I'm really struggling with writing this review because this book and I just did not click. I was looking forward to this read as a previous book by this author, Ten Rules for Faking It, was quite well liked on Bookstagram.

The premise of an enemies to lovers trope with an HGTV renovation twist sounded fun, however, I had trouble feeling any chemistry between Grace and Noah. I recognize that Noah is meant to be a conflicted "poor little rich boy" with a good heart but his arrogance and rudeness personally bothered me. Mostly, this is a me problem - not a book problem.

In the spirit of full transparency, I DNF'd this book at the 45% mark. I gave it a good effort but never found myself itching to pick it up or really caring about the relationship in the story.

I'm sure lots of people will end up enjoying this one and I'm in a minority moody position. If this trope is a fav of yours and you are a fan of home renovations, check this one out!

How to Love Your Neighbor is the uplifting story of the romance between Grace Travis and her neighbor Noah Jansen. Grace has always taken care of herself and she is excited to finish her degree and start working as an interior designer. She has recently moved into the small house she inherited from her grandparents. The house is on the beach outside of LA. Noah has relocated from NYC to forge his own path in business without his super rich father's interference. Noah buys the house next door to Grace and offers to buy her property so he can build a swimming pool. Sparks fly between the two and an intense and romantic plot ensues. Sullivan thoughtfully develops Grace's design talent as she partners Grace and Noah to furnish Noah's home. This design element of the novel is very enjoyable and will appeal to many readers. Sullivan has created many interesting characters to support Grace and Noah. How to Love Your Neighbor is a pleasure to read.

This book was such a special, fluffy, light-hearted romance and was exactly what I needed right now. I found myself relating to Grace on so many levels, and that made the story that much more enjoyable. Seriously, right down to our ages and that we are both about to graduate! Too ironic! Noah’s character development was superb and the romance… perfection. Loved it. It’s been a while since I’ve read a chicklit novel and I think this just set off a new obsession for me!

I am on a rom com kick and I am LOVING it!
How to Love Your Neighbor is super cute, quirky, sweet, humorous, and frustrating at times (like life LBH). it was so much fun getting to know the characters with each passing page, and being HOOKED. It is a devour worthy read, save it for the weekend, read it in one sitting. along with a nice bottle of wine. (You’ll thank me on Monday.)
It reminded me of some of my fave romantic comedy movies, where the couple protagonists are obviously head over heels for each other, BUT none of them want to admit it!
“Just kiss already!” Is what I constantly yell at the tv, and now this novel! It is such a joy to be able to read How to Love Your Neighbor, I am definitely ordering Sophie Sullivan’s first novel, like right now (I hear this novel is in the same universe.. intrigued)
If you’re all about the hate to love trope, and all the cringe worthy, funny, endearing mishaps in between, I absolutely recommend this book, it’s for you!

3.5 ish stars

This one was sweet and fluffy. There were some fun, fairly well-developed characters and some interesting plot arcs/backstories. I kind of love that the parent-child dynamics didn’t magically resolve themselves at the end of the book; it made it all feel a bit more real, without taking away from the central relationship. I did feel like the characters were a bit lacking in diversity of different types, though; I would’ve loved to see a greater range of identities. Overall, though, this one followed a lot of the typical rom-com patterns, but it didn’t quite feel like a carbon copy of other stories. It was cute, lighthearted, and free from a lot of tension.

Grace Travis easily became one of my favorite characters in the first few pages. She is an ambitious and talented interior design student, with amazing friends and found family surrounding her with love. Her inner thoughts are sassy and hilarious, and made me laugh and squeal alongside her.

Noah Jansen is attempting to create his own legacy away from his father's business by buying up real estate in California. However, the strategies that worked in New York aren't having as much success in Cali. Noah and Grace meet when Noah attempts to buy Grace's house, using various strategies.

I loved how their love story was gradual, and we were able to see their slow progression from attraction grow into love. They weren't perfect, but they were both doing their best for each other, and that was very sweet. I did feel like Grace was more fleshed out than Noah, which did make him seem less dimensional. However, I loved the detail in which the interior design segments were presented, by the end of the novel I was interested in interior design! This was such a cute love story, I can't wait to read more from this author!

Read this if…you are a fan the enemies to lovers trope and like HGTV renovation shows.

Grace inherits her grandparents’ house on the beach. She has no other family besides a dead-beat mother who only contacts Grace when she wants something. The house is in need of some major fixing up, but Grace is just about finished with her interior design degree and isn’t shy about DIY projects. The chance to take a piece of her family’s history and make it her own feels like a dream come true. That is, until a sexy new neighbor tries to turn her dream into a nightmare.

Noah comes from a wealthy NY family and sees his new beach house investment as the chance to make a name for himself as a real estate developer and get out from under his father’s shadow. Grace, his stubborn neighbor, refuses to sell her property to him despite how much he offers her. Can he ignore the strong attraction he has for her in order to make his business dreams a reality?

