This was a REALLY fun friends to lovers story by a new to me author that takes place in Miami between two neighbors who start a summer romance book club where they read the same books and analyze them.

I loved when they started podcasting their reviews. The banter between the MCs was great, there was a ton of book content and I was just here for it. Light and breezy, this would make for a perfect beach read and was especially good on audio!

Highly recommended for fans of authors like Alexis Daria or Alexa Martin. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to reading more by Nadine Gonzalez.

Super cute summer read. I loved the characters instantly, maybe I also just wanted to quit my job and take a long summer sabbatical! The dialogue is witty and charming, the setting is perfect, and the spice is on point. Fans of close proximity romance will love this romance from Nadine Gonzalez. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is the perfect summer read! I read it by the pool and totally fell in love with the Miami vibes. After quitting her corporate lawyer job, Lily heads to Miami for a reset and meets her neighbor Ben. Sparks fly, of course, but the real charm is how they bond over their shared love of books and slowly go from friends to lovers.

The cast of characters is lovable and fun, and I especially adored the book club get-togethers. This story has all the feel-good charm I want in a romcom.

I did immersion reading with the audiobook, and that was absolutely the way to experience it. Romcoms on audio just hit different, and Harlequin Audio did such a great job.

If you’re looking for a summery romance that’ll make you want to hop a flight to Miami, this one’s for you!

Thanks to Canary Street Press and The Hive for the gifted ARC, and to Harlequin Audio for the ALC

I LOVED these characters. I ended up listening to it and the narrator and she was absolutely incredible 🤌🏽💋. The MCs had such great chemistry and their friendship felt so genuine. This is a solid strangers, friends to lovers slow burn and I enjoyed every second of it. This definitely won’t be my last of this author.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of the eARC.

This book completely took me by surprise—in the best way! I was immediately pulled into the story and found myself fully invested. The characters are vibrant and layered, and the plot was such a refreshing twist for a contemporary romance.

I adored the mix of tropes in this one! It kicks off with two strangers who become neighbors and slowly turn into something more. Their dynamic is full of grumpy-sunshine charm, made even better by their forced proximity and a hilarious fake dating situation. Add in the book podcast and influencer angle, plus some cozy book club moments, and I was hooked.

There’s a lightheartedness to the humor that kept me smiling, and even though it starts sweet, there’s definitely some heat later on (🌶️🌶️). I skimmed a few open-door scenes, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment at all.

And this quote? Iconic:
“Summer love is for suckers.” 😆

✨ A charming, laugh-out-loud romance with heart and just enough chaos to keep things fun!

This is a cute book, with a perfect location and story line to make it a solid beach read. I know that folks look at three stars as a negative review, but I don't believe that. Three stars means that I liked the book and enjoyed reading it, but it probably won't make my regular rotation of re-reads.

After Lily quits her job on a whim, Lily moves into an apartment across from Ben, certified MacArthur genius. The two hit it off almost immediately (well, kind of, their first kiss is a bit of a bust) and the two decide to form a book club for the summer. This turns into popular reviews and a podcast, where they share their thoughts and budding relationship with their growing legion of fans.

When the chemistry is written well between Lily and Ben, it's done really well. Unfortunately, there were times when I thought the chemistry fizzled. I don't think that's the intention, because this is ultimately a slow burn, friends-to-lovers story, where that kind of slow motion build is essential. The will they or won't they just ends up being a bit repetitive and kills the momentum.

On the plus side, I love the setting (an Art Deco building in Miami) and the larger cast of characters (there's a friend group this is weakly a member of the book club). The third act had me worried, as it seemed like we were heading for a situation that would have been completely contrary to the character development and plot line, but was ultimately very pleased with the conclusion (I'm trying to avoid spoilers here!). This is my first read of Gonzalez and I'm thinking I'd like to read her back-list because there was a lot of good stuff in this one.

* Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

This was an interesting mix of emotionally complex, sexy, and a slowburn situationship that had me rolling my eyes more than once.
However, the banter was SO GOOD, and listening to this as an audio really elevated it. Aure Nash does an incredible job and I will definitely be looking for more audiobooks read by her!
I think what really broke this down for me was the insta-love and convenient friendships that formed simply because of the characters' proximity to each other. By the end I felt no real concrete reason for why they would be so close.

