Grace Travis is finishing up her degree in interior design, and she's about to get a lot of hands-on experience fixing up a house she inherited. That is, unless her neighbor Noah Jansen can convince her to sell. Will they flip for each other, or is their relationship doomed to be a flop?

You should read this book if:
You love home improvement/design shows.
You want a cute and sweet rather than a steamy romcom - this one is strictly closed door!
You're trying to figure out your next step in life.

This is a enjoyable story if you fit any of the criteria above. I really liked Grace as a protagonist - her design/carpentry skills and determination were inspiring. Noah grew on me over the course of the book as he opened up to Grace about his issues with his father. I could definitely see this being a Netflix movie.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 7/23/21. Will be posted to Instagram closer to pub date 1/18/22.

Meet Grace Travis, a twenty-something woman who has never had anyone to count on. She was raised by a single mother who always made her feel as though she was a nuisance. Grace works hard at all of her random part-time jobs, while finishing up her degree in interior design. She is hardworking, stubborn, and loyal. Meet Noah Jansen, a real estate developer in his early thirties who has no intention of settling down, ever, but he does want to get out from his wealthy, narcissistic father’s thumb. Trying to strike out on his own and make a name for himself, Noah moves from New York to sunny California to begin anew. It turns out that the cute beach house that Grace moves into and she desperately wants to make a home, is right next door to adonis god and surfer boy, Noah. But Noah has other ideas for Grace’s beach house. He wants to put down some roots and wants to purchase her house so he can expand his property. They are mutually attracted to one another, but Noah’s arrogant attitude turns off Grace and she’s not willing to go down without a fight. The majority of the story revolves around Noah trying to push Grace into selling her house. It’s like a battle of the sexes. There is a lot of bickering and back and forth between the two. As they slowly get to know one another, one misstep places them back in enemy camps. While in California, Noah is connected with a journalist who wants to write a magazine spread documenting his remodel. The magazine focuses on celebrities and the rich and famous. The journalist is almost convinced to use Noah as her subject, but gives him an ultimatum. She wants Grace to be the designer on the project after she witnesses the chemistry between the two. Noah offers Grace the job, which is a huge deal considering she’s still a few months away from graduating. They call a truce and she accepts the offer. There are a lot of fun design references and even a fun “trading spaces” contest between the two.

I loved this story! It is adorable. It’s a fun meet cute, enemies to lovers trope. I really enjoyed how the POV jumps between Grace and Noah so the reader is really able to understand each character's feelings and motivations.The side characters are also pretty great. I love how they all mesh and how they help to drive home the “family is what you make it” theme. I really appreciated the family theme and it being more about the family you choose for yourself. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sophie Sullivan for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Sophie Sullivan book but it won't be my last!

How to Love Your Neighbor is an enemies to friends to lovers story featuring Noah and Grace as warring neighbors turned lovers. Noah is a real estate developer eager to break free from his father's shadow and Grace is a student looking for her big break in the interior design world.

The two face off head to head as neighbors both doing their best to turn their beachfront fixer uppers into their dream homes. The tension between Noah and Grace is amazing and I loved their banter so much. This is a closed door romance but it's very well done.

2.5 stars. I felt very "meh" about this one, unfortunately. I didn't really connect to the characters or feel chemistry between them, and their relationship felt a bit contrived and rushed.

How to Love Your Neighbor is a fun romance that does exactly what it's supposed to do: provide an entertaining, escapist story with cute characters who start out as enemies and wind up falling in love. There's not really any twists here, and author Sophie Sullivan isn't reinventing the genre, but it's a solid entry, and she knows her audience. I really liked the DIY/HGTV angle here. I haven't read a romance set in the world of home renovations or design, so that was enough of a fresh bent to keep it from feeling overdone. As I often find with these books, the breaking up and getting back together thing felt contrived, but that's to be expected-- otherwise, these books would be novellas. I'm looking forward to reading another feel good book by Sullivan in the future.

This was a fun enemies to lovers book (neighbors to lovers really). It's in the series, but you really don't need to have read the first one to get everything in this one.

Grace is a complete pushover when it comes to helping people she loves. She finally gets the courage to move into the beach house willed to her by her grandparents, only to have her real estate developer neighbor try to buy her out.

