This book has zero chemistry between the main characters. I’m having a hard time even writing a review because I barely got through the book.

The story starts almost in the middle, as we’re meant to understand what is going on and who our MC is, yet I felt very left in the dark. I don’t like starting off already behind.

I absolutely hated the male lead and found him insufferable. His POV was written in a very choppy manner; again, we were thrust into the middle of this story and had to play catch up. It was obvious the author wanted us to like him, but I can’t even remember his name.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

You all know how much I love a great rom-com right?! Whether it’s a movie, tv show, or book, I am always down for romantic comedies. If you are a fan of the genre, you will also know that the market is full of great rom-coms and I feel like there is always a hot new release just begging for me to read it. It is always so hard for me to pick which ones I want to read first.

So how do I decide which ones to pick? Sometimes it’s by feel and if I have openings on my calendar, other times I have to choose based on my favorite romantic comedy troupe (enemies to lovers). When this book came up for review that was what steered me in this direction. I love enemies to lovers because I think it sparks electric chemistry between the characters, so it’s always a hard troupe for me to pass on.

This one had the extra element of house fixer-upper added to the mix and of course I love home improvement shows so this book hit a couple of high notes for me just based on the description. I also know that this is Sophie Sullivan’s sophomore novel, while I haven’t read her first book I know a lot of others who did and all raved about her wit and storytelling so I jumped at the chance to read this one!

Summary

Most Anticipated for 2022 by: PopSugar * Buzzfeed * USA Today

Enemies-to-lovers meets HGTV in this frothy, effervescent romantic comedy from Sophie Sullivan, author of Ten Rules for Faking It.

Interior Design School? Check. Cute house to fix up? Check.

Sexy, grumpy neighbor who is going to get in the way of your plans? Check. Unfortunately.

Grace Travis has it all figured out. In between finishing school and working a million odd jobs, she’ll get her degree and her dream job. Most importantly, she’ll have a place to belong, something her harsh mother could never make. When an opportunity to fix up—and live in—a little house on the beach comes along, Grace is all in. Until her biggest roadblock moves in next door.

Noah Jansen knows how to make a deal. As a real estate developer, he knows when he’s found something special. Something he could even call home. Provided he can expand by taking over the house next door–the house with the combative and beautiful woman living in it.

With the rules for being neighborly going out the window, Grace and Noah are in an all-out feud. But sometimes, your nemesis can show you that home is always where the heart is.

“This is a novel you’ll want to read over and over again.” – USA Today (summary from Goodreads)

Review

I felt like this one was going to be more enemies to lovers, and it was that but only at the basic level. This one felt more like a sunshine and the grump troupe to me. Grace is vibrant and energetic while Noah is basically a grumpy Gus about everything— I loved this troupe more than I was expecting. The novel started off strong for me with lots to giggle about and enjoy. Grace was a wonderful character and I loved how she came from humble/wrong side of the track beginnings. She worked hard to achieve her dreams and her future and never shied away from hard work or a challenge. I loved her character and totally connected with her very early on in the book. Noah was the complete opposite of Grace in some ways. He came from money and basically thinks he can throw money at Grace to make her sell her property to him. But he has this other redeeming side to him that I loved. He wants to make his own way in his world free from his family influence etc. I appreciated that about him and I found that clearly opposites attract in this one! Grace and Noah together had outstanding chemistry together.

The story overall flowed pretty well but I did feel like it lost some momentum in the middle. Overall it was a super cute story and had a lot of little giggles but the middle just slowed down a bit for me and I am not really sure why, I just felt like it needed a little something more to keep it moving along. The beginning and end were paced well, it was just something in the middle felt lacking. I think a lot of people go into rom-coms expecting to read more of a literary rom-com meaning there is a lot of character development and flushed out backstory etc but often in romances (comedy or otherwise) the focus is on the romance story rather than on the characters themselves. This one is similar in that regard. The characters a relatable and have some great qualities but we don’t really get into lengthy and detailed backstories and MAJOR character development. What we do get to see though it the meet cute, the attraction and chemistry between the characters that makes up the love story.

