If you've read Anna and the French Kiss (and you should if you're a contemporary/romance fan), you may be wondering to yourself if it is possible for Stephanie Perkins to outdo herself. Anna hit the Best Of lists of many bloggers last year, and her companion novel Lola and the Boy Next Door has a lot to live up to. 
 I am here to happily tell you that I am fairly certain I liked Lola even more. 
 Much like Anna's story, Lola has a few relationship problems. She's trying to find herself, and when an old neighbor boy comes back into her life she is forced to reexamine who she was and who she is now. Pair that with the boyfriend she currently has who doesn't always seem to 'get' her, and you've got the setup for an awesome contemporary. 
 A few reasons why I liked Lola even more than Anna: 
 -Lola has two dads instead of the traditional mother father household 
 -Since it is a companion novel, I got to smile every time Anna or Etienne made an appearance 
 -Cricket 
 -Lola handles herself slightly better than Anna did re: relationships 
 -Lola's costumes and how they helped her learn about herself 
 The more I type about it, the more I want to go reread... Which isn't fair to the other books I picked up at Book Expo America. For now I will just have to be satisfied knowing that fans of Anna will fall in love with Lola, too.