I was slowly reading Unlikely Neighbors over the course of two weeks and it had a simple premise of country Southern girl moves to the big city and falls in love with the guy next door. Instant cuteness, right? But I never found myself connecting with Holland and Noble as a couple. The simple premise gets a little more depth since the reason Holland is in New York is because she inherited a brownstone after her biological aunt passes. Though Holland is curious about her family she just wants to pack things up and move to Charleston which is more her speed.

The author had a lot of ideas for this book but some elements were glossed over or only used in certain chapters. There was definitely room to add more depth and follow up but the pacing of the story hindered these developments.

I found some of the reveals in the second half to be interesting but the actual romance itself fell flat for me. I just never felt like these characters had enough chemistry which made it hard to get into this story. On paper they made sense but their actual interactions were lacking.

I found myself more concerned with Holland's story around getting to know her deceased family and the secrets there which felt breezed through.

Even the New York as a setting could've been better fleshed out. The things that made Holland fall in love with New York felt very hallow and were more things tourists enjoy about New York instead of feeling like she actually fell in love with the heart of the city.

Unlikely Neighbors publish April 1, 2025
Holland goes to New York when she inherits her estranged biological great aunts brownstone after being notified of her passing. Holland who was adopted really didn’t know much about her biological family and this was an opening to learning all about them but also makes her sad that she never got to know them. Holland meets her handsome new neighbor Nobel, a man looking for a new start. They had instant chemistry and sparks were flying. The only problem with this new love is that they are both dealing with personal issues that need to be resolved before being able to focus on someone else in their life. Holland moved away from her family, found out secrets her adoptive mother was keeping from her about her biological family. Can you say narcissist much?!
I really enjoyed this romance and all the other plots such as career change, grief, reconciliation and family. The story really flowed well. This was such quick read and so wholesome. The author did a really good job not making the grief and anxiety not super heavy which can make it hard for some readers to finish a book.
If you like:
Black Romance
Steamy Scenes
Opposites attract
Family and belonging theme
CEO mmc
New beginnings

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this ARC Audiobook.
This review was voluntary and of my own words

This story was cute but it had its moments that really irritated me, like constantly saying "down, girl" when speaking about her hormones. It was said too often. This was a short book about the FMC finding out about her past and moving forward towards better things. I give it a solid 3.75 but round up to 4. I didn't understand why the Holland didn't expect more from Ma or alienate her more after she found out she was kidnapped. I was confused and upset on her behalf.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this gifted ALC.

I really wanted to like the narration, but I didn't love it. As an audiobook listener there is a difference between someone reading the book and someone acting out the book. This definitely plays as someone reading the book. I appreciated that there was a male narrator for Noble's POV and a female narrator for Holland's POV.

I was a little confused at first with the story because it's mentioned that Holland doesn't have any living family but she has been talking about her mother. It feels like that part was rushed or skipped in editing. Also, there's a comment about early on about how no one ever asked Steve Jobs to step down from his company but it's easily verifiable that they did in fact push him out for a period of time.

Despite the early inconsistency, and the narration, I really liked the story. My rating is based on the story itself. If I were to rate the narration, it would sadly be ⭐⭐. I thought this was a sweet love story about an unlikely pair and had a lot more complexity during the last quarter of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed it, so I will share my review to followers and recommend the book. I'll just be recommending the printed version instead.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to read the book and provide my feedback.

I enjoyed this romance book. I got this book as an ALC and I very much enjoyed the whole plot the narration. It was a good book. I felt that I was in a genre, slump when I was starting this book. But this book was upbeat. Caught my attention. I liked the narrator, especially the girls voice, she gave so much character.. All in all cute romance if you want a cute rom com that will get you through a slump- this is definitely the book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ALC for my honest review.

2.5 ⭐️Ummm...I wasnt a fan of this one. I didn't connect with the characters and honestly I couldn't feel the connection between the 2 main characters. Idk if it's because I didn't like the audio as much but I just couldn't get into it.

Cute and surprisingly steamy once the romance kicks off. I assumed it would be closed for since there were several mentions for God and religion. The family drama and mystery was a bit frustrating, Holland forgives far too easily for me but I enjoyed it all.

Holland is all set to move from her small town to Charleston when she gets news that her biological great aunt has left her home to her. She never knew her bio family, and when she goes to her aunt's house, she finds more information on her family than she ever expected to have. It's overwhelming, but her gorgeous new neighbor Noble helps her through it. As they get closer, Holland starts to wonder if maybe she wants to stay in this home that's her connection to her bio family.

I really liked Holland and Noble, and Miss Edie. I also loved how their family issues were similar in some ways while being so different. I did struggle with Holland's family some. Her adoptive mother kept information from her, some of which (like medical history that she knew) I found borderline unforgivable. I was happy with how things resolved but hated how quickly her family told her to forgive her mom, especially since they pushed her to do so on her birthday, before even really celebrating. Like they couldn't let her have this one important day before telling her to forgive her mom for THAT? That was my one big issue though, aside from that I did really like it.

