How to Love Your Neighbor is very a cute, enemies to lovers romance with a DIY/HGTV take.

Do I love enemies to lovers? You bet your bottom dollar I do.

Do I love home renovation? Hells to the yes.

But do I love closed door romance? NO. Nope. Nee. Non. Nein. Na.

Let's just say it's not for me. I need the hot sizzling passion in front of me with the door blown off the hinges. Hell, blow up the room, I need the smut.

Even with my extreme view on closed doorness, it was a charming book and a fun story.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded up because it went down real easy & I'll do it again

<I>When Irresistible Force Met Immovable Object</i> is a romantic-fiction staple. The reason it works, time upon time after time, is that the plot never stops feeling...probable, plausible, possible. "Surely *I* will succeed where others have failed," we think with the point-of-view character. The gendered expressions of this...a man who needs to Fix It, a woman who needs to Change It...are both present here.

Why does it work? Because we're told it will, does it become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Um...how's that workin' in real life, then....

So reading this iteration of the old story is pointless, then? Nope. Not a bit of it, as you'll find out when you settle in for a dank winter's afternoon of page-borne cheerfulness. Two people with frankly selfish agendas meet with no obvious path to compromise, only of necessity the victory of Party A over Party B. For most of human history that set-up plays out that way. Given the nature of Grace's upbringing I expected it to be that way this time too, with her gladly giving up her utterly unknown grandparents' little bungalow for the handsome prince's home. Why, there's a way we can subvert expectations, thinks Author Sullivan...so instead of making Grace a gracious loser who wins the bigger prize, the neighbors mend their fences (figurative and literal) in more lasting ways. Therein the way the subversion works best.

What plays well with me, maybe predictably, is Grace's (ugh) gracious (sorry) inclusion of elders in her life. Her deeply toxic mother wasn't a mom, and her thus-inevitable lifelong search for found family is relatable to me. What makes it even sweeter, in the sugary sense, is that she volunteers for caretaker duties with older men who need her for practical reasons...Morty's the proverbial old fool whose unwillingness to grow up even as he grows old will be the death of him much to his gal-pal (NOT "girlfriend" ugh!) Tilly's disgust...but whom she in her turn needs for the long-missing and urgently needed sense of Belonging that older people anchor younger ones with. It is something I've played out from both sides at different times in my life, and it's always worked out well. So far.

So that's the plus side...the downside is real too. The two characters alternate viewpoints, which I approve of as a device in these "he-said-she-said" narratives. The execution...
<blockquote>"You're a very curious and capable woman."

She beamed at him. "Thank you."

He just laughed. Maybe the women he usually hung out with liked different compliments.
–and–
Biting his cheek to keep from smiling, he nodded, then asked, "You think I'm handsome?"

She turned away before her eyeroll was complete. "I'm about to Julia Roberts your credit cards so make sure you're prepared."</blockquote>
No points for guessing which is from whose point of view. Grace gets the best lines...it is really her book, so fair enough...but if you go to the trouble of setting up the dichotomy, even out the benefits for it to work as well as it can. I was more convinced that these insta-luuuv sufferers were being presented to me this way so I would really understand why the lust each quite justifiably fell into went deeper. This was undermined by the aforementioned inequality of quality, if you'll forgive the excursion into recursion.

There is quite a cast of characters to keep track of...Rosie, Chris are the BFFs but Chris is also a sibling; Kyle's a contractor whose life as a dad we're treated to glimpses of but Josh is another whose appearances are frequent enough that I was left wondering why he wasn't a bigger part of the story...though I myownself don't see that as a problem, it does contribute to what I honestly feel is a big one: It's too long. I'm interested in Grace's interior design process, I'm appreciative of that layer of verisimilitude offered me, and I still want less of it. The exchanges with Morty and Tilly are amusing, but honestly? Less is more, emulate Le Corbusier when you're inching up on 400pp. And, I realize this is probably just me, but good goddesses please no more painting-as-foreplay! I got headaches from it.

