When Grace inherited a beach house she never thought she’d be going toe to toe with her next door neighbor Noah who is a real estate developer and is trying to buy her house. Unfortunately Grace is still a student with a small bank account and Noah is starting to playing dirty.

This was my first book by Sophie Sullivan and this sunshine meets grump story didn’t disappoint. If you are a fan of HGTV home renovations and family drama then this one's for you! I will admit this story was a little bit too slow for my liking but Grace and Noah's banter had me laughing out loud.

The narrator Chloe Dolandis who did a great job!

Thank you to McMillian Audio, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for gifting me an audiobook and eARC in exchange for my honest review.

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this ARC!*

I am a big fan of romances, as well as interior design and HGTV, so when I heard about this book I was super excited! A cute, contemporary, enemies to lovers romance that revolves around two fixer upper houses – sign me up!

I really liked both Grace and Noah. They were each really fun characters to get to follow on their journey. I enjoy books with two points of view, especially romances, because I feel like you really get the full picture of what is happening. This can be a lot harder to do from just one perspective. Grace was fun, motivated, and a bit afraid of love or of showing weakness. Noah was funny, yet brooding, determined, and desperate to prove he could make it without his father’s help. They were both well rounded and had great chemistry.

I really liked the focus on interior design and real estate. The book was thorough in describing Grace’s design process, and I could really envision the interiors of both of these houses. I love when the setting so vividly jumps off the page without making the reader feel bogged down in details. This is a pretty thin line to tread, and I thought Sullivan did it well.

I really liked the side characters, especially Rosie (Grace’s best friend), Chris (Noah’s brother), and Morty (Grace’s pesudo-grandfather). My one real critique would have to be the sheer number of side characters, and the fact that they were introduced once and then mentioned again and again without reaffirming who they were in the context of the story. There were a couple of guys that were mentioned multiple times throughout, but sporadically. I had to go back in the book to figure out they were the contractors on the two houses. It was a little confusing. That could just be me not paying enough attention though 😝

All in all, I thought this was a really cute romance with a fun storyline and great side characters. If you enjoy interior design and romance, this is a great read for you!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave How to Love Your Neighbor 4 Stars!

A new delightful romcom from Sophie Sullivan, the author of Ten Rules of Faking It.

I absolutely adore the enemies to lovers trope especially when it is as well-written as it is in this case.
The tension, the chemistry, the weird irresistible attraction which is a dead giveaway to what we the readers secretly know almost from the word Go- these 'enemies' are made for each other....Now if only they could see it themselves. But then we wouldn't have this lovely romcom...so fight away, Grace and Noah!
Grace has inherited her grandparents' old house on the beach which is a dream for a design student like her, someone who loves fixing things up. Unfortunately, Grace can't afford the necessary renovations straightaway, despite doing lots of odd jobs to make the ends meet. When she sees her new next door neigbor Noah for the first time, she can't help fancying him, but it turns out he is a property developer with an agenda of his own. Noah would love nothing better than to extend his own house by buying Grace's without knowing how much it really means to this 'stubborn' girl.
I loved the way Sophie Sullivan created sweet, flawed and relatable characters, both main and supporting ones (including Morty and Tilly). I thought this was a real strength of this entertaining and enjoyable romcom.
Lighthearted, cute, romantic, How To Love Your Neighbour offers a great escape from the problems of our daily life and the misery of January weather. Recommended to all contemporary romance readers who enjoy the enemies-to -lovers trope.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Griffin for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

I loved this book so much! I dont know if this is a book everyone will love since its a closed door romance but thats what I loved about it. There was so much focus on the story, plot and character development! Giving you just enough time to learn about both Grace and Noah individually and also together. I also loved the grumpy and sunshine trope! Plus all of the friends that they both have. I loved the home improvement/ HGTV vibe in the book as well not something you see often!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read/review!! This book is an enemies to lovers romance with some very relatable characters!! It’s dual POV so there are no real “secrets” to any of the plot. It was like an HGTV version of Beach Read which included lots of bets between the two main characters. There were also lots of relatable, cute, and funny moments throughout. The story follows two neighbors (grumpy/sunshine): She is an up-and-coming designer and he is a real estate agent who would stop at anything to buy her house that she just inherited. There is lots of family drama and some good character arcs! I loved that it had a nod/an interconnected story to her first novel. Overall, it was a cute story!!! 4/5

The book comes out on January 18th, 2022!!

