4/5 ⭐️ for the Audiobook Version
Goodreads review posted on: 08/01/2025

I got this Audiobook through NetGalley and was loving the themes and relationship between Lily and Ben!

Lily is a lawyer who quit her job and is spending the summer in Miami to find herself and relax. Ben is an English professor as well as an author. Lily runs into Ben in an adorable meet-cute where he is bartending and then finds out he is her neighbor. Lily writes book reviews in her free time and Ben challenges them, so much so that they create a book podcast where they buddy read and talk about their reads.

I loved the slow burn in this book and the friendship that Ben and Lily create first, along with the other supporting characters in the story. I especially loved that Ben and Lily are both cognizant of each other’s careers but they do have the miscommunication trope at the end which is kind of 50-50 for me personally.

Overall, I loved the audiobook and gave it a 4/5 ⭐️ and 2 🌶️

Just finished this audiobook and it was such a fun summer read! The premise totally hooked me, and I loved the cozy sense of community in the building. There were so many great side characters and the narrator really brought everyone to life, which made it even more enjoyable. The only thing that bugged me a bit was the lack of communication between the main characters about their feelings, it got a little frustrating. And while I usually love a book about book lovers, that theme kind of took over at times. Still, overall a feel-good listen with lots of charm!

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy!

I thought the premise of this book sounded so fun and normally I'm overwhelmed with this many side characters but in Only Lovers in the Building, it really worked! I wasn't a huge fan of the main couple. I didn't buy their chemistry and didn't feel especially connected to either of their stories but the overall story was fun nonetheless. This was a good, summery, slow burn with lots of banter (sometimes a touch too much banter lol). The narrator did an amazing job bringing the book to life! With as many side characters as there is, you would think a single-narrator audio book could get a little confusing but the narrator was great at making it easy to distinguish between characters.

NYC corporate lawyer Lilliane “Lily” Lyon abruptly quits her job and escapes to a summer rental in Miami Beach (I mean, who wouldn’t want that?). Enter Ben Romero the hot bartender, neighbor, professor, and literary translator. He makes her coffee, he’s bookish, and soon they’re starting an exclusive romance book club together. With flirty banter, sizzling chemistry, and sun-soaked vibes, this is a sexy, fun rom-com that feels like a perfect summer beach read.

Both Lily and Ben are carrying past heartbreaks, Ben’s more recent. Lily felt a bit back and forth to me. One minute she wants to kiss him, the next she’s declaring they should just be friends. Meanwhile, he’s obviously flirting too, but then also pulls back. I get the tension, but after a while, the mixed signals got a little repetitive.

On the plus side, I love books about book lovers. Their shared bookishness was a highlight, though I did find the “they went viral overnight” angle a bit convenient.

I listened to the audiobook via @NetGalley and enjoyed the narrator overall. However, I’m not a big fan of female narrators doing the MMC voices, it didn’t quite work for me here. I much prefer duet narration. That said, her side character voices were spot on.

I also really liked the sense of community in the building, the side characters added charm and personality to the story.

Overall, a very cute and easy read, just not one that landed at the top of my list.

Thank you so much to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for this ALC of Only Lovers in the Building.

The concept for this one was so fun! I loved that it all revolved around reading and reviewing books - and even the podcast. Lily and Ben's relationship was so sweet. I am so glad that Lily found a friend group that she could open up with and get advice from. They all seemed to genuine.

I listened to the audiobook, and LOVED the narrator. She did a fantastic job!

After quitting her corporate job during a company retreat, Lily decides to rent an apartment for the summer. She meets her neighbor, Ben, who is filling in as bartender for the night, and they share an impromptu kiss in the elevator. Lily is active on a social media platform similar to goodreads. After Ben writes a scathing rebuttal to a review she wrote, Ben and Lily begin reading and reviewing romance books together for the summer. They also begin a podcast together after they amassed such a following from their joint reviews. They fall in love, they both evaluate their options for their careers. Ben and Lily’s progression from friends to lovers was so genuine. By the time they finally consummate their relationship you are cheering for them. This novel was humorous and emotional. The narrator really brought the characters to life.

The premise of this is so cute - two people meeting on an off-chance in Miami and starting a book reviewing partnership all while falling for each other despite fighting their feelings. I really liked those aspects of the book, but I think listening to this on audio lessened my experience.

