The Good Guy on My Porch by Katherine Sadler

​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Publication date: 11/1/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

I read the first book in this series, The Deadbeat Next Door, a long time ago, and one of things I liked most about it was the heroine’s best friend, Dilly. She was fun and smart and had a don’t-take-crap-from-anyone attitude that I really enjoyed. We see a much different Dilly in The Good Guy on My Porch, but she’s still an interesting, complex heroine, and overall, this story makes for good 1-clicking.

Here’s what worked for me:

1. This is a slow-burn romance. Y’all know I LOVE me a good slow-burn romance.
2. This is also a true friends-to-lovers romance. Oscar and Dilly really get to know each other before starting anything romantic. No instalove here, that’s for sure.
3. There’s a fairly serious element to the story that deals with mental illness and the impact it can have on both the afflicted and the family of the afflicted. It felt very genuine to me, as if the subject was near and dear to the author’s heart. The authenticity of it made me feel even more sympathetic to Dilly as a character.
4. Oscar is a 100% nice guy. There’s never a point in the story that he’s anything but the perfect nice guy. And y’all know I LOVE me a nice-guy romance hero.
5. There’s a rescue dog. Any story can be improved by at least a full star rating if a rescue dog is added. (No need to fact-check that. Just take my word for it.)
6. All the boring mechanical stuff is good: good dialogue that doesn’t feel forced, very few typos, decent pacing.  

So, with all those positives, why not a perfect rating, you ask? Well…There were times that I really wanted to reach through my Kindle and smack the crap out of Dilly. I just wanted to shake her until she told Oscar the truth. I mean, he never showed ANY indication that he’d be anything less than supportive and helpful, and the fact that she missed multiple opportunities to come clean with him really irked me after a while. But, even with that said, I understood why she was reluctant to say anything to anyone, and after you’ve maintained a lie as long as Dilly had, coming clean probably just wouldn’t feel natural, so I cut her some slack.

Minor gripe notwithstanding, The Good Guy on My Porch is a solid slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance that tackles the topic of mental illness in a delicate-yet-realistic way. Overall, it’s a highly 1-clickable read.  

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s stigma-free. No rehab needed.  

Other reading suggestions
Start the series with The Deadbeat Next Door.

Need more recommendations? You’ll want to check out the list recommendations below. If you’ve read all of those, let me know. There’s always more...

Friends-to-lovers romances with plenty of benefits​

Slow burn romances to melt your heart (and panties)​

Nice guy romance heroes don't always finish last​