“Art is not what you see, it's what you make others see.” -Degas

What a fun and uplifting book to read! Grace Travis is an interior designer, about to graduate while she juggles a lot of part-time jobs. Her new neighbor, wealthy real estate developed Noah Jansen is determined to purchase her house in order to extend his holdings, but he has met his match in Grace. The repartee and interaction between these two was thoroughly amusing and captivating, holding my attention for hours at a time as I mentally gave Grace advice on how to beat Noah at his own game. There were so many laugh aloud scenes, especially the one with the flower pots. I cannot ever remember enjoying a rom-com more and can only imagine this becoming a TV series. It would definitely be a good one! Told with wit and more than a little bit of understanding for emotional conflicts, this story is one to remember and read again whenever I need a laugh. The characters were realistic and quirky, strange in all of the good ways that made me smile at their antics. The plot rolled along at a good pace and although it was predictable, the surprises that were thrown in made the book thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

How do you feel about home improvement shows? Well, if you like your romance reads with a splash of HGTV, then I’ve got the book for you!

Grace Travis is a design student who unexpectedly inherits a family house on the beach. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to flex her renovation skills, Grace gets to work at preparing to fix up her new home. There’s only one problem- her next door neighbor.

Noah Jansen is a rich, real estate developer who just found the perfect property. Well, almost perfect. If he can just acquire the house next door and put in a pool, he’d be all set. All he has to do is convince his neighbor to sell to him. I mean, everyone has their price, right? Well, everyone except Grace Travis that is.

What soon follows is a battle between the two that’s not so neighborly. But the more they knock down literal walls, figurative ones start falling, too. Before too long, both Noah and Grace find themselves housing all sorts of new emotions.

How To Love Your Neighbor is a sequel of sorts to Sullivan’s previous release, Ten Rules For Faking It. While reading the two in order, or even reading both at all isn’t required, it might be preferred by some readers who want to appreciate the reappearance of some side characters.

Touted as an enemies to lovers romance doesn’t completely sit right with me in this one. Sure, there’s an element of sparring that occurs initially, but it doesn’t really carry throughout the novel. Early on, the focus shifts to a rebuild and repair of a different kind- one that highlights relationships. This includes not only Grace and Noah’s feelings for each other, but their feelings for family members as well.

In a way this story reminded me a bit of Love At First Spite which just released, too. Unfortunately, it gives this one a bit of a lived in vibe. It will be interesting to see how other readers who read both feel about the comparison.

All in all, How to Love Your Neighbor is a romantic read that has good bones, but could use a newer coat of paint to really shine.

What a sweet story! How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is a new romantic comedy about an aspiring interior designer and her sullen new neighbor. Grace Travis thinks she has everything planned out: finish design school, move into her home, get a job in the field she loves. What she doesn’t plan for is her neighbor Noah Jansen. Noah moved to California to make a name for himself, one separate from his dad’s. He buys his dream home, but there is one small problem with it. The yard is too small and the house next door is tiny and falling apart. Maybe he can convince the neighbor to sell to him? A firm no sets the story in motion and pits Grace and Noah against each other at every turn.

I like Grace. Grace is determined to live her own life away from her mother’s influence. She’s driven, stubborn, and loyal to those who love her. Because of her upbringing, she has walls around her that are hard to breach. She lets very few people get close to her. I rooted for Grace. I wanted to see her succeed in her dreams and live a life of her choosing.

Noah is as much like Grace as he is her opposite. Noah is drifting, a little lost at the start of the book. Having left his father’s company on the east coast, he is trying to make a new name for himself in California. Known for being a bit of a playboy and hopping from one contract to the next, Noah wants to prove that he is reliable, can see a job through to the finish, and is able to commit. He wants to get his hands dirty, so to speak, by working on the jobs himself, not just overseeing them. Renovating his own home is his first big project, and he’s hoping a home magazine will pick it up and run the story giving him and the company he is starting with his brother a chance to establish themselves.

Overall, I really enjoyed How to Love Your Neighbor. This frenemies to lovers delivers! The trope can be hit or miss for me, but here it is believable. The dialogue between Grace and Noah is flirty and fun. The differences between them is evident in their misunderstandings and even the things they have in common. I loved seeing how they overcame these. If you enjoy a story that is as sweet as it is steamy and will have you laughing out loud, I highly recommend it.

I think this is a fun read, but I wished it was a fast-paced story. While I liked both of the characters, Grace and Noah (except when he was being a jerk), I wished that the author get them together earlier than it was. I get that she was trying to show the build-up and shift in their dynamic and relationship, but I didn't feel the chemistry between them. And I can't help but feel like something is missing too. This just didn’t do it for me.

How to Love Your Neighbor has a premise that I was super excited for, enemies-to-lovers and throw in some home renovations? Sold. This closed-door romance is one that can be read alone.

Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. I think I expected more tension or more longing. The relationship felt like it progressed quickly and it felt weird that Noah was Grace's boss. It's a fine story, but it isn't one that made me want to keep reading.

CW: emotional abuse, toxic relationship with a parent

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

STATS:
OVERALL RATING - 3 / 5
CHARACTERS - 3 / 5
WRITING - 3 / 5
PLOT - 3.5 / 5

GENRE - Contemporary Romance
PAGE COUNT - 352
RELEASE DATE - 18th January, 2o22
PUBLISHER - St. Martin’s Griffith
FORMAT - Kindle Edition

PREMISE -
A frothy, effervescent romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It, Sophie Sullivan's How to Love Your Neighbor delivers another read that will have you delighted from start to finish.

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.

"You're adorable. I don't know how I ever thought I could fight what I feel for you."
- Noah Jensen, How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan

An enemies to lovers romance that takes place with her neighbor; an intriguing concept with a crazy whirlwind romance. Noah Jensen is your average rich, arrogant but secretly a softy hero whereas Grace is the independent heroine we all strive to be. I rated this a 3 out of 5 stars because it didn't really strike me as a story that I'd remember but it did have an easy-going storyline. I would say that it had an interesting concept (because it's definitely compelling to read a romance with your neighbor who you hate) but I just don't think it was any different that your typical cute and cliche story.

However, I did love the chemistry between the two leads. I like how they were able to learn from each other to better the other and that their relationship is something that wasn't perfect right from the get-go. The thing I disliked though was how it all happened too quickly. One second they were hating each other and then the next they were all over one another.

For the concept and overall plot, I'd give it a 3 and would recommend this book to those who want an adorable and light-hearted read.

PROS: Intriguing plot idea
CONS: I felt that their romance was rushed and that there wasn't much depth to the characters. The beginning is also a bit too slow for my liking
FINAL THOUGHTS: A cute, fun and easy read perfect for romance enthusiasts!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is an absolute delight. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance that is packed with equal parts heart and humor, not to mention a healthy dose of interior design and home renovations.

Life is going pretty well for Grace Travis. She is currently finishing up her degree in interior design and she has just inherited a cute little house on the beach from her grandmother. Grace can’t wait to fix the house up so that she has a place of her own. There’s just one problem. Her neighbor Noah Jansen is a successful real estate developer and he wants to buy her house so he can tear it down and make his property larger. Noah is also a jerk, or at least Grace thinks so anyway, even though she has to admit that he’s a pretty cute jerk.

I was hooked from the moment Grace and Noah first encounter each other – a hilarious meet-cute on the beach involving a collision and two enormous and overenthusiastic dogs named Tequila and Lime. They didn’t know they were neighbors at this point and the chemistry between them was so undeniable. Then when they realized they were neighbors and started butting heads over whether or not Grace should sell her house to Noah, the sparks really started to fly. I loved Grace so much. She’s strong and independent, creative and resourceful, and she’s hilarious on top of it. When it came to Noah, at first I agreed with Grace, that he was a jerk used to always getting his way by throwing money at what he wanted. But the more we learn about him after he and Grace come to an understanding, the more I loved him. He’s a lot more vulnerable than he lets on, especially because he has a strained relationship with his father.

Watching Grace and Noah’s relationship grow was my favorite part of the story. Not only do they agree to a truce, but they even start helping each other with their home renovations. I really loved all the scenes involving interior design and painting, especially if they led to opportunities for flirting and sassy banter or if they involved the fabulous cast of secondary characters that are in the book, including Noah’s siblings and a grumpy but lovable elderly man named Morty who is like a dad to Grace. Aside from getting flirty with each other, Grace and Noah also learn a lot from each other, including how to support one another when dealing with dysfunctional parental relationships. I especially loved that aspect of their relationship and it had me flying through the pages hoping they would get a happy ending together.

If you’re in the mood for a light-hearted romantic read with a side of family drama, How to Love Your Neighbor is a great choice.

A Cute Romance
A young woman with multiple jobs is putting herself through design college and trying to fix up her inherited cottage. The last thing she needs is her gorgeous new neighbour trying to buy her new home from underneath her. Sparks fly between the two of them but circumstances find them thrown into working on a house project together and proximity to each other does the rest. A recommended read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Enemies to lovers? Check. Forced proximity? Check. HGTV vibes? Check. Right off the bat, the description for How to Love Your Neighbor snagged my attention - and checked so many of my boxes. When I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy, I dove straight in. 
 
