If HGTV and Hallmark had a baby, it would be How to Love Your Neighbor. The fun of design and transforming a space mixed with a rich big city dude falling in love with his neighbor who's struggling and about to graduate design school, yes, please. The tension is palpable, the flirting and chemistry are so so good. I loved Morty, he reminds me of my husband's grandpa. And Josh and Rosie, I need that whole story, please. This is a sweet and fun read that makes me want to paint some rooms.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley for providing me with advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars!

When Grace, a soon-to-be interior designer who has juggled multiple jobs while putting herself through design school, inherits a bungalow on the beach from grandparents she has never met - she is ready to dig into renovations and make it her home. Then she meets Noah, the big-shot real estate developer who lives next door, with his sights set on expanding his property and buying her out... but Grace isn't budging.

A classic "will-they-won't-they" love story, I loved the banter between Grace and Noah. I thought that the dual pov's brought a lot more depth and perspective to the book, and really showed how people with different life experiences would interpret a situation or conversation differently. This book has much more than romance to offer, unpacking deeper subjects like toxic parental relationships, community, friendship, and learning how to ask for help. I thought that the side characters relationships with the MC's was well developed and added to the plot. This book balanced the heavier subjects with heartfelt and authentic romance really well!

Noah and Rosie were the cutest couple ever!

I loved that the story started with a enemies to lovers situation and in the middle it because more of a friends to lovers. I loved it!

It was hilarious and heartwarming.

Definitely would recommend if you want a cute book with a little of banter.

This was such a cute read!! I loved the storyline and the “trading places” feel of the setting. The main characters had great chemistry, but I think Morty took the cake for me in this one!! He was just so dang precious! Definitely recommend this one!!

100% Bingeable.

An HGTV inspired, slow burn/enemies to lovers romance. I wish I could've watched this play out on TV because it was so fun to read Grace and Noah spar and spark a romance.

This was such a fun book! When I read this book I actually didn’t know that it was part of a series. I was able to read it as a standalone book and still enjoy it but now I am going to read 10 rules for faking it which is the first book in this series! I love grace: she’s funny, smart, and I loved her backstory. now Noah: he’s incredibly sweet, funny, and just SO swoon worthy. I loved seeing the relationship develop between grace and Noah. I also loved how the story not only focuses on their relationship but on family, friends, and having a career. I also loved all the side characters. They had me laughing out loud and I thought they added so much to the story! while there is no steam in this book the chemistry between grace and Noah was SO good that it didn’t need which makes this the perfect option for a beginner reader! There were laugh out loud moments, sweet moments, and I really loved this book!

This cute rom-com had many things I adore–forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, home improvement, coming-of-age. Overall, it was a fun and lighthearted read that still hit some heavier topics with ease.

I absolutely loved everything about Grace–her spunk, self-assurance, determination, work ethic. I especially loved that she wasn’t afraid to call Noah out when he was acting like an entitled jerk. Despite circumstances that could have broken her spirit and forced her to throw in the towel–she forged her own path forward. I love that she never hesitated to stand up for herself.

The magazine storyline was a fun way to do a reality-type idea. I adored the “Trading Spaces” section so much and also all the interactions with their friends and family/found family. The idea of making a house a home, and that a home can be more of an ideological construct really hit the nail on the head for me!

Thanks to SMP Romance and NetGalley for a gifted digital review copy.

So this is a romance where I hated one of the protagonists (as is frequently true, it's the straight, white boy who pissed me off), so I mostly need to use this review to rail against him. A friend jokingly calls Noah "poor little rich boy," but I found it to be true in a more serious vein. He's tired of accusations that he's flaky and decides expanding his property and renovating his house is a sign of adulty commitment that will shut up all his nay-sayers (including himself). His foolproof plan requires him to buy up his neighbor's property, but Grace isn't selling her inheritance, a connection to the grandparents she never knew.

