When Serena and Ziggy are both offered a place to stay by their respective friends, neither realizes the other will be there. Ziggy is messy, has his friends over often and has claimed the best bedroom for himself. Serena puts up with it as much as she can but then decides the only way she will win is if she tries to push Ziggy out, embarking on a war between the two to see who will leave first.

This book was fun. I enjoyed the pranks the two played on each other but found it hard to believe when they became lovey dovey. One moment they were ready to kill each other with jokes, the next they were being affectionate with everything else forgotten. I believe the storyline would have been a bit more believable if there had been more of a build up to the relationship. I was surprised how much more there was going on in this book - don't let the synopsis fool you! There are a few other storylines thrown in that make it all that more addictive. If you're after a laugh out loud romcom with a bit more depth, you should consider giving this one a go.

Your Place or Mine?

3.5/5

This book was a cute and easy read.

To start off, I really liked the dynamic between Ziggy and Serena. I really enjoyed their banter and the tension written between the two of them while they were waging war over their living situation. I wish that the war lasted longer and for more of that tension throughout the book.

I also enjoyed Portia's witty and dry sense of humor throughout the book.

Sadly, I feel like there was just a lot going on with this book. It felt like every single trope was being thrown in and that there were two separate conflicts going on within the main plot of Ziggy and Serena sharing the house together.

I will say, I did enjoy the last 3/4 of the book, but the whole thing felt a little bit unorganized, and it was hard to stay focused at times.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ir was a funny chic lit, it was an easy read the only issue I had was that the blurb was a bit misleading. I however didn’t find both main characters very likable. I would say that if you’re looking for a light hearted, easy, funny, cute read this is the way to go.

Your Place or Mine? by Portia MacIntosh

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Two reluctant housemates. One question: Is this your place or mine...?

When Serena is kicked out of her flat, an offer from her friend, Taylor, to house sit for her while she and her husband go travelling could not be better timing. But unfortunately for Serena she’s not the only one to have received this offer…

Enter Ziggy: arrogant, messy (and annoyingly handsome) musician, and friend of Taylor’s husband. Living with him is far from ideal, especially when he claims the best room, has loud parties - and the least said about his kitchen manner the better...

There's just one solution for Serena – drive him out of the house by being twice as difficult to live with than he is! But Ziggy knows Serena's game and as war ensues between them, being forced together under one roof may result in some unexpected consequences...

My Opinion

I have mixed feelings about this book - I liked it but it didn't grab me. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining read with some great characters. This was a quick and easy book to read. Serena has her world turned upside down following the death of Diana and is in desperate need of somewhere to stay - she can't possibly have any more issues, can she?

I do enjoy books by Portia MacIntosh and I would not hesitate to recommend this one. A short, but fun rom-com, that will appeal to any fans of the genre.

Rating: 4/5

Another great read. It was a really fun romance and the sparky relationship between Serena and Ziggy made me smile. A joy to read from start to finish and made for a wonderful escape. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy of this book.

3.5 but I'll round upto 4.

A sweet, laugh out loud chick lit. Serena and Ziggy are hugely likeable characters and I loved their relationship. I admired how resilient Serena was and I swooned quite a few times because of Ziggy. The "nice pear" comment really made me laugh. Serena's relationship with Dianna was incredibly sweet and very touching. I'd happily read book based on her. Overall, a l ovely read to brighten up a dark January.

Your Place or Mine is a laugh-out-loud fun and swoony romance.

I know when I read one of Portia's books, I'm in for a hilariously good time. She has become one of my insta-buy romance authors. I loved this book! It had everything that I hoped for, and it left me feeling happy and light-hearted. This story surprised me. It had some unexpected plot twists that had me going, "no way." It's always wonderful when an author can keep their readers on their toes. I loved the whole forced roommates part of this book. Serena and Ziggy do not want to live together and are determined to drive the other person out of the house. The shenanigans these two pull off will have you laughing. It reminded me of when I was in university and the antics between my roommates and me when we were mad at each other. I loved those girls, but sometimes we drove each other nuts.