In the end, as one knows it will, the story's HEA comes as no surprise but does come wrapped in a semi-lethal dose of feel-goodish sweetness. It's a lovely moment, the one that ends the book, and would film well...something I don't doubt was in the author's mind...and it gives us the thing that romantic fiction readers need: closure without foreclosure. The parties are together, big shock; but they're not on shaky ground, there's no magical elimination of the obstacles in their world. That always means to me that the author's got respect for her readers. Using deus ex machina is always a cheap trick and it's one that Sophie Sullivan did not succumb to the obvious pointers to use. Kudos for that, and could you please use your PowerPoint skills to wean other authors off it?

Grace has had to work hard her whole life. So when the grandparents she never met leaves her their house, she's hesitant but all in and ready to start her life.

Noah is used to throwing money at his problems and getting what he wants. Always looking for the next big distraction. Until he meets his biggest distraction yet.

This was such a fun read. All the challenging and banter made me laugh and shake my head. The attraction between Gracie and Noah was very obvious but so was the fact that neither of them were in the position to start something serious.

My favorite part of the story though- the individual character development. Both Gracie and Noah overcame so much. Watching them grow as individuals and thus being able to treat the other better, it just did something to me 🥺

.... & Morty. 😭🥺

Read if you love-
🎨Meet cute turned enemies turned lovers🤣
🎨Big character development
🎨Slow burn
🎨 HGTV

Even tho this came out yesterday, I received this copy from NetGalley.
I still had plenty of time to read and review it. I don't know of this other but I did really like this book. I can not wait to read more of this story. my favorite character in this story was Grace. I likes lot of the characters. I couldn't put it down. I have trouble sleeping so I read tell I feel sleepy..

I received this ARC for an honest review. This is my first book by Sophie Sullivan, and I thought the story was good read. It really is 3.5 stars. It is a story about Grace and Noah. Grace was raised by a very selfish mother who is the perpetual victim. Noah is from money with also a very selfish father. Noah tried to my his father proud, but no matter what he did it was not enough. So, Noah decided to move away from his father and to make it on his own California. Grace is about to graduate from design school. Grace inherited a home from her grandparents, and Noah bought the property next door. He kept bugging Grace to sell to him, but she refused. When a magazine wanted to do a story on Noah and him remodeling his house, the writer found out about Grace being a designer and agreed to do the story if Grace was the designer of the project.
Not saying much more because I did enjoy this story and don’t want to give more away. It was a cute story, and I will read another book by Sophie Sullivan. My suggestion is to give it a try. I bet you’ll enjoy it, also.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to leave an honest review. This was the first book I have ever read by Sophie Sullivan and it was a cute and fast read. She has an excellent writing style that flows smoothly. The characters were a lot of fun and really gets you engaged in their story.

This book follows Grace, an interior design student, and Noah, an investor/developer. It all starts when Noah tries to buy Grace's house that is next door to his so he can expand and have a pool. When Grace turns him down (multiple times), it becomes a challenge. The problem is the attraction the two feel towards each other even while they are fighting. When a popular magazine wants to use Noah's home remodel as their next story, the caveat is that Grace gets to be the designer. This puts the two in very close working proximity and they learn a lot about each other. Even with their scarred upbringings, the two seem to find a way to make everything work...even with a few bumps along the way.

Overall a very cute read. It had some great humor and was a cute love story.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book, and I definitely enjoyed it! Grace is such a powerhouse and a bucket full of sunshine and Noah is the grumpy exterior, gooey on the inside character that I just adore. Seeing their enemies to frenemies to friends and beyond relationship grow, alongside a lot of mutual self introspection and healing and realizations was just such a lovely journey! Plus the supporting cast of characters kept the laughs coming! If you want a contemporary romance (and one that keeps it on the non-smutty side) this is one you must read! I just loved this story and the ride it took the reader on!

Neighbors Noah and Grace are anything but friendly. After inheriting her grandmother's little beach house all Grace wants to do is make it a home. Real estate developer Noah wants to expand his home and needs to buy the house next door to make it happen. When these two are not arguing over repairs and legal property lines they can't ignore their simmering chemistry. Noah is used to getting what he wants and will do whatever is necessary to charm the pants off Grace to get the house. Between their witty banter and smoldering kisses, what happens when Grace discovers Noah's manipulation?

