This was my first book by the author so I didn't know of the connection to a previous book, but it certainly didn't affect my reaction to this story. The story of Grace and Noah was a mostly sweet tale of two very different but equally driven personalities finding a way to get out from under their painful parental relationships. Not being a "fan" of angst, it got a little draggy in a few spots for me, but overall it was an enjoyable, lighthearted read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Romcoms are my bread and water. This book has all the ingredients and what a cute cover ! The character development fell flat for me. Grace and Noah seemed very stereotypical and not special at all. The side characters were just thrown in there. Grace herself self assured and hardworking most times and then throw tantrums at Noah for the smallest slight seemed over the top. I finished it so it’s entertaining enough.

This was an entertaining romance. Grace Travis has a difficult relationship with her mother. The more distance the better in her opinion. She is busy attending design school and is near graduation. She has also inherited a small beach house from the grandparents her mother kept her from knowing and is determined to fix it up and make it her home.

Noah Jansen is her next-door neighbor. He's rich and a newcomer to California after leaving a difficult situation in New York. He would really like to buy Grace's house so that he has more space to build a swimming pool and a guest house.

The two clash mightily. But then a magazine which wants to feature Noah's house remodel decides to hire new designer Grace to do the project. Sort of reality TV thing. As the two butt heads they learn that they are not as different from each other as they had believed. And they fall in love which comes as a surprise to both of them.

The characters were engaging and wary. The design information was interesting. They really had no outside conflict - no third party to get in the way of their romance. Their conflicts were all internal and were pretty similar. I liked that one of the messages was that you can't let others decided your worth.

Fans of contemporary romance will enjoy this engaging story.

I loved this romantic comedy and can tell that Sophie Sullivan is going to be one of my favorite authors. This is a witty story of Grace an interior designer and Noah, a developer who live next door to each other. They don't' hit it off well at first but soon the sparks start to fly. The characters are well developed and the story keeps a good pace. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC.
I loved this story and its main characters.
Great romance, beautifully built up, kept it clean and still got us to swoon over the love story.
Two people that had been failed by their families, trying to prove themselves, find love and with it, the support and encouragement they always craved and needed.

Just plain old CUTE! HGTV meets your classic romcom, with a fun enemies / neighbors to lovers plot line. Miscommunication, painting parties, steamy stolen kisses, and a bit of a property rivalry, Sullivan's latest was sweet and her characters were thoughtful and lovable. It's true in Grace and Noah's case that sometimes good fences do make good neighbors...

2 stars

You might enjoy this book if: You love reality television, especially home renovation shows; you like a heroine who “isn’t like other girls”; you’re a sucker for people falling in love through fighting.

I can’t say I personally enjoyed this romance, which looked like the kind of light-hearted rom-com that would normally appeal to me. My favorite romances are ones where the main characters are highly invested in interesting careers, so an interior-designer heroine and real estate developer hero seemed perfect for me; alas, the characters as people, in my opinion, fell flat.

The first 10% of the book was messy. Names of the large (veering toward bloated) cast were thrown at us with little context or differentiation, and it was tough to tell what our hero and heroine were really trying to do. It got better afterward, gaining some direction, though the middle of the book did feel like it could use a hefty trimming of fat. The main characters, however, never really jumped off the page to me, and their romance was lackluster; I was never truly compelled by their apparent chemistry.

A personal pet peeve: When the hero makes up a nickname for the heroine which she purports to dislike, he keeps calling her that name despite her requests for him to stop, but by the end she loves him calling her by that nickname. I know, it’s a petty little thing—but I h a t e this.

The hero is a bit of a bro, “charmingly” clueless about women (and who constantly says “women” and “woman” when “person” would do just as well. “I’ve never had this much fun with a woman,” he says at one point, when they are hanging out as friends and not as a date. Little moments like this kept rubbing me the wrong way). I know this ‘man’s man’ well-intentioned chivalry is a type that will appeal to some readers, but it’s very much not my kind of romantic interest. Our heroine, Grace, is a jill-of-all-trades working her butt off to get her big break. Together, they both learn that they’ve been too self-reliant and need to accept (or ask for) help from their community networks, which is admittedly a pretty good takeaway.

I was disappointed in this book, but there was nothing particularly offensive about it. It just wasn’t memorable or particularly charming.

How To Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan
Tags: Contemporary Romance; Sunshine Grump Romance; Enemies to Lovers; Neighbors Romance; Reno Romance

How To Love Your Neighbor was so many things I love to see in a Romantic Comedy read – Enemies to Lovers, Sunshine Grump and with the added twist of having a whole HGTV reno vibe. The story is that of Noah Jansen (who if you read her earlier book, is the brother of Chris from Ten Rules For Faking It), Noah has moved from NY to the West Coast and is trying to find his way. He buys a house he plans to renovate and make into a home, only problem? His pesky new neighbor, Grace Travis. Needless to say, though they start off on the wrong foot – there are sparks and Noah and Grace are brought together through the renovation project.

I found this story to be charming, heartfelt and filled with compelling, lovable characters. I was rooting for Noah and Grace throughout and was so happy with both of their individual journeys and with their relationship. Once again, Sophie Sullivan managed to deliver a RomCom that also had heart, tackling some serious issues while managing to keep things light – in this case, the idea of dysfunctional families, having to make your own way, and found families.

If you enjoy romantic comedies that are sweet, funny and clean – look no further, I highly recommend this one for a fun, fast read. I honestly can’t wait to see what Sophie comes out with next – I love the world / characters she’s delivering and I hope it will be another set here. Perhaps a story for Wes?

