Five shining stars!!! I could not put this down!

Oh Emily Walker, we are one in the same, or however that saying goes. Control freak? Can’t handle change? Scared of being alone? Worry now, think later? This book is so raw and so incredibly real, like a breath of fresh air.

Jack and Emily’s banter? I cannot express in words other than sizzling perfection. This book had me grinning and a Cheshire Cat, smiling ear to ear. I loved it! I never wanted it to end. I want to read it again right now. The amount of quotes I have from this too. Which will share when it’s out…oh my lords. And seeing Amelia and Noah and Annie and Will again? Agggghh. My favourite Sarah Adams by far!!!

Ps. Sarah please write a book for Maddison and James. Please!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette and Sarah Adams for the early review copy of Beg, Borrow or Steal, I loved jumping right back into Rome, Kentucky and the Walker family.

Emily Walker thrives in her carefully crafted world and no one disrupts this more than her fellow second grade teacher and long time nemesis, Jack Bennett. Jack left town mid school year with his fiancée, so Emily never expected him to return to Rome alone, especially as her new neighbour. Emily’s plans to sabotage Jack into leaving town again fuel not only their animosity but also their chemistry.

This book felt like going home, I absolutely love getting to visit Rome again and see all my favourite characters. By chapter three, I was already obsessed with these two and you could feel the love underneath all of their bickering. Sometimes I find the bickering in rivals to lovers romances uncomfortable but this was the perfect level and the perfect set of characters. Emily has always seemed a little abrasive in previous books so it was nice to finally see behind the curtain and find out more about her. Jack was also a super interesting character and I loved that they were both keeping secrets. I also absolutely love authors in books, I think it’s so fun.

Rating: 4.5 rounded up!

3.5 ✨ Okay hear me out - really really enjoyed both Noah and Annie’s books and I was so excited for the next instalment of this series. But this one felt kind of slow to me and not as deeply explored?

There were certainly themes of depression and immense loneliness and family strains but I don’t think they were explored as deeply as they could have been. I feel like they were kind of brushed over to get back to the romance. Which don’t get me wrong, give me all the romance, but I would have like a deeper dive into the characters’ psyches.

In saying that, any story about two rival second grade teachers who are also secretly authors without either one knowing (until they do) will always keep me entertained. I love a good enemies to lovers and this one didn’t disappoint on that front.

I also loved seeing the other Walker siblings and their significant others once again and Jack, of course, was the perfect mmc and could do no wrong 🫶🏼

I also cannot wait for Madison and James’ story plsssssss

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC to review.

Sarah Adams has straight up knocked it out of the park yet again! I was hooked from the first chapter and I struggled to put it down!
Emily and Jack’s story was beautiful yet heartbreaking at times. I loved their battle with one another to always come out on top, yet they both respected each other so much (just kept it a secret). Emily’s pettiness to turn the whole town on Jack was actually hilarious; watching her scheme play out and Jack being blindsided constantly (but also not?) was such incredible writing. Sarah just knows how to make pettiness seem to attractive (if that makes any sense!)
Emily was a character I could relate to a little too closely, so I felt everything she was feeling, and had been in her exact shoes a few too many times. Sarah’s ability to channel what it is like to be an oldest daughter was really well done, to the point I felt like I was reading myself on the page.
I love seeing all of my old favourites back in Rome, Kentucky. The townspeople make Sarah’s books just that much more special, and this one was no exception.
Now we just need Maddison’s story please!

Thank you for providing an ARC of this book. I’m so grateful to have experienced this amazing book before its release. I can’t wait to take it up to my customers!

I think it’s safe to say, I will read anything Sarah Adams writes!! When in Rome and Practice Makes Perfect are two of my favourite books, so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of book 3, and it did not disappoint! I LOVED it!!

Sarah has the ability to make you escape as soon as you start reading, and before you know it you’re invested in the characters and can’t wait to see what happens next! It’s the best!!

