Neighbors

I had really high hopes for this book but it took me about 30-40% to really get into it.

I thought it would be more of an enemies to lovers but in my opinion Noah & Grace didn’t really have that enemy feel. They were both attracted to each other from the start. And one wanted something from the other. So it was more annoying-each-other to friendish to lovers I felt like.

It was cute and a cute premise but it also had a lot of backstory on Graces part, especially in the beginning, which was important to the story. If you like backstory with romance I think you will enjoy this.

It was good and I think a lot of people will like this one.

Grace and Noah are the best characters for this kind of story. I love a good HGTV/fixer upper romance.
Grace is finally ready to move into her grandparents house. It's the only connection she has to them and can't wait to turn that house into a home.

Noah is the nosy neighbor who wants to expand his property for a pool, but Grace isn't selling. What starts as innocent bets and fights turns into the best partnership as they realize they don't have to do it alone.
Sophie Sullivan does a great job in this book with the pacing and the drama.

A heartwarming and sweet enemies to lovers romance sure to delight readers. The story is told from two POVs, building on the chemistry between Grace and Noah. The author has a talent for drawing us into her characters' minds and emotions. Grace and Noah are charming and relatable and you just can't help but root for their happiness. A lovely follow-up to Sophie Sullivan's previous novel, Ten Rules for Faking It, with surprise cameos from some character faves. Thank you very much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

The enemy to lovers trope with a hint of a grumpy man=my fav! It pulled me in right away and I couldn’t get enough of their story. Absolutely loved their banter. Sweet moments that weren’t super sappy. Altogether fab! Though I haven’t read the first book, I had no trouble with the characters or anything in this, so it can definitely be a stand-alone.
Noah is a wealthy businessman who has worked with his father and brothers to make his professional life a success. He decides he’s had enough of NYC and moves to California to try to recreate his success on the west coast. He buys a house that needs some updating, but more than that, there’s a real fixer-upper next door that he plans to buy as well and tear down so he can have a bigger property with room for a pool. What he doesn’t know is that Grace has just inherited the house he wants to buy, and as a design student, she has plans to fix it up, not sell it.
Despite the chemistry they feel, Noah & Grace clash on almost everything as they try to live next to each other-they make bets, they challenge each other and when Noah gets chosen to be in a magazine about his renovation, he chooses Grace to be his designer, and that’s when the sparks really start to fly. They both have something to prove and despite their differences, they come to realize they both really want the same thing.

I loved that humble, hardworking Grace was so clumsy and tongue tied around Noah. It made her so relatable! And their friends and family, especially old curmudgeon Morty, were amazing supporting characters! I can’t wait for book 3!
“Slowly, deliberately, she folded her arms across her chest, right under her boobs, tucking her hands in the crook if her arms. Then she slowly, hopefully sexily, let her body relax against the wall. The effect would have been so much better if she’d made sure there was actually a wall to lean on. When she fell into the empty space, she nearly toppled over her own feet.” Literally had me laughing out loud.

Publication date: January 18, 2022
Thanks to St. Martins Griffin & Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan


This is a contemporary, sunshine/grump, enemies-to-lovers-romance. Grace is a design student, working multiple jobs to make ends meet. She inherited her grandparents house by the beach and intends to fix it up and make it the home that she never had growing up. Her new neighbor, Noah, is an ambitious real estate developer who is trying to put down roots and start a new life in California. He desperately wants to buy Grace’s house and tear it down so he can add a pool to his property, but she continuously refuses his offer. This causes a lot of tension and makes an enemy out of the sexy, surfer next door.

Overall I liked this story, but I started to lose interest in the plot about halfway through. The characters had plenty of time to build up lots of angst and tension, but it dragged and fell short for me. I loved the next door neighbor love story, but I wish there was more steam. I really enjoyed the banter between Noah and Grace, and I think the family drama they were both dealing with and the cast of side characters added a lot to the story. I think Sullivan is a great writer, but unfortunately there was something missing for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC to read and review.