Noah has enormous privilege, but he's worried about "creating" a legacy, an empire, a white man's wet dream for his future. He'll win at any cost. It's just business, after all. The cherry on top is when he calls his renovation team "the staff." Did I miss the part where we time-traveled back to Downton Abbey?? There's a clear direction for personal growth, and I think his journey was only marginally successful. Yes, he learns how to care about other people, respect their wishes, and engage in some philanthropy instead of profit-mongering. But I don't feel I should be impressed by this? This is somewhere in the vicinity of the bare minimum as far as results go. Especially since he makes no progress as the poster child of toxic masculinity, re: absolute discomfort over having an emotional range, nerves about close, honest relationships with other men, and requiring absolute secrecy around his enjoyment of a rom-com.

Now, let's talk about the weirdness that is the romance. I intend to blame Noah for all of this, as well. Apparently, no woman's ever made Noah feel the need to apologize for his actions before (according to him). Um, that's not romantic, Grace. How many women has he made miserable previously during the 33-year phase where he didn't take responsibility for the consequences of his actions? The pacing is also strange. At 42%, he calls Grace his closest friend after his brother. To be clear, at this point, all they've done is fight and be physically attracted to each other. The basis of any solid friendship, naturally. The feels were dialed up to a 10 awful fast with the characters pining for a forever they think they won't get even though both the romance and its obstacles have little basis in reality. It kept me from buying into the tension that it felt so obviously construed. Attraction is all they have going for them and yet this book offers a "fade to black" type situation like excuse me. That was the one thing I thought was on offer here based on all the heavy glances, etc. But no.

So basically, a spoiled rich white boy made minimal progress towards growing a sliver of empathy and considering that there are consequences to his actions, and I was not amused.

🔊Song Pairing: To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra

💭What I thought would happen:

Love thy neighbour. Obviously 😉

📖What actually happens:

Grace is a designer and is about the create a beautiful home, the house of her dreams with the ultimate Reno and to demonstrate her talents. That is until surfer hunk moves in next door.

Hunkie ends up being Noah, son of a real estate mogul where money means nothing. After being pushy about purchasing Grace’s home…they both get fed up with one another. Why won’t she take the money and run and why won’t he just accept that no is no (ugh men)

🗯Thoughts:

Home Renos >>YES!
Hot neighbour>>Yass Queen
Enemies to lovers>>🥵
Executed well…not to my high expectations

Grace: likes puzzles….girl same! Let’s me friends. Loves to run…yay me too!…but prefer a treadmill to the road…what kind of a psychopath are you?! Get away from me

I hate when the name grace is turned into a nickname as Gracie…and of course Noah/Nick/Nathan whatever calls Grace that. Like just stop. I found their transition from hating one another to madly in love to be far too

This book got exciting at exactly 91%. Where was the drama before then?! It was like oh ok now we are talking but the very end kind of just made me gag then swallow it back down. Overall, eh.

We all know that I absolutely LOVED Sophie Sullivan’s amazing book last year, Ten Rules for Faking It. So obsessed still and need to re-read after having finished this one. I loved getting to revisit Chris and Everly while meeting our new couple and watching their relationship grow and develop. How to Love Your Neighbor is much more an enemies to lovers romance or maybe an opposites attract romance? Those two seem to be once in the same lately in romance novels. They are maybe enemies for the first quarter of the book?

If you love a HGTV DIY this might just be the book for you. The main characters spend most of the book working on projects at their houses for a HGTV type magazine/online publication. That part was really fun and I could see this easily translated into a super cute tv show. Hallmark are you picking this one up??

I enjoyed the relationship between these two. It was sweet and not the typical angst enemies to lovers we typically see which I thought was nice. I adore Sophie’s writing style and will continue to read everything she writes. I especially can’t wait for her new book Lessons in Love which is about a science teacher! You know I love a teacher romance. That one is pubbed under her real name: Jody Holford.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my digital and audio copies of this book. I loved combining the two reading experiences.

4 Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to love your neighbor
By Sophie Sullivan

I received an ARC from NetGalley for my review.

Sophie Sullivan brings us an enemies-to-lovers book that starts with Grace Travis. Grace is an interior design student who also holds down several jobs (barista, dog walker, face painter, etc). She currently lives with Morty, a grumpy octogenarian, who she started as his caregiver but became his roommate. However, she reveals that she has inherited a small home from grandparents she never had a chance to meet. When she finally moves in to the only place that gives her a sense of family, she finds out that her neighbor wants to buy her house to build a pool.