My one gripe with this book was how Grace's family drama panned out. Beware, minor spoilers ahead in this paragraph. Throughout the book, it's established that Grace's family life has been toxic - mostly stemming from her mother. When her mother finally shows up, it was fairly late in the book. I had been dying for their final confrontation - to see how (more) emotionally mature Grace would interact with her mother. Unfortunately, the whole confrontation felt rushed and didn't give me much resolution. 
 
Grace and Noah were a great enemies to lovers couple. I really loved the back and forth between them - their antagonism in the beginning really segued nicely into sparky chemistry. And boy oh boy were they antagonistic to start with. Grace had just inherited her house and Noah was determined to buy it from her in order to expand his neighboring property. Through a series of twists, Grace ended up becoming Noah's interior designer, and from there their relationship began to evolve. I liked the slower pace their romance took - by the time they acknowledged their feelings, they had boatloads of tension and chemistry. Even though this was a closed-door romance, there was plenty of heat between them. Best of all - they helped each other grow and become better people.  
 
This book had two of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers and forced proximity. I particularly enjoyed the forced proximity - between them being neighbors and working together, they were stuck together often and it helped to build tension. The plot grabbed me quickly - this was a read in one setting kind of book. 
 
How to Love Your Neighbor was a great sophomore book from Sophie Sullivan. I loved how the enemies to lovers played out and the forced proximity. I can't wait to read whatever Sophie Sullivan writes next!

Let me start by saying that I loved the first book in this series because of the great anxiety representation and I have read it twice.

This book however was a disappointment. I absolutely could not stand Noah and I think that Grace deserved better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

I liked the first book and was looking forward to this one, but it fell a little flat for me. Noah and Grace are likeable characters, and they have a meet cute with mutual attraction before figuring out that they're new neighbors. Then they start sparring because he wants to buy her house.
I enjoyed the interior design aspect of the book, but there were plot points that didn't seem realistic to me for people in these characters' situations. Grace came across as really young, and she's still in school, but the book said she was nearing 30. The mentions and declarations of feelings seemed overdone. I kept reading since I wanted to see where things went, but the book felt pretty predictable.

This book hits every single one of my rom-com happy spots in fun and entertaining ways. It's an author showing that she's aware she's relying on old tropes to tell a story but showing readers that it can be done in new ways that bring out laughter, tears, and a whole slew of emotions.
Grace is a whole lot of sunshine with a clear path ahead of her that leaves no room for complications, including the frustratingly hot new neighbor that insists on buying the house she inherited despite her repeated refusal. Noah is working hard to step out of his father's shadow and is convinced that creating his ideal home in California will help him achieve that if only the gorgeous woman next door wouldn't be so stubborn about not selling her house. You know they'll wind up together from the very first adorable meet-cute, and seeing their relationship evolve over a series of interactions that slowly reveal pieces of themselves makes for a satisfyingly swoony read.
I particularly liked how you get different types of relationships also explored in the supporting characters so that it's not just on the main characters to show that there are different ways to love. Extra love for getting a peek at the happily ever after for the characters from Sulligan's previous book, Ten Rules For Faking It.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the entertaining early read!

Loved this story about Grace, who inherits her grandparent's property by the beach and Noah, her neighbor who wants to buy the property to use to add a pool to his property. Grace doesn't have memories of her grandparents because her mother was estranged from them and Grace is now estranged from her mother who didn't bother with her but is now wanting Grace's attention as she feels the property should be hers. Grace is preparing to graduate with an interior design degree and Noah needs someone to design is home. The magazine Noah pairs with chooses Grace to be the designer when the editor sees the sparks between them.

This is a sweet and funny romance that will hit you with all the feels. Grace and Noah meet and get off to a rocky start. They both seem to need to prove something to themselves. It's interesting to see how the characters grow throughout the story, especially Noah. Grace changes too, but I feel her growth in more in her perspective of those around her. There are lots of great moments with the supporting characters too. Overall a really great read about family, friends and ultimately love.

This is the first book I've read by Sophie Sullivan. Although this is the follow up to Ten Rules for Faking it, I didn't feel lost at all, having read this first, so it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. This book follows Noah, the brother of TRFFI's Chris, and Grace. Noah has just broken away from his father's real estate development company and is trying to make a name for himself. Grace just inherited a house from her estranged mother's parents Grace never got to know. Now they're next-door neighbors. Noah wants Grace's house, but she isn't willing to sell. It starts out as enemies to lovers, but quickly develops into more once they realize there's chemistry between them. It was well written and paced. It was sweet with low angst. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, but wanted a little more progression from enemies to lovers, but thought it flowed very well and I would continue to read (and go back to book one) this series.