A charming tale about Evie, Eleanore, and Jake, who share a home. Evie and Jake initially clash, but a fake relationship blossoms into something real. However, when secrets come to light, they must decide if their relationship is worth saving.

It's a little closer to a 3 than a 2, so it's like a 2.75.

There are elements of this book that I really liked. The first 20% was better, and from there things felt very rushed.

I loved all the characters, but I don't really feel like I know them as a group. Eleanore is the most developed character, and she's a side character. I feel like I know more about her than I do the protagonists. There's a lot of telling in this book, we keep getting told how Evie and Jake feel about each other, but even in the internal dialog it doesn't come across why they're falling for each other since both of them keep things from each other.
This book will irritate people, like me, who hate the miscommunication trope. The whole book is just them not talking to each other about things, or keeping something from the other person that would help with context.

The side-plot of Jake and the company shenanigans was very rushed as well. It was part of the Third-act breakup that is common in romance books, but it's not wrapped up. The book kind of just ends and we don't find out what happened with the company he works for, which feels important since it became such a large part of the plot.

This book doesn't feel finished. There are a lot of loose ends, including Jake's overbearing mother who I feel like should've been addressed beyond a throwaway line about Jake telling his mother Eleanore was fine. Nothing felt like it had real closure. And I don't believe that Evie and Jake were in love. I wasn't convinced, they had only started to trust each other at the end of the book.

this was enjoyable but wasn't a true romance for me, loved the story, the characters, the intrigue, but the couple's attraction wasn't clear to me.

For some reason this book didn't do it for me. I felt like it had all of the right ingredients, but it just fell flat. I also kept getting stuck on the fact that Jake proudly declared himself the "one and only grandson" in the beginning, but later talked about his brothers...some editing is still necessary on this one.

I would read more from this author because there is potential!

Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this prior to publishing.

This book has some of my favorite tropes - forced proximity and fake dating, and I really enjoyed this. I loved Jake for the loyal caring person he is. I really enjoyed how his relationship with Evie evolved. It was obvious that, once they worked through outside factors, their relationship would work out. So there wasn't as much tension there, but it was still an enjoyable read for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars

This book was lighthearted and goofy while also being a great love story. Complete with a female heroine who is the driver of a Viking themed duck boat cruise and a sexy steamy male main character who is misunderstood. this book takes us on a wild ride complete with fake dating, forced proximity and mental health rep! I love how fast this book was. great for a lazy day at the beach! thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

i received this as an ARC, so grateful to have the opportunity to read this! it was so entertaining and so good, was never bored while reading. would definitely recommend!

3.25 ⭐

This book was a cute, easy to read romance. The only thing that I wish would have been different with this book was the tension between our MMC and our FMC. I feel like the premise was there for a lot of tension with the forced proximity, "off to a rough start" kinda relationship, but the author didn't really dive into that aspect very much. Since that is just a personal preference of mine, I would still recommend this book to others, particularly to those who are interested in a short, fun, contemporary romance.

Thanks to Net Galley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC.

I want to start by stating that based on the description alone, I thought I would really like this book. I liked the characters at first and was enjoying the storyline. Just when things were starting to pick up between the characters I felt left out of many conversations and interactions between them. Typically books I have read with similar storylines to this have a lot more happening between the characters on the pages, but this left out those moments from the audience. I felt like a lot of description was just left out completely from the book. It got to the point where they were almost to a relationship then one of them pulled back and I only knew this due to very limited description given. Half the time I was using context clues to realize the chapter I was starting takes place a week after the previous one. If it wasn't for all these moments missed, I felt like I would have really liked this one. However, I couldn't even finish it. It felt more like work trying to read it and I wasn't enjoying it at all. Unfortunately, I did have to put this one down without finishing, which is something I do not do often. Reading this felt more like a first draft an author would turn in, rather than a completed work. It did not feel like a finished book at all, there was just so much missing. If all those gaps throughout had been filled in with more detail, I would have really enjoyed this one.

I absolutely loved this book! First it had so many things that I love in it...cats, book clubs, vikings, romance, theme nights and more! I mean the author Sally Clemente totally had me hooked with the cover and the first few lines with the cat and how they call her Cleopatra.

Im pretty sure my favorite character though is Eleanore. OBSESSED with her! She is what I would have as a grandma, so fun and loving. Always having a good time. Of course I love Evie and Jake too. They have a slow burn romance that neither of them thought was going to happen. This is one of my favorite tropes as well, well two them I guess you could say. Enemies to lovers and fake dating. Evie and Jake both don't want to admit they have feelings for each other but it inevitable.