I love how both characters are independent and stand their ground. Grace is determined to succeed on her own and Noah uses his money to take care of things. As they deal with their family issues they learn valuable lessons about themselves and each other. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

This is contemporary romance that definitely had some really funny moments in the love to hate relationship between Grace and Noah. Noah has left his life working in his father's footsteps behind him and is trying to forge a name for himself in a new city. He covets the land the empty house next door sits on and has been wanting to buy it so he can build his dream house. Grace inherited the home and feels attachment to it and moves in with no intentions to sell, no matter the price offered. Although I loved the characters and the idea behind the setup, I enjoyed the family drama each of them were facing more- that felt more compelling than the enemies to lovers setup which felt a little forced. I almost wish more time had been spent there. This is not a steamy read - more of a clean read. Because this was billed as as an enemies to lovers romance, I was anticipating more angst, tension, steam and witty bantering but the enemies to lovers aspect was very minor, in all aspects. This was really more of a sweet, low angst, slow burn romance and I really did enjoyed parts of it.

This was a fun rom-com. I really liked Grace and Noah’s characters, the way their relationship formed, and their overall growth. I loved that this had dual POVs. There was strong themes of found family which I thought was well done. All of the side characters were fun additions to the story. There were a few parts of the story that I felt didn’t flow very well, but ultimately it didn’t take away from the story. All of the home renovations were also a fun part of the story.

I would recommend this one to someone looking for a light-hearted, fun rom-com. Especially if you also enjoy shows on HGTV.

How to Love Your Neighbor was a cute and fun romance. It nice take on a grumpy/sunshine with home renovations mixed in.

When Grace Travis finally decides to move into the house her grandparents left her, her happiness is short-lived when her arrogant neighbor, Noah Jensen, tries to buy her house. But Grace is determined to put down real roots and won't let the rich and annoyingly handsome Noah stand in her way. Noah isn't use to taking no for an answer, but soon realizes that he's normal tactics won't work on Grace. As the two try to live next door to each other, without strangling one another, their attraction to one another grows.. When an unexpected opportunity forces these two to work together as a team, will they finally give into their attraction?

Although this is a romance, this story also deals with complicated parental relationships, self-doubt, found family and learning how to trust the people who love you the most. It was great to see both Grace and Noah working on their separate issues and realizing how they could support one another in the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that was fun while touching on topics that really resonated with me personally. It was also nice to see Everly and Chris make appearances in this book (they were in book one). The only thing that didn't feel wrapped up was Grace's house at the end. I wanted to know what happened with it! Lol. I'm hoping that Wes (Chris & Noah's older brother) is Sophie's next book. It would be great to see Wes and also see their father who has been mentioned a lot in these first two books.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

The first time Grace Travis met Noah Jansen, she fell for him. Literally. Two of the five dogs she was walking on the beach headed his way, thinking the man’s paddleboard was a big dog toy, and she couldn’t stop them fast enough to not get pulled down to the sand herself. She saw then that he was a rather good looking man. It wasn’t until later that she realized he was her neighbor, and that he would be trouble.

Grace worked several jobs to put herself through design school. She walked dogs, she worked at a coffee shop, and when her professor offered her a bonus to come paint faces at her daughter’s birthday party, Grace signed up to that too. But the thing she is most excited about is the bungalow at the beach that belongs to her. It had belonged to her grandparents, and when they passed, they left the bungalow to Grace, not to her mother. Grace had been waiting to move, making sure that Morty, her landlord, no longer needed her to be his caregiver. So when Morty started dating again, Grace felt it was okay to move on, and she called in some favors to help drag her few possessions to her new home.

Noah has just moved to L.A. from New York City. In the city, he has been a successful businessman, never wanting for a beautiful woman to attend lavish events on his arm. He had been successful, in part, working for his father. But he had also been undermined by his father in several real estate deals, and Noah finally got tired of that and moved across the country. He found a beautiful bungalow on the beach, and he intends to renovate it. He could add a pool and a great backyard, if he could get his next-door neighbor to sell her place. No one’s lived there the whole time he’s been in town, so he figures he could make a generous offer and then plan exactly where to put his new pool. He didn’t bet on Grave Travis.

When he sees the truck outside her place with the bedroom furniture, Noah goes over to introduce himself and make a generous offer. But as soon as he talks to Grace about selling, he realizes that it won’t be as easy as he first thought. This woman, this beautiful woman, refuses to even consider his offers and teases him about not being more hands-on. And later, when she’s watching him prune his hedges that are right by the fence separating their land, she inadvertently falls into the fence, landing at his feet once again. Noah can’t decide what to do with this infuriating, adorable, confusing woman.