Benedicto Romero this is a love letter to you and to you only. My precious, Cuban, takes-his-coffee-sweet, journals-about-his-feelings, leaves-notes-on-your-door main character. As an avid romance reader, he does deserve the book-boyfriend hall of fame! I absolutely loved how his character never swayed, but as you read you slowly peel back the layers of who he’s always been. He’s a poet. He’s a bartender. He’s an uncle. He’s a friend. And I just simply adore him!!!!

Lily on the other hand is living what most of us dream of, letting our emotions get the best of us and spending the summer being a lizard in the sun with a good book and a rooftop pool. Plus a dreamy neighbor who makes you coffee? I mean what more does a girl want? I loved her commentary on books, especially as an avid book reviewer myself. Lily truly ended up living the dream in this book.
I will note—there’s two scenes (more like a random paragraph in two sections) with Lily that feel a little much—but ultimately I enjoyed her as a well-rounded main character.

Special shout-out to the friendships in this story!! Not enough books show so much love to the friendships, and I love how Lily made such genuine connections so early on. It was refreshing to see in a story.

Hats off for the lack of a third act breakup (and breaking the 4th wall about it a little!). Lily also coming to the conclusion that she needed therapy after all that? Love to see it.

Definitely enjoyed this one, and could’ve read it much faster than I did. This was a perfect summer romance read, and now I really want to go back to Miami!

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the arc!

4/5 stars
2/5 spice

Tropes:
Neighbors to lovers
Lawyer FMC
Literary genius MMC
Podcast shenanigans
Close proximity
Book club
Found family
Latinx rep
Miami setting
Single POV

It took me a minute to get into this book and find the flow. Eventually, I did find myself enjoying the journey that Lily was on and all the characters that came into the picture. The side characters created a fun atmosphere for the brewing romance between Lily and Ben. I liked that not every character was the same but they all brought some perspective to the conundrum Lily found herself in while staying in Miami.

The miscommunication did tear me up inside especially since both MCs were very upfront and honest from the beginning. It didn't make sense that they couldn't just talk to each other until the very end.

I still enjoyed the overall outcome of the romance and would recommend this for a fun summer read. This is also great for fans of found family and books that feel like a love letter to books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

I was given an ARC of this title from NetGalley for my honest opinion. This book captured my interest from the very beginning. Liliane, a lawyer on a retreat with her company, suddenly walks out and quits her job due to them recognizing someone else for her work. While staying at a rental in Miami for the summer, she meets Ben. Their connection was irresistible from the start! These friends to lovers read and review books together, while they both tackle internal issues. This was a quick summer read!

Ok this was cute. From the fun title (and the obvious, if you're a fan, of what it's based on) to the fun story of two book lovers who meet, decide to read books together and review them, to a podcast deal to do the same... it was just enjoyable!

Lily just up and quits her job, just like that.. not something most people could do! I love her impulsiveness. Ben just has this big heart and this drive to be his own person (and not to aspire to what people think was this ideal... like his father). I absolutely love the way they start their book talk.... the different style/approaches they have to a buddy read and the growth into a book club to include other residents of the building.

The side characters were honestly MY FAVORITE part of this book... especially Noah! I found myself happily going along, liking the story and then just breaking into a big smile when he came on page. Kylie, Sierra, and Jeremy are just fun people too.

This book has a really odd cadence. Its quite choppy, the conversations between characters are very short and direct, and the pacing felt off as well. There was so much tugging and pulling (ex. MMC continuously calls her "darling", "beautiful", "sweetheart", and "pretty" but denies all of her advances, He also tells her he regrets not kissing her back the first night while again continuously denying advances) and I felt like I was reading two different books at the same time. The humor would change from literary , to law puns, to dry sarcasm which felt odd to me for such a short book. I do think the couple had great chemistry (minus the sex scenes those were kind of cringe) and I was really happy with the ending and no third act break up. Also I feel like the description doesn't actually match up with the plot

I found the beginning to be a bit slow. I enjoyed the podcast they share about romance novels- I would love to have a partner who would converse with me about romance novels!

I love a good book with witty banter, romance with romance books in it and timed romance. On a rollercoaster of a ride in her life, Lilly quits her job, goes on vacation and is trying to figure out her life when she meets her charms neighbor who she has instance chemistry with. What could possible go wrong? Ha

Super super slow burn, but worth it in the end! I loved all the life that was fit into the people in the building, but sometimes I felt that there were too many characters. Loved how quirky and different this Rom-com was!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for the e-ARC of "Only Lovers in the Building" to read and review. I was drawn in by the book's title (and a love for a similarly-titled show ;) of course) and the concept that this gorgeous building full of quirky emotionally in-transit strangers was going to be the setting for a romance between book lovers who REALLY know their beach reads and romance book tropes.

