Okay. It’s a done deal. Sophie Sullivan is now an auto-buy author for me. I love the issues she addresses in her books. Her characters are facing real life things that I, for one, can easily relate to. They struggle, but they also self-reflect and grow. The relationships her characters build just make me happy and giddy, too.

Grace and Noah were enemies at first, but as it happens they end up falling in love and being all swoony and what not. There are elements of abusive parental relationships here, so if that’s a trigger then be careful with this book. In conclusion: I love Sophie Sullivan and I loved this book.

Thanks so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Great, feel good romance with an fun cast of characters. (I am loving this movement in romance to include diverse characters with complicated back stories.) Grace & Noah’s love story was fun and left me feeling happy & buoyant. If you’d like a romance without any sex scenes (right?) then this is your book.
PS Sophie Sullivan put a little steam into your next one!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Grace and Noah were such opposites that of course there was drama. The way they butted heads was at times hilarious. Noah had no idea how dug her heels in and refused to sell her house to him. Thus, they became neighbors each with their own agenda. The way they resolved issues made for an excellent story. And of course, falling in love made it even better. This is my first book by Sophie Sullivan and I will be looking for more.

I voluntarily and honestly reviewed this advance reader copy from NetGalley and was not compensated in any way.

Thank you to Sophie Sullivan, St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

This was a cute premise. I liked the interior design aspect, and the fact that the two main characters were neighbours. However, this one did fall a little flat for me. I started skimming towards the end as the book was way too long. There also wasn’t really a conflict - the whole thing with the mother at the end felt a bit forced, and just included to add a bit of “drama” to the book. I also found it quite cheesy. Usually I like romance books with a bit of spice to them, but this one glossed over that completely.

All in all, this was a cute but forgettable read.

I have been waiting for Sophie Sullivan's second book for way too long. “10 Rules for Faking It” was one of my top 10 rom-coms of 2020, but I think I might love “How to Love Your Neighbor” even more. Noah is Chris’ brother from “Ten Rules For Faking It” and I was so excited to have Chris and Everly cameo in this one. The book alternates between the perspectives of Grace and Noah, who share a fence line, but not much else. Grace has grown up with very little and worked hard for what she now has: a small cottage on the beach she inherited from grandparents she never knew, a design degree that she’s almost finished and a small group of people she considers her family. Noah, in contrast, has grown up with immense wealth and privilege and now wants to settle down and create something meaningful on his own, outside of his overbearing father’s shadow. As their lives keep on crossing, they learn they might not be that different after all.

This was such a fun, heartwarming romance that has you rooting for Grace and Noah to go the distance, from their first meeting. I loved how both Noah and Grace are very different people who balance each other and both become better because of it. They both leave their comfort zones and their characters evolve because of it. I enjoyed how the relationship between Grace and Noah developed, especially during their painting or styling competitions, but they did have incredible, fiery chemistry right off the bat. Their banter is so funny and enjoyable and makes for such an easy, lighthearted read. I laughed a lot while reading this story. The side characters are also pretty great. I love how they all mesh and how they help to enforce the “family is what you make it” theme. I really appreciated that the storyline showed that family is not necessarily the group you’re born into, but the group you choose for yourself. If you’re a fan of HGTV and DIY shows, you’ll love this book. There is a cute nod to the old show Trading Spaces (which I used to love to watch) as they and their friends both fix up a room in each home. I will be purchasing this for our library patrons and recommending it to those who like romance. I can’t wait for Sophie’s next book! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sophie Sullivan for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Grace, struggling interior design student, working multiple jobs to make ends meet, inherits her grandparents beach home next door to developer Noah who wants to buy her house to expand his property.

With a great cast of secondary characters, we get to read along as they both discover each other and how to each succeed in their chosen careers despite family obstacles. As an interior decorator, I really enjoyed this book with interior design as a core theme throughout it.

I had never picked up a Sophie Sullivan book before, but the premise sounded interesting and I was willing to give it a try. I was very glad I did. The characters are fun and, while it took me a while to get everyone straight, I really enjoyed getting to know the mains as well as all of the folks who are near and dear to them. Grace and Noah have really good chemistry which evolves into something deeper as they spend more time together, even when they are bickering. And the book doesn't rely on long sex scenes to carry that part of the story which is kind of refreshing to be honest.

All in all, I really enjoyed the writing, the character development and the plot. While it was certainly predictable, the little things that happened to get us to the HEA took it from predictable to fun and quirky. I will have to go back and read her earlier book, because who knew it was a series? Not I. And then I will wait for the next book, because there is one in the works.

