I was not disappointed with the second book in this series; in fact I think that I liked this one equally so to Anna and the French Kiss! :D 
 I was afraid that this book may possibly be too similar to Anna and the French Kiss, not by characters or anything, but by story line because Anna and Lola both fall in love with a guy and the whole book's about a lot of that. But that's where the similarities end. 
 There were a lot of different things in Lola and the Boy Next Door to Anna and the French Kiss, and I felt both were unique stories in their own way. 
 Lola is a really refreshing character, and throughout the book, she grows with the help of her family and Cricket, and comes into her own at the end. Her hobby is costuming, designing, making and then wearing her own outfits, which was interesting to read about. She learns to not be afraid of what people think about her costumes and to be able to express herself in this way freely. Lola's seventeen, has a best friend and a (not-so-nice after all) boyfriend which reminded me of how Etienne was the one who had a girlfriend. In this story, I felt Lola was more in control. 
 Cricket, on the other hand, is this inventor guy and apparently related to Alexander Graham Bell, famous inventor. Reading about his inventing things was also interesting. (I just realised but currently, the main characters in the series all have a main interest/hobby. Anna likes reviewing films, St. Clair likes history, Cricket like inventing, Lola likes costuming, and they're all good at it.) He has history with Lola and they were close to being something together when they were a couple years younger. It was different in this book in that at very early on in the book Cricket actually declares he really likes Lola and always has; now it's all up to Lola to make up her mind. Cricket was a really likeable character, really kind and nice, maybe a bit too nice (who is ever that nice, anyway? he's too good to be true). 
 I felt Anna and the French Kiss was really magical and romantic; in this book I felt it a bit more down-to-earth and realistic. Its set in San Francisco and Lola actually makes a lot of mistakes, more so than Anna I thought and I liked how she wasn't perfect or anything and was flawed like anyone else. In this book, I felt Lola was the one trying to deserve Cricket and he was helping her; in Anna and the French Kiss, I felt like Anna was helping Etienne a lot (which is fine) and that he in the end had to get over a lot of things when in this one Lola has a lot of problems. 
 I liked how Lola made up with Calliope and used her dressmaking skills to help save the day (Calliope is Cricket's twin sister who is an Olypmic figure skater). I also liked how Lola and Norah eventually put aside their differences. Lola's adopted - as Norah, her real mother has problems, Nathan (Norah's brother) and his partner took Lola in and they're very close. 
 I know Anna and Etienne would show up in the book, that's why they're all connected in a series, but at first I wasn't really taken with that idea. Anna had her story in the first book; now I wanted to read about Lola in the second book. But I found it okay, but reading about Anna and Etienne from someone else's point of view did feel a bit weird at times. Basically, Anna and Lola work at the same theater and that's how they know each other; they're close-ish friends. Lola's friends with St. Clair too because he's always with Anna, even when she's working and he also did have a brief working position there too. I think that he and Lola have more conversations than she and Anna. Cricket is eighteen but he graduated early and now goes to Berkley; yep, the very same college St. Clair goes too, and they even live on the same level of dormitories! (what a coincidence... :D) So St. Clair and Cricket become friends in that way and so everyone knows each other now which I actually thought in the end was kinda cool. 
 Anna's and Lola's personalities are very different and so are Etienne's and Cricket's. I really admire the author for being able to write with such different voices. 
 I might have liked to see something more develop with Cricket's inventing skills, but oh well. 
 So, overall, this book is a great addition, and a story of its own. I really liked reading through Lola and about Cricket and their relationship was really sweet. 
 P.S. I have no qualms about this, but I was wondering, what kind of name is Cricket, and Calliope for that matter?