***4 Stars***

This was a sweet, slow burn opposites attract enemies to friends to lovers romance that had some great moments and a lot of character growth for both Grace and Noah and filled with a bunch of great supporting characters that brought life and depth to the story.

I liked Noah and Grace. Both are at crossroads in their lives and are trying to figure out just what they want their futures to look like, well Noah is as he has become a fish out of water, while Grace has a plan and just needs to make sure everything gets done. Their journey is a slow one, filled with some interesting situations they find themselves in and the realization that, while they are opposites in many ways, they are actually perfect for each other.

This is my first read by the author and I enjoyed it. The writing was engaging, though the pace did sometimes drag for me, it was a fun read filled with fun characters. I loved Morty, Rosie and Josh. Rob was awesome and Chris, Everly and Wes were fun to get to know and see how they helped both Noah and Grace along on their journey.

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

This was a heartfelt, humorous enemies to lovers romance between two neighbors working on renovating their homes outside of LA. I really enjoyed this closed door, dual perspective love story, even more than the author's first book. The cameos with Chris and Everly were fun and the secondary cast of characters were strong. Highly recommended, especially for fans of HGTV shows. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy.

I adore the cover and the premise. It was a next-door-neighbor, instant dislike tied in with instant chemistry and then they're forced to work with each other? It's a perfect set-up.
What didn't work for me was how repetitive each character's feelings were on page. There were multiple references to the same thing, so it bogged down a bit for me.
There are several bright moments. I particularly loved their first date and it brought on memories of when I first started dating my husband so I had perma-smile for a couple of chapters. I also enjoyed seeing characters return from the first book of the series and the newly introduced additions to the cast.
Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This book is a funny, sweet, hate to love romance with family drama. This book kept me entertained from beginning to the end. I really enjoy reading this book. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a sweet romance with laugh out aloud parts. I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

This book was such a great read! I went into it expecting a romcom and definitely delivered all the pieces I love about that genre, it also offered so much more! The heaviness it brought with discussing family dysfunction and how it can impact your ability to trust others and understand your own self-worth was really well done. The author was able to weave those pieces of the story in so effortlessly and it brought so much more dimension and insight into the characters. I really loved Grace and Noah and the progression of their relationship, personally and professionally, in this novel. Grace was such a strong, independent, and thoughtful female lead and Noah grew and matured into such a wonderful character. I highly recommend this book!

I’m not usually a fan of enemies-to-lovers stories but I really enjoyed this book! It wasn’t as angsty/angry as some and I liked the back and forth between Noah and Grace. I didn’t read Sophie Sullivan’s first book “Ten Rules for Faking it” and didn’t feel that I needed to for background on this one. But now I’m going to go back and read it! “How to Love Your Neighbor” is an excellent stand alone (but part of a series) that’s a sweet, very little angst, lovely HEA. I thoroughly recommend it.

Another fantastic romcom from Sophie Sullivan! I adored this book! It was sweet and romantic. with such fun and witty banter between Grace and Noah.
This book is a semi-sequel (yet easily also a standalone) to Ten Rules. If you love the enemies-to-lovers trope and a great romcom, this is the book for you. It is a behind closed doors romance, but if the book is engaging, I dont mind that. The chemistry between Grace and Noah absolutely jumps off the pages. The novel flows well and hits all the romantic highs, as the two main characters navigate the road to true love, each of them discovering along the way that the direction they had planned for their life, is changing for the better! This is a fun, sweet romance that was very enjoyable to read. I look forward to more from this author. Thank you to netgalley for providing me an arc.