Stories like this are so great for quick reading whether it’s by the pool or on a plane to your vacation destination. It’s a quick, easy read that will give you some laughs, characters to enjoy and some funny scenarios to enjoy plus a HEA! For me that’s all I was looking for, something fun, happy, and funny and that is exactly what I got in this one. If you love romantic comedies this is a great one to pick up, plus it’s been on all the ‘most anticipated’ lists for this year and for good reason! It’s a solid, well written, charming romance that I throughly enjoyed!

Book Info and Rating

Format: 352 pages, paperback

Published: January 18 2022 by St Martin’s Griffin

ISBN: 9781250624185 (ISBN10: 120624185)

Free review copy provided by publisher, St Martin’s Griffin, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: romance, rom-com

Who doesn’t need an enemies to lovers, slow burn contemporary romance?! There really is something about predictable romances that I can’t get enough of 😂

She moves in next door, he’s a rich asshole who thinks he can buy anything, including her house, with money and won’t take no for an answer (insert eyeroll here)! Noah, aka the rich asshole, gave me bad vibes!! If I moved in beside him I’d definitely pretend I wasn’t home if he ever rang my doorbell BUT I did love Grace who was really just trying to mind her business, live her best life and finish school. This book is giving us competition and a bit of tension but it is fade to black so for that it gets one chilli pepper out of five for spice.

Thank you to the author and @stmartinspress for this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first Sophie Sullivan novel, and I quite enjoyed it! Noah and Grace are a fun couple, and I liked the competitive spirit between them, while not overwhelming the plot. The secondary characters were fun and I hope to see more books in this series.

This was a fairly good book. It wasn't the best but it was entertaining and I did enjoy it.

I recommend it.

I have a little dilemma with this one… Although this book includes everything I like in my romances, there was a constant feeling of missing something. I love grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers tropes and a good laugh during my read, but unfortunately this book wasn’t that funny or captivating. And although the author tried to convince me that there’s super fiery chemistry between Noah and Grace, for me it was completely undetectable. Another downside was the lack of tangible passion. There's nothing more disappointing for me that fade-to-black scenes, especially with non-existent connection or sexual tension between the characters. So, would I recommend this book? As a time-filler, yes. As an amazing and memorable romance? Not necessarily.

This one is a no for me. This is sold as either an enemies to lovers or grumpy/sunshine and my word it is a hot mess of those two things. I typically like those tropes but they just do not work here. The main couple have a myriad of emotions every time they see each other. It starts with hate, then because they "see something in each other's eyes" or "feel a tingle clear to their toes" they start to soften and then one or the other says something wrong and they both blow up and run off.

This has happened AT LEAST seven times in the first half of this novel And I just can't with it anymore. Sometimes when a book is like this I can at least find a side character to hang on to but no. While there's a group of side characters there weren't any that really spoke to me or made me want to keep reading.

Honestly, I feel like both of these main characters are realizing they have things wrong with themselves due to past trauma and rather than seeking out therapy and helpful coping mechanisms, they've decided that having sex with the neighbor they don't really like is going to cure all of their problems. You know because they'll bring the best out of each other and all of their terrible personality traits will just magically disappear and it's just dumb. So dumb.

After absolutely adoring Sophie Sullivan's previous book, I was very excited to dive into this one. I think I made it to 25% in this book and I couldn't stand it anymore. Both of the main characters are absolutely insufferable, completely whiny and have no redeeming qualities. I couldn't find anything to care about in this book at all, maybe because I don't care about home renovations or interior design or spoiled rich kids, but this book was a HUGE miss for me and I won't be finishing it.

Loved this story! It was funny, sweet, heartfelt, and full of sparkling chemistry.

"Whether he was fighting or flirting with her, she made him feel alive."

Noah Jansen is trying to make a name for himself away from his father's shadow. Grace Travis is working multiple jobs, as well as finishing her college degree. After a funny meet-cute on the beach, when they finally meet properly, Grace is disappointed that the hot surfer guy is a jerk. What follows is how these two neighbours fight the spark that's obviously between, whilst becoming friends and work colleagues. The journey for both of them was heartwarming, tender, and a little fiery.