I loved Emily and Jack!!
They are fabulous characters, their tension is on point, their honesty is brilliant and their chemistry is HOT! Not to mention the banter is a lot of fun too! I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved that the heat was turned up around the half way mark, it was highly entertaining watching these two get to know each other! I could feel the love 🥰

I can’t forgot to mention another favourite character…
Oh Mabel, I’ve missed you and your wonderful words of wisdom!
“Life can be a little sh!t sometimes. But sh!t also makes great fertilizer”.

I also loved that this wasn’t just a romance, the characters are dealing with difficulties in their lives and issues from their past, which Sarah addresses really well and makes you feel a whole lot more too.

What I love about Sarah’s writing is that you get to know the main characters really well. They feel like old friends where you know their deepest secrets. You feel completely invested and feel genuinely happy or sad for them when things happen. It’s so good!

I will miss the Walker siblings and their partners, I cannot wait for book 4 now! This book gets all the stars from me and I highly recommend it!

hi Sarah Adams may I read your grocery list?

It's been two weeks since I finished this book and I'm still thinking about it. When I read this, I really, really needed it.

This series, these characters, Sarah's writing, I adore it all so much. Emily and Jackson are such great, developed characters, and I related so much to Emily. Seeing how her story with Jack came together and ended up was such a joy. Her ability to build beautiful characters and a beautiful, love story, without it being "too much", is fantastic and I love it. Characters from the previous two books are ever-present and the town of Rome in itself is such a character that makes the story complete.

Fans of the first two books in this series will NOT be disappointed! I loved this so much! It's my favourite out of the 3 by far and I LOVED the first 2!

Cannot believe there's only 1 book left in this series.. bring it on.

Thank you so much to Hachette Aus/NZ and Netgalley for the arc!! <3

This book has well and truly cemented Sarah Adams as one of my favourite, feel-good authors.

Loved this enemies to lovers story, and especially loved that the female main character is an aspiring romance writer.

Sarah Adam’s has done it again. Written a feel good, heart clenching sweet book that has made me grin like a school girl. Sarah Adam’s is known for being a clean, closed door author, and whilst she’s getting more creative with her writing, it’s still closed door, but her writing is so beautiful I couldn’t care less. I don’t miss the smut. The romance and relationship building is there, and beautiful.

My biggest issue with this book is the almost caricature nature of some of Emily and Jack’s personality traits and quirks. The lengths that this level headed, responsible and overall do gooder would go to to get revenge felt childish and out of place. History of Emily and Jack aside, these two respectable adults going to childish lengths like putting embargo’s on professional business transactions took it down a notch for me. But that’s the worst of it.

I originally wasn’t too excited for Emily’s book. I never got a good enough exposure to her to be excited, but the amount of times I identified with her (and that’s maybe why I felt like I loved this book so much). To feel like a supporting character in your own life was captured so heartbreakingly well, and I cried with her when she cried. The fantasty at finding a man like Jack, whilst ridiculous, is something we can all hope for, I guess. The banter was great, the relationship building was great, the vulnerability was great. Highly recommend.

✨Did I expect to like this book? Yes, did I expect to love this book? No. I have been bewitched🔮

🫶🏻This book was so so so cute! 🫶🏻

📌Emily and Jack are each other biggest competitors in life. If one wins something the other must achieve it also. They have been up against each other since college and this continues when they get a job at the same primary school.

📖They come together in a scheme to retrieve an email sent to the principle by accident and it’s one hilarious mistake after the other 😂

📚Throughout the book we see the pair realise they are more alike than anything else and instead of competing can enjoy the same things together.

Favourite quotes:
“ you think you’re unlovable but I think I’ve never known how to love until knowing you”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve alerted everyone that there’s a penis on the premises?”

“My life is O.E.V.E.R”, “I’m glad you also know the super-secret way to spell over”

🥞The pancake scene 🥞

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was received as an ARC to Booksbymallie