I have read this book 3 times. It is one of my favorite books, it's so good! I love Emily's fire and how seeing them grow together. I love how her and Jack compliment one another. Plus the legendary red cowboy boots, sign me up! You can never go wrong with Sarah Adams.

Ah!! So cute! I love that Sarah Adams is opening the door more on the steamy scenes. The blocking scene was so tense, so hot, it was everything!

Sarah Adams never fails to disappoint. This was the third book in her When in Rome series, and fingers crossed we're getting another with Maddie. Of all the main characters in this series thus far, I see myself more in Emily. A creature of habit who knows they could just get things done better and faster if people would just hand things over. I loved watching her romance bloom with the man she sort of thought she hated. It felt like a very natural transition from hate to love which some books fail to pull off. The personal growth Emily experienced along the way had me both laughing and crying right along with her. I haven't read a book from Sarah Adams that I haven't enjoyed. I also enjoyed all the cross overs of the MC's from the past books. It really makes the town feel real. Ducky deserves the world and so does Emily. Five stars as always.

Such a great escape!

Emily is the eldest daughter in all ways. She takes care of all of her siblings and her second grade class. Her nemesis, the other second grade teacher Jack, has moved away from Rome, Kentucky to get married to his fiance. But why is he back? I was kicking my heels at this enemies to lovers trope!

Emily was so relatable with her eldest daughter energy. I loved getting to know the layers beneath her nuturing, caretaking personality. and Jack!!! I loved watching them bicker until the very end.

Also - Rome, Kentucky! Getting to escape to Rome, Kentucky in my free time while reading this book was like I was transported to Emily and Jack's corner table at Hot Bean Juice. So comforting and cozy! I also loved the cast of characters in Emily's family and the town.

This was so fun! Can't wait to read the next one!!

Beg, Borrow, or Steal
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sarah Adams is back! I love this quirky small town and the Walker family, both central to this series.

In this third book in the series, Emily and Jack have been rivals all through college and well into their years teaching the same grade at the same school in the same small town. When Jack suddenly moves and becomes Emilies neighbor, the rivals start to learn a lot more about each other.

This book had a lot of grief in it, and the characters both showed growth that I loved. A few pieces felt a bit forced, but I still can’t get enough of the main town characters that worked their way further into this story! Looking at you Mable!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

Jack left Rome, Kentucky with his perfect fiancée years ago and now he’s back to disrupt her happy little bubble. Unfortunately he seems to be here to stay, getting a job at the school and renovating a house right next door. They might be more alike than they think. Jack is a published author under a pen name and Emily isn’t far behind him. When she accidentally sends her manuscript to the principal Jack is just the man to help her. What will this unlikely alliance lead to?

This series is pure happiness. You can’t help falling in love with the characters and rural small town. There’s a strong sense of community, everyone in Rome is family and they rally around each other. That’s the dream.

Emily is the caring big sister always putting everyone else’s needs in front of her own. Except Jackson. She’s been bottling everything up for a long time and when she inevitably bursts Jackson was there to help her thru it. He’s the sweetest. They have great chemistry. It might be recency bias but I think this one’s a little spicier than Sarah Adams other books.

I also adored Mabel (as usual), the manuscript heist, girls night, all the fun banter and Amelia’s pancakes. If you’re looking for a fun romance series this one’s for you!

Read this if you like
🩷Enemies to lovers
🫶🏼Forced proximity
📖Small town romance
💫Second chance

I loved this one so much. The emotion, the tension, enemies to lovers. I loved every bit of it.

Jack is kind hearted and sexy. I wish we had gotten a little more about the writers side of his life.

Emily is so relatable and well rounded.

I can always count on a Sarah Adams book to tug at my heartstrings.

“You think you’re unloveable, but I think I’ve never known how to love until knowing you.”

I loved this rivals to lovers, second chance romance because I found the emotional baggage of the characters of Emily and Jack to be quite relatable.

If you’ve ever dealt with a narcissistic family member or acquaintance, you’ll be able to relate to Jack.

If you’ve ever taken a care taker role for your siblings, you’ll be able to relate to Emily.

I loved that not only were both Jack and Emily teachers but also secret writers. And how the author created a forced proximity situation by making them neighbors.

Oh, how excited, I was to go back to back to Rome, KY!

Emily and Jack's story was probably my favorite of this series. It was cute and a lot of fun in a quick read.

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House publishing & Sarah Adams for the ARC.

There's a good chance this is my new favorite Sarah Adams' book...or maybe it's just the one I've read most recently- ha! I was so happy to be back in Rome (especially reading this during election week), and Emily and Jack's enemies to lovers story had me by the throat. Seriously, I read this in a day because I couldn't stop. The progression from enemies to lovers and the misunderstandings along the way were so well done, and the banter was excellent. Also, Jackson's beaded necklaces... RIP me.

