2 stars

You might enjoy this book if: You love reality television, especially home renovation shows; you like a heroine who “isn’t like other girls”; you’re a sucker for people falling in love through fighting.

I can’t say I personally enjoyed this romance, which looked like the kind of light-hearted rom-com that would normally appeal to me. My favorite romances are ones where the main characters are highly invested in interesting careers, so an interior-designer heroine and real estate developer hero seemed perfect for me; alas, the characters as people, in my opinion, fell flat.

The first 10% of the book was messy. Names of the large (veering toward bloated) cast were thrown at us with little context or differentiation, and it was tough to tell what our hero and heroine were really trying to do. It got better afterward, gaining some direction, though the middle of the book did feel like it could use a hefty trimming of fat. The main characters, however, never really jumped off the page to me, and their romance was lackluster; I was never truly compelled by their apparent chemistry.

A personal pet peeve: When the hero makes up a nickname for the heroine which she purports to dislike, he keeps calling her that name despite her requests for him to stop, but by the end she loves him calling her by that nickname. I know, it’s a petty little thing—but I h a t e this.

The hero is a bit of a bro, “charmingly” clueless about women (and who constantly says “women” and “woman” when “person” would do just as well. “I’ve never had this much fun with a woman,” he says at one point, when they are hanging out as friends and not as a date. Little moments like this kept rubbing me the wrong way). I know this ‘man’s man’ well-intentioned chivalry is a type that will appeal to some readers, but it’s very much not my kind of romantic interest. Our heroine, Grace, is a jill-of-all-trades working her butt off to get her big break. Together, they both learn that they’ve been too self-reliant and need to accept (or ask for) help from their community networks, which is admittedly a pretty good takeaway.

I was disappointed in this book, but there was nothing particularly offensive about it. It just wasn’t memorable or particularly charming.

How To Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan
Tags: Contemporary Romance; Sunshine Grump Romance; Enemies to Lovers; Neighbors Romance; Reno Romance

How To Love Your Neighbor was so many things I love to see in a Romantic Comedy read – Enemies to Lovers, Sunshine Grump and with the added twist of having a whole HGTV reno vibe. The story is that of Noah Jansen (who if you read her earlier book, is the brother of Chris from Ten Rules For Faking It), Noah has moved from NY to the West Coast and is trying to find his way. He buys a house he plans to renovate and make into a home, only problem? His pesky new neighbor, Grace Travis. Needless to say, though they start off on the wrong foot – there are sparks and Noah and Grace are brought together through the renovation project.

I found this story to be charming, heartfelt and filled with compelling, lovable characters. I was rooting for Noah and Grace throughout and was so happy with both of their individual journeys and with their relationship. Once again, Sophie Sullivan managed to deliver a RomCom that also had heart, tackling some serious issues while managing to keep things light – in this case, the idea of dysfunctional families, having to make your own way, and found families.

If you enjoy romantic comedies that are sweet, funny and clean – look no further, I highly recommend this one for a fun, fast read. I honestly can’t wait to see what Sophie comes out with next – I love the world / characters she’s delivering and I hope it will be another set here. Perhaps a story for Wes?

Special thanks to St Martin’s Press for the gifted copy – all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Highly recommend this book! This was my first book to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters and the story stay with you long after you finish the book. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

Overall, I thought this book was cute!
I enjoyed the squabbling neighbors-to-friends-to lovers aspect, and thought Grace and Noah were likable characters.
This one read somewhat flat to me, though, because it was a little slower pace than I would have preferred. I think the dialogue was maybe a little too wordy and scenes too drawn out.
I did enjoy the humorous moments, the way Noah and Grace fell in love while designing a home, and the supportive side characters. Their changing feelings about what created a home was sweet, and I felt like that helped the story pick up a bit toward the end.
3.5 stars

Enemies to lovers is my all time favorite trope so I went into this book ready for some heated banter and thick sexual tension. After reading, I can honestly say I feel duped. I would not categorize this as an enemies to lovers story. Ok yes, for about 2 chapters there was an amazing back and forth between Grace and Noah. They had grump/sunshine vibes and their back and forth remarks were pretty humorous. Just when I expected things to really heat up with the enemies angle, things fizzled out. Um hello…where are the warring neighbors, the high jinks, the heat? Where is the tension building I love so much??

