This was a book I wasn’t sure what to expect from- based on the blurb it could have gone one of several directions.

What I discovered when reading the Aussie Next Door was two characters (Angie and Jace) who both have baggage weighing them down as they do their best to live a content/happy life. Ms London put these two in several interesting and entertaining situations while they figured out if they even liked each other, much less if they could be more.

I appreciated the slow build up and real relationship building that went into Jace and Angie trying to make things work. I also found the fact that they pushed each other to grow as people to be heartwarming and this emotional growth is what made this a 4 star read for me.

This could have been a simple marriage for visa turned real love story, but Ms London’s exploration of what made Jace and Angie tick turned it into more. Not only is it a love story, but it’s also a story about respect and being true to yourself.

This is the first book in a series and Jace has several siblings- I am curious to see where the series goes and hope Jace and Angie will be making cameo appearances.

4 1/2 STARS FOR AUSSIE NEXT DOOR!! What a sweet romance story. I loved Angie and Jace, their story kept me turning pages. The story hit just the right emotion buttons. Stefanie London is amazing at storytelling and keeps us readers engaged.

I very much enjoyed this book. I thought the story was well done and I did love Angie and Jace together.

The Aussie Next Door is a quick, realistic story that is so sweet.

I give this 4 out of 5.

This was really sweet. Both characters were lovable and their interactions were adorable. They had just enough baggage to create some tension that they needed to work through to show they wanted to make the relationship work, but not so much baggage that you thought holy, how in the world will this work? I loved Jace's family. If Stefanie wanted to do a little series about each sibling and how they found love I would read them all! I love romance books with accepting, loving. and big close knit families.

Author Stephanie London creates some amazingly attention grabbing characters that makes tearing one’s eyes away from the story a challenge! The Aussie Next Door is another great pick in reading from the author.
Review copy received from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley

The Aussie Next Door by Stefanie London is a contemporary romance that I won't be forgetting. It has humor, romance, and an emotional journey that pulls me closer to the characters. I loved the cast of characters. There are three brothers. One is successful, one is a charmer (Trent), and Jace is the serious brother. He's an introvert. I enjoy following Jace and his thoughts. This guys is sexy as sin, brilliant in creative ways, and is the most caring person ever. His family always went out to help someone else. In this case, Jace gets stuck in accepting a doggy sitter thing for two months. He is constantly distracted by his sexy as hell American female renter, Angie, next door.

Last but not least, Angie likes Jace a lot. She trusts him. Angie can always rely on his help. But lately she's been noticing just hot hot her Australian neighbor is. Attraction hits them both hard. One denies the attraction while the other tries to ignore it. Especially, when the other one wouldn't even consider a serious relationship.

Angie has a deadline to marry an Australian or else leave the country she is now calling home. Jace declined the offer. Now, it's up to Angie and her friends to find her a mate. Jace needs to finish his comic strip but the dogs he's siting for are controlling his time away from work. If you're a huge fan of Christina Lauren and Samantha Chase, then this book is a must read for you! I couldn't stop laughing as I read. Overall, I recommend this contemporary romance to all.

Angie needs a fake husband so she can stay in the country. Her hot Aussie neighbor might be a good choice but for the fact that she seems to drive him batty.

"He always had a cool head about him. He was quiet and composed, thoughtful. And hot...so hot. Like, exactly what you think a sexy Australian guy should look like kind of hot. Blue eyes, sandy hair. Crooked Hemsworth smile. Tanned skin. Shoulders broad enough to carry the world."

Jace is on the high functioning end of the spectrum. He likes (needs) his routines, his space, and his privacy. So when his cheerful (and gorgeous) American neighbor invades his boundaries, he starts stressing. But...is he stressing because she's upset his routine or because she's looking for a husband among the whole town, and not looking at him?