4 Stars.

✨ The vibes:
- rivals
- Family dynamics
- Secret writers
- Flirty banter
- Book 3 in series; standalone
- Open door

✨ My thoughts:
This was cute and fun! I loved the chemistry between the main characters. I loved their rivalry, the motorcycle, the emails, and the Easter eggs from How to Steal a Million. And yall know I LOVEDDDD seeing a cutie cat named Ducky. Like stop right now. 🖤 I enjoyed this book but I want to note that it does not feel like the old Sarah indie charm that reeled me in years ago. She has a whole new tone and vibe that doesn’t resonate with her older books.

✨ If you’re not worried about explicit content-I think you’d really enjoy this one. If you are concerned about explicit content/ an exclusively closed door reader- continue on.

✨ This book is in a series that Sarah started as closed door and as it’s now gone open door, I can’t blanket recommend it due to varying reading preferences/ not knowing what you’re comfortable with.

✨ My biggest hang up for this one is likely regarding marketing and feeling a little mislead.

✨ Because I know some of Sarah’s fan base feels unsure (my dms reflect this), I feel it’s important to address the closed door/open door content on this one more than I typically do. I don’t think this book was made for closed door readers and I don’t think it should be assumed that you can modify it to work for a closed door reader.

✨ In the front of the book, Sarah mentions two scenes to skip for a closed door experience. I feel like it’s worth noting that there’s more you’d have to skip to make it a truly closed door experience. I think it’s misleading to go into this thinking you can have a closed door modified book simply by skipping two scenes, as I personally counted 5 that I’d consider to fall outside the closed door umbrella in addition to other elements that did not feel “closed door” friendly.

I’ll provide the info at the very, very end- so that you can make your own call. (If you don’t want any spoilers- don’t read the last noted section.)

Note- open door; language
Release date: January 7, 2024

Thank you so much to Sarah Adams, Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine; Dell Romance; and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

‼️ SPOILERS ‼️

<spoiler>
Detailed list of open door content: 

Chapter 16 - Talking through a sex scene for writing purposes “scene blocking” I think is what they called it (character is an author). 
Chapter 19 - Making out involving touching. (More detail than what would be in closed door IMO). 
Chapter 25&32 - sex scenes (Sarah mentions these two only). 
Chapter 36 - a shower together. 

* nothing seemed to last long - but I skipped over these scenes so I can’t  fully describe the detail added. 

Other random things throughout that I thought might give a closed door reader hesitation: Several mentions of “nipples”/“penis” that seemed unnecessary. Emily wore lingerie regularly; we hear about see through gowns often. Sex and orgasms are discussed. Madison’s lifestyle involves sleeping around and mentions being proud of sleeping with different men days apart and not caring what their names are (wording comes from book, not me). Relevant because I feel like the set up for a future book could easily go spicer than this one. Just a heads up. 
</spoiler>


*note- posted on bookbub, Instagram, goodreads, Storygraph, and barnes and noble. Links provided. Will be posted on Amazon after release date when Amazon allows me to.

I was excited to see a new book available from Sarah. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did not realize that this was apart of a series when I requested it. That being said, I will now go back and read the previous books. I loved the banter between Jack and Emily. I am a total sucker for good guy who falls first with tattoos and Clark Kent glasses. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

If you’re the oldest sister who always feels like you have to hold everything together for the family, this book will hit home for you. It’s my first time reading Sarah Adams's work, and wow, I’m hooked! The chemistry between Emily and Jack is chef’s kiss. Their long time rivals-to-lovers journey is packed with banter so good it had me grinning and giggling more times than I can count. I need more of them!

What I loved most was how real and relatable Emily and Jack felt. They’re flawed in all the best ways, and their growth throughout the story was so satisfying to watch. Add in the cozy small-town setting, the welcoming townsfolk, and the hilarious Walker siblings. Together, they give off cozy hug energy that I never wanted to end.

That said, the ending left me wanting a little more. It’s sweet, but it felt like it left out some critical emotional moments that could’ve made it perfect. Still, I had such a great time with this story, and I’m already planning to dive into more of Sarah Adams’s books. If you’re looking for a comfort read with depth and laughs, this one’s for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When you read Sarah Adams When in Rome series, you can immediately see how she captures the essence of the small town trope. From the sense of community, to the meddling characters, to the relatable everyday situations, and to the epic grand gestures, her books have a unique charm and Beg, Borrow or Steal is no exception. Emily and Jack, the two main characters, have been rivals since college but keep finding themselves in close proximity to the other. And the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to conceal their feelings. If you have been reading Sarah Adams for a while, you can see how much her writing has grown when reading this book. Then tension and emotional depth made their relationship come to life and she wrote the hottest non sex scene out there!

