This second in the series is an absolutely fantastic meet cute love story. From the meeting with the dogs setting the stage on the beach to the fairytale Disneyland tickets at the end there is no way to not read this story and have your heart melt. Grace is aptly named because not only is she gorgeous on the outside but a beautiful and generous person on the inside. She is a savant at interior decorating but a klutz around Noah. Their first meeting is hilarious and the second is tense. Noah is a businessman who is looking to start over his life in LA. He wants to buy Grace’s house. The story is in parts funny and poignant. It will really pull you in and make you cheer for all the many wonderful characters. It is well done and is a great way to start the new year.

Super cute story about two neighbors that banter back and forth about everything. Noah constantly asks Grace to buy the house which she inherited. Grace refuses to sell. After time and some competition, the two neighbors find a compromise and begin to work together. This partnership and their chemistry leads to more. This was an easy read with cute back and forth between Noah and Grace.

“Sometimes we let how other people see us color how we see ourselves.”

How to Love Your Neighbor is written in the third person narrative and follows Grace and Noah in a fictional Los Angeles beach neighborhood. Grace is a talented interior design student in her late 20s on the cusp of graduation who just inherited her estranged and deceased grandparent’s home. She’s excited to move in and feel a connection to the family she never really got to know while making the space her own. Noah, Grace’s new neighbor, is in his 30s and a real estate mogul who just moved to Los Angeles from New York to escape his father’s shadow. He sets his eyes on purchasing Grace’s house which sets them off on the wrong foot. But when Noah has a business proposition and great opportunity for Grace, they find it harder to ignore the chemistry they don’t want to feel for each other. There’s a fine line between hating and loving your neighbor.

This was… fine. I didn’t love it or hate it. It was blurbed as an enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshine romance, but that is a huge leap. I liked the HGTV vibes, the side characters, the family drama, and the setting (As a LA native, I love seeing this setting in books! Plus Grace goes to the school I’m hoping to transfer to next semester). I actually really related to Grace in terms of her educational journey, determination to be self-sufficient, and her situation with her mother. I also liked how we see the main character’s friendships and careers. There is no shortage of cute moments but I found myself really bored while reading this; I think the pacing could have been better executed. While this is a standalone, it is a follow up to Ten Rules for Faking It so you’ll see recurring characters. I think if you enjoyed her first book, you’ll enjoy this one too. Not my cup of tea but I recommend if you’re looking for a light-hearted, closed-door romance.

Thank you Netgalley, Sophie Sullivan, and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pub Date: 1/18/2022

Sophie Sullivan is a new to me author and I picked this book up off of Net Galley based on the blurb and I am glad I did!
Grace and Noah were both interesting characters to get to know. We meet them when both are at a cross roads and after a bumpy start, it was a pleasure to see them navigate new waters together as friends then as more.
Both are people who came to the situation with baggage that colored their reactions. I appreciated that both were willing to seek help/advice from friends on how to move in the directions they wanted to go.
The secondary cast here is interesting and I am curious about several of them. Noah’s brothers play a big part in his story, so I am definitely interested in knowing if they have their own stories to tell.

Grace Travis has it all figured out - she's about to graduate from Interior Design School and she has inherited a cute little fixer upper on the beach. That is until she meets her sexy and grumpy neighbor that is trying to ruin her plans. Noah Jansen wants to buy her house and demolish it to make way for a swimming pool for him own home next door. The two start an all out feud, but sometimes enemies make the best lovers.

I enjoyed this book! It was sweet, heartfelt, and such a easy read. I really enjoyed Grace and Noah's chemistry. I also enjoyed the secondary characters and their storylines as well!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was exactly what I was looking for to wrap up 2021. It has great characters & makes you feel good. Noah & Grace are fantastic counterparts. Their chemistry jumps off of the page. I enjoyed that the romance wasn't explicit & just enough in the story. The ups & downs of their relationship felt real. The secondary characters were just as enjoyable to get to know. Highly recommend reading this book!
Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

This was such a fun and cute read. From the beginning it had me hooked and just what I needed over the holiday weekend. Grace inherited her grandparents house on the beach and decides to move into it so she doesn't have to pay rent but her neighbor Noah is wanting to buy her house and get out from under his fathers shadow. There were times that I did not enjoy Noah's character. It was a slow burn of Enemies to Lovers but overall it was a good one. Normally I am not a fan of contemporary romance but have been dipping my toes into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. This review is my opinion and mine alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Grace has inherited a small bungalow from her grandparents that she never knew. Noah is her grumpy and greedy (albeit, also misunderstood) neighbor who is insistent on buying her house out from under her. Suffice to say - they do not get along. At least initially.
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This book was a hard like. No more, no less. I enjoyed the characters but I wasn’t wowed. I liked the premise and the story.

