Gosh I REALLY wanted to love this one - I was sucked in by the fricken adorable cover, and the super unique spin on the 'marriage of convenience' trope. Unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I found the characters lacking development, and the pace was a bit off.

I did like the writing style, Dani McLean has a flow that is easy to follow and easy to read. I would definitely pick up another book by this author, providing the pace is a little different.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an eARC, I'm so sorry I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.

I see your "sleeping with the enemy" and raise you one "buying a house with your crush".

I expected a jumble of circumstances that trap our couple into moving in together, but this was more of a cozy, low-intensity, high-longing romance. As a retired-stripper and sober bar-back, Sebastian has decided that he's ready to settle down at the ripe old age of 36. But he can never seem to catch up to the bank's inflating requirements in order to purchase a home. That is, until his best friend's little sister moves home and decides that cosigning with him is a better option than renting on her own. Bee may be the answer to his mortgage-prayers, but living in close quarters reveals that Sebastian's crush goes both ways.

I enjoyed the intimate moments that Bee and Sebastian have together which couldn't happen if they lived a part. When the tension finally snaps and they make out on the couch, the spice quickly picks up. Bee has a kinky fantasy that he fulfils and they both love a private dance. But otherwise it's very sweet love scenes that show body-positive confidence. Bee is writing her first novel after a successful ghostwriting career so she frequently battles her insecurities. The pace lulls in the middle until both are forced to face old relationships. For Bee, it's her childhood best friend that seems to be a negative influence. For Sebastian, it's his deadbeat father that comes back into his life. Altogether a pleasant and safe spicy romance.

Contrary to what other reviews will make you believe, this was an enjoyable read. I had fun time and I really liked Sebastian and Bee. She just really needed someone to believe in her no matter what and Sebastian was able to be that person for her.

I received an arc through netgalley.

It’s just not working for me.

I never mind suspending my disbelief for a romance plot, crazy set ups for stories never bother me so I was fine with how they ended up buying a house together. The problem was that there was no tension between the characters as to if they’ll get together. Again I don’t have a problem with dual POV but in this case it means you know they both have a thing for each other and just need to stop being stupid.

The character work all felt very superficial, a lot was said but didn’t seem to deepen the characters beyond a stereotype.

Maybe I’m being overly harsh but I’ve just read much better characters and plot.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was my first book by Dani McLean, and can I say I was a little disappointed. It may have been this particular story, but when I read the summary I was expecting one thing, but in reality kind of got another. This is supposed to be a forced proximity, second chance, brother's best friend romance. And while some of those tropes hold up, I don't entirely know if it's a true second chance. Bee was a high school-er with an unrequited crush and Sebastian was her brother's best friend. I would consider a true second chance romance to be when they had an initially romantic relationship prior, which wasn't the case for this one.

The pacing was a little weird. The spicy scenes were not for me, they were written in a way where I just wanted to skip them. And there wasn't really enough angst in the forced proximity, again I think the pacing didn't flow naturally. I thought this book was going to have a little more character development. Bee's big thing was that she wanted to be more confident, so I thought it was going to be this deep journey she goes through, which it wasn't. I don't know. Originally I rated this 3.5 stars, but after sitting on it for the past month, I think I would change my rating to 3 stars. I don't know if I would read some of her other work, based on this one. I guess this one just wasn't for me.

I give this book 2.5 ⭐️

The overall premise had a lot of promise, but I feel like it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. Bee is cute and anxious (honestly, relatable) but I feel like the beginning of the book DRAGGED. The spice was spicy and I enjoyed it but overall the plot just felt flat and meh.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The conflict keeping the characters apart didn’t seam feasible. It left the story with no legs to stand on, and despite having a nice cast of like-able secondary characters and some nice moments of pining between the two main characters, the story arc didn’t have the tension needed to keep me reading. DNF about halfway through.

This is a wonderful brothers best friend, forced proximity romance and I really enjoyed it! The spicy scenes were on fire and I thought this was a cute romance. Bee’s character was special, she’s a very anxious character and overstresses over silly stuff- but don’t we all as humans? I did feel a little unedited with the writing but overall I’m rating it a 4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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

This was such a friendly and light read. This book did not have super heavy topics but was still a rom-com and serious. From my understanding this was a debut novel for Dani but I cannot wait to see what other work she produces.

This story was everything the title promised with bonus coziness and steam for days. They each came with their own emotional baggage that made communication difficult. The depiction of domestic romance and putting down roots in all the different senses was beautiful.

I wanted so badly to like this. There were some really great elements but overall I was disappointed. I think if you're looking for an easy read with good spice to mentally check out with, then you might enjoy this book. It just didn't really land for me. Which is sad because there were some elements that made me hopeful (not a spoiler) i.e. one of the main characters being bisexual.
Not bad. Just not for me.

I don’t even know where to start with this one

Honestly, I’m giving this book two stars because the smut was good, BUT (I’ve never said this and is sounds so weird to now) there was too much of it???? For being a sweet contemporary romance there was just TOO MUCH SEX. Half the book was them banging and the other half was them on their own personal journeys.

Don’t even get me started with the fact that it took 7 chapters to discover why the FMC was panicking over moving back home and “making a dumb decision” which wasn’t even a dumb decision. If it had been 7 chapter of the reader knowing but the characters not knowing then it would have been *fine* but to have the big reveal be that she asked her editor if she could write her own book??????? After being a successful ghostwriter for years?????? It’s not even like her confidence was in the toilet. She was out getting tattoos and skydiving while she lived away but then suddenly she’s afraid to do something that basically comes natural to her.

There was zero conflict. Nothing happened this whole book.