Another Sophie Sullivan novel and another Jansen brother for me to love!

How to Love Your Neighbor follows Noah Jansen as he tries to find his passion and a place to call his own. After ditching NYC and working for his father, Noah moves to California with big ideas about his future. Things are looking up when he buys the home of his dreams right on the beach and inquires about buying the vacant home next door—it’s the perfect spot for a pool. There’s only one small snag in his plans, the owner refuses to sell.

Enter Grace Travis, the hardworking design student and said owner of the vacant home— which she happens to have inherited from her deceased grandparents, and has big plans for. Much like Noah she wants to find a place in the world to call her own, thanks to her constant moving around as a child, and will do anything she can to make this house that home.

While Noah and Grace get off to a rocky start—he won’t stop asking her to sell, the two become friends and even closer when Grace lands the job as his interior designer. The chemistry between these two is explosive, and I loved watching these opposites (but not really) fall in love and learn that sometimes home isn’t a place it’s a person.

Here’s hoping Sullivan’s next book will be about Wes! I’m dying to read about this mysterious older brother! & also a huge shout out to @netgalley and @stmartinspress | @macmillanusa for the ARC copy! Thank y’all so much!

I loved this book so much! It made me smile while reading which is always a good sign. It had romance, humor, and the HEA we all love!

This was fairly middle of the road for me. I think it had a lot of potential but I felt like there were parts that dragged on. The premise was compelling and I loved how well the design details were highlighted- made me want to grab some design magazines, but ultimately it fell a little flatter than I had hoped.

I really wanted to love How to Love Your Neighbor. This novel has everything I typically love in romance stories—an enemies-to-lovers trope, a contemporary meet-cute, an idyllic setting—but in the end it was a struggle to keep reading. The characters don't quite mesh together, the story is a little too ambitious for its execution, and the ending is a little too neat.

First, the positives: Sullivan doesn't skimp on the interior design details. Grace is a professional interior designer, and it shows in the detail Sullivan pays to the decoration in both Grace's and Noah's homes. It's believable that Grace knows what she's doing, and that level of expertise is always helpful in putting the reader at ease and immersing them in the fictional world. The secondary characters are also quite lovable: Morty (not of Rick and Morty fame, for better or for worse) perfectly fits the curmudgeon-with-a-heart-of-gold archetype, Josh is a good counterbalance to Noah, and Rosie is a loyal friend. Sullivan's writing shines best in the moments that involve primary and secondary characters playing off each others' personalities.

However, this novel suffers from an odd gait when it comes to plot and to character development. The plot never truly climaxes anywhere; it stays at the same relaxed level throughout the novel, even when Grace and Noah debate their relationship status. Moreover, as the novel progresses, Sullivan continues introducing new aspects of the characters' pasts—aspects and details that would have been best confined to the exposition. In short, it feels as if the reader never truly knows Grace and Noah. New information is constantly unearthed, information that feels critical to know yet odd when introduced in the later stages of the story, as it too often is.

That being said, obligatory disclaimer: most readers enjoy this novel greatly! I can't exactly count myself among them, but if you're thinking about picking this novel up, please don't let me stop you.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

How to Love Your Neighbor ​is out January 18, 2022.

Well, this one didn't give me anxiety so there's that. I will say I enjoyed this one more than its companion. Noah and Grace's relationship was developed really well. I thought Grace was such a good character with so much growth. It was cool to see her being an older college kid finishing up school. I enjoyed her relationship with Morty the most. I miss my grandparents and it was the kind of relationship I wish I had with either of them.

I'm hoping the author does the elusive brother Wes next because I keep reading about him but he's like a unicorn in both books. Doesn't show up in either one, just a few conversations on the phone. Also this sister... Ari. This is two books now, and while they mention her, neither brother actually talks to her so like idk, maybe include her. It would be nice to finally read about her, since they kind shit on her and make her seem like an air-head. Also, I need to see this dad, I mean someone needs to beat this dad’s ass. That’s what I meant.

As for the story, I think the best part of both Ten Rules and How to Love Your Neighbor is the theme of found family. In both books, the main characters have a strong sense of loyalty and familial bond with their friends. In How to Love your Neighbor, Grace’s mom sucks. A nice example of manipulative and toxic traits with a dash of gaslighting. I absolutely love the role Morty has on Grace and seriously that was my favorite relationship in the whole book.