I was surprised at how much of a quiet impact The Aussie Next Door made. Although it's light in spots, it has a wonderful message and its themes aren't so light. Jace and Angie are two "different" people. Different in quotations because really, everyone's different, but here, their differences are notable. Not because they're bad, but because they're unique. I appreciated how Jace was written especially. Yes, he's on the spectrum and the weight of that is significant, but he's not written that way for dramatic effect, rather than just him being who he is - a successful comic strip writer who happens to be on the spectrum and needs his space. But pair him with Angie, a woman who is as "different" as Jace is, and the two make for a fabulous couple. Not the norm to be sure, and definitely a likable, engaging couple.

This was.. This was a sweet one, I guess. It's also sexy and a bit fun and it gives you a bit more than surface entertainment. It's got cute dogs, two reluctant dog-lovers, a comic about a hermit and a big, tight family/community. I thought things went fast and I liked that the hero and heroine actually talked to each other, even though I felt like grabbing them and shaking them at times.

Angie is a totally fine heroine, just like Jace are a sweet and completely okay hero. I felt for them both at times, they had fine chemistry and everything was just fine. Not great, but fine.

What could have been better? I don't know. I just didn't find the characters all that believable, I guess. I know Jace is supposed to be on the Autism spectrum and I imagine that's hard to write, because I didn't really notice it. He was just blunt, at times.

Still, a solid three from me!

/ Denise

Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Angie and Jace are too cute. Jace is autistic and can sometime struggle without a routine. He's also still smarting from a broken engagement and trying to learn how to communicate in a way that seems to come easy for those around him. Angie came to Australia to get away from the media circus that was her life in the US. Her visa is almost up and her last effort to stay in her new home is to find a husband. While Jace initially takes himself out of the running, it isn't long before the attraction between these two makes it clear that anyone else is out of the question for Angie.

London wrote a really cute story. Told from both their perspectives, you really could see how they were each feeling and you understood where they were coming from. And those dogs? The cutest.

I'm intrigued to see what she writes next. If this is any indication, she's talented at creating stories with a lot of heart, some humor, and enough spice to keep things fun.

I must admit that this is my first book to Stefanie London and I so much enjoyed the story. The fact that there was a marriage of convenience made the book so appealing. It's a cute heartwarming story with a very pleasant sense of humour. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves an enjoyable journey between two different couples.

DNF at 42%.

Angie Donovan left a life of unwanted notoriety in the US for a life of anonymity in small town Australia, but then she finds out she has to leave Australia unless she can fall in love and marry within a few short months.

Angie's next door neighbour is hunky cartoonist Jace. Unbeknownst to Angie, Jace has high functioning autism which means he struggles to understand other people's feelings or how to act in certain situations. He likes that Angie doesn't know about his autism, that she treats him like a regular guy. He likes Angie and wants her to stay but it takes him months to decide on a new brand of trainers, a decision like marriage would take him years.

Angie decides she will do everything she can to find someone, with the aim of falling in love and getting married before she gets deported.

The blurb for this read made me think it would be romantic comedy: a large interfering family; a series of dates; unruly dogs; and Jace sabotaging Angie's dates. To a certain extent I did get this but it all seemed pretty muted, nearly half way into the book and Angie has only been on one date. I also struggled with Jace's portrayal which made him seem a bit simple. There have been some great books released in the last few years which portray autism with empathy - in contrast this felt like Jace was a 16 year old child rather than a man.

Overall, I found the pace too slow, the characters overly sweet and the plot wasn't developing fast enough and I gave up.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted and expected to. There’s a lot of internal monologue going and not a lot actually happening. The characters make choices that have no sense or logic behind them, but since they talk about what they are doing it sounds like a solid plan...until you take a break from reading and start to question all of it.

The two MC were bland and all their troubles and characterization is repeated over and over with different wording in their heads, it was obnoxious. Especially when you knew they would come to the same realizations eventually. So I just wished a lot of the “oh my should I do this” and “I don’t know how to feel about that” over and over was cut it felt wholly unnecessary when you knew it would end happily...because it’s a romance...a little resistance is good. Not chapters upon chapters of internal struggle.