Grace and Noah both agreed that anything happening between them would be a bad idea, for both of them. They wouldn’t go there, wouldn’t cross that line. Well, they hopped over that line pretty darn fast. We pretty much skipped over the enemies portion and here we are with the lovers storyline. Ugh, too fast!

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Grace and Noah together and overall enjoyed the development of their relationship. I only wish Grace leaned into the relationship more. Her inner monologue featuring her doubts and baggage were a little tiresome. Since the story glossed over the heat with the enemies portion, I would have liked to see a little less self doubt and more confidence and passion with the lovers angle.

I really wanted to enjoy this one. It was cute and I enjoyed the ending. However, it wasn’t really enemies to lovers. I wanted a little more banter and a whole lot more drama.

The story was awesome! I loved the bantering that happened between the two! This is such a fun and easy read and super clean! I believe you will enjoy reading this over for Christmas break.

Let me start off by saying, I really enjoyed reading this book!! I am a sucker for hate to lovers and neighbor romances where it gives off a forced proximity feel. Don’t even get me started on my love of billionaires with an ego! I swear my feminism FLYS out the window when reading. Our love interest fits my view of the perfect book boyfriend: Hot, Cocky, Rich, and Sweater than honey when he falls hard. Our Heroine was strong and independent, something I can appreciate. I also like it when they have a bad relationship with one of their parents but maybe I’m just projecting on that one. Don’t even get me start on my love of old people. I swear I almost signed up to volunteer at a nursing home after reading this book, these seniors crack me up! All in all, this book was great and I’d definitely consider is one of my favorite arcs I’ve read.
That said, I did have a couple things that rubbed me a little wrong. The mc was strong, yet could be a little sensitive and whiny at moments., which I know I can be too so maybe I just didn’t enjoy reading so much of it. The relationship did progress just a little fast for my taste, I tend to like some more hate-fueled tension through a good lot of a book, even after the characters have gotten closer if you catch my drift. None of these things took a lot away from my enjoyment of the book and really most of my critiques are personal preference!
I would love to read this author again in the future!

If I had to describe this book in 3 words it would be, "sexy" "funny" and "relatable". This is my first read by Sophie Sullivan and I'm not disappointed. It's quirky and sometimes laugh out loud funny and it was definitely what I needed to read and escape from the daily grind of my day. Whether you put this on your shelf or give to a friend it's a worthwhile read. Special thanks to NetGAlley and St Martin's Griffin for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. #HowtoLoveYourNeighbor #NetGalley

"You have the most incredible eyes. The only thing prettier is your mouth. Especially when you smile. When you smile at me, I feel that high I only get when I go for a great run or hit a particularly good wave."

Cue heart flutters! Like full-out fluttering! I LOVED THIS! How to Love You Neighbor was just simply FUN! I smiled throughout the entire book. ADORE Noah (Hottie McMoney Pants) and Grace (Gracie). Their head-to-head banter was super entertaining. This OTP has some serious chemistry! The pull between them. *chef's kiss*


I enjoyed the book so much that I pre-ordered it because it's one romance readers need on their shelf! I'll be rereading How to Love You Neighbor!

READ IF YOU LIKE:
-enemies to lovers
-grumpy x sunshine
-guy next door
-making bets
-hgtv/your fave home reno show
-an adorable pseudo grandfather
-romantic gestures
-Disneyland
-brownies & pb brownie ice cream
-#IsThisAKissingBook: 18+ but pg-13 content. "...rocked my world with a kiss I wont ever forget." Thought-dissolving kisses!

Thank you St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy!

Song: Pillowtalk by zayn

This book made me so happy! The chemistry was off the charts. The characters were so well written. I loved seeing Grace come into herself and what she wanted in life.

A grumpy/sunshine trope always gets me! I loved Sophie's writing. Very sweet. If you're looking for a comfort read, this is a good one!

