This cute rom-com had many things I adore–forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, home improvement, coming-of-age. Overall, it was a fun and lighthearted read that still hit some heavier topics with ease.

I absolutely loved everything about Grace–her spunk, self-assurance, determination, work ethic. I especially loved that she wasn’t afraid to call Noah out when he was acting like an entitled jerk. Despite circumstances that could have broken her spirit and forced her to throw in the towel–she forged her own path forward. I love that she never hesitated to stand up for herself.

The magazine storyline was a fun way to do a reality-type idea. I adored the “Trading Spaces” section so much and also all the interactions with their friends and family/found family. The idea of making a house a home, and that a home can be more of an ideological construct really hit the nail on the head for me!

Thanks to SMP Romance and NetGalley for a gifted digital review copy.

So this is a romance where I hated one of the protagonists (as is frequently true, it's the straight, white boy who pissed me off), so I mostly need to use this review to rail against him. A friend jokingly calls Noah "poor little rich boy," but I found it to be true in a more serious vein. He's tired of accusations that he's flaky and decides expanding his property and renovating his house is a sign of adulty commitment that will shut up all his nay-sayers (including himself). His foolproof plan requires him to buy up his neighbor's property, but Grace isn't selling her inheritance, a connection to the grandparents she never knew.

Noah has enormous privilege, but he's worried about "creating" a legacy, an empire, a white man's wet dream for his future. He'll win at any cost. It's just business, after all. The cherry on top is when he calls his renovation team "the staff." Did I miss the part where we time-traveled back to Downton Abbey?? There's a clear direction for personal growth, and I think his journey was only marginally successful. Yes, he learns how to care about other people, respect their wishes, and engage in some philanthropy instead of profit-mongering. But I don't feel I should be impressed by this? This is somewhere in the vicinity of the bare minimum as far as results go. Especially since he makes no progress as the poster child of toxic masculinity, re: absolute discomfort over having an emotional range, nerves about close, honest relationships with other men, and requiring absolute secrecy around his enjoyment of a rom-com.

Now, let's talk about the weirdness that is the romance. I intend to blame Noah for all of this, as well. Apparently, no woman's ever made Noah feel the need to apologize for his actions before (according to him). Um, that's not romantic, Grace. How many women has he made miserable previously during the 33-year phase where he didn't take responsibility for the consequences of his actions? The pacing is also strange. At 42%, he calls Grace his closest friend after his brother. To be clear, at this point, all they've done is fight and be physically attracted to each other. The basis of any solid friendship, naturally. The feels were dialed up to a 10 awful fast with the characters pining for a forever they think they won't get even though both the romance and its obstacles have little basis in reality. It kept me from buying into the tension that it felt so obviously construed. Attraction is all they have going for them and yet this book offers a "fade to black" type situation like excuse me. That was the one thing I thought was on offer here based on all the heavy glances, etc. But no.

So basically, a spoiled rich white boy made minimal progress towards growing a sliver of empathy and considering that there are consequences to his actions, and I was not amused.

🔊Song Pairing: To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra

💭What I thought would happen:

Love thy neighbour. Obviously 😉

📖What actually happens:

Grace is a designer and is about the create a beautiful home, the house of her dreams with the ultimate Reno and to demonstrate her talents. That is until surfer hunk moves in next door.

Hunkie ends up being Noah, son of a real estate mogul where money means nothing. After being pushy about purchasing Grace’s home…they both get fed up with one another. Why won’t she take the money and run and why won’t he just accept that no is no (ugh men)

🗯Thoughts:

Home Renos >>YES!
Hot neighbour>>Yass Queen
Enemies to lovers>>🥵
Executed well…not to my high expectations

Grace: likes puzzles….girl same! Let’s me friends. Loves to run…yay me too!…but prefer a treadmill to the road…what kind of a psychopath are you?! Get away from me

I hate when the name grace is turned into a nickname as Gracie…and of course Noah/Nick/Nathan whatever calls Grace that. Like just stop. I found their transition from hating one another to madly in love to be far too

This book got exciting at exactly 91%. Where was the drama before then?! It was like oh ok now we are talking but the very end kind of just made me gag then swallow it back down. Overall, eh.