The romance was flat and random and boring.

The stakes were high, a deportation was on the horizon, and yet...the main woman internally freaks out about it but her plan to stop it, while wildly unrealistic, could have been charming. Instead we get a rushed and quickly failed execution on her part. Not to mention her priorities are majorly screwed up. Which causes the author to constantly try and feed you reasoning for something that really isn’t smart at all for the two MCs by the bucketful. Leaving you annoyed and skipping paragraphs to just finish it already.

This girl is the poster child for a bad case in CPS in America. I found her story insensitive, and far reaching. Without going into details, basically the author thought of the most terrible things she could and put this girl through it. All the while giving her unwanted fame from the media getting involved, so much so she flees to Australia...and a year later is at risk for deportation. All unrealistic. America’s a big place. Not every single person in it would know some girls face from the news about an abused child. Or maybe they would, I’m not sure because something like that just doesn’t happen.

The family interactions were alien and felt ridiculously forced to me. The sex was bland.

The best and frankly only parts I really enjoyed were those with the dogs. The dogs are amazing.

All in all, the book could have been trimmed down significantly and the characters made more interesting than their pets.

This is an emotional heart cruncher! I fell in love with Jace and Angie from the start, each with their own set of problems that squeezed me with emotions. American Angie thought she had finally found her home in Patterson's Bluff, Australia but things are never easy for her. She's faced with a choice; leave or find a husband. This could have turned into a "green card" romance but it didn't. It was a roller coaster of a slow build romance between two individuals with lots of issues to overcome. Trust being front and center. I don't know anyone with Jace's condition but the author did a wonderful job of presenting his challenges in a way that was endearing and not overwhelming. There was more good than bad! I was crushing over the hunky surfer/artist right along with the lovable Angie. Angie's background was heartbreaking but her attitude toward life was uplifting. She won my heart with her resilience, helping others attitude and her crush on Jace. I was rooting for these two as they struggled to get on the same page with their budding relationship before it was too late. They were so sweet with each other along with the steamy chemistry that has me swooning. The resolution to their relationship woes was unexpected but just fabulous. Kudos to this fantastic author for giving us something different with her terrific writing and spectacular characters. I loved the small town of Patterson's Bluff, the friends, the cute dogs and Jace's wonderful family. I hope we get more stories from this locale with these fantastic characters. Loved it! I voluntarily reviewed an ARC.

Amazing! This book was an absolutely amazing romance. The story is fun and lighter, the entire cast of characters lovable and the emotions are deep and sweet. This book simply melted my heart! I felt that Jace was a unique, timely and relevent character. I appreciate when authors strive for inclusion and diversity in their work. Angi's painful past was just heartbreaking. I enjoyed every single minute that it took for these two to find the love and happiness they deserved.

The Aussie Next Door delivers romance and laughter! Witty and warm characters that welcome you into their crazy lives and families. Stefanie London brings the reader to tears from laughter, and will have your heart falling for a tremendous cast. This is definitely one tale of opposites attract that'll leave you with a smile!

4.5★s
The Aussie Next Door is the first book in the Patterson’s Bluff series by Australian-born Canadian author, Stefanie London. Jace Walters has been conned! His mother knows how much he needs his routine, but she insists on pushing him out of his comfort zone and into more social interaction, and now she’s volunteered him to dog-sit for two months. Jace has been diagnosed as high-functioning on the autism spectrum and is a gifted comic artist, but it requires a regular discipline, and caring for a chihuahua and a large German shepherd is going to play havoc with that.

Angie Donovan has been living in Jace’s granny flat for 6 months, and if she’s honest, finds him very attractive (he’s hot!!), but he’s obviously not interested in her because he never says much. Angie keeps busy with her volunteer work and loves living in Patterson’s Bluff, where no one knows about her awful past: she has managed to leave behind her unwanted fame in America. But now, all that is at risk, because the visa she had been assured could be extended, will expire in two months. Unless she can think of something soon, she’ll have to go back.