The overall story was quite different from other romance story plotlines I have read. I will be a bit vague when talking about the plot because I want you to be as surprised as I was when reading this book. Portia included some fun and unique story elements that make her book stand out in a good way. There is some out-of-this-world relationship drama that belongs in a soap opera. I enjoy bizarre and quirky stories, so I devoured this book and all its glorious drama.

The romance between Serena and Ziggy has this steamy closed-door vibe to it. There definitely is a connection between these two right from the beginning. You can feel that tension even when they try to drive each other out of the house. I like them together. I really loved Ziggy, he was surprisingly a big old softy, and I found him so understanding when it came to matters of the heart. The unconditional support he showed Serena was so charming and had my heart pitter-pattering. Portia did a great job building that romantic tension between these two. It had me wanting to turn the page to see what would happen next.

If you are looking for a book that is easy-breezy and oh-so-fun, then give Your Place or Mine a try.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!

Your Place or Mine has become one of my favorite romance books. It's been a long time since I've found one that kept me glued to pages like this (which I finished in two days).
This book was so much fun and it has the forced proximity and enemies to lovers tropes that I love!

Serena is kicked out of her flat and loses her job after her boss and really close friend dies.
Not knowing where to go, as soon as her friend offers to look at her house while she is on her honeymoon, Serena accepts without hesitation. But she soon discovers that the same offer has also been made to Ziggy and she will be forced to share the house with him.
Serena and Ziggy will have to find compromises to live together but doing it seems more difficult than expected.

The love story is very cute, Serena and Ziggy are meant to be together.
All the characters are very well written and I liked them all.

I also liked it so much because there are different story lines that at the end of the book tied together. This makes the story dynamic and not boring.
I absolutely recommend it!

Your Place or Mine? By Portia MacIntosh

Thank Boldwood Books for the arc. Serena and Ziggy become roommates after mutual married couple friends let them house-sit for them while they go on their honeymoon. They're supposed to feud because Ziggy gets the better room in the house, and Serena gets the worst. Serena wants to kick him out because he is challenging to deal with.

The plot described in the blurb is barely present in the story itself, so I didn't get much of this feud. Serena is losing her boss, Diana, and being left with a side business called Di's. So this adds some variety to Serena's life.
I did enjoy the sex shop and how Serena and Ziggy discovered it. And Diana's video explaining the flat to her.

It was challenging to believe Ziggy and Serena had chemistry — I felt I was primarily told about it but not shown it. The cut-to-black scenes didn't help matters either.

This book, in my opinion, had too many plot points and could benefit from some storyline refinement.

I found Your Place Or Mine? to be an entertaining read for a time when you just need an easy book to spend some time with. I'll admit that I found the blurb slightly misguiding, as I think that what comes across as the main storyline is only one of multiple major storylines and I wish that was clearer in the blurb. I thought the romance came across as a bit irrealistic and forced, but it's interesting to follow if you can suspend disbelief. I had some issues with some plot points and found them a little hard to buy, but overall I think this can be worth the read if you're just looking to spend a good time with a book full of scheming and fun shenanigans. This was an interesting twist on the forced proximity and the enemies to lovers trope, perfect for fans of both.

Your Place or Mine? follows Serena and Ziggy, who become roommates when their mutual married couple friends let them house-sit while they go away on their honeymoon. They are supposed to have this feud because Ziggy gets the better room and Serena the worst room in the house. Serena wants to drive him out of the house because he is difficult to live with.

I didn't really get much of this feud, the plot described by the blurb is barely present in the story itself. There's this side of Serena dealing with the death of her boss, Diana, and being left with a side business called Di's. So this adds a bit of challenge in Serena's life.

Meanwhile, there's Ziggy, he cheats to get the nicer room and is kind of an asshole throughout the book. Serena is in a situationship with another man for the most part of the book and there's no romance or comedy.

