fire. But as their pranks escalate, the line between love and hate starts to blur—and their heated rivalry threatens to take a hilarious, heartwarming, and romantic new turn.

Details

• Title The Cul-de-Sac War
• Author Melissa Ferguson
• Publisher Thomas Nelson
• Publication Date November 10, 2020
• Pages 336

My Thoughts

I absolutely fell in love with The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson, so I couldn’t wait to get started on her second book. The Cul-de-sac War is about Bree and Chip who meet by chance. They share a humorous moment and seem to enjoy each other. But shortly afterward Bree spots Chip with a lady friend. Who knew he had a girlfriend? She can’t help but be somewhat disappointed.

On Bree’s drive home from this event, she experiences a loud truck driving too close to her back bumper. He follows her all the way to her cul-de-sac. Only when they both get out at different houses does she realize that Chip, her momentary heartthrob, is her neighbor.

Now here’s the downside. The story seems to work so hard for humor that reality is left on the front cover. It starts with a very exaggerated stage performance and goes right into Bree being unhappy with the new guy in the cul-de-sac. Reasons for her anger appear to be

• possibly because he has a girlfriend and she just came home angry and disappointed
• possibly for having a loud truck and following her too closely
• possibly because Chip doesn’t remember her name correctly when they eventually see that they are neighbors
• possibly because Chips’ friend delivers a large dumpster to Chris since he is remodeling his home. The problem is that the friend pulls slightly into Bree’s yard, the tire mars down and breaks the water pipe. (The regulations for the depth of water pipes must be different in that city than ours.) This happens very shortly after they both get home from the event.

Now, I don’t intend to relate the whole story, but these are flimsy things for two grown people to feud about. And the “war” is based on these types of things. For me, this unrealistic story continued to build to eventually include an out-of-control dog.

I have to say that not everyone is born with the same funny bone. Mine correlated more with Ferguson’s first book. And, as you can see, this one just didn’t work for me. But humor to one isn’t to another.

What Concerned Me

Though I know Ferguson is a good writer, I felt she relied too heavily on exaggerated humor in this book. And with that came characters that I had a hard time caring about.

As far as romance goes. Too much time was spent on warring to explore the love aspect.

Overall, what I’m sure was meant to be funny, became boring and negative. Not what I’m looking for in a rom-com.

Conclusion

Refer back to my recommendation of The Dating Charade. I know Melissa Ferguson can write books that I love since I rated her first book 5 Stars. I’ll certainly be back to try her next book.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. All opinions are strictly mine.

Rating

There was just too much that didn’t click with me. 

About the Author

Biography

Melissa Ferguson lives in Bristol, Tennessee, where she enjoys chasing her children and writing romantic comedies full of humor and heart. Her favorite hobby is taking friends and acquaintances and turning them into characters in her books without their knowledge. She is confident you should read all her novels, starting with this one. Connect with her (and prepare for the possibility of becoming her next character) at Instagram: @melissafergusonwrites; TikTok: @melissafergusonlife; Website: httpss://melissaferguson.com/; Facebook: MelissaLeighFerguson.