But in an attempt to show his father that he’s doing just fine without him, Noah gets a prestigious design magazine to do an article on the renovation of his bungalow. But when the author of the piece sees a glimpse of the chemistry between him and Grace, she insists that Grace be in the piece also. Noah needs an interior designer, Grace is almost done with her design degree. The magazine writer insists that the article turns into a series of pieces, complete with interviews and videos, to show the before/middle/after of the bungalow’s transformation.

Grace is concerned about working so closely with Noah, as her senses go on full alert when he’s around. And he’s clearly attracted to her too. But they both need this renovation project to work out. Noah has something to prove to those who think he’s just riding along on his family’s money, and Grace is about to graduate and start her career. The magazine would be a big boost to her career, bringing in job offers she couldn’t dream of yet. But she’d have to get along with Noah and put her developing romantic feelings to the side. Could she do that, to make all her professional dreams come true? Or should she just follow her heart?

How to Love Your Neighbor is a charming rom com that blends the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers niche with the home renovation story. It’s sweet and complex and makes you happy. This is the follow-up to author Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It. While either book could be read as a stand-alone, the men featured in these books are brothers, so this is a natural expansion of the world of Everly and Chris (the main characters in Ten Rules), and they show up a couple of times in this book as well.

I found Grace’s and Noah’s story absolutely charming. I loved the fix-it storyline, with Grace so willing to get her hands dirty to fix up her own bungalow and how she worked so hard to stay true to herself. Having read Ten Rules, I knew a little about Noah’s family and was happy to learn more about their father and how the brothers interacted with each other (btw, there is another brother, and a sister in the family also—could there be another book or even two in the works? Fingers crossed!).

I thought the family issues were realistic, and I was happy to see that Sullivan didn’t gloss over that, letting the characters feel the frustration fully to help them build better relationships that those they grew up with. It adds time and texture to the story, so there is more to this story than just the will-they-won’t-they story of the romance. I love Sullivan’s writing, and I think How to Love Your Neighbor is a beautiful rom com with depth and fun, and it’s a perfect novel to curl up with for a weekend.

Egalleys for How to Love Your Neighbor were provided by St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I’m all at 6’s and 7’s with this review.
Now that I think about it, what the f&^% does that mean? 6’s and 7’s…
From freedictionary.com “Frazzled or disorganized. The phrase likely originated from a dice game in which rolling a six or a seven was unfavorable.”
Well, the first one fits; not much of a gambler enough for the second. Honestly, I’m such a nerd that I know the phrase from “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” from Evita. Fight me, musical theatre nerds.
Anywho, this book has me teetering between a book I liked and one I wanted to throw out the window.
Let’s dig into How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan. Maybe I’ll come to a consensus after I get some of this out on paper.

A Little Bit of Plot
Interior Design student Grace Travis has inherited a house from her long lost grandparents in beautiful oceanside California. Noah Jansen, NYC real estate mogul and finance wunderkind has purchased the house next door. Noah wants Grace…to sell her house to him so he can install a pool and be featured in high end designer magazines. (I have a lot of questions here…first off, who is buying said magazines? Secondly, as my buddy Egon Spengler quoted, 'print is dead'). Tensions ratchet higher as Grace refuses to give in to Noah’s demands. Suddenly, a high end designer magazine (either Hearty Home, Hearth and Home, or Heart and Home…depends on whether the author remembered what she called it previously), wants to feature Noah’s house reconstruction in a 3 issue spread if Grace will lead the design. Handing off a multi-million dollar reno to a literal Interior Design student with no experience - because the would-be editor thought she and the hero had chemistry.

:blink: :blink:.

Okay!

Can they fall in love in a month or something? Will she let her guard down for the hot millionaire who buys her brownies and wants to do the horizontal mambo? It’s anyone’s guess!!

Spoiler: she does.