So if you love good romance book with a fun grandma that includes a cute cat and a couple of the most popular book tropes, then this is a must read. Im so glad I gave this a chance and read it. I will definitely be looking for more books from Sally Clemente in the future!

2.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded up to 3)

I love me a rom com, but I couldn’t help feeling hot and cold with The Home Share. I finished the book, so for me it was at least entertaining. But what it lacked in pacing it also lacked in story development. For some reason, all of it felt ridiculous and and a lot of issues were non issues issues and I didn’t feel the tension or the build. It all felt rushed.

The best parts of the book were Eleanor and all of her antics and social groups and Felix, and I am bummed we didn’t get more of that. Sigh, maybe we get an epic-epilogue for them? 🥹

But I would still read Sally’s next book because I am a glutton for just about any romance book with an animated cover. ♥️

Evie has no place to go because all places that she’s looking at won’t take cats. Evie drops off her cat at her neighbor Eleanor watches the cat for Evie while she’s at work, which moves them into having Evie and Eleanor being flat mates. All of a sudden Eleanor’s grandson shows up and sparks fly.

I enjoyed the story telling from Evie and Jakes side plus everything that happens.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Home Share by Sally Clements

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

“If Rita gives you strawberries make strawberry daiquiris.”

I received this book via NetGalley following its release on August 19th. I loved meeting Evie, Jake, and Eleanore, and being welcomed into their home. A truly lovely romance with a little bit of fake dating, a touch of miscommunication, and a lot of found family. I fell asleep reading this book because I didn’t want to put it down, and dreamt I was inside this book.
The writing was well done but the characters really drove this book home for me.

Loved this book could of done with more instead of ending when it did but honestly could not put it down

I really enjoyed this ARC of the Home Share by Sally Clements. A quick fun read, the chemistry between the two main characters was fantastic. The sparks flying kept the pages turning. I would have loved to see the secondary drama finalised a bit better because I enjoyed the workplace struggle, something different.

This book was very cute. An easy read I didn’t have to think too much about. I got frustrated at points with how childish Evie acted but it all worked out in the end

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!

In sum, Evie's rented home is being sold, and she has to move. Unable to find anywhere that allows pets and is within her price range, she moves in with her elderly neighbour, Eleanore. Simultaneously, Eleanore's grandson Jake is back in Dublin on business, and is suspicious of Evie taking advantage of his grandmother and decides to move in with them himself.

The characters in this story were okay, but I didn't feel like I really got to know them - more like I was just scratching the surface. I feel the 3rd person narration is partly the reason for that; I personally don't like 3rd person narration all that much, especially for a more character driven story - one of my pet peeves is being told what a character thinks and feels, rather than the character showing it themselves. That being said, that is my subjective opinion and I know now everyone shares this view.

The plot was enjoyable enough: Evie needing to find a new place to live, a suspicious grandson wanting to make sure his grandmother wasn't being taken advantage of, enlisting the new house mate to help him with his business, a fake relationship developing into something more, and the ploy to take down a corrupt and unethical company.

At times, the story felt a bit rushed to me and that some things had been cut, resulting in other things happening sooner than what felt natural. I also would've preferred a different narration style. to end on a good note, I liked that this book had short chapters, as well as the book itself being short, so it was quick to read!

Love this!!

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I read this book in one sitting but I got to say: it's rushed. This cute and quirky romance novel could have been a great romance novel if not for the rushed process in the book. The characters never really got to me and the plot seemed to miss details, even though there was a plot twist happening. The plot twist flew by so fast, I read it twice to get it. There's no spice whatsoever, so it's great for readers that tend to avoid that and it wasn't negative for the plot. I actually liked that it was "PG-13" but still cute and fun. I truly wish it would not be rushed and hectic, that made all the time jumps confusing and the change of POV sometimes unreliable. The cover and plot is fun and attracted me to read this book, so that was really well done.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Sally Clements, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced reader’s copy of The Home Share. All opinions published below are expressly my own personal views.

Evie is a twenty something struggling to find housing for herself and her cat Cleo, when her octogenarian neighbor, Eleanore, offers to let the pair stay on her first floor. The only catch? Eleanore’s grumpy grandson is staying with them for a period of time while in town.

This book was definitely a fun little light read. The plot wasn’t particularly earth shaking which made for a nice palette cleanser between heavier books. It could benefit from an additional proof and some of the characterization felt lazy but I would recommend this for a quick change of pace.