Maria and Rick Sanchez live in the upscale community of Newton, Massachusetts outside of Boston. They live in a lovely home on Crystal Lake, and have two children -- Cody, age ten, and Alice, age ten months. The marriage is a little strained right now due to Rick's work hours and Maria's work load at home with children demanding her time, especially Alice who is a fretful, very unhappy baby. Since hiring a new baby sitter, Jessica Armstrong a post grad student in psychology from England, Maria is especially concerned since Jessie is drop-dead-gorgeous and young. Rick is all but salivating when he's around her. There's also the fact that her children adore Jessie and Alice never fusses around her.

Michael and Cathi Grant are good friends with the Sanchez's; Michael and Rick work together and Maria and Cathi are best friends. Cathi is obsessed with buying the house next door to Maria even though the elderly owner, Noreen Palmer, has no plans of selling. Cathi is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to moving up into the Crystal Falls neighborhood, and she plans to do this by any means possible. Michael is unaware of his wife's scheming or just how far she will go to get what she wants.

Jessie has a roommate, Elyse "Ely" Briskin, from South Carolina who is very rich, and has already flunked out of three colleges. Ely is strictly a party girl and keeps a supply of booze in their room even though Wiswall College is alcohol free and does not allow sleep overs. Ely has a steady boyfriend, Josh, who is on the football team, and Jessie met Dan Walker, one of the firefighters called to the Sanchez home the night Jessie baby sat. Dan is really hot and they exchanged phone numbers; when they finally get together it's like a flash-fire -- quick and very hot, plus in Jessie's eyes, he is a hero.

NEWTON NEIGHBORS has ethos and pathos woven into its story threads along with a great deal of humor. Relationships are varied between all of her three dimensional characters, and no bad deed goes unpunished. Suzy Duffy flawlessly brings everything together and solves all problems without missing a stitch. NEWTON NEIGHBORS is entertaining and a lot of fun.

Book Summary

Newton Neighbors is a romantic comedy about the colorful residents of Crystal Lake where everyone’s chasing something. Maria’s chasing her lost youth and hot Puerto Rican body. Cathi’s chasing the house of her dreams and Jessica’s chasing her man! That’s not all – Noreen’s chasing her randy Bulldog, Ely’s chasing a business empire and Ricky’s chasing the sitter. It’s a story that flows from Boston, to London and back to Puerto Rico on a wave of Botox, Bollinger and fist-fights. When the only thing worse than a weak dollar is a weak martini, you know you’re living with the Newton Neighbors.

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