I am big fan of Kathryn Freeman's contemporary romance novels, and this one doesn't disappoint. Mia is a computer nerd who is new to town. Luke is her handsome, seemingly unattainable "nextdoor neighbor". Luke is immediately smitten with Mia, and Mia is hoping to meet new people in her new town without getting tangled in a another messy, bad relationship. The development of their relationship was cute, fun, and easy to read. Could have used a little more slow burn (maybe we didn't need to immediately know that Luke was taken with Mia...perhaps leave us guessing for a while as he tries to catch her attention.) Mia and Luke have great chemistry despite Mia's insecurities. Overall a very enjoyable read by Kathryn Freeman. I recommend this to anyone who would like to read a cute, fun, quick romance with characters who have good chemistry!

This was such a great read! Throughout the novel I noticed an underlying theme of women supporting women which I really enjoyed- it was something unique that most romance novels don’t prioritize. There were plenty of times where the story could have taken a catty turn between some of the female characters and the lead Mia, but it didn’t and I really loved that! The love story was very non-traditional as well, in such a tech focused world to have the characters being their communications by posting notes on their windows was so sweet! It was also nice to see a female lead who didn’t immediately fall at the feet of a handsome stranger who gave her attention- she made him work for their relationship. It was extremely relatable to read about Mia and Luke working through their past relationship issues to form a strong and healthy bond. This was such a fun and refreshing read!

It’s a good light hearted read, which doesn’t take long to read. All the chat I think make the story event the secondary ones.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing house for sharing this ARC with me!

This was a cute read. I appreciated the way Luke and Mia's relationship began and evolved. They approached each other as friends and built it from there. The author dealt with each of their insecurities in realistic ways though I do think some things dragged on longer than needed. The story itself could've been at least 10 chapters shorter. Regardless, all the characters were fun to meet and I liked watching Mia develop her own world on her own. Her character had really nice growth. It was nice to watch Mia's journey from where she started in her flat alone in a new town, to building a whole community for herself with an awesome dude who loves her.

Overall, this was a decent read but not memorable.

I am a fan of Kathryn Freeman's rom-coms and this is another novel to add to my list. Mr. Right Across The Street is a sweet meet-cute of a book where the characters fall in like, then love through messages posted in their opposite flats' windows. I loved that the main female character, Mia, is a nontraditional lead: she has colorful hair, wears nerdy t-shirts and track bottoms to the local bar, and believes that people should accept her for who she is. I also loved that there was a friendship element to the story, which added to the chemistry between Mia and her love interest, Luke. I wasn't a fan of the epilogue and the ending was somewhat predicable (particularly the epilogue), but overall I recommend this sweet rom-com.

3.5 stars rounded up / Rated: R

Advanced galley copy provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mia moves to Manchester to focus on herself after a series of disastrous relationships. Things change though when she notices a hot guy in the window across from her flat. Things heat up when he starts leaving messages in the window for her. Luke, a bar owner, agrees to show Mia the sites of Manchester and they strike up a relationship where he is showing her what romance really is. This is a cute dual perspective book that I found myself enjoying and laughing out loud.

I admit, I am a sucker for books where people are sending cute messages to each other in some way and the concept of that in this book was incredibly sweet.

I love Mia as a character, she is unapologetically herself and you see a great deal of growth with her throughout the novel. She is shaken from her last relationship, and you see her begin to trust the people in her new community and develop friendships and relationships. You also see her begin to trust herself. I like that this book tackles some hard things, including Mia's trust issues (of both herself and others) and Luke's history.

I also liked to see Mia get to know Luke and Luke show the deeper parts of himself, and let Mia in. He has the reputation of the local playboy and is determined to let go of that for Mia. I felt there was some great chemistry between Mia and Luke which made the book a solid read. I really liked seeing the non-dates that Luke planned and loved that Mia was so willing to just try anything he had planned. I also loved seeing their friendship develop as they went through these dates and I could really see that Luke was smitten for Mia.

The plot seemed to flow naturally and smoothly, which really left the pacing feeling perfect, things were always happening and it felt like it was important to the story.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

This was a cute, well-written romance with very likable characters. I loved how Mia was so unapologetically herself, and I thought Luke was funny and hot. I also loved that the main characters really took the time to get to know each other. The idea of swapping messages on the windows was adorable. My only complaint was the pacing of the story. It seemed to drag in parts and got a bit repetitive as the book went on. Still, I'd be interested in future reads by this author.