She moves back home to write her book, buys a house with her brothers best friend, become friends with benefits, overcomes her fear of disappointing HERSELF and learns to let go (anti-anxiety meds could have definitely helped before this all started), breaks up with her best friend who was a bitch, admits her feelings for the brothers best friend, end of book (plus an epilogue that takes place five years later where they’re married, she’s pregnant with twins, and her books get picked up for a movie).

He buys a house with his best friends little sister, cares for houseplants, goes for runs, dreams of owning his own business, makes up with his abusive father, admits his feelings for the FMC and they live happily ever after ever after.

The biggest conflict was if she was going to leave if her book didn’t get approved but we all knew neither of those things were good to happen.

What else… there was so much inner monologue that someone would say something then it would take PAGES of thoughts before another person responded???? And the thoughts were mainly the idiots being in love with each other but not wanting to admit it.

I feel like there’s more but I can’t think of it right now so I’ll just end it here. This book was just not it.

I was interested in this book, but unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. I feel like the tension was there at first and then fell kind of flat. I also feel like her attitude towards him was all over the place, sometimes she was all about him but others she ignored him. I think it's a very good concept but maybe wasn't executed how I thought it was going to be. Plus the ending was a bit rushed.

Thank you, Dani McLean, Set the Mood Publishing, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Mortgage of Convivence is out and ready to read.

1.75 stars
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Thank you NetGalley for the e-book arc in exchange for an honest review!
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This book just fell flat for me in so many ways, i expected to see more of Bee and her tackling her writing honestly since it was made to be the main focus point of the plot and the reason she's back home. Like yes it's a romance but there should have been more discussion surrounding her book being written.
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Character break-down:
I was not a fan of either character if I'm being honest, Bee seemed too timid and too infantized for my liking, Sebastian is constantly reassuring her over the same things and although Bee doesn't want to be seen as someone who wants help or someone to be babied she doesn't do anything to really prove otherwise.

Sebastian just felt like one of those guys who tries to be super deep and insightful but it just came off as kind of annoying at some points because he made almost everything deep and kind of just ended up repeating himself multiple times.

Honestly, I wasn't really rooting for them to get together. By this I just mean that it felt like they didn't really have much of a connection outside of them hooking up, it just didn't feel like they had actual feelings for each other. They had feelings for each other in the past but by living together I was expecting something sweeter and not just lust 24/7, if you were to take away the smut scenes, there was nothing else defining their relationship, that being said the smut scenes also happened way too often like unnecessarily so. There were also some questionable scenes (iykyk)
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It felt like a lot of the book was wrapped up super quickly at the end, Seb meeting his dad, Bee finally submitting her book and getting feedback on changed, like these were key plot points that kind of just got wrapped up in the end with little attention throughout the book.

I LOVED this book! I love the protectiveness of Seb and I really enjoyed the forced proximity of them sharing a mortgage and that Bee helps Seb make his dream a reality and in return Seb does the same for Bee. He also helps to bring the 'real' Bee to the surface and shows her that she doesn't have to hide from the world. The only thing I didn't enjoy is the character of Morgan and i don't understand her role it played in the plot of the book, I feel like if she wasn't in the book the book would have had a similar ending. However!!! - I love Aiden and hope he gets his own story!

Mortgage of Convenience is the older brother’s best friend, mutual pining, swoon-worthy romance I’ve been waiting for. Bee and Sebastian ooze sexual tension which is one of my favorite things about the friends to lovers trope. It is also great to see a romance where the major conflict was not focused on the couple’s relationship (something you rarely see in romance, but is becoming one that I LOVE to read), but the relationship between Bree and a friend.

McLean has given us a realistic journey of a romance full of two heartwarming characters and the spiciest of spice. This was just a beautiful, cozy, emotional world and Sebastian was that man you just wanted to be wrapped up in it with. There is nothing negative I could say about this book. This was my first Dani McLean book but definitely not my last. Looking forward to reading more from her in the future.

The cover is cute and made me want to read this book. But the content was not interesting enough for me to continue beyond 50%. . I felt there was lack of chemistry and the plot was not captivating enough. Maybe other readers will love it, but it was not for me..

4/5 Stars

Thank you to Set the Mood Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very interesting spin on forced proximity due to convenience and I loved how unserious this book took the mortgage of convenience part. This book is a fun time that still covers some important topics and does have a bisexual mmc. I wouldn’t go into this thinking it is going to be serious because then you may be disappointed but I had an amazing time reading this and I can’t wait to read other stuff from Dani McLean.

Bee Montgomery has always had a crush on her brother’s best friend but she never thought he returned her feelings. She left her home 5 years ago to be a ghostwriter but now she is ready to take a chance on her writing and wants to try to write a book her own name can go on. Her confidence though is a mess and she just has a hope and her suitcase to support her dream. When she learns Sebastian, her brother’s best friend, is trying to buy a house but can’t quite qualify for a loan she decides to help him and buy a house with him. He wants a place to eventually have a family and sees that this is a way to also see if Bee maybe has feelings for him and agrees.

I loved Bee and Sebastian and I loved how Sebastian helps Bee realize her potential and shows her what it is like not to have to do everything herself even if she can. The tension was there and the resulting spice was fun. Overall not my favorite spice I’ve read but it was spicier than I expected. I liked the age gap between them and it didn’t feel like it made it weird. I also loved how supportive Bee’s brother was of the relationship, that man was their biggest supporter.

I do recommend this book but I know it isn’t for everyone. If you want a fun take on forced proximity, age gap romance, brothers best friend, and a bisexual mmc maybe try this out.

I didn’t love this one honestly - the chemistry of the main characters lacked for me. I found the book to be really repetitive and lackluster. This just wasn’t for me.

This was a really cute read and can be used as a refreshing read! I do wish their romance was stretched out a little bit more but their chemistry and pining were AMAZING! I need ot read more of this author!