I noticed that the author has written a lot of stories set in/about Miami, and this setting really does shine as a character itself. It's clear this city is really special to the author, and it comes out vibrant and realistic. The book's plot could have been set in a lot of places and worked, but *this* book could have only happened in Miami. It also becomes a special city for all of our characters, who've found themselves in this glamorous residence, if only for a bit of time. The setting also sounds like an ideal place to pull up a great read poolside, so it all makes sense for how the characters found themselves escaping. I found that this book does a good job of bringing up bigger topics seamlessly in the story -- like parental trauma, racism/sexism in the workplace, and ideas of what ambition and opportunities look like to different people -- but ends up just short of actually *going there*. Maybe it's an effort to keep the plot a breezy beach read, but I appreciated the topics so much I'd want to see them really explored.

I also liked the idea of Lily and Ben starting a book review podcast together (and enjoyed the scenes that were transcripts of their shows), and it fully seems like a natural fit for their bookish backgrounds. But I did feel like success came a *little* too quickly for them - like I could totally imagine their show being a smash hit, but it did read a little convenient, like they just sat down to try something out and they were instantly offered all of the brand extensions that any novice doing this would dream of. It didn't feel as satisfying as if we'd seen them really struggle or work hard to get their work out there. Not that I want to see them struggle, but I think a lot of future success rested on this towards the end of the book, and it seems almost as on a whim as Lily quitting her job in the first place.

I also think Ben's POVs stole. the. show, and if they were featured more throughout I would have been SCREAMING!!! I guess they still had that same effectiveness on me!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Loved the Miami setting: hot, artsy, and full of life. Lily and Ben’s friends-to-lovers story was a very slow burn, but the book club/podcast angle was super cute. There were a ton of side characters and not all of them felt necessary, but overall it was a fun, thoughtful read with great vibes.

This book was all the vibes I experience being from Miami and living in Miami for the past 20+ years of my life (not born but raised in Miami). That is what caught my attention the most and the fact that this author was inspired by one of my fav shows only murders in the building so I loved that play on the title. Now, getting down to the story, it took off at the beginning with chaos but slowed down and I was not feeling it. Like there was too much filler wording in there and it was not getting to the point fast enough. Overall, being Cuban and the MMC being Cuban had me relating to the story more often than not. But something about the audiobook threw me off (I tried reading and couldn’t get into it completely so then tried the audiobook but the voice was irking me, sorry!). I think it is definitely a cute book but it wasn’t the best for me because I felt like the banter was trying too hard and didn’t come off as natural. I got to about chapter 9 and had to stop reading it. 


👍Pros:

-characters love literature

-set in Miami (my hometown)

-kinda based on one of my fav shows


🤔Cons:

-didn’t feel natural

-lily seems extremely awkward

-ben seems unreal (reading the same books as her), trying to give her the key to his apartment 


If you want to feel like you’re in Miami while not on vacation, read it. If you agree that these cons just don’t do it for you, don’t read it.

When a woman needs to find herself, where better than a building on the beach? I was hoping for a little more of a vacation vibe and some self reflection of this character but instead I got a FMC that kind of annoyed me and an MMC that just needs some therapy. When they were on and bantering, it was very cute. But with all the warnings from the MMC's family and friends, I just found this very weird and completely turned me off. Insta-love was a trope here and I thought the premise was pretty cool, but the negatives kind of overwhelmed the positives in this case. I liked the idea of the main characters analyzing the tropes and how they work in real life. There was a lot of talk of what would work in the fictional world and how this is not true in the real world and how the book was based in the "real world" in this case. But I just found that a little dry and was hard to get through the middle of this book.

2.5 rounded down to a 2. Overall, not for me.

This is a solid 4.5 stars, Ben and Lily are a riot and this was a classic summer read. In this summer read we follow Lily who just quit her job and decides to stay in Miami for the summer and there we meet Ben who is bartending at the bar she goes to in this building she’s going to be staying at, and so begins the romance. Their banter is everything I needed right now and all the friends she makes, they are all so fun. The book club they created was something I needed to be in. This was the perfect beach read with the perfect summer couple. Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the arc.