Mr Right Across The Street

Synopsis:
Mia Abbott’s move to Manchester was supposed to give her time and space from all the disastrous romantic choices she’s made in her past. But then the hot guy who lives opposite of her flat – the one who works out every day at exactly 10 a.m., not that Mia has noticed thank-you-very-much – starts leaving notes in his window…for her.
Bar owner Luke Doyle has his own issues to deal with but as he shows Mia the sites of her new city he also shows her what real romance looks like for the first time. And when he cooks up a signature cocktail in her honour, she realizes that the man behind the bar is even more enticing than any of his creations. And once she’s had a taste she knows it will never be enough!

Review:
Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Kathryn Freeman, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, this book was fun, flirty and light hearted (with a dash of steam). The story had a typical plot with Mia being a nerdy computer geek and Luke, the hot and flirty bar owner that women are instantly drawn to. Both Mia and Luke have some insecurities and trust issues, making it hard to turn their friendship into anything more. Mia goes as far as not giving Luke her phone number, so then begins their communication with messages written back and forth taped on their windows. Along the way, we see Mia befriend her elderly neighbour Stan who provides wisdom and support as Mia finds herself falling for “the hot guy opposite”. There were definitely some laugh out loud moments in this book. I enjoyed Mia’s character – her quirkiness, and how unapologetically herself she was.
I personally enjoy a little bit more steam in romance books, however I still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys rom-coms!

3.5/5

Overall I enjoyed this book, it’s a nice easy romance and I did find myself rooting for Mia and Luke. Mia did become a bit tiresome at the end, and Luke appeared to have the patience of a saint as he constantly had to reassure her and put up with her running off when another woman so much as looked at him! At least that’s what it felt like! Still worth a read if you’re looking for something light and easy to kill some time with.

This book was a DNF for me. I read about halfway and just found it way to repetitive. Mia constantly doubting her judgement and feelings and just when there might be a turning point, another misunderstanding happens with Luke’s charms with females. Once or twice was okay but like 10 of them were just too much. We get the point! Now move on to the self development and getting together.

Mr. Right Across the Street had a promising start. We meet Mia, who’s ogling her neighbour, Hot Guy Opposite, on a daily basis. When their paths cross in the bar Luke owns, they hit it off from the start. They are both pretending to be ‘just friends’, and going on non-dates (and if you have to specify it’s a non-date, you can bet your ass it’s definitely not a non-date), but they both want more .

Luke is a ‘ladies man’ and Mia, who had a rocky dating relationship, is hesitant to trust him. And I feel like this book is shaming people who prefer casual relationships.

“And why he seemed to prefer casual relationships based on sex, rather than anything more meaningful, when it was clear he was a lot deeper than he let on.”
Does it mean he is shallow just because he prefers casual relationships? Of course not.

“Maybe he’d been careless with women over the years…” Just because he doesn’t want a serious relationship doesn’t mean he’s careless. He was always upfront with his flings about things being casual, and statements like that makes him sound like an emotionless brute.

Any time a woman breathes near Luke, Mia takes off and hides in her apartment. She is full of insecurities because of one bad relationship and Luke has to reassure her constantly. And every conflict in the book comes from that.
I feel like the insecurities she has are all highschool insecurities. For example, she’s always calling herself ‘the nerd’ and Luke is always ‘the cool kid’. Mia always references them like they are two different worlds, and aren’t able to be together. They are both in their thirties, and she still uses highschool stereotypes? And oh, the insecurities.

Luke has to be careful not to do anything to scare Mia off, like she’s some kind of skittish animal. And no matter what he does, she’s always doubting him again at the end of day.
“When he decided he’d had enough of dating the nerdy Smurfette, where did it leave her?”
And no matter how hard he tries, she is always keeping him at arm’s length. Because of, you know, the insecurities.
“He was trying to change, to let her in so they could have a real relationship.
She, on the other hand, was putting her head in the sand.”

You can’t have a proper book without flawed characters with a shitty past.
So let’s talk about Pete.
Pete is Mia’s latest ex, and a source of her trust issues. Yeah, he wasn’t a pleasant thing to deal with, but I didn’t see why he had such a huge impact on Mia.
They were together for a while, but when she broke things off, he wouldn’t leave her alone so she moved and changed her number.
Mia goes on and on how she had to buy a new phone because of him. I wasn’t aware of the fact that you had to buy a new phone if you wanted to change your number?