We all know that I absolutely LOVED Sophie Sullivan’s amazing book last year, Ten Rules for Faking It. So obsessed still and need to re-read after having finished this one. I loved getting to revisit Chris and Everly while meeting our new couple and watching their relationship grow and develop. How to Love Your Neighbor is much more an enemies to lovers romance or maybe an opposites attract romance? Those two seem to be once in the same lately in romance novels. They are maybe enemies for the first quarter of the book?

If you love a HGTV DIY this might just be the book for you. The main characters spend most of the book working on projects at their houses for a HGTV type magazine/online publication. That part was really fun and I could see this easily translated into a super cute tv show. Hallmark are you picking this one up??

I enjoyed the relationship between these two. It was sweet and not the typical angst enemies to lovers we typically see which I thought was nice. I adore Sophie’s writing style and will continue to read everything she writes. I especially can’t wait for her new book Lessons in Love which is about a science teacher! You know I love a teacher romance. That one is pubbed under her real name: Jody Holford.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my digital and audio copies of this book. I loved combining the two reading experiences.

4 Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to love your neighbor
By Sophie Sullivan

I received an ARC from NetGalley for my review.

Sophie Sullivan brings us an enemies-to-lovers book that starts with Grace Travis. Grace is an interior design student who also holds down several jobs (barista, dog walker, face painter, etc). She currently lives with Morty, a grumpy octogenarian, who she started as his caregiver but became his roommate. However, she reveals that she has inherited a small home from grandparents she never had a chance to meet. When she finally moves in to the only place that gives her a sense of family, she finds out that her neighbor wants to buy her house to build a pool.

Noah Jansen has moved to California to escape his devious father and build a name of his own. He buys his house and realizes that he's going to remodel his home to get into a prestigious magazine. This will bring him out from his father's shadow and show that he's his own man. But to build his dream home, just like the one his grandfather had, he needs the property next door.

From the start Grace and Noah have an attraction to each other. However, they start off on the wrong foot with Noah trying to persuade Grace into selling her house, even doubling what it's worth. They continue to butt heads on different issues regarding their properties. But when Grace proves to be more than meets the eye for Noah, he starts to see that there's more to remodeling a house in order to make it a home.

When Home and Heart magazine decides to have Grace be the interior designer on Noah's remodel in order for him to be in the magazine, the sparks fly and their attraction is even more palpable. However, in order to keep their relationship professional, they decide to fight it.

The push and pull of the two and how they work so well together is well written. I really loved the little insights into interior design and the fun ways that they remodel both homes. The way these two are together was great. I love them both and even the conflict was well done in this book. They both learn what family is and how you can choose your own. Loved all the side characters too!

This book wasn’t what I expected from the cover art, title and description. I thought it would be more of a romantic comedy, but it was a romance that leaned more dramatic. I struggled to get through it because I didn’t feel like there was much conflict. The situations with Noah and Grace’s parents could have given a bit more action, but they both felt like they resolved quickly and were a bit too distant to have a lot of resonance on the story.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.

In this fun enemies-to-lovers romp, we meet Grace. She’s just barely getting by as she finishes up her degree in interior design. Surprise! She has inherited a house from relatives she has never really met before. And wouldn’t you know it, her mom wants the house too. Then we meet Noah. Ahhhh Noah…you know the type. His money talks and if that doesn’t work, then he falls back on his charm. He’s broken away from his father’s business and is trying to make it on his own. It’s not so easy, but it could be if he could JUST. BUY. THE. HOUSE. NEXT. DOOR. I think you can guess who lives there 🤣

In a move no one saw coming, Grace and Noah both begin to work together for a redecorating project featured in a huge magazine that can really launch both their careers, if they can just work together!

I loved this story from start to finish. I’ve heard that Sophie’s first novel features Noah’s brother, so now I must go and read all about him too!