Overall, this was a good book that I can’t wait to be released. And while Ten Rules may be a little triggering, what made that book enjoyable easily was continued in How to Love Your Neighbor

Grace is moving up in this world and working hard to achieve it. She has finally moved into her own home after assisting an elderly man after a fall. She has grown to love him as family, but still thinks it's time to move into her own place. Her grandparents that she never met have left her their home after they passed away, so this is the time to seize the opportunity. As she is going to design school, she is working on her home as money and time allows. Her mother comes into the scene when she finds out her daughter inherited the home and she didn't. She expected the home, even though she never even introduced Grace to her grandparents and had nothing to do with them. Grace's biggest obstacle is the rich neighbor that will not stop trying to buy her home from her. She suspects he's just an egotistical rich kid that won't give up until he gets what he wants. But, she may have a way to get along with him AND expand her design business. But, will love get into her way?

I loved Sophie Sullivan's last book, so I was excited when this follow up came along.

This novel made me want to find a local to calm in love with. So funny too! It moved a little slow at parts but for the most part, a light and vibrant read.

This was exactly the book I needed right now
It was cute and light and it made me really happy.
It was a story do two enemies turn into lovers so if that is the genre you enjoy I think this book will be just what you need

Synopsis: Grace Travis studies to complete her degree in design while building a life in the house her grandparents left her. Grace’s life is on track to finding her dream job until her next door neighbor, Noah Jansen, insists on buying her property. As a real estate developer, Noah’s confident he can convince Grace to sell her house, yet his pushiness leads to an all-out feud between the two.

Review: This book is the companion novel to Ten Rules for Faking It with some of the characters interwoven into this book, but you don’t have to have read it to enjoy this. Grace and Noah have a sunshine/ grumpy character dynamic, and while there’s no spice, there’s lots of good tension. Some of the tropes in this book are forced proximity, light enemies to lovers, having to work together, and the miscommunication trope, which I wasn’t a fan of. My only dislike of the book was that the pacing lagged at times, but the storyline was really sweet. I liked getting to see Grace and Noah finding common ground through their differences.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress | @macmillanusa for the ARC copy!

When I think of romantic comedy, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day. This one took by surprise!

How to Love Your Neighbor is a laugh-out-loud story that gives you hope for the underdog to win.

Grace Travis is the jack of all trades; she is a dog walker, a barista, student of interior design; she is a live-in caretaker for a man called Milton. Until she decides that she will move into the house that her grandparents had left for her.

Noah Jansen is the handsome neighbor next door who knows how to make a deal, and he wants to buy the house next door to knock it down to add on to his home. he finds out that some things are not for sale, no matter what the deal.

Cute read! My first book by this author and I really enjoyed it.
Grace is in interior design school and she ends up being offered the opportunity to fix up the house next door.
Noah just wants to get his hands on the house next door so he can expand his property. But he didn’t realize that he would end up falling for the girl next door.
Grab this book and enjoy!

"How to Love Your Neighbor" takes place in the same small coastal California town as Sophie Sullivan's first novel, "Ten Rules For Faking It," and features Noah, the brother of radio station manager Chris Jansen. In "Ten Rules," Chris found love with producer Everly Dean and we learned a bit about the Jansen family's stern patriarch, who presides over a real estate empire in New York. Like Chris, Noah moved to California in large part to get out of his dad's sphere of influence.

Noah is very well off thanks to his own real estate deals, so he buys a large house near the ocean. There's just one problem... the shabby little house next door, which has been unoccupied for a long time. Noah wants to buy it and expand his property, but then one day Grace Travis turns up. She's inherited the small house and intends to renovate it. Noah is convinced he can get her to change her mind.

I was concerned at first that Noah would be too much of an unmitigated asshole to root for, but he's really more of a classic romcom grump who just needs a sunny, sweet woman to change him for the better. Grace is just about to graduate from design school, and through a series of plot machinations, winds up redecorating Noah's house, enabling the pair to spend lots of time together, and, of course, develop a strong attraction to each other.

Like "Ten Rules," "How to Love Your Neighbor" feels maybe 50 pages too long, but it was still a very pleasant read (and is particularly recommended to readers who prefer fade-to-black instead of steamy sex scenes). Both Grace and Noah learn and grow over the course of the book, helped by a lovely group of friends and relatives (including Chris and Everly). There is still one Jansen brother left, Wes, who is still in New York and working directly with the patriarch; perhaps Sullivan's next book will feature his story, and we'll learn a bit more about the dysfunctional parental relationship which has burdened at least two of the Jansen boys.