Just not my cup of tea unfortunately. This was too convoluted for my taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

This book was a very sweet fast paced friends-to-lovers. It definitely had a ‘Love Actually’ feeling with all the different povs that I was not expecting.
I