You know a book is captivating when you start and finish in the same day.
I loved these characters and their story, my ONE complaint is it could have given more of their issues with their parents. That part felt really rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for letting me read this ARC. This was a sweet romance, featuring a dog filled meet cute, feuding neighbors, a bit of enemies to lovers, low angst/drama, and forced proximity. Enough of that though, this book is about renovation, both of houses and people. This book is tied into the world from Ten Rules For Faking it, as we now get to watch Noah (Chris's brother) fall in love as he struggles to find himself as an individual after moving across the country and leaving his father's business. There is great banter between Noah and Grace in this book, and also for all you HGTV, DIYer, home reno fans this book will call to you and make you want to reorganize or redecorate a room... If you like romance books where both characters are not sure they believe in love, have family DRAMA and struggle with the concept of being in a relationship all while they do sweet things for each other, help grow as individuals and design/redesign houses, go on the sweetest date (no spoilers but paint is involved) and learn what truly makes a house a home give this book a read.

I really enjoyed this book. The chemistry between Grace and Noah was perfectly drawn in a push and pull between their immediate attraction and their opposing goals for the house Grace inherited and Noah wants to buy. Each one has dreams for the house that are closely linked to their family background, making for believable tension between two imperfect, yet likable, characters while they find their way to each other.

Grace Travis is finally ready to move into the home that her grandparents left her and to start building a life on her own. She was recently living and helping an older gentleman in the neighborhood and she is ready. From the beginning, her neighbor, Noah Jansen, has expressed interest in buying her home to expand his own home/yard. From the beginning, they start off on the wrong foot, but can they work together to help each other out?

Enemies to lovers isn't my favorite of the genres within romance and while this one wasn't too far into the horrible enemies territory, it got a little catty and I was glad when they started working together. Because of their animosity it took me a long time to connect with the characters and care about the journey they were going to go on. And for me, that is the moral of a story of a romance book, so I didn't love this one as much as I love some of the other romance books that I read in 2021.

The characters themselves were great and the plot was good. I liked that they ended up working together and the project led them to fall in love and that felt super natural.

I did like the writing and would absolutely try another from this author. I would like to read her previous book and look out for what may come next.

I LOVED Grace's character arc so much. Her growth and journey of finding herself felt so personal and I couldn't help but cheer for her. I also adored Noah's journey but something about Grace felt deeper. Maybe because we saw her mom on page. I will definitely pick up Sophie Sullivan's previous book so I can get a look at Everly and Chris's relationships.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4356142363

Review on my Instagram will be posted week of publication. www.instagram.com/jupiterdropsco

What I loved: I am an HGTV addict and always grab books with a renovation/interior decoration theme. Grace, the main character, is an aspiring interior decorator and Noah, the love interest, is part of a family of successful property owners and developers.

What I didn't love: As I romance reader I have to root for the couple and I just didn't vibe with these two or see them as a shipworthy match. Grace had a lot of difficult family issues and a neglectful, narcissistic mother. She also had self-esteem issues. Noah was kind of a rich a-hole. The book tried to make him realize this and do better, so I stuck it out to see if I'd change my mind about him.

So you could love this much more than I did. I did think the premise was cute and the writing was good. This is the second in a set of companion books about Noah and his siblings so I am going to try another sibling's book and see if it's more for me!

Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for sharing this e-arc with me! The following review reflects my reading experience.

I’ve been all about the romance reads lately. The blurb for How To Love Your Neighbor caught my eye and I was excited to read it. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. There was a lot of build up to basically nothing. The will they won’t they tension was great but it all culminated in zero smut which was a bummer. I also was almost bored for the second half of the book.

All that being said, this was a fun and quick read. It just wasn’t the romance for me. If you prefer romance reads without smut then I definitely recommend How To Love Your Neighbor.

This book was so cute!! I loved all of the cute moments that Noah and Grace had and their banter was elite! Loved all the back and forth moments they had. It was a bit predictable as it was more of enemy to lovers trope, but cute nonetheless. Noah and Grace both went through a little journey in accepting what they need and want to help them be together and grow as a person. I also enjoyed the wholesome moments that they had with friends and family. Overall a super cute read with lots of cute moments.