I loved the mix of viewpoints for both Grace and Noah, especially when they would be together, but then leaving each other to deal with their respective family. The romance is Hallmark worthy, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

My only complaint was that when the book ended, I still wanted to know what happened next, and after that, and then after that. I didn’t want to leave this world!

Now I must go finish the book I’ve been reading so I can devour Ten Rules for Faking It!

I really enjoyed this book! I don't read a lot of the sunshine meets grump trope, but this thoroughly was enjoyable. This was my first Sophie Sullivan book, and I want to read more from her in the future. The characterization in this novel was immaculate and I truly felt like I was reading about authentic, real people. The secondary characters were also amazing, which I feel is rare in romance novels. This book made me smile and laugh, while enjoying watching two amazing characters fall in love. I'll update with my full review & link when I post on IG, but I recommend this book for all!

Thank you NetGalley for this lovely and at times heartwarming read. I really enjoyed it!
•••••••
So, now comes the review. It might be a little discombobulated (woo, look at me brining out the big words haha) but I hope you can make sense of everything.
Please be aware that Arc that I have received had come to me largely unedited and does not fully reflect my three star rating. Saying that I will be bringing up the issues that does come from not being edited. So, let’s go!
•••••••
Throughout the story there was glaring issues with sentence structure, punctuation and typing (just a few things weren’t spaced).
Here are a few examples:
“Plus, plus, she’d grown attached…”
“You’d know, since that’s part of what you used to do, it a hell of a long road. But these kids don’t need a place to hang as much as the adults turn to.”
“Can and do do things alone…”

Chapter 28 had double punctuation, two commas back to back.
Spacing with words, also some typing errors throughout the book. Which is okay! That’s what editing is for 🤗
•••••••
•I don’t feel like the story has a long opening, it kind of thrusts you into the book. As if it wants to skip the build up of the story/world. I questioned whether I should care about these characters as quickly as the author would have liked. Frankly, I didn’t, but I did as the story continued. So, that was more than okay for me.
•The found family aspect in the book is really wonderful and develops to something very special as the book goes a long. The pseudo-grandfather is one of my favorite characters. He is such a lovable grump.
• The book has dual perspective and both of them are both very strong, they have clear concise voice but the male perspective does push out females by a smidge. Saying this I do find Noah to be kind of manipulative douche at times. He constantly apologizes for his behavior, but never attempts to truly stop hurting the heroine and put her feelings in consideration. This happened throughout the entirety of the book and irked me non stop. On the other hand, he also had very sweet moments with her.
For example, the painting scene was so sweet and gave me what I was looking for in the book which was a fluttery heart eyed moment (it’s amazing you guys!! I hope the scene stayed!). It shows that the author has the ability to truly be loved in the romance world.
•••••••
The book continues but as it progresses it gets cornier and the overall story becomes repetitive and way to long for my taste. I like my tension and angst in my books and this one they had their HEA way to early. It made the book kind of come off pointless at times.
But overall I really hope everyone reads the final product, shoot I may myself at one time to see if they fixed mistakes. For example, the really spontaneous PowerPoint presentation that nobody in their right mind can completely in a few hrs. Or the weird insults “don’t be a suck”, the non distinctive texts and magazine articles (they weren’t tangible and completely blended together). Anyways, read this! Give it a chance and I hope you guys love it!

This grump/sunshine, enemies to lovers romance is a cute, breezy low-stakes story (closed door, if that’s important to you). But I didn’t love this one — I had a hard time feeling invested in the characters, and the tension between them seemed lacking. They got together almost too easily and the conflict ended up feeling very contrived. Ultimately, I just didn’t really care about these characters. Overall it was a quick read with a sweet romance, but it just didn’t connect for me.

There are so many parts of this book I want to gush about, but I know I’ll struggle to include them all to the capacity they deserve.

From the first chapter, I was hooked. Largely because the characters are captivating, but also because I wanted to know more of their back stories and what brought them to the situations they were finding themselves in. I also loved that the grandfather figure was named Morty, since that was my own grandfather’s name.

This is a phenomenal enemies-to-lovers romcom that had me smiling from start to finish. It also has a villain you’ll love to hate. To put it simply: there’s absolutely nothing about this book I’d want to change.