It was really cute, and highly recommended for a fun summer read.

Grace is a barista, a dog walker and a student about the graduate. She is also a caretaker and can’t say no to anyone who asks a favor. Her mother is a mooch, a real financial and emotional drain on Grace. Rich-guy Noah owns the house next to the bungalow Grace just inherited and he really wants to buy it from her. But it is her only link to her grandparents, her family, so she is not willing to sell it. Then an opportunity of a lifetime comes for Grace: she is hired on as the interior designer for his house project. A prestigious magazine will cover the transformation. As Grace turns his house into a home they become more and more attracted to on another. Insecurities, gaffes and Grace’s mother all try to get in the way. But it looks like this might be the One for both of them.
This was an adorable but real read. The banter and sizzle between the two was well written.I would recommend this book to my patrons

How To Love Your Neighbor is a fantastic contemporary romance by Sophie Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan has created a well-written book and brought it to life with a warm and lovable cast of characters. Kudos to Ms. Sullivan for the snappy dialog that kept a grin on my face while reading this delightful tale. Grace is finishing her final classes at design school and is ready to move into the home her grandparents had willed to her. Noah had just moved into his new home and has decided he wants to buy the empty house next door to enlarge his property. Noah and Grace's story is packed with conflict, drama, humor, sizzle and a touch of suspense. I enjoyed reading How To Love Your Neighbor and look forward to reading more from Sophie Sullivan in the future. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this sequel! It could easily be read as a stand alone but it is nice to see familiar characters pop up throughout this book. I enjoyed the aspect of home design in this story as well as the large cast of characters. I feel like we need a book about the third brother now!

This was a good read. While I wouldn’t recommend this for a curriculum, this would be a great option for independent reading in the older grades as the main character is finishing up college. Overall, this was a great read on finding oneself, for yourself, especially when trying to leave the shadow of your parents. Good messages overall and while not curriculum friendly, would work for young adults.

A great story! Grace has had to work hard all her life, born to a mother that was not the nurturing kind, she's moved past it doing something with her life. Almost finished with design school and working multiple jobs Grace can't believe her windfall when her grandparents leave their house near the beach, she has a house she can decorate and she's hoping for the family connection she missed because the selfishness of her mother She's focused on her future no room for a man.
Noah has moved to California to out from under his father's thumb, wanting to make his own mark. He's found the perfect house to start, but he wants a little more room and the rundown property would be prefect, well if the new owner would sale...In comes banter, competitions, lessons for both of them and of course chemistry. Very entertaining read.

As soon as I saw the title and cover I KNEW this was a book I had to read!! Enemies-to-Lovers/Neighbors AGH my favorite trope ever!! Safe to say I was not disappointed when reading Grace and Noah’s story. This book is just the most delightful little romcom that brings a smile to your face! The banter between Grace and Noah is precious and I also loved seeing their development throughout the novel (Both as individuals and as a couple). I also happen to be an HGTV addict and just few in love with how the plot of the book was presented and how it flowed. Highly recommend for a sweet easy read that will have your heart fluttering (But if your like me will also give you an itch to renovate your entire house as well haha!)!!

Special Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest review!

HGTV meets your favorite Nicholas Sparks’ The Choice.

👌🏼 Likable characters
👌🏼 Funny Quips
👌🏼Competition
👌🏼Steamy sexual tension

This book has it all when stubborn Grace moves next door to Noah - a man who always gets what he wants; and this time what he wants is her house. This neighborly feud is heightened by physical attraction and mutual friends. If they can learn to combine their talents and work together instead of against each other maybe they can turn into more than pesky neighbors.

“You ever feel like life leads you where you’re supposed to be, even if you don’t know why?”

Overall this was a cute and easy read. I loved the first half of the book when Grace and Noah were going back and forth challenging each other with bets and feuding with each other. They had such fun repartee as well as having loads of chemistry. You truly felt the way that these characters were like two magnets getting pulled together. The way Sophie Sullivan writes about their love is so beautiful too.