To be honest, I struggled quite a bit with reading this book. I felt that it took a long time for the characters to really be developed, and their romance fell flat for me. I didn't sense a lot of chemistry between them, and the areas of conflict that I generally look for in an enemies-to-lovers trope were so light and easily resolved that it didn't feel that they added much to the plot. I did really love the interior design elements of the book, and actually I think I would have enjoyed it more if the book was focused more on Grace's journey to find herself and develop her career instead of it being a romance.

While I didn't love the book, please do not let my opinion dissuade you from giving it a try. If you are looking for a light, closed-door romance book, particularly if you have interest in interior design, then you may enjoy this one!

While the overall premise of this has potential, it didn't quite hit the mark.
The beginning was slow and predictable, which led into the lightest version of enemies-to-lovers possible. There is little, to no, tension to draw you in and become invested in the characters. It is a sweet story, with a happy ending, but it just did not check all the boxes.

Great start! But I would have loved to see some more tensoon between the characters. It’s was more insta friends to lovers than my preferred enemies to lovers wah. Light fast read

This may very well be the book you are looking for when you need a couple of hours of light reading while on a long plane trip or out at the beach. But, unfortunately, it was just not my particular glass of wine!

This book had a lot of potential, in my opinion. The enemies-to-lovers plot device could have been perfect. However, I have never seen "enemies" become best buddies in such a short period. Apparently, decorating each other's houses is excellent therapy! Who knew?

Grace just seemed to be a bit spineless. Noah was the quintessential poor little rich boy.

Then we add on the dysfunctional families plot device -both Noah and Grace have severe issues with their families.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel any chemistry with Noah and Grace. I did, however, learn an awful lot about decorating, though!

The curmudgeonly 'older friends with a lot of wisdom' device showed up here too.

This book almost felt like the pacing was for a novella and not a full-length book.

And while I'm discussing what bothered me, I know that this is an ARC, but I think the problems with editing should have been taken care of by now. For example, a magazine called Home and Heart at first was then called Hearty Home later on in the novel. Then the name went back to the original toward the end of the book.

You may also need to strain your suspension of disbelief muscles for a few more parts of this book.

All in all, this is not a 'bad' book; it just wasn't the tension-filled book I was expecting.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, author, and NetGalley.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, I really loved the premise. I think it was a catchy idea with lots of promise as an enemies to lovers with lots of opportunity for some steamy, romantic scenes.

Unfortunately, the romance happened a lot easier than I thought, and then there wasl ittle to no conflict in the book, and hte ocnflict that did happen at the end was pretty obvious. On top of that, it just didn't have the steam I was expecting. Overall, an alright read, but rather disappointing.

This was a really cute, sweet and heartwarming romance. I loved Grace's ambition and Noah's ability to understand himself and change where needed. The setting in a small California beech town was also super cute and a great background to their story. I also loved the design details throughout the book, I could picture both Grace and Noah's houses so well. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

DNF. I’m not a fan of 3rd person reads. I wish I would have known, so I didn’t sign up for it. I don’t feel like I can review this book adequately as I just couldn’t get into at all.

This is a charming story that touches on several romance tropes:
Enemies-to-lovers.
Friends-to-lovers.
Work romance, with an HGTV twist.

Noah Jansen is a rice real estate developer with his eyes set on his neighbor's home.
Grace Travis is a soon to be interior design graduate, trying to make ends meet while settling into her new home.
And as you may guess from the title, they are now neighbors.
They don't really get off on a good foot, as Noah relentlessly pushes Grace to sell her place. And when they aren't arguing about that, they move on to other things like property lines (never a fun subject for a homeowner). But while they may not get along, Grace slowly gains Noah's respect with her handyman skills.

When presented with an opportunity to boost both of their careers and at the same time, help Noah remodel his home, they find they actually relish each other's company. As a huge HGTV fan, I loved reading about their design visions for his home, especially the Trading Spaces type challenge they rope their friends into.

As neighbors and business partners, so to speak, the romance between them was slow to develop. However, there isn't any angst between them, and the growth of their relationship felt natural. There is a small dose of angst in the book courtesy of some awful parenting, but I loved how Grace handled it all. She clearly has a good head on her shoulders.

Overall, I enjoyed this one, with a likeable couple and a great cast of side characters.