Noah Jansen has moved to California to escape his devious father and build a name of his own. He buys his house and realizes that he's going to remodel his home to get into a prestigious magazine. This will bring him out from his father's shadow and show that he's his own man. But to build his dream home, just like the one his grandfather had, he needs the property next door.

From the start Grace and Noah have an attraction to each other. However, they start off on the wrong foot with Noah trying to persuade Grace into selling her house, even doubling what it's worth. They continue to butt heads on different issues regarding their properties. But when Grace proves to be more than meets the eye for Noah, he starts to see that there's more to remodeling a house in order to make it a home.

When Home and Heart magazine decides to have Grace be the interior designer on Noah's remodel in order for him to be in the magazine, the sparks fly and their attraction is even more palpable. However, in order to keep their relationship professional, they decide to fight it.

The push and pull of the two and how they work so well together is well written. I really loved the little insights into interior design and the fun ways that they remodel both homes. The way these two are together was great. I love them both and even the conflict was well done in this book. They both learn what family is and how you can choose your own. Loved all the side characters too!

This book wasn’t what I expected from the cover art, title and description. I thought it would be more of a romantic comedy, but it was a romance that leaned more dramatic. I struggled to get through it because I didn’t feel like there was much conflict. The situations with Noah and Grace’s parents could have given a bit more action, but they both felt like they resolved quickly and were a bit too distant to have a lot of resonance on the story.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.

In this fun enemies-to-lovers romp, we meet Grace. She’s just barely getting by as she finishes up her degree in interior design. Surprise! She has inherited a house from relatives she has never really met before. And wouldn’t you know it, her mom wants the house too. Then we meet Noah. Ahhhh Noah…you know the type. His money talks and if that doesn’t work, then he falls back on his charm. He’s broken away from his father’s business and is trying to make it on his own. It’s not so easy, but it could be if he could JUST. BUY. THE. HOUSE. NEXT. DOOR. I think you can guess who lives there 🤣

In a move no one saw coming, Grace and Noah both begin to work together for a redecorating project featured in a huge magazine that can really launch both their careers, if they can just work together!

I loved this story from start to finish. I’ve heard that Sophie’s first novel features Noah’s brother, so now I must go and read all about him too!

I loved the mix of viewpoints for both Grace and Noah, especially when they would be together, but then leaving each other to deal with their respective family. The romance is Hallmark worthy, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

My only complaint was that when the book ended, I still wanted to know what happened next, and after that, and then after that. I didn’t want to leave this world!

Now I must go finish the book I’ve been reading so I can devour Ten Rules for Faking It!

I really enjoyed this book! I don't read a lot of the sunshine meets grump trope, but this thoroughly was enjoyable. This was my first Sophie Sullivan book, and I want to read more from her in the future. The characterization in this novel was immaculate and I truly felt like I was reading about authentic, real people. The secondary characters were also amazing, which I feel is rare in romance novels. This book made me smile and laugh, while enjoying watching two amazing characters fall in love. I'll update with my full review & link when I post on IG, but I recommend this book for all!

Thank you NetGalley for this lovely and at times heartwarming read. I really enjoyed it!
•••••••
So, now comes the review. It might be a little discombobulated (woo, look at me brining out the big words haha) but I hope you can make sense of everything.
Please be aware that Arc that I have received had come to me largely unedited and does not fully reflect my three star rating. Saying that I will be bringing up the issues that does come from not being edited. So, let’s go!
•••••••
Throughout the story there was glaring issues with sentence structure, punctuation and typing (just a few things weren’t spaced).
Here are a few examples:
“Plus, plus, she’d grown attached…”
“You’d know, since that’s part of what you used to do, it a hell of a long road. But these kids don’t need a place to hang as much as the adults turn to.”
“Can and do do things alone…”