However I will say I was not a fan with the mental thoughts the characters had within the book that were noted by italics. It took me out of the story instead of adding to it. It felt as almost every page had a sentence in italics which just made it feel clunky. I was also hoping for more steam and turns out there were only many fade to black moments so this was mostly PG. The second half of the book seemed to drag on and felt slow as well. While overall this book was a cute and easy read, it’s not one that I can imagine myself picking up to read more than once.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I think what is most frustrating to me upon finishing the book is that it has the bones to be a good book, maybe really good. However, the way the plot unfolded did not make the relationship between Grace and Noah believable, and there were far too many "endings".

1. The relationship
The meet-cute at the beach with Grace falling seemed like a great start to the book. Grace realizing her neighbour was a bit of a douche would have been a great start to the book. The two together create for a really inconsistent start to an enemies-to-lovers trope. First we are into the cutie at the beach and next we hate him?

Also, I really didn't think Rosie and Josh's relationship did anything to advance the plot and seemed kind of random. There was potential there for a follow-up book to explore their romance.

2. The final 10%
Omg I thought this book was over ten times. The ending was like a choose your own adventure. I personally would have just left it when Noah came back to her presentation but then we had some drama with her mom BUT ALSO there's the whole pool scene BUT FINALLY there is a promise of engagement? Too. Much.


Notes (not influencing my rating): There were a lot of punctuation/formatting errors in this ARC. Spaces before periods, no spaces after sometimes, words without spaces, misspelled words, awkward formatting on text convos. Thought it was important to note should any other edits be done

Grace Travis is set to graduate from Interior Design School. She has also inherited a little house from her grandparents. Excited at the prospect to make this house her home, knowing it will definitely need some updates, Grace doesn’t account for the handsome, arrogant neighbor determined to buy her property.

Noah Jensen is searching for something to make him happy, he constantly feels restless. Buying a new property and redoing it would be just the ticket. It’s be even better to buy the property next door that has been vacant forever- to expand his own property. Determined to step out of his father’s shadow, he is in discussion with an architectural magazine to feature his house and renovations. But once the reporter gets a load of Noah and Grace together, she has other ideas.

Grace and Noah need to work together to have the magazine exposure. This would be a great move for both of their careers.

The attraction is there as is their head strong stubbornness. Trying to keep things professional slowly becomes harder with working so closely together. So what happens? You’ll have to one-click to find out.

This was my first time reading a book by Sophie Sullivan and am grateful to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this. I loved both of these characters and how they worked together and separately to overcome their pasts.

3.5 stars.

I think "frothy" is the best way to describe this book! Very light + quick reading but at the expense of good character development.

The beginning of this book was so solid, but all the passion and fire seemed to leave the room as soon as these two stopped fighting and started a relationship. The last half of this book felt rushed and didn't have enough commit to these characters the way they went from zero to one hundred committing to each other virtually overnight (which we didn't even get to experience thanks to a fade to black --- womp).

Overall --- loved the banter more than I loved the 'ship. But I think I will go back and give her first book a try because it features two characters from this book I want to know more about!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Ms. Sullivan for an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I will start by saying this was not an awful book. I am certain some will adore it. I am just not that person. I know it can be loved because it has all of the ingredients of a sweet and clean enemies to lovers romance. The problem is that all of the ingredients were seemingly put into a blender and broken down into inconsistent pieces, strained off all of the juicy bits and drowned in water in the hopes to make it float. Instead we were left with a strangely paced story, no steam and in fact confusing sexual interactions,very little consistent depth or growth in the characters, and a see through plot.

I really wanted to like this book and was invested in what push and pull the characters were going to experience, but the tension ends very early in the book. The characters make a turn towards each other that is not sustainable for the duration of the book.

As I said, someone will find this charming. It just wasn’t me.

Overall, this was a really good book! The plot was great and Sophie Sullivan pulled it together well. The story was really cute and really progressive. The characters (Grace & Noah) learned a lot throughout the book, helping them grow as characters. I really liked the multiple POVs. Usually, in the books I read like this, the story is from only the one point of view, so it was nice to see what Noah was thinking and feeling.
Part of the plot is that they are renovating houses, so I like that there weren’t any terms a regular person wouldn’t know.
There were a few spacing mistakes (ex: she was — shewas), but that doesn’t affect the actual story.

This is definitely a cute read, but that's it. It's pretty surface level, with characters that are likeable. It's not the best romance I've ever read but it was quick and fun.