"She felt like she had a hundred heartbeats and he was controlling every one."

I loved that neither had been looking for love, yet love came snapping at their heels. I adored that they both brought something to the table. Grace believed in Noah and his ability to see things through. I loved that she brought real meaning to his life and made him think about what really mattered. In turn, he showed her that he was willing to put her first and be there for her - that her heart would be safe in his hands. I swooned at all the gestures he made for his apologies. This was such a heartfelt story brimming with close friendships and family, humour, creativity, and happy love.

I adored this romance between Grace and Noah. This is a perfect book to pick up for the sunshine and grump trope.

We're introduced to Grace who is almost done with her interior design degree and she unexpectedly inherits a house from her grandparents she never knew. So in addition to several other jobs she holds down to pay for school, she is planning to fix up her house.

She runs into Noah on the beach when she's walking dogs. So she's surprised when later she runs into her next door neighbor, Noah. He puts on his charming work persona to try to buy her property outright, but she's not budging.

From there, they develop a somewhat strained friendship through some misunderstandings and chemistry they are trying to avoid. But their friendship grows and evolves, and they eventually start to wonder why they were rivals in the first place.

I loved their relationships with their friends and the family that they've made. I enjoyed seeing them work through some of their personal struggles as well.

I really enjoyed my time with this book and would definitely recommend if you like the sunshine and grump trope and a feel good friend group.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

How to Love Your Neighbor is the kind of book where you just pause and immerse yourself in the story. The book is very character driven and focuses a lot on Grace’s and Noah’s growth.

I loved getting to know both Grace and Noah. After a tumultuous childhood, Grace is desperate for family, and to belong… Enter her maternal grandparents’ house that they willed to her. Never mind that Grace never met them, she’s desperate to hold on to it, because it’s the only tie that she has to family left. It was rewarding seeing Grace eventually realize family isn’t always confined to just blood, and that sometimes, it’s the people we meet along the way who are deserving of the title.

Noah, meanwhile, wants to be taken seriously by everyone around him. Not satisfied with being just the face of the family business, he sets out to do business away from his father. Noah is used to getting what he wants, and one of my favorite scenes in the book is where Grace called out how manipulative he can be, and Noah realizing that he doesn’t want to be that guy. He makes the conscious choice to change, and it’s always gratifying seeing a character realize that he needs to grow.

I enjoyed reading about Grace and Noah’s romance. There was a very entertaining meet cute, and then they realize that Noah wants to buy the house that Grace isn’t interested in selling, we shift to fun enemies to lovers scenes. Soon after, Noah and Grace become friends, and there’s nothing I love more than when characters take their time in getting to know each other. They’re so supportive, and I love how they always supported and encouraged each other.

All in all, I enjoyed reading How to Love Your Neighbor. There were times however in the latter half of the book where I felt the pace slowed down too much, and I wish we could have had more scenes with Grace and Noah as an actual couple. They’re such a perfect match!

I can't wait to see what Sophie Sullivan writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin, and Sophie Sullivan for the e-arc of How To Love Your Neighbor in exchange for an honest review.

I did not like Noah Jansen starting out, but that is the whole point. He is very self-centered and entitled, but quickly changes his ways after meeting Grace. I didn’t feel the tension that I like in a book that is supposed to be enemies-to-lovers. That portion seemed very short, but the romance was still good. The interior design aspect was really cool and definitely made me want to clean and redecorate my own house.


I enjoyed that the characters communicated and there was very little of the miscommunication trope that is so prevalent in the Romance genre. Noah and Grace encouraged each other and pushed each other towards their goals.

This is adorable enemies to lovers romance that makes you believe that there is someone out 5here that makes you whole and helps you heal from childhood trauma and the future holds more than the past. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I voluntarily received a copy of "How to Love Your Neighbor" via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Grace Travis is almost done design school and then she will finally be able to go down to one job - her dream job. After moving into her grandparents old house her life gets more complicated when she meets her neighbor. Noah Jansen is a real estate developer and he wants her house.