This enemies to lovers/forced proximity romcom tells the story of Serena and Ziggy, two unlikely roommates who have both agreed to move into their friends house while they are away on a trip. The dynamic between Serena and Ziggy is great, it has a nice paced development and is not too cheesy or fake. This book goes beyond just a romance to look at relationships, including the impact of grief and loss. That being said, it is still fairly light and fits in the rom-com/light reading category and is a pretty quick read as well. Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood for the opportunity to read and review this book.

#blogtour #booktour

The premise of the book is great. I couldn't stop thinking about all the terrible roommates I have had and how much I would have loved to run them out of the house. This book very much reminded me of the flat share. I couldn't stop thinking about it. There were some laugh out loud parts in it which I loved. I look forward to reading her other books.

This book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting from the synopsis, but it was a cute and quick read. The book had some unique storylines (how often does a main character inherit a sex shop) that helped make the story engaging. While it wasn’t my favorite book from Portia MacIntosh, it was fun and I would recommend it.
I was given this advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Tropes;

Forced Proximity.
Roommates to lovers.
Love/hate relationship.

The beginning was slow paced and it was hard to get into but once things started picking up I was going through the chapters swiftly. It was a funny and cute romance! What I liked about this book was it did not have a third-act conflict/break-up, which is my worst nightmare. Ziggy and Serena really grew on me.

Overall it took a while to get into it but I'd still recommend it if you want an easy read!

When Taylor offers Serena, the chance to house sit, it seems like a perfect opportunity for Serena, having just been kicked out of her flat. However, Taylor’s husband also offers his friend Ziggy, the same opportunity. Ziggy is arrogant, noisy and messy and Serena finds herself determined to drive him out of the house by being difficult to live with. However, Ziggy knows Serena's game and is determined that she won’t win this battle. What neither expected, was the consequences of their plotting.
The blurb held out so much hope for this book. However, when I started to get into the book, I was surprised to find that Serena spent a significant portion of the story, with another relationship and not with Ziggy. I just would have liked to have read more between Serena and Ziggy but felt that the story got side-tracked with other issues.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a lovely book, different from the usual boy/girl rom com. I giggled a lot at the book, found it very amusing and very entertaining. A breath of fresh air. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I really didn't want this book to come to an end, I enjoyed it so much. Portia always gives us great stories to read and this one is no different. I can always give her books 5 stars and I know everyone will love reading them.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0 stars

This story was really all over the place. It worked in some parts, but was also very chaotic and I honestly wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be following or paying attention to.

There's Serena's relationship with Diana & dealing with her death. The random roommate Serena gets while living in her friend's house. (Again, this friend really popped up out of the blue.) The relationship that develops with the roommate, Ziggy. The whole realizing that Serena was the other woman in the relationship with her man, Dean. The revenge plot with Dean and trying to get his fiance to break up with him. The HEIST with the vase. The music scenes and burning down the house a little bit and also the random classical music rival of Ziggy's ... Yeah there was honestly just too much going on in this book.

I loved the sex shop and how Serena & Ziggy figured that out though. And Diana's video to her explaining the flat.

It was hard to believe that Ziggy and Serena had chemistry though — I felt like I was mostly told about the chemistry but not shown it. And the fade to black scenes didn't help either.

I think this book suffered from too many plot points (and holes, in some cases) and could use some refining of the storyline.

4.5/5
Portia Macintosh’s books are so easy to love! It’s just funny, fast paced and you always fall for the characters.

In this one, we follow Serena, who’s just been kicked out of her flat and accepts her friend’s offer to house sit for a while. The only small inconvenience is that her friend’s hubby also offered the house sitting gig to a friend of his. Serena and Ziggy now find themselves stuck together and they won’t make it easy for each other.

I just love the vibes of this book. A lot happens, from dealing with loss, to getting new challenges, to learning to cohabit, to making new friends. I loved it. The whole relationship between the two main characters was really satisfying to see evolve and when they started being honest with each other I so loved their chemistry and care for one another. Lots of moments made me smile and I just enjoyed my read from start to finish. It was definitely a good way to start my reading for the new year!

Thanks to the author and Boldwood Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.