I really liked the premise and found the writing style to be pretty good. I just felt like I was missing having a real connection to the characters. Both were extremely flawed, which I appreciated, but I didn't feel like I related all that much to either of them.

I also felt like every time I turned a page Grace and Noah were playing some sort of game or having a competition. Which - admittedly - I am not a huge fan in general of competition, but they did it so much that it started to feel a bit childish.

Overall, I thought this book and story were super cute!

What a fun rom com this is. Enemies to love and a mix of HGTV this one was pure fun. Grace is finishing up design school, while working multiple jobs when Noah moves next door.
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Noah is used to getting whatever he wants with his skills of negotiation. What he doesn’t expect is to fall for Grace.
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These two made me laugh and were a couple to root for. Most importantly I really loved the message of making a house a home and home is truly where the heart is.

Thank you @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review..
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This comes out January 18th!
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Another winner by Sophie Sullivan! I so loved Noah and Grace! Both characters completely tugged at my heart and there were so many moments in the book with Noah that made my heart melt. There were several laugh out loud moments and so many likable characters. I absolutely loved Morty! I couldn't put the book down and finished it in one day. I'm definitely on the lookout for any more books by this author. I really hope we get stories from the rest of Noah's siblings. The books are completely standalone, but I want to know more about the others. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A cute, rom-com with a enemies to lovers theme. I did not read the first book by Sophie Sullivan and some of the characters from that book have a recurring role in this story. However, this can be read as a stand-alone.

This story gave me some definite LOL moments and kept me pretty engaged. I felt like the beginning was just a tad slow and wish there had been a bit more character development with Noah. Through the book you get a decent feel for Grace, her past, and how it's shaped her....but not the same with Noah. Noah's relationship with his father and family doesn't get a lot of development and just seems to scratch the surface.

The chemistry between Grace and Noah was well written and although this is a romance, it keeps the majority of the romance behind closed doors. I missed having a bit of the angst and open romance.

That said, this is a cute, enjoyable, and light-hearted read. I will be going back and reading the first book so I can learn a bit more about Chris, Noah's brother, and Everly.

“Finding you helped me find myself.”

How To Love Your Neighbor was a delightful enemies to lovers story with tons of heart and a lot of laughs. Grace and Noah were absolutely adorable and had me hooked from the first page of the book.

“You’ve shown me happiness is okay to grab ahold of without guilt.”

Grace is so sweet and giving. She puts everyone above herself and works hard to accomplish her own goals yet she’s afraid to let someone fully into her life. She’s scared of being left and doesn’t like to ask for help. Noah wants to help make her life easier and shows her that she can lean on others. He gives her the confidence to believe in herself.

“Somehow, Grace made him feel more connected with little pieces of himself he’d closed off.”

Noah is known as the fun and charming brother and he’s tired of it. He wants people to take him more seriously and to realize that he can follow through on something when he’s passionate about it. Grace teaches him how to do things for himself and that he has people in his life that will show up for him. She helps him to show his true self to others.

“You make me see things I never imagined, Grace.”

This was a story of two people who were a little lost in their lives and were searching for their happiness. When they find each other, they find that missing piece that allows them clarity in their own lives. They both show tremendous growth throughout the book and both learn the value of friends, family and teamwork.

This was my first book by Sophie Sullivan and I think I need to go back and read the book about Noah’s brother, Chris. She created an engaging and sweet story with fun and captivating main characters. Add in a bunch of lovable side characters and you have one winning combination.

This was a delightful, lovely read about two characters who work through their own past hardships to build a healthy relationship. They have a rocky, but admittedly funny start. I loved how the main character, Grace, quickly calls out our hero, Noah, on his BS. And it’s not mild stuff: she calls him out for manipulating her, for taking control of situations she wanted to handle, etc. The overarching messages, for women in particular, were fantastic and I thoroughly appreciate that from the author, and for our characters. I don’t want to be that person, but I’ll say it: this would have been made even better with some spice. I get the desire to keep it PG, but the “fades to black” scenes just didn’t do it for me. With all due respect.

Plot: This was a lovely, quirky plot with two characters who develop and grow together. I loved the “HGTV” aspect and how Grace continued to pursue her career and develop her talents while she also developed as a human being.
Writing: The writing was great, easy to read, and had great moments between the characters. It was however sometimes difficult to identify sarcastic moments, and I’d have to go back to read, but it was worth it.
Character Development: I think character development was my favorite part of this novel, which I don’t often say. Their journeys, separate and together, make the novel.
Dialogue: There are some glorious moments of both romantic, lovely dialogue and also sarcastic banter that I enjoyed.
Scenes: I liked that this was in the third person and we got different POVs.
Other Notes: I really liked that the chapters were short and many. It broke up the scenes really well.