When the ageing shepherd bails up Angie in her kitchen, she and Jace are forced to keep company during a freak electrical storm. Jace is reluctant to spend time with Angie because he can't control his lustful thoughts when she's near. But he definitely doesn't want to see her return to America, and will do almost anything to help her stay.

Her throw-away remark about falling in love and marrying an Aussie fell on hostile ears with Jace: he’s clearly very cynical about the whole idea of marriage, so Angie will have to look elsewhere. Jace is shocked to find that he really hates the idea of Angie with someone else, even though he has absolutely no claim on her.

It is immediately obvious to the reader that Angie and Jace are meant to be together, but even after they eventually give in to their attraction and have some hot sex (fairly explicitly described), it’s going to take a while for each to overcome the psychological damage suffered at the hands of those they trusted, jump some emotional hurdles and accept fate.

London makes a good effort to give her novel an Australian feel but despite this there are some tells that make it clear the novel was written for an American readership. Nevertheless, this is a sweet and sexy romance with predictable but welcome happy-ever-after ending.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Entangled Publishing LLC

Angie is a woman with a painful past who was hurt by the people that she should have been able trust at the most vulnerable time in her life. Needing to escape she found a sense of belonging in Australia and now the new life is being threatened as she is running out of time before she has to return to the US.

Jace comes from a large family but what he truly craves is peace and order. He is now living in his own apartment and is enjoying the quiet and freedom that goes along with it.

Angie and Jace are neighbors who find themselves drawn to each other despite the fact that they are total opposites. Where she is outgoing and spontaneous, he prefers to keep to himself and doesn’t like changes to his plans. All Angie wants is to find love, get married and stay in Australia but will she and Jace realize that what they really need is each other?

This is a sweet and sexy story about two people who are damaged by their pasts and uncertain that love is in the future for them but watching them fall was so much fun.

This book has cursing (including 2 f-bombs) and some on-page sex. Neither thing overwhelms the story, but if that will cause you to leave a bad review then this might not be the story for you.

As the family member of a really awesome young man on the “high functioning” end of the Autism spectrum, I was really worried about how Ms. London would portray Jace. Would he be a Rain Man-like caricature? Would he be too 'romance novel perfect'? But as I read, I realized that Ms. London either knows someone who is high functioning, or she did an amazing amount of research because her portrayal of Jace was incredible. If she'd included that Jace's voice got squeaky and awkward when he was nervous, Jace could very easily have been based on my 26 year old nephew (well, minus the usual romance-novel-perfect-specimen body, of course) which is really refreshing.

The love story between Jace and Angie is also a friendship story. They don't just rush into a love-and-sexual relationship, they actually get to know one another before they jump into love or sex. This is the kind of romance story that I love because it makes me really believe that the relationship is actually going to last. They understand each other as people, they don't just have a bunch of sex and call it love. Writing relationships like this is something that Ms. London does so well in all of her books. Jace has a quirky sense of humor, and Angie is kind of one giant quirk, and it doesn't sound like they should work, but they're imperfectly perfect for each other. I also loved the little town of Patterson's Bluff. The side characters (especially Jace's family!) and the other people in town were fantastic.

I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a well-written romance novel because Ms London writes some of the best around and this one is right up there among her best.

What an amazing story of love, learning and acceptance. Things we should all strive to do everyday.

The love story between Jace and Angie is so heartfelt and incredible. Ms. London does such an amazing job of telling this story of 2 people who just want to be loved and accepted for who they are.

And really, isn't that all anyone should want in life. Everyone has their quirks and differences; that's what makes us all unique individuals and no one should ever be judged for being their real self.

3.5 stars! A sweet romance set in an amazing setting. Loved the characters and the story was well written.