This was a cute story that was perfectly advertised as enemies-to-lovers meets HGTV. I enjoyed it, but don’t really feel like there was anything that makes this romcom stand out from others in the genre. I did like Grace and Noah, as well as the home renovation parts. The spice level was pretty low, even for me. I think romance fans will enjoy this read, but I wouldn’t go into it expecting much more than that.

My rating: 3.5/5

A big thanks to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked the story told in this book. Neither Noah nor Grace were looking for a relationship, and they didn't really like each other at first, but eventually they found a way to work together. The way they met was cute, and I could tell that their interactions would be packed with tension.
He wanted her house, which she didn't want to sell. He kept asking and she kept telling him no. I wasn't sure of I liked him at first, because be seemed to underestimate her and believe he should get what he wanted regardless of anyone else's feelings. I liked how much he grew during this book. He really seemed to have a few epiphanies that made him a better person and helped him support Grace when she needed it.
Grace was very headstrong, and sometimes annoying. She has always been alone, so she doesn't accept or ask for help willingly. When the perfect opportunity for her career arises, she accepts, without realizing it will change her personal life as well. I appreciated how she grew and realized some of her comments to Noah held true to her as well.
I liked the way they became friends/co-workers (in a way) before becoming anything else. Their relationship had ups and downs, but they worked their way through it. The friends they had, as well as his brothers, helped move the story and relationship forward. I would like to read more about her friend/his assistant and their relationship. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

This is the perfect read if you’re looking for something lighthearted and love HGTV. It ran on a little long for me but was overall cute and fun to read. However, if you’re looking for spice this is not the book for you. It was closed door and very minimal. I would definitely watch this if it was a movie though!

Thank you netgalley and SMP for the gifted ebook in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this sweet rom-com!

Grace just comes across as the kind of gal everyone wants as their best friend, except maybe Noah - at first, anyway! These two have the kind of chemistry that threatens to blow everything up in the beginning, and I loved watching them figure out what was lying beneath all that tension and angst.

Add in a design contest, a pair of beach houses, a handful of dog leashes attached to an array of furry friends, and a couple elderly gentlemen who'll steal your heart without even trying, and it all adds up to a delightfully fun and quirky romance with a very satisfying HEA. If you're looking for a rom-com with memorable characters, this book was written for you. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This was so incredibly cute. I love how the two main characters: Grace and Noah. They had such great chemistry in this enemies to lovers trope. There was humor, with the supporting characters, drama with family for both of them, and then the added pressures of money, school, work, and learning to function as one when two people are so different.

I love Sophie Sullivan's writing. I also really admire how she allowed Noah and Grace the chance to develop in the middle of the story, and not just waiting until the end to explore their relationship. We got to see the development together and individually and build to an end to determine if they are made for one another or not.

Very cute. Very romantic. Loved the drama, the suspense, the humor and the playfulness that the characters brought.

I haven't read Sophie's first book, so I had limited expectations with this one. I LOVE HGTV and enemies to lovers so I thought this would hit my highlights but...MAN. This was disappointing. It was so slow and had FADE TO BLACK. Ugh. The enemies to lovers was pretty light and really became more friends to lovers. There wasn't enough enemy. There wasn't enough lovers either actually. If you're looking for something SUPPPPPER lighthearted and that has fun elements of house redecorating (which was probably my favorite part) this one would be good for you!

This book can definitely be read as a standalone. However, I do feel like I was missing some context around the dynamics between the brothers and their relationship with their father by not having read the previous book. That being said, I kind of lost track of the number of times I squeed in delight and sighed “awe!” Noah and Grace may come from very different social circles, but there’s a lot of similarities in the way they were parented, which both brings them together and pushes them apart. I loved watching these two fighting and finding common ground. I was a particular fan of this book's message that asking for and accepting help is a strength and not a sign of weakness. I also really enjoyed seeing the importance friendships played in the personal growth of both Noah and Grace. Now that I've gotten to know these characters a little bit, I will definitely be going back to read the previous book and keeping my eyes out to see what the author gives us next.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.

This book grabbed a hold of me on page one and carried me to the end. It was well-written with developed characters. The story line was fun but touched on some deeper issues. I love how independent and strong Grace is. It goes to show how our pasts mold us into the people we are today. This book was a great enemies to lovers storyline. The character development was on point. This was my first book by this author and definitely won't be my last. Huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

2 stars out of 5

How to Love Your Neighbor follows Grace, an interior design major looking for a fresh start in the new seaside home she inherited, and Noah, a businessman who's been trying to buy said home since he moved in next door. They butt heads constantly while being forced into working together on both of their homes. Grace wishes Noah would stop asking to buy her new home and Noah wishes Grace would fold under his pressure.

This book didn't do anything for me. It was marketed as "HGTV meets enemies to lovers" and while it did give HGTV vibes, I can't call this a romance, let alone enemies to lovers. The couple only argued for about 15% of the book and even then, they would end up apologizing and laughing and getting along right away. That's not enemies to lovers. Then, they were officially a couple after 40% of the book and we spent the rest of the time watching other plots play out. That's not romantic. It's womens fiction. I wish publishers would understand that to be called a romance novel, the romance needs to be the main plot point. It clearly wasn't here.