Pete comes in search of Mia to the bar. Luke grovels. Pete leaves.
He was much better with his off-screen influence on Mia and I feel like his appearance didn’t have any impact and was unnecessary.
And how did he find her? She didn’t unfriend him on Facebook and he saw her activities. So, you move from Somerset to Manchester and change your phone to escape this guy, and you forget to unfriend him on Facebook?
For a computer wizz like Mia… I just don’t know what to say.

This book is marketed as ‘full of fun’, but I didn’t enjoy it so much. Their banter, which both of them held in high regard, wasn’t anything so special to me.
A lot of typos, and tenses seem to be a little jumbled up at times.

I liked Luke’s relationship with Grace. It’s clear she’s the most important person in his world. The fact that both Luke and Freya put aside their differences is very admirable and I wish everyone would have such good parents as they are.

Aside from Grace. the friends and family of both Mia and Luke were there only to be plot devices to move their relationship forward. They are only mentioned when Mia/Luke needed to talk about their feelings.

Also the big problem with this one, and usually a lot of romance books, is that the main male character always does everything he can to prove something to a woman, while she rarely chips in. And effort should go both ways. Everybody wants to meet their Mr. Right, but you also have to be Ms. Right for the other person.
Luke is always doing something to prove to Mia his feelings are real. And what does she do? Does she return the gesture? No, because she is the one with the troubled past and he is the one who has to prove himself.
I think it gives an unrealistic image of a healthy relationship to young minds who read this.

The parts of the book I liked the most were few and far between. I adored their interaction with window messages. And Luke could be cute when he wanted to be.

“2night
Me = bar
If U = bar
Me = :)”

I really enjoyed the organic feel this book had. It was a good slow burn and I loved it. I loved the characters and the banter, and watching the characters grow together and not just instantly be in a perfect relationship.

Mia has just moved to Manchester to get away from an ex who won’t leave her alone. Away from family and friends, Mia wanted to make new friends in a new city. She meets Hot Guy Opposite and a very real relationship evolves. Mia is hesitant, because of her past, and his past. Very much a ‘ can a leopard change its spots ‘ book.
I really loved this novel. I loved the relationship Mia makes with Stan, a father daughter relationship, something a girl would need while being so far from home.
I enjoyed everything about this story. Loved the front cover, too. I’m sure it will be a massive hit in 2021.

This book is so fun! Cute, charming, and funny in equal measure. Mr. Right Across the Street has the ingredients for a great romance: chemistry, shenanigans, a cast of good background characters, etc. There are moments when this book is a bit too "not like the other girls" for my taste, and the latter half of the plot struggles with repetitive conflicts. That said, definitely enjoyable! And I know there are so many readers who will fall in love with these characters and their relationship.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

With the way 2020 has been going, I have lived for romance novels. Mr. Right Across the Street does not disappoint! It’s fun and light! I loved living through the characters. The character development was well thought out and written well. The plot was so cute. I can’t wait to recommend this to people.

I started and finished this book in one setting, I didn’t want to put it down! I can’t wait to explore Kathryn Freeman’s other works!

**3 stars*** ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review. Ahh man, I wanted to LOVE this book. Such a fun concept, quirky heroine, beautiful hero, love notes in windows. Alas, this book irritated me quite a bit. DID NOT LIKE:

1. THE HEROINE! - Argh. Listen honey either do or don’t but let me off this merry go round. Every time she sees Luke with another woman it’s a problem. He had a past get over it and yourself or move on. This back and forth went on for tooooo long! The heroine was on my last nerves by the end.

2. TOO LONG- I like a well developed story and while this held my interest. It felt like a wash cycle. Get close. See another girl. Get jealous/scared. Retreat. A few times okay but well into 70% of the book. Just leave the clothes dirty

LIKED:

1. The hero was sweet and persistent oh and lest not forget patient.

2. Most secondary characters were cool and interesting to read.

3. I did root for this couple and the book kept me interested.

I would say read on a rainy day, when you don’t want something quick and dirty, and you don’t mind the merry go round.