Special thanks to St Martin’s Press for the gifted copy – all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Highly recommend this book! This was my first book to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters and the story stay with you long after you finish the book. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

Overall, I thought this book was cute!
I enjoyed the squabbling neighbors-to-friends-to lovers aspect, and thought Grace and Noah were likable characters.
This one read somewhat flat to me, though, because it was a little slower pace than I would have preferred. I think the dialogue was maybe a little too wordy and scenes too drawn out.
I did enjoy the humorous moments, the way Noah and Grace fell in love while designing a home, and the supportive side characters. Their changing feelings about what created a home was sweet, and I felt like that helped the story pick up a bit toward the end.
3.5 stars

Enemies to lovers is my all time favorite trope so I went into this book ready for some heated banter and thick sexual tension. After reading, I can honestly say I feel duped. I would not categorize this as an enemies to lovers story. Ok yes, for about 2 chapters there was an amazing back and forth between Grace and Noah. They had grump/sunshine vibes and their back and forth remarks were pretty humorous. Just when I expected things to really heat up with the enemies angle, things fizzled out. Um hello…where are the warring neighbors, the high jinks, the heat? Where is the tension building I love so much??

Grace and Noah both agreed that anything happening between them would be a bad idea, for both of them. They wouldn’t go there, wouldn’t cross that line. Well, they hopped over that line pretty darn fast. We pretty much skipped over the enemies portion and here we are with the lovers storyline. Ugh, too fast!

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Grace and Noah together and overall enjoyed the development of their relationship. I only wish Grace leaned into the relationship more. Her inner monologue featuring her doubts and baggage were a little tiresome. Since the story glossed over the heat with the enemies portion, I would have liked to see a little less self doubt and more confidence and passion with the lovers angle.

I really wanted to enjoy this one. It was cute and I enjoyed the ending. However, it wasn’t really enemies to lovers. I wanted a little more banter and a whole lot more drama.

The story was awesome! I loved the bantering that happened between the two! This is such a fun and easy read and super clean! I believe you will enjoy reading this over for Christmas break.

Let me start off by saying, I really enjoyed reading this book!! I am a sucker for hate to lovers and neighbor romances where it gives off a forced proximity feel. Don’t even get me started on my love of billionaires with an ego! I swear my feminism FLYS out the window when reading. Our love interest fits my view of the perfect book boyfriend: Hot, Cocky, Rich, and Sweater than honey when he falls hard. Our Heroine was strong and independent, something I can appreciate. I also like it when they have a bad relationship with one of their parents but maybe I’m just projecting on that one. Don’t even get me start on my love of old people. I swear I almost signed up to volunteer at a nursing home after reading this book, these seniors crack me up! All in all, this book was great and I’d definitely consider is one of my favorite arcs I’ve read.
That said, I did have a couple things that rubbed me a little wrong. The mc was strong, yet could be a little sensitive and whiny at moments., which I know I can be too so maybe I just didn’t enjoy reading so much of it. The relationship did progress just a little fast for my taste, I tend to like some more hate-fueled tension through a good lot of a book, even after the characters have gotten closer if you catch my drift. None of these things took a lot away from my enjoyment of the book and really most of my critiques are personal preference!
I would love to read this author again in the future!

If I had to describe this book in 3 words it would be, "sexy" "funny" and "relatable". This is my first read by Sophie Sullivan and I'm not disappointed. It's quirky and sometimes laugh out loud funny and it was definitely what I needed to read and escape from the daily grind of my day. Whether you put this on your shelf or give to a friend it's a worthwhile read. Special thanks to NetGAlley and St Martin's Griffin for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. #HowtoLoveYourNeighbor #NetGalley

"You have the most incredible eyes. The only thing prettier is your mouth. Especially when you smile. When you smile at me, I feel that high I only get when I go for a great run or hit a particularly good wave."

Cue heart flutters! Like full-out fluttering! I LOVED THIS! How to Love You Neighbor was just simply FUN! I smiled throughout the entire book. ADORE Noah (Hottie McMoney Pants) and Grace (Gracie). Their head-to-head banter was super entertaining. This OTP has some serious chemistry! The pull between them. *chef's kiss*


I enjoyed the book so much that I pre-ordered it because it's one romance readers need on their shelf! I'll be rereading How to Love You Neighbor!

READ IF YOU LIKE:
-enemies to lovers
-grumpy x sunshine
-guy next door
-making bets
-hgtv/your fave home reno show
-an adorable pseudo grandfather
-romantic gestures
-Disneyland
-brownies & pb brownie ice cream
-#IsThisAKissingBook: 18+ but pg-13 content. "...rocked my world with a kiss I wont ever forget." Thought-dissolving kisses!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy!

Song: Pillowtalk by zayn

This book made me so happy! The chemistry was off the charts. The characters were so well written. I loved seeing Grace come into herself and what she wanted in life.

A grumpy/sunshine trope always gets me! I loved Sophie's writing. Very sweet. If you're looking for a comfort read, this is a good one!

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit with reading this book. I felt that it took a long time for the characters to really be developed, and their romance fell flat for me. I didn't sense a lot of chemistry between them, and the areas of conflict that I generally look for in an enemies-to-lovers trope were so light and easily resolved that it didn't feel that they added much to the plot. I did really love the interior design elements of the book, and actually I think I would have enjoyed it more if the book was focused more on Grace's journey to find herself and develop her career instead of it being a romance.

While I didn't love the book, please do not let my opinion dissuade you from giving it a try. If you are looking for a light, closed-door romance book, particularly if you have interest in interior design, then you may enjoy this one!

While the overall premise of this has potential, it didn't quite hit the mark.
The beginning was slow and predictable, which led into the lightest version of enemies-to-lovers possible. There is little, to no, tension to draw you in and become invested in the characters. It is a sweet story, with a happy ending, but it just did not check all the boxes.