Grace is the epitome of a strong and spunky female protagonist. She knows what she wants and she chases after it, not letting anyone or anything get in her way – but she also has closed herself off to other people, assuming they will only ever break their promises.

Noah is someone who has largely gotten by on his money and his looks, but has been desperate to escape the pressure of living under his dad’s influence. He wants more for his life, but doesn’t realize what or how to make it happen. Until he meets Grace and everything explodes in tension, heat, bickering, and bets, but soon also manages to bring clarity to every situation in his life. They bond over dysfunctional parents, a passion for work, a desire and love for home renovation projects, and a newfound appreciation for other people in their lives.

From grand gestures to perfectly matched characters, HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR is the must-read you need in your life.

I really enjoyed this one. I am a sucker for books with old houses and renovations and that is what drew me in but I ended up loving the characters. The book had great banter and wit and all of the shenanigans were done in good humor. I loved the inclusion of the seniors even if they were a bit cliché. I still really enjoyed them. The romance was sweet. The secondary characters were all great too and added a lot to the story.

Humorous story of neighbors, Grace and Noah, learning how to get along even though they are at cross purposes regarding Grace's house. Slight plot but enjoyable.

A chance encounter at the beach brings Grace and Noah together. Little do they know from that brief encounter that they’ll soon be neighbors. Grace is an up and coming interior designer, trying to make her dreams come true. Noah is known in NY but has moved to California to try and create his own life.

This book was light and the characters were likable. There were a lot of fade to black scenes, which I tend to prefer. While this book was a cute and fun romance read, there was nothing special that stood out to me from others - 3 stars.

I'm a huge fan of standalone series in romances, so I was excited to pick up this book from the author of '10 Rules for Faking It.'
I did really enjoy the first half of this book, and the plot seemed like it could lend to some great enemies to lovers banter. However, the 'lovers' portion felt a bit rushed, and the last half of this book felt a bit lackluster. The third act conflict felt a bit weak, but I did appreciate that it didn't fall on the "miscommunication" woes to drive thes two apart only to realize they are in love.

The friendships were sweet, especially between Grace and her found family, and Noah and his brothers. Overall, I did enjoy this book and I will definitely read the final book in this romance series. I would recommend to fans of found family, HGTV, and The Hating Game.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book isn't listed as part of a series, but it definitely is. Sophie Sullivan's first book "Ten Rules for Faking It" was about the brother Chris. This book is Noah's and there is another brother and a sister, so I definitely smell a series here. This is not a single POV Contemporary Romance, which I usually don't like, so extra points for that. I love the characters and how each handles their respective families. It is written with a light touch, but there are some serious issues there too.

Is it love or hate at first sight? These two do not like each other on their first meeting, but there is a definite - zing happening.

Noah Jansen has relocated from New York to the Beach Cities of sunny SoCal. He is trying to establish himself apart from his father as a developer, but daddy dearest doing his best to impede his success. Noah has found a great beach house, a place to call home, and if he can buy the shack nest door, it would be perfect. Unfortunately, the owner, a hot little number, has no interest in selling. Noah has heard that before, but everyone has a price, and the businessman just has to play this the right way. Or is he going to get played?

Grace Travis has basically raised herself. Mommy Dearest cut ties with her family and really had little use even for Grace. When Grace inherited her grandparent's beach bungalow, she saw it as the chance to have a place and roots. Grace is about to graduate design school and start her life. Everything is good, except for the handsome hunk next door who wants to buy her house. Grace has no time for a man until he comes wrapped up with the design job of her dreams.

Talking to Noah Jansen was like being on a Tilt A Whirl. What would kissing him be like? Nope. Hard stop sign on that one. What was she thinking?

Grace Travis had a well outlined plan for her life. No handsome surfer dude turned rich businessman was going to throw her off track. Growing up wasn't easy for Grace, but she knew where she wanted to be and was getting closer and closer to that goal.