First, I want to say thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, and One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mia is 30-years-old and recently moved to Manchester to escape from her ex-boyfriend. From the window of her new apartment, she likes to watch her neighbors. There is Immaculate Woman who seems to not own any comfortable clothes, and, of course, Hot Guy Opposite who starts his workout routine at 10 AM every day. However one day, Hot Guy, who she now knows as Luke, leaves her a note on his window. He knows she’s been watching and he wants to exchange window notes. She’s wary because of his player status and he’s intrigued by her. Will this player change his way for love?

The first half of the book, I was so sure I would like it. Mia had befriended her older neighbor Stan and had a cute father-daughter relationship with him. We had player Luke who finally got his attention caught on a woman. Then they started exchanging cute messages between their windows and going on "non-date" dates. It had all the making for a cute set-up.

However, around the second half is when it took a turn. What I don't get is how a 30-year-old woman is still hung up on high school stereotypes. I kept reading on and on about how can Luke want to be with her because she's the nerd and he's the cool guy? Um, honey. You're not in high school anymore. That was only the beginning of Mia's insecurities driving a wedge in their relationship. Any little time that another woman would breathe around Luke, she'd get in her head and ghost him. I felt like they kept having the same conversations to reassure her that he was interested in her. But then she'd get in her head again and the cycle continued. You either trust him or you don't. Why would she believe other people over him? Especially when she knew some people had an agenda? I mean Luke wasn't totally faultless either, though. They kept having half-conversations that should have continued before they ended. It felt like a device just to keep conflict going, and boy did it get annoying after reading Luke and Mia's run-around after the second time.

Mia also had big issues around Luke having slept around before her. I get it; at first I would be wary too. But to hang it over his head when that was in the past? It's not like he can change his past. You can't prosecute the man because of him consensually sleeping with other women before he even was with you.

I also would have liked if there were less comparisons made between Mia and other women? I get it. She's "less maintenance" than the other women Luke usually kept company. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just when it starts to be seen as a negative trait to like to dress up and "she's not like other girls". I didn't need to read about Luke liking that she was more laidback than women he used to keep company. That he thought it made her more "real". Just complimenting Mia for herself would've been enough. There's no need to compare her to other women. It just reeks high school insecurity, which seems to be a theme in this book.

I so badly wanted to like this one more because of the cute cover and great start. I just wish this book had more depth and maturity, especially for people in their 30s. It's time to hang up high school stereotypes and insecurities about being "the nerd" at that point. I wish I could have had more of their cute "non-dates" and window messages than that.

That being said, I can see readers who are fond of Sophie Kinsella liking this book.

"Mr. Right Across the Street" is a romantic novel that I know will soar in 2021. Kathryn Freeman writes a romantic comedy in which the main characters communicate through notes on their windows. It made me wish for easier days where we did not have cell phones and relied on honest connections. With our countries circumstances where they are, the concept is something that may be impactful for years to come.
Luke and Mia are two lovers who meet at a bar. Luke, the barkeeper, instantly wants to talk with Mia and ask her out. However; Mia is completely new to the city and doesn't want to start anything new. She's had enough of heartbreak and player boys. However, Luke invites Mia out on adventures through her new city. Will Mia fall in love? What messages do Mia and Luke send back and forth? These are questions you'll need to answer upon reading this novel.

I am a heavy reader for romance novels and this one hits most of my checkmarks. Alas. I do wish that we the changing points of view were better marked. There were a few chapters where only Mia's point of view was featured. I yearned to find out what Luke was thinking.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to readers who liked "The Flatshare" by Beth Orleans or "The Bride Test" by Helen Hoang. Readers of contemporary romance or romantic comedy will not be disappointed.

Now, to the review. I thought this book was very cute and checked off a lot of the contemporary necessities one would desire. However, it truly was not my favourite and I did not feel attached to the characters whatsoever. Towards the end of the novel, it just felt as though it was dragging on in terms of the conflict that continuously occurred with every chapter. Just when one was solved, another appeared and it just got a bit annoying after a certain point. Then, it felt as though the ending forced a wrap up when a lot of things were not fully resolved–– such as the conflict between Freya and Mia–– for, instead we just see them in the epilogue. I did, however, find the idea of communicating through their windows very cute and the concept of their non-dates which I wish we got to see more of. Lastly, I also enjoyed the dual point of view and it made the story so much more enjoyable.

An enjoyable contemporary romance. Freeman's characters are appealing, but the plot is weighted toward the latter third of the story.