The narrator’s pitch, tone, and voice irked me at times. It made some scenes extremely cringe that probably wouldn’t have been during a physical read.

Also I have determined that reviewing books with just listing tropes is one of my pet peeves.

Thank you to The Hive, Harlequin Trade Audio, and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lily has had ENOUGH of getting walked on at her job and on her never ending journey to get her parents approval, she is taking the summer in Miami to read and sunbathe. Ben is navigating the loss of his estranged father, whose career is constantly in his face, and a messy breakup. The two share a mutual passion for reading and analyzing books, and a book club is born. Initially exclusive, their club grows with quirky members from the building, all of whom are stumbling through their own romantic troubles. Lily and Ben grow closer and the rest… you’ll have to read to find out!

Friends to lovers meets book club meets found family!

I really enjoyed this story, the variety in the chapter styles, the analytical moments, and the growth! Ben Romero is giving hot professor and Lily Lyons is giving girls’ girl. I loved these two and their love for books as well as their story!

Audio: this narrator did an excellent job giving voice to so many characters with different lurks to their voices. As the voice of the FMC, sometimes it was a bit theatrical or nasally, which I was not a fan of. Overall a really impressive vocal performance with range!

Pair this with a cold glass of Prosecco by the pool & you’d have the best day ever on your hands.

I could not get enough of this!! The narrator? Amazing. The banter? Swooon. I read 75% of this in a single day.

Explorations of grief, paret relationships, and the feeling of being “stuck” as an unmarried, single woman in their 30s (no, the FMC is not me, but I wish I had a Benny!) is accompanied with friendships, finding yourself & pursuing passion (& yes passion has multiple meanings here 🥵)

Beach bag approved, don’t miss this one!!

It’s lighthearted with some undertones of serious topics for the MMC (does that make sense?)

I think I wanted a liiiiittle more romance out of it compared to some of the other romance books I read

If you’re typically a reader of regular degular fiction, women’s fiction, etc and you’re looking for a bit of an entry book or something lighter into romance - this could be a great book for you!! Some spice later on but lots of narrative/dialogue

Omg I loved this!! This was my first book by Nadine Gonzalez and her writing was fantastic. This slow burn was so fun, fresh, funny and swoony. The story literally leaped off the page for me. The super vivid Miami setting really came through as well.

Imagine you quit your corporate law job and decided to take a summer sabbatical in Miami, just reading romance poolside and sipping cocktails. You immediately make a fun little group of local friends and befriend a hot bar tender (who also happens to be a famous poet and literary translator). Next thing you know, you and he start a romance reading bookclub, which spirals into a podcast… you’re left with Only Lovers in the Building.

-M/F Black romance
-two Afro-Latine MCs
-slow burn, friends to lovers
-Miami art deco vibes
-he’s a hot tattoo’d bartender who’s also a poet and works in academia
-she’s a corporate lawyer and romance book influencer

I listened to the audiobook and hats off to the narration by Aure Nash! I’m off to find lots of other books she narrates. Soooo good.

Thank you to Canary Street Press and Netgalley for the ALC

These characters had 0 chemistry. I hated them both. I also didn’t care for the journal entries and the book reviews in between. Had I had a paper/text copy I would have skipped those, but that was difficult with audio.

Thank you to Netgalley and HTP for a free copy of this audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

Narrators:
To start, I absolutely LOVE that this book is duet read. It is my absolute favorite style of audiobook and I am here for it. The voice actors were top tier. Not only did they read as if they have amazing chemistry themselves, the way they narrated the characters only fed into that. I have no complaints at all. One of my bigger complaints with male narrators is that they talk so low that I have to jack up the volume, but that wasn't the case here!

Story:

Lily is tired of being looked over at work and she decides to take the summer to enjoy herself after rage quitting her job. On her first day at her new summer rental, she meets an enigmatic bartender, Ben. After a kiss, he kindly lets her know that he isn't looking for a relationship and that starts off an amazing friendship between the two, seeing as they live next door to each other on the same floor. Suddenly the duo start a book club where they discuss books and leave reviews on a popular book app. One thing leads to another and they end up with a summer podcast, where they discuss life, books and tropes. The heat only blooms from there and the friendship shifts into something more.