My expectations were met in this antagonists on first meeting to full-blown in love with each other before Grace and Noah had time to catch their breath.

For me the immediate sparks between the two were believable, the slow build from enemy to friends to lovers to in love was executed well and the way in which life falls into place for our two main characters proves to be a hard won effort on both their parts.

Grace is someone who has worked her whole life to leave her somewhat shoddy upbringing behind her.

Having been privy to her mothers mistakes Grace vowed early on that they would not be hers.

Noah, despite having advantages growing up that Grace did not, is trying hard to overcome his own lackadaisical parent as his father can give Graces Mom lessons on bad decisions where it concerns ones children.

The best decision that Grace and Noah ever made concerning each other on their journey together happens less than half way into the story, the following statements in the book tell readers a lot at that point.

He hesitated a second, then asked, “You ever feel like life leads you where you’re supposed to be, even if you don’t know why?” Grace looked at the floor a moment, catching her breath. When she looked back up, he was still staring. “Not really. I guess, I’ve worked too hard to get where I am, it’s felt like a grind every step of the way. Either way, I’m glad we landed next door to each other.”

He chuckled. “Things I never thought I’d hear you say.”

“Trust me,” she said, opening the door, “I’m every bit as surprised as you are.”

What is described as A frothy, effervescent romantic comedy from the author to me is actually a very thoughtful romance between 2 people who deserve happiness, and find it when not even looking with the least likely person that is exactly what each need in their life.

Very satisfying enemies to friends to lovers romance.

[EArc from Netgalley]

What an absolute fun read! How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is like reading a rom-com unfold on HGTV. If you love home reno, and you well love love then you'll really enjoy this book. Noah and Grace start out on the wrong foot when they meet, but eventually find common ground and love in this sequel to Ten Rules for Faking It. I really enjoyed 10 rules, but I think I loved this one even more. Sophie Sullivan delivers a cute enemies to friends to lovers book, that has left me wanting more!

I really wanted to like this one as much as I liked her other book, but unfortunately that didn't happen. This book felt forced. The neighbor hate was was virtually non-existent. Grace was a drama queen and Noah was annoying. The Rosie/Josh story line felt like copy of Rob/Stacy from 10 Rules. I actually didn't even realize Noah was the brother in that book until Everly showed up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Cute book! I loved the quirkiness of the characters, the humor and their chemistry. It’s another hate turned to love romcom but it’s adorable and I will definitely read more by this author!

"It's only the measure of time that matters. Time itself is just an invisible line, a measure people made up, right?"

Grace and Noah-complete opposites, and now next-door neighbors. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Grace's character. I love her "kill them with kindness attitude" and her determination to work hard for what she really wants in life. I also LOVED the character development of Noah and most importantly-how he is (reluctantly) willing to learn from Grace. This is a cute, fluffy read-perfect to read when snuggling up by a fire or on the beach.

This is also a "fade to black" book, which isn't really my thing-but I was okay with it and more importantly find it harder and harder to find so I am glad to see this for the readers that do enjoy it!

This book was so good that I forgot to take notes for a review. I realized quickly, so I could write this. But that really tells you a lot, that I was so immersed in enjoying the story that I didn't put the book down to write about it.

This book follows Noah, the brother of Chris from Ten Rules for Faking It. Noah buys a house south of Los Angeles and wants to buy the property next door for land. But Grace, an interior design student, just inherited that property.

I expected an enemies-to-lovers story with lots of pranks by nextdoor neighbors. Instead, this book immediately transcended those tropes. Noah and Grace are amazing characters with some similarities despite their radical difference in financial backgrounds. Most notably, they both have quite strained relationships with a parent. It was beautiful to see them grow together.

Although this is a series, you could read this as a stand alone book. It's a closed door romance that I highly recommend. And if you need one more reason to read this: their meet-cute included dogs. That's all it took for me.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up

Perfect for romance readers who enjoy enemies to lovers trope and in this case, it is neighbors fighting over property. The fixer upper homes help them bring together and the way they have fun over home projects was cute and fun. I also loved the other characters and the way friends become more than family in some situations. I liked the clash of their personalities and the way they grow together to form something more meaningful is simply beautiful. The quirky nature of the heroine was tad bit too much at times.

Overall, a cute read!