I loved Keisha Parrish's narration, and mostly loved Jamal West's narration too—my only issue with his was the way he narrated women's voices. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary (I often don't love how narrators handle the voices of people of other genders) but it did pull me out of the story slightly a couple of times.

Overall I really liked Unlikely Neighbors and would definitely read more by Renee Daniel Flagler.

This book checked the boxes for me
✅️ Self discovery
✅️ Opposites Attract
✅️ He Falls First
✅️ Supportive Friends
✅️ Family Secrets
✅️ Forgiveness
✅️ And Don't Forget the Spice

This book explored what happens when you take chances and open your heart! I loved this book so much!!!!!

Holland is on a self-discovery journey with plans of moving to Charleston, South Carolina. Unexpectedly, she inherits a Brooklyn brownstone and learns more about her family than she could’ve ever expected. Her new brownstone also comes with a sexy next-door neighbor named Noble, who is trying to figure out his next steps. The two form a connection and eventually fall in love.

I really enjoyed this story and the narrators! You should definitely check this out.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Such a quick listen! I really enjoyed the relationship between Holland and Noble but also with the next door neighbor. It really transported you to a Brooklyn neighborhood with the neighbors being involved in each others lives. I enjoyed the look into Holland's family history and her finding out her true history. Noble had great character development as well even though he started out being asked to step down from the company that he started. Listening to him find something that he was passionate about was great.

This was super cute and enjoyable. I loved how realistic the pacing of their relationship was and that they took time to get to know each other. Also the complexities each was going through with finding out about lost family and career confusion. Great read.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were so relatable, and their chemistry was amazing. The story had the perfect balance of romance, drama, and heartfelt moments. I was hooked from start to finish! Some parts were a bit predictable, but it didn’t take away from the charm. Such a great read!

Opposites attract
Family drama
Starting over
Black romance
Spicy


Main Characters
Holland Davenport
Noble Washington


Audio review

Narrated by:
Keisa Parrish; Jamal West

The narrators did a great job of capturing the personality of each character. The flow of conversations and scenes were smooth.

Holland and Noble both experience major changes in their lives. Careers. Family and life itself make things difficult

Holland is an about to move from her close knit family to Charleston SC. She is adopted and her great aunt from her birth mother has left her a house in Brooklyn NY. While in NY, she discovers that not all is what it seems.

Noble is the CEO of the company he and his best friend founded in college. He was just voted out and is kind of floundering and feeling out of place. On top of that his family has been a mess for a while

There is instant chemistry when they meet. They go quickly from strangers to lovers. The spice is perfect for the story. Just the right amount without detracting from the plot.

When everything hits the fan the story becomes very emotional. Both characters did well with all the drama and stayed true to themselves.

This romance was cute! It had a nice balance between plot and character driven narratives. The character development arcs for the MC's really centers on their need and desire to start over. For Holland, the FMC, it's about taking a step out of her comfort zone and uncovering the truth about her biological family as an adoptee. For Noble, the MMC, it's about challenging his identity, which has been entirely wrapped up in his work as a CEO. From a plot perspective, both main characters also have a fair amount of reconciliation to do with members of their family. Holland's journey of discovery around her biological parents and extended family was especially intriguing, and kept me engaged to see how that plot thread would be resolved. There is a thematic element of "there's never a perfect time to be in a relationship," that drives most of the conflict between the characters towards the latter 10% of the book. The ending relationship reunion and resolution felt rushed. I wondered if I'd inadvertently skipped a chapter. Alas, the reunion fast forwards straight to the epilogue with the MCs in an established relationship, which felt a bit unsatisfying.

I listened to the audiobook and felt that the performance by the narrators was just ok. Both narrators lacked the intonation and emphasis to enhance the emotion underlying the text. Additionally, neither really changed their vocalization when transitioning between character dialogue.

Tropes:
City mouse / country mouse (aka fish out of water)
Neighbors
Family secrets

Holland davenport decides to start over in a new town after a health scare. She is given a package from a great aunt that passed away that ended up changing her plans. Noble Washington is a CEO of a successful company until he is pushed out by his board members. This book was an absolute wild ride. It made me almost wish the story was split into two books as it is so much story to tell. It felt like trying to cram a lot of information all at once.

Thank you NetGalley and harlequin audio for the ARC

3 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

🎧 AUDIOBOOK REVIEW 🎧

This book was cute. I enjoyed the narrators and feel like they did a good job with the characters. No complaints on the audio at all!

Holland moves it NYC into her aunts brownstone and meets her new neighbor. In the process she finds herself and processes her grief. I loved the chemistry between Holland and Nobel the MMC.

I picked this up on a whim and sadly didn't love it. There was a lot of insta love, some heavy family drama (a dying father, adopted family vs biological parent mystery), grief, loss and starting over. It was steamy and emotional but yet still felt a bit too surface level for me? I don't know what it was exactly but it was a quick listen, the narrators did a good job too but this one just didn't grab me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest review!