Lily is such an amazing character. She realizes that she was being walked on and is determined to better herself, no longer content to sit on the sidelines. Her relationship with her parents becomes strained after the revelation that she quit her job, but she eventually stands up for herself against them and defends her decision. She carves out a couple of friendships in the building and these quirky characters add to the charm of the story, their own side plots creating some fun storylines. I love the way that Lily creates bonds with each of the side characters, carving out her own little found family in the world.

Ben is super charming but sends up so many mixed signals even I got confused a couple a times. Despite that, I would probably end up just like Lily, caught on his red flag hook. He has daddy issues, commitment issues and even issues when it comes to his own chosen career. He seems to live in his father's shadow and after being applauded for writing poems, feels like his career path is doomed to follow his dads. He just got out of a relationship not long before meeting Lily and this does come back to bite him in the rear a few times throughout the book. However, he gives amazing banter and he does seem to truly care about Lily, despite the fact that she has an expiration date on their relationship at the end of the summer.

As far as the podcast goes, with a title of "Only Lovers in the Building" I was wanting to see more of it. I wanted to get more of that OMITB vibe and it took so long for the podcast to become apart of the story. This is such a shame because those podcast scenes stole the show and I was dying for more! This was offset by the diary entries and the book app posts, which was such a cool way for the author to tell the story.


This book was really cute and I had alot of fun listening to it. I had many moments of laughing out loud and honestly, I'm ready to read this story even though I just listened to it!

Only Lovers in the Building is a delightful multicultural story set in the glamour of the Miami Beach Art Deco district by Nadine Gonzalez. Attorney Liliane Lyon reaches her limits when a relatively new man hired at her firm gets the credit for a deal she had worked on for the past two years. After brief statements, she escapes the fancy dinner at the firm’s annual conference, gets herself together and goes online to email her resignation. Then, again out of character, Lily turns around at the Miami airport, books a summer VRBO at the art deco Omni, and changes course in multiple ways.

Also living at the Omni is professor and translator Ben Romero, son of the late Cuban poet Alessandro Romero, who has just been awarded a sizable genius grant. However, Ben is at a crossroads on many levels. In fact, Ben finds peace through substituting at the building’s bar for his sister Roxanne, teaching a college course, and reading and reviewing romance novels as pure escape.

Lily and Ben, while not having an immediate connection, it’s darn close. They especially connect on their love of romance novels and both comment and have communicated on the same book forum. As the pair forms their own book club, other building residents join with them expanding their book club duo to a band of book loving friends.

When the opportunity presents itself for Lily and Ben to do a podcast about the books they have read, they go for it further cementing their budding relationship. But when the summer ends, what becomes of them then?

This was a fun story filled with eccentric characters. While the story is quite humorous, it does address some serious topics giving further depth to an already well plotted tale. I did enjoy this story and do recommend it!

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.

A cute, light summer read. I liked the diverse cast of characters with a Haitian FMC and a Cuban MMC. Miami is a fun backdrop for this summer romance. Both the characters being book lovers was a nice aspect of their relationship.

Unfortunately, I had a few issues with this book. The banter felt forced and unnatural. There were lots of side characters that I imagine were meant to be found family but I never ending up caring about them enough for it to work. As for the audiobook aspect, the narrator's voice bothered me (sorry!!) and I didn't like her doing the low voice for Ben. I think I might have enjoyed this more if I read the physical copy.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lily is looking for a change after one of her exes gets married and she can't stand the disrespect at her job anymore and abruptly quits. She decides to spend the summer in an art deco building in Miami. There she meets Ben, her seemingly emotionally unavailable neighbor and they start a friendship bonding over books and banter that leads to romance. The characters had great chemistry and their banter was well written and fun. The side characters added a lot of fun to the story as well. Definitely a super fun summer read.

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

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!

I'm not good at listening to audiobooks, okay? I get distracted or completely zone out and miss so much. I can manage with memoirs and have tried so many different genres and narrators, but this audiobook is the one that surprised me! I listened to 25% in one day and was so happy to find that I could pay attention easily!! Game changer for my drives.

I LOVED the cadence, inflections, emotions, and personality that Aure brought to this book! I will absolutely be listening to more books narrated by Aure Nash and I finally feel hopeful that I might be able to add audiobooks to my reading time.

The story: This book was such a fun, perfect for summer read. The side characters were fantastic and I loved the growth of the main characters. Plus they start a romance book club! How perfect for romance readers! I will definitely check out Nadine's backlist because I loved her writing style so much!