This book was a miss for me but there were things I did like and I want to start with those. Grace's found family and friends were the stars of this book. Especially Morty who was such a wonderful grandfather character. I also live the idea of a Home and Garden type magazine and having house renovation at the center of the plot was a really fun choice.

This was definitely sold as being an 'enemies to lovers' and though they started out that way the tension didn't last long and it became evident very quickly that they felt romantically for eachother. Their romance also felt like it was put second to the home renovation and the familial drama on both sides. The romance just became lost and by the end of the book.I felt very disconnected from the characters.

TW: Psychological abuse from parent specifically gaslighting and coercion

4.00 stars
-
TW: Toxic Relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse, Death, Sexual Content.
-
For once in Grace's life, she has it all figured out - between working odd jobs and finishing up design school, she's been left a house that used to belong to her grandparents. Grace finds the perfect opportunity to renovate the house and make it hers, in walks in Noah Jansen real estate developer who has it all, and wants to buy Grace's house in an effort to make his own property his 'dream home'. I absolutely loved the banter between these two, I was a fan of how Grace wouldn't budge on her decision to sell the house no matter what.

By a twist of fate, Grace is hired on to decorate the interior of Noah's house - she accepts as it's a good way to get her work out there and in publications. This was the perfect mix of sunshine meets grump trope. I really enjoyed reading about how the two characters learned from each other allowing their personalities and values to grow. The book had me laughing out loud but enjoyed all of the serious moments as well, it was nice seeing the two of them bond over their own personal parental dysfunctions.

It was clear from the start that the two of them would end up together, they had immediate chemistry - it would have been nice to see a bit more love/hate banter and not immediately have us figure out the two of them were falling for one and the other.
-
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read this one because I changed my kindle email address and forgot to update it on Netgalley, so it never arrived to my device. *facepalm*

I really enjoyed this! Beach read, summer read, romance!! The characters were likable and I felt like Grace was pretty relatable. I loved the character complexities and dynamics between Grace and Morty and even Noah, as characters themselves but also in their relationships with each other. I did feel like Noah could be whiny at times, but honestly, that just added to his character development!

I LOVE a good fixer-upper story! The home improvement setting is one of my absolute favorites.

The side characters in How To Love Your Neighbor were really what made this story for me. I adored Morty and Tilly, and I wanted to be part of Grace and Noah’s friend group once their two sets of friends combined.

I loved the interior design scenes, especially the challenge that Grace set up with all their friends. What a fun way to get two houses completed quickly!

What surprised me was that for such good characters, the banter between the MCs was a little lacking. Their exchanges seemed overly monosyllabic. In multiple instances, all Noah said to Grace was “you’re cute”. This would be fine once or twice, but after a while it seemed like it was just the only compliment he could think of. There were a few interactions where they were supposed to be flirting, but only used three-word sentences consisting of single-syllable words.

I also would’ve liked more character development and resolution of the MC’s pasts. No spoilers here, but…

Overall, a cute, fun story, but not one that blew me away.

Gracy and Noah are great opposites that attract enemies to lovers' story that was wonderfully written. Sophie Sullivan is a new to me author, but this won't be the only book I read of hers.
Each interaction between Gracy and Noah was intense no matter the situation. I love Gracy's tenacity in achieving her goals. She is not going to be swayed no matter how handsome Noah is. Noah is not afraid to face a challenge, and Gracy is the ultimate challenge.

A fun and spark-filled romcom! I’m a sucker for a good romance, and though I can’t say this is one of my favorite romance novels, it was still a fun read overall. It’s a perfect read for a sunny day in the park!

If you’re looking for a lighthearted read that has some great tension and fun characters, this is for you!​ I really enjoyed the situation that was set up! Though of course, the plot itself was somewhat predictable, it simply brings a new twist on the neighbor/boy next door trope.

The only thing I had a bit of trouble with was the voice of the Noah. I had a hard time believing someone would speak that way (it was just a bit too poetic or perfectly spoken in my opinion). That was really the only reason I​ found the story a bit cheesy. However, I tend to forgive it a bit given that this was a quick romance read.