The Compliment Sandwich
The Top Bun (The Pro)
Grace Travis

Enter my confusion with this book. We have a heroine that I absolutely loved from jump street. She’s spunky, intelligent, and doesn’t give in under pressure. Coming from a terrible upbringing with her succubus of a mother, Grace has been able to carve out a solid academic background and promising career on her own. She works multiple jobs and scrimps to save up into kickstarting her life at the back end of her twenties. Where other women would have a career and family at this age, we see a possible future as a successful Interior Designer while simultaneously renovating a beautiful paid-off home on the beach in Anaheim. Girl has her shit together.
There was no more waiting. All the things she’d patiently been putting aside were right here, within her grasp. Her life right now was a series of boxes she was checking off and the feeling was pure bliss. Finishing up school? Check. Settling into a home you own? Check. Good friends? Check. Job prospects? Check. Life was moving along just fine, thank you very much. It was like she could see her lonely, rootless self slipping farther away in the rearview mirror.
Part of me rallied so hard for Grace; girlfriend was doing it for herself, then suddenly, Noah arrives.

Don’t get me wrong, he was fine, like the existence of the dog in the burning room is fine. (Side note: I've discovered that my ultimate insult anymore is to say something is just 'fine'. Like: "Oh you substituted my diet coke for diet faygo (like in what world?)..it's fine. It's fine.)

Noah's character is just not as drawn out as Grace. He constantly gripes about this perceived persecution complex because his family and friends don’t believe he’s reliable. Unfortunately, we aren't privy to any occurrences where in which his reliability is in question. We have one instance where he cancels dinner with Grace but has a completely valid excuse for not attending.

As a reader, he comes off more of an agro whiner than a sympathetic hero. A number of times he questions whether or not Grace has the ‘know how’ to mend a fence or change a lock. Sullivan has him almost tripping over himself claiming it’s not because she’s a woman. Um, yeah, I call bullsh*t. Additionally, he has a few other lines to her that if a guy said the same thing to me, I might just lightly tap him in the balls as I walked away ..maybe not full out haiduken. But we do see him apologize a number of times for these gaffs. He actually says that she’s the first “first woman I’ve properly apologized to, but not the only one I should have”.

Wut? Da fuq?

You know what Grace? Run.

Or you are going to be listening to reruns of the Joe Rogan podcast for the rest of your life and being second guessed as to whether you can change your own tire.

The Meat (The Con)
I have several things that didn’t work for me in this book. It’s absolutely repetitive and plot threads go no where. Noah works with his friend Rob at a local community center for kids. We see him interact twice with them and then nothing. Suddenly, however, at the end of the book, Noah’s attempting to raise money to open his own community center or helping to fund Rob’s center..I literally have no idea. It’s not clear. It's such a throw away plot line that it's almost insulting. Mostly the underprivileged kids are used as a device to illustrate Noah's 'staying power'. Cool.

We have a plot line involving Noah’s father that’s never resolved or explained. Also, in the end of the novel two characters team up in a business venture, but the wording is so vague, I couldn’t tell you which two.

I hate to say this but there are grammatical and usage mistakes all over the place. Like I mentioned in my intro, the name of the magazine is presented in a number of different ways, characters are misnamed, and general grammatical errors exist. The whole book just needs to be tightened up and given another read through by an editor.

The Bottom Bun (The Pro)
In general, the side characters are likable: from her elderly friend/pseudo grandpa Morty, to Noah’s smartass assistant Josh, everyone dovetailed easily into the narrative. I will say that we could keep Noah’s brother Chris and his girlfriend Everly, but remove his other brother Wes and friends Rob and Stacey all together. We are also introduced to Shane, who we believe is a rival for Grace’s affections.
Nope.
Cut him.
We are introduced to Grace’s friends from the coffee shop at the beginning of the novel and they disappear after the 2nd chapter -
Cut ‘em.
All these superfluous characters are detracting from the meandering plot. While they all are wonderful sketches of random likable characters, we are missing whole swathes of plot to which I’d rather have resolution than wonder what Shane does in his downtime.

The one character that I wanted to learn more about was Grace’s mother Tammy. Honestly, I pictured her as Melissa McCarthy from the movie of the same name. She appears at the end of the novel and is presented as such a disgusting and horrible scapegrace that I needed to know more. Moreover, Noah indicates that she’s the female version of his father. Really? We need to meet his father! I need to see these two in a room together! As this book is told from dueling perspectives and we only are privy to interactions with Grace and her mother, we are losing an entire dimension of Noah’s character in relation to his father and family.

