This was such a fun read and I'm so thankful to have gotten an early copy. I'll definitely be checking out more books by this author!

I don’t know about you, but I was absolutely awkward in my teen years, just like our MMC River. River had a crush on the girl next door, Lexi, who also has a sister, Deanna. Growing up, Deanna was interested in River while beautiful, lovely Lexi wasn’t.
Now, everyone is all grown up. Deanna created a dating app to help people find their love using an algorithm (although, she’s kind of wishy washy on whether or not she believes in true love herself). Lexi meets and falls in love with her boyfriend through the app and Deanna desperately wants their relationship to work for her own, somewhat selfish, interests.
That becomes a problem when River moves back to town, no longer awkward but sexy and dang are those tattoos? Lexi takes a sudden new interest in the former boy next door, jeopardizing everything that Deanna is working for.
And Deanna may still have a thing for River. When she and River make a deal… Deanna is forced to see that maybe love isn’t all in an algorithm. Who ends up with who? Read this to find out!
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for a DRC of this romance!!

This was definitely not what I was expecting. The romance between River and Lexi was definitely cute, but I wasn’t expecting the book to be this spicy. Several of the characters were pretty open about their sex lives and stuff so I shouldn’t have been that surprised, but I feel like the two main characters thought about sleeping together more than they had feelings for each other. It was still enjoyable and cute, but definitely a lot more focused on spice than I was expecting.

I liked the concept but it wasn't executed well. I couldn't really connect with the characters. DNFed almost 70% in because I couldn't bear Lexi.

3.5 rounded up to 4

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: a couple open-door spicy scenes
TWs: addiction, cancer, death of a parent (recounted), OW drama, parental abandonment
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this book was fun, easy to read, and had interesting characters. I had such a great time reading it and seeing River and Deanna’s relationship evolve but I wish we saw MORE. I wanted to see more from River and I wanted to hear much less from Lexi. I didn’t enjoy Lexi’s character at all and I didn’t understand River’s infatuation with her and it kept taking me out of the book. Luckily I liked Deanna enough to see how she was going to react to all her situations.

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🏝️ forced proximity
🔀 opposites attract
💓 slowburn
🏡 small town
💞 neighbors-to-lovers
⛓️ BDSM (mild)

This was absolutely NOT the book for me. I should have DNFd this one and very much regret not doing so!

Sorry- I won’t be recommending this book

This was a fun book. A little slow to start, personally, but ended up really liking it! Thank you for this opportunity!

River, a former neighbor of Lexi and Deanna, returns to town after growing up in New York with newfound confidence and tattoos. While he once had a crush on Lexi, he finds himself drawn to Deanna, who is focused on her startup MeetCute. As they navigate their changing dynamic, River's grandmother's unconventional profession adds a layer of humor, and Deanna's intelligence impresses him. The story combines childhood crushes, family drama, and a unique dating app twist, though the romance didn't fully resonate with the reader.

I enjoyed this book but didn't feel fully connected to the characters. I think the plot was great and I liked the character makeup for River and Deanna, I just didn't feel that drawn into their romance. The story is well written and has a great concept. I think River's Grandma should have had more on page time because she seems like so much fun! While this one wasn't the best fit for me, it was still a light happy read and I would definitely read more by this author.

cynic x romantic
logic vs romance
STEM girly x artist
neighbors / forced proximity
opposites attract

CW: family member with cancer, reference to parent abandonment, reference to parent death, reference to drug abuse

I voluntarily read and reviewed a digital ARC from Entangled Publishing, LLC, Entangled: Amara via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love the uniqueness of this story and the amount of tension there was between the main characters. It ticks of all the feel good tropes that I enjoy in a story but I would probably only read it once.
Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

The Neighbor Wager is a re-telling of Sabrina but with gender reversal. It involves Deanna, Lexi, and River. The troupe of a love triangle is introduced, and that is normally not a troupe I go to. Overall, this book fell short. I liked the way Deanna was portrayed as a smart woman in STEM, but I thought River was somewhat creepy with his infatuation. This book was good, not great. I found myself enjoying it more often than not, but I don't think I'd grab it off the shelf.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me. It seemed like a great concept, and I was very excited for it, but after a few chapters I still couldn't get into the story and ended up stopping reading. I just could not connect with the characters at all.

I found this one a little hard going - I love the premise but I think there needed to be a bit more character development on page before Deanna and River could get together. Lexi and Jake also felt very two dimensional which may not have helped.

It was unclear why the sisters were running a dating app to begin with, outside of the conflict between Deanna and River towards the end of the book, as both claimed not to believe in love, while also chasing it for themselves.

I'll definitely read more by this author, but this one wasn't quite on the mark for me

I didn't end up finishing this book. I had a really hard time getting into it and I was surprised because I've read a Crystal Kaswell book before and really enjoyed it! Just goes to show you that not every story is for every person. This will not stop me from reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you for the ARC for my honest review.

This was a good book. It didn’t move me like I had hoped a cute rom com would, however it did have its good moments! It was a little slow for me and i think that’s what made it just “okay” for me. I’m not much for science or magic, and think that if you enjoy this stuff- you might fall in love with this book. The characters are really cute and the overall plot is unique. 3 Stars for me!

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange of my honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book. It took me a little to get into but I loved River (MMC) but Deanna was a little too prickly for me. The premise of River having had a crush for most of his life on Deanna's sister, Lexi, was completely believable. Deanna's problems with past dates were also really fun but I found Lexi's boyfriend a bit weird. Also, who requires a relationship to prove the business success of a dating app? That bit was too much.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Entangled Publishing and Crystal Kaswell for this early release copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fun book to jump into especially if you’re looking for a feel good story. The back and forth banter was really funny, I loved the slow burn build and it had the perfect amount of spice when I it showed up! I really enjoyed the modernized take of the classic movie “Sabrina”. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author

Slow, basic characters. The concept sounded like it could work but it failed in the execution by just being typical repeat of what we've seen before

It was the writing of this one that caused me not to finish it. From the first chapter, it had cringey thoughts from the MMC and some oddly obsessive ideas. The concept was nice, but the execution was not it. Most of the dialogue felt immature or repetitive. The FMC often talked about casual sex to the point of it being annoying. I was finished with this book almost from the beginning.

I liked the synopsis and I was happy to get into reading, but all in all, it was just an ok story for me. I will look into other author books because I believe that there are good stories to read.