Read if you like:
-Work rivals
-Neighbors to lovers
-Two teachers x writers
-Small town shenanigans

Thank you Dell for the ARC!

4.25 stars! My Sarah Adams fan behavior continues!!!!!!! Rome and its residents are a soft place to land and this installment was no different. Emily is the epitome of eldest daughter, ultimate protector and defender. Her sheer love for her siblings was soooo palpable. Throughout this book you begin to see her realize that with Jack she can just breathe and let herself be messy and real and feel everything!! Jack my absolute angel was just as special. He immediately was there for emily who was consistently there for everyone else and found herself slipping into loneliness. It was a magical storm of these previous rivals realizing oh.. we see and understand each other on a level that can be scare to face because of the strength in vulnerability it takes. They take this leap and in the end it is just so endearing to see. They are just so perfectly suited for each other and I found the story overall to be engaging and despite the heavy subjects the classic Sarah Adams variety of sickly sweet with a truly tender heart at it's center.

Firstly, I wanted to thank NetGalley and Dell Romance Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review the ARC of Beg, Borrow, or Steal.

This book is one of the easiest 5 star reads I have ever had. I have been a lover of Sarah Adams' books for almost two years now, and I can confidently say that her books get better every single time. There is something incredibly special about her voice, her ability to weave depth and darkness with a lightness and laughter that constantly balance each other out. I genuinely have no idea how I could have waited two more months before experiencing Emily's story, and I cannot wait to get my hands on my physical copy to annotate and tab to my heart's desire.

"I have to hold back ninety-eight percent of the time, and the two percent can still be too much for people."
Emily Walker's story is one that made me feel seen, in a way that I have never been able to articulate with words of my own. She is a woman who carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, never unloading any of the weight that plagues her, but constantly taking on that of the people she loves most. She is a perfectionist, a woman who loves her routine and fears change in a way so many do. She is a woman who feels more deeply than anyone would see at first glance, but when taken the time to really see her, an entirely new universe will open itself up. Getting to experience her journey, which in reality began in the first novel of this series When in Rome, has been a gift. One that helped heal a part of myself I have struggled to mend on my own. I cannot wait for the world to see this glimpse into Emily's mind and heart. Watching her heal was the most beautiful part of this story.

"I would walk through my worst memories to get to you every single time."
I must say, Jackson Bennett, you have made your way to the top of my book boyfriend list (Top 10 to be specific). The way that man was able to make space for Emily, for ALL of her, was a gift that I hope everyone gets to experience with a partner in this life. There is so much depth to him as a character, so much history and reason under the surface he presents to the world. I think it is so important to have MMCs with emotional intelligence, who have respect and love for women, and who are able to put the world into themselves that they not only need but deserve.

It was beautiful to watch them grow together, to see the small moments build the stability and trust that they both needed to create their love story. I cannot wait for everyone to experience Beg, Borrow, or Steal because this is now my favorite Sarah Adams book ever written.

This story was filled with breathtaking quotes, ones that I can guarantee I will remember for a lifetime. Sarah Adams created a love story that made me laugh and cry, feel both understood and understanding. It was a journey that I am so grateful to have taken.

At the end of the day I left this story feeling happier than when I started, and I know that was her dream for this story.

Another good one! Emily's enemy, Jackson, is back in Rome after calling off his wedding. Emily can't stand him but realizes that maybe she should give him a second chance. Jack has a few secrets of his own, too. Could it effect their relationship?

This one is hilarious, cute, spicy, and heartwarming all in one.

I am ready for the next sibling in Rome to fall in love now!!

Long time rivals to lovers? Yes please!
I’ve been loving this series from Sarah Adams and this installment was so much fun. I adored Emily and her eldest daughter energy so much. And her chemistry with Jack was electric - lots of banter and fun sniping back and forth that made this book very readable. We got to spend a lot of time with the characters from the first two books, and an excellent set up for the final book in this series!

Content flags include strained parental relationships and parental death.

I voluntary read a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Sarah Adams once again has delivered a laugh out loud book full of characters you want to hug and that are completely swoon worthy. I had the best time falling in love with Emily and Jackson, and seeing their relationship go from rivals, to enemies, to friends, to lovers. I can’t wait to read what will happen next in Rome, Kentucky.

Welcome back to Rome, Kentucky! This rivals to lovers romance is the perfect edition to Sarah Adam’s series!
Emily and Jack are perfect for each other the whole time, and they don’t even know it! Also, as an older sister, I related to Emily in certain ways. I think Sarah writes her characters so well that you can see yourself in them.

Read if you love:
- rivals to lovers
- small town romance
- books about authors

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.