Okay...breathing...

I’m rereading what I’ve written and I sound like a snob. I’m not sure if getting these thoughts out on paper have helped me to clear up what I think about this novel.

I’m going to lightly recommend How To Love Your Neighbor with the disclaimer that if you feel the need to skim at any moment, you won’t be missing any important plot points. Believe me, they probably weren't there to begin with. If you are looking for a light, low angst, small fizzle book, you could do worse. Also, if someone can give me the 4-1-1 on what that friggin’ magazine is actually called, I’ll give you one of our car magnets.

How to Love Your Neighbor is a tremendously fun story by Sophie Sullivan. I can’t believe that I haven’t found this author before now. The characters are a delight including the grumpy, big real estate developer, Noah Jansen, who lives next door. Now of course, I wouldn’t say that if he did not come around to falling for Grace Travis like I did. What a sweet, wonderful character she is! AND creatively smart too!

This is just the story for the gloomy days of January. The beach, the feud and the other relationships going on make this a superb book. It was a breath of fresh air. You can’t read it without wanting to smile all day afterwards. Now I want to read Noah’s brother’s story.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a cute closed door story. I always love an enemies to lovers and especially a grump and sunshine trope!

I have always loved fixer upper on hgtv so this was a really enjoyable read!

I wished it was a touch shorter but overall it was such a fun story! I’d definitely recommend this refreshing, sweet, fun read.

Thank you for the gifted copy!

Grace is crushed to learn the hot guy she runs into on the beach is her evil next-door neighbor who is trying to buy her house to tear it down so he can install a pool. After years of working multiple jobs while going to school, she is about to graduate and is eager to begin renovating the house she inherited from her grandparents.

Noah is a successful entrepreneur, attempting to escape the influence of his father by moving to California. But he begins to realize that he unconsciously emulates some of his father's business practices. When the writer doing a feature on his home renovation pitches the idea of Grace serving as his designer, Noah leaps at the chance, and Grace realizes she’d be crazy to turn down the opportunity. As their romance blossoms, both must come to terms with their own issues.

This is an enjoyable romance. Despite what the blurb claims, there’s not enough HGTV. I’m not sure if it’s actually part of a series, but some of the characters are from Sophie Sullivan’s previous book. #HowToLoveYourNeighbor #NetGalley

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is the story of Grace and Noah who wind up as next door neighbors. The only problem is that they have conflicting ideas; Grace wants to renovate and live in the family home she has inherited, and Noah wants to buy her property to expand his new lavish property. This leads to an enemies to lovers story, which just so happens to be one of my favorite romance tropes!

I really enjoyed that, although this is written as an enemies to lovers book, the characters are "enemies" due to a competitive nature and their stubborn ideas, though they were in no way cruel to each other. I loved the interactions between the characters. There was a good deal of humor, sweetness, and tension underlying all of their interactions. One of my favorite elements of this book was the interior design that was woven throughout. I loved all of the descriptions of the different rooms and styles, and the imagery was so vivid that I could clearly picture the houses. The middle of the book moved a little slowly for me overall, but there were enough moments that made me smile to keep me going. This was a sweet, closed door romance.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title! This review is voluntary, and all opinions are honest and my own.

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is a heartwarming, humorous, and appealing contemporary romance set in Harlow Beach, California. While this isn’t an instant love story or a steamy romance, it does touch on some deeper subjects. The characters are well-written and add intriguing backstories that slowly unfold with each page you read. How to Love Your Neighbor is a fast-paced, entertaining read perfect for fans of chick lit or romantic comedies.

This one started out strong but then about halfway through, kinda lost me. I wish we had been shown their chemistry, instead of the characters telling us how they have so much chemistry. Also the home decor side of the book pulled me out of it, the designs didn’t seem to be luxury or high end like described and it fell flat for me. Bummer because it started out so fun!

Cute read filled with all the good feels as these two characters who dislike each other come to fall in love. This was the perfect read to break up a group of several heavier books I was reading.

The characters are well founded and likeable, the trope while done often, is handled quite well, and I found myself caring what happened. I've already purchased this for a friend and highly recommend this for a fun bit of escapism.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.