Chapter 28 had double punctuation, two commas back to back.
Spacing with words, also some typing errors throughout the book. Which is okay! That’s what editing is for 🤗
•••••••
•I don’t feel like the story has a long opening, it kind of thrusts you into the book. As if it wants to skip the build up of the story/world. I questioned whether I should care about these characters as quickly as the author would have liked. Frankly, I didn’t, but I did as the story continued. So, that was more than okay for me.
•The found family aspect in the book is really wonderful and develops to something very special as the book goes a long. The pseudo-grandfather is one of my favorite characters. He is such a lovable grump.
• The book has dual perspective and both of them are both very strong, they have clear concise voice but the male perspective does push out females by a smidge. Saying this I do find Noah to be kind of manipulative douche at times. He constantly apologizes for his behavior, but never attempts to truly stop hurting the heroine and put her feelings in consideration. This happened throughout the entirety of the book and irked me non stop. On the other hand, he also had very sweet moments with her.
For example, the painting scene was so sweet and gave me what I was looking for in the book which was a fluttery heart eyed moment (it’s amazing you guys!! I hope the scene stayed!). It shows that the author has the ability to truly be loved in the romance world.
•••••••
The book continues but as it progresses it gets cornier and the overall story becomes repetitive and way to long for my taste. I like my tension and angst in my books and this one they had their HEA way to early. It made the book kind of come off pointless at times.
But overall I really hope everyone reads the final product, shoot I may myself at one time to see if they fixed mistakes. For example, the really spontaneous PowerPoint presentation that nobody in their right mind can completely in a few hrs. Or the weird insults “don’t be a suck”, the non distinctive texts and magazine articles (they weren’t tangible and completely blended together). Anyways, read this! Give it a chance and I hope you guys love it!

This grump/sunshine, enemies to lovers romance is a cute, breezy low-stakes story (closed door, if that’s important to you). But I didn’t love this one — I had a hard time feeling invested in the characters, and the tension between them seemed lacking. They got together almost too easily and the conflict ended up feeling very contrived. Ultimately, I just didn’t really care about these characters. Overall it was a quick read with a sweet romance, but it just didn’t connect for me.

There are so many parts of this book I want to gush about, but I know I’ll struggle to include them all to the capacity they deserve.

From the first chapter, I was hooked. Largely because the characters are captivating, but also because I wanted to know more of their back stories and what brought them to the situations they were finding themselves in. I also loved that the grandfather figure was named Morty, since that was my own grandfather’s name.

This is a phenomenal enemies-to-lovers romcom that had me smiling from start to finish. It also has a villain you’ll love to hate. To put it simply: there’s absolutely nothing about this book I’d want to change.

Grace is the epitome of a strong and spunky female protagonist. She knows what she wants and she chases after it, not letting anyone or anything get in her way – but she also has closed herself off to other people, assuming they will only ever break their promises.

Noah is someone who has largely gotten by on his money and his looks, but has been desperate to escape the pressure of living under his dad’s influence. He wants more for his life, but doesn’t realize what or how to make it happen. Until he meets Grace and everything explodes in tension, heat, bickering, and bets, but soon also manages to bring clarity to every situation in his life. They bond over dysfunctional parents, a passion for work, a desire and love for home renovation projects, and a newfound appreciation for other people in their lives.

From grand gestures to perfectly matched characters, HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR is the must-read you need in your life.

I really enjoyed this one. I am a sucker for books with old houses and renovations and that is what drew me in but I ended up loving the characters. The book had great banter and wit and all of the shenanigans were done in good humor. I loved the inclusion of the seniors even if they were a bit cliché. I still really enjoyed them. The romance was sweet. The secondary characters were all great too and added a lot to the story.

Humorous story of neighbors, Grace and Noah, learning how to get along even though they are at cross purposes regarding Grace's house. Slight plot but enjoyable.

A chance encounter at the beach brings Grace and Noah together. Little do they know from that brief encounter that they’ll soon be neighbors. Grace is an up and coming interior designer, trying to make her dreams come true. Noah is known in NY but has moved to California to try and create his own life.

This book was light and the characters were likable. There were a lot of fade to black scenes, which I tend to prefer. While this book was a cute and fun romance read, there was nothing special that stood out to me from others - 3 stars.