I didn't read Sophie Sullivan's other book so I can't be sure if this is the type of "romance" she's known to write. The writing wasn't bad, the plot just did absolutely nothing for me and couldn't keep my attention.

Noah wants to buy Grace’s house. Grace doesn’t want to sell. How do you get along with your neighbor who’s always bothering you?

Tropes: enemies (kinda) to lovers, forced proximity
Book-a-likes: Twice Shy and The Hating Game

When design student Grace inherits a house from her grandparents who were never a part of her life, she moves in right away. Her mother was not great and only ever cared about what she could get out of people, and Grace wants the chance to see where her grandparents lived and start a permanent life of her own. Coming to threaten her new permanent residence is Grace’s new neighbor Noah. Noah has just moved to California after cutting ties with his father and his father’s real estate company in New York City. Noah wants nothing more than to buy Grace’s house so he can expand his new property and put in a pool. Grace is not interested in selling.

When Noah presents Grace with a once in a lifetime opportunity to redesign his entire house for a feature in a national magazine, she cannot say no. How to Love Your Neighbor follows the two of them as they navigate what this new business arrangement means for the dislike they have for each other.

Personally, I think I am over the enemies to lovers trope. I think that this book did handle it better than I had expected, especially toward the end, but I was BORED. I had to switch between audio and print to keep myself engaged in this story. I think it was definitely cute and fun. I appreciated all the side characters and how well described and included they were.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Grace Travis, a girl from a single parent home living with a dysfunctional mother that has never accepted responsibility for her mistakes, and lack of success in her life. Grace dreams of becoming an Interior Designer and finds out that the grandparents she never knew left her a small beach front home in California. Grace moves to California and enters Design School while renting a room from an elderly man, named Morty, and working different jobs to support herself until she can move into her home, and finish school. The day finally arrives where Grace with the assistance from her friends help her move into her home. Grace slowly realizes that she's developed close relationships and her friends are slowly becoming her family.

Noah Jansen, Real Estate Developer and from a wealthy family in New York, is restless and realizes he needs to come from under his father's shadow and make his own way. Noah decides to move to California, and build a name for himself, and help others like his grandfather. Noah finds his dream home next door to Grace, and decides he needs her property so he can build a pool. Noah offers Grace money to purchase her home which she refuses. Noah has never been told NO before and decides to try manipulation and pours on the charm, because there's an immediate attraction between the two. Grace realizes what Noah has tried to do and wants nothing to do with him.

An opportunity for Noah to have his house shown in HOME AND HEART MAGAZINE would bring him notoriety, and he realizes he needs Grace's help to reach his goal. This is an opportunity that Grace can't turn down, so they agree to work together and fulfill their dreams.

When problems from the past cause both of them problems, Grace, and Noah have learned that you can trust friends and can ask for help. Now can they both let go, become vulnerable, admit that they have feelings for each other, and realize that true happiness isn't found in a house but together in a home.

HGTV meets enemies to lovers in this fun rom com. Noah and Grace are neighbors who got off on the wrong foot - he wants to buy her fixer upper of a house and she is not selling it. They end up teaming up on the redesign of his house and catching feelings in the process.

Sophie Sullivan is the QUEEN of the slow burn. Her first book had me screaming at the characters wanting them to realize they were perfect for each other and this book was no different. The chemistry between Noah and Grace was there from page one and I was dying for them to get it together. This romance is very low steam - so if you are looking for a slow burn with so much tension and little steam here you go!

I did appreciate how both MCs worked through their respective family issues and leaned on each other for support. It really added some depth to the story. My favorite part - Morty. Best side character ever.

Thanks to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

How to Love Your Neighbor is a unique execution of the enemies to lovers trope because it takes a grumpy neighbor falling for the girl next door to a whole other level. Noah, not only frustrates Grace with his good looks and immediate arrogance, but he also can't stop bothering her about the house she inherited from her late grandparents.

I loved the concept of the charming, grumpy male lead wanting to buy the house of our female protagonist, but as the story went on, this concept quickly dissolved into something else that did not reel me in like the first third of the story did. I really enjoyed Noah and Grace's flirting and small moments at the boundary between their homes. I would have loved to have seen more of a slow burn progression with their relationship rather than them having instant chemistry. Overall, it was a fast paced, cute romance.

huge thanks to Netgalley for the arc

When Grace moves into the home her grandparents have left her, she thinks that finally she can connect with her roots. The house is her chance to finally have a real home and family. Unfortunately, the neighbor next door has other ideas, namely buying her house. Too bad Grace has no interest in selling, even if it would answer all of her financial problems. This was an enjoyable enemies to lovers romance filled with very likeable characters. Even though both main characters were going through lots of family drama, many of the secondary characters were able to lift the mood preventing the storyline from getting too heavy.