Noah was the epitome of poor little rich boy is some people's eye. His family issues center around his father, but Noah knew he was very fortunate. Still, he wanted to make a name for himself that didn't involve his dad. Meeting Grace was not in his plans. Falling for Grace was the last thing he thought would happen.

Such a great story! I am definitely going back to read Ten Rules for Faking It, Chris and Everly's story.

Sophie Sullivan brought me in as a reader from the very beginning of the book, and I never looked back!

How to Love Your Neighbor is a sweet, endearing story of Grace and her journey to find herself while dealing with her neighbor Noah who is pestering her to buy her house to use as his pool house. While this book is the typical enemies to lovers trope, Sullivan does a great job developing the characters of Grace and Noah. Grace is a young girl moving into her grandparents house after they passed away. She is trying to get out from under her mother’s negative ways. Noah Jansen is the grumpy, hot neighbor that just moved from New York. Noah wants to redo his house for a magazine spread and asks Grace to be his interior designer. This book is very predictable but has the reader Pulling for the characters throughout.

4.5/5 stars! I thought this was a refreshing book!

Noah Jansen is a wheeler dealer in real estate. Breaking away from his dominant father in NYC, he makes a bold move to California to build his own business. The house he finds on the beach calls to him for a home. If only his neighbor would take his offer to buy her house, then he could put in a pool. Only Gracie is not selling, no matter what he offers. Left to her in her grandparent's will, it is her first home. Noah tries his manipulative technic to convince to sale, but she sees through his plan. What starts out as adversaries, eventually becomes the real home they were looking for. Meet cute adversaries and witty repartee are the formula for a laugh out loud romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is a sweet, hilarious, emotional, page-turner about how two complete opposites, who believe they have their lives all planned out, learn surprising things about themselves, love, and life from each other while renovating their homes after unexpectedly becoming next-door neighbors. Sullivan’s descriptions are vibrant, making you feel as if you are right there on the beach, amid the fiery, chemistry-filled, passionate clashes between her two leads, or caught up in the excitement of their home renovations. Her ability to fully develop flawed, messy, frustrating characters who always seem to jump to the wrong conclusion or make bad choices without thinking first that evolve naturally during the novel and stealthily sneak into your heart, making you want them to succeed, is special. I love how she brings to life, vividly describing this passionate, visceral emotional, intensely sexual connection between her heroes and heroines that’s incredibly warm and sexy. It gives you the feels so keenly that having fade-to-black and closed-door sexual content works perfectly.

Grace Travis inherits a house on the beach from her estranged grandparents, whom she never met thanks to her toxic mother. It fits right into her plans/dreams to finish Interior Design School, fix up the house, make it her home, and start her own interior design business. Her plans are thrown for a loop, however, when wealthy real estate developer Noah Jansen moves in next door with plans to buy her house and expand his house onto her property, one way or another. But Noah’s not expecting her complete refusal to sell it and his complete ability to convince her otherwise. She’s unprepared for his stubborn refusal to take no for an answer. So begins the battle to see who will be the last one standing in this battle between reluctant neighbors.

Noah’s self-assured, stubborn, intuitive, and privileged, desperate to prove himself to the world—especially his father. An independent, driven, intelligent, hard worker, self-starter, and jack-of-all-trades, Grace wants to make a better life for herself than she had as a child. Grace and Noah share immediate electric chemistry that is fiercely emotional and sexual. Before they know it, they slowly transition from enemies to friends to something indefinably necessary to each other’s lives. Though their approaches to life are vastly different, they share more in common than expected. Both are deeply afraid of becoming their parents and, in doing so, have shut off parts of themselves from vital aspects of life. Having each other crash into their lives forces Grace and Noah to face this. Noah learns to rely on something besides his logic and intellect and relate one-on-one using his heart and emotions. Grace realizes she doesn’t have to fear having a relationship with a man—Noah—or opening her life and heart to love and trust him.

Exploring themes of family, belonging, and self-discovery, How to Love Your Neighbor is a sexy, funny, heartfelt, and romantic novel about letting the past go, finding home, and opening your heart to love. I highly recommend it for fans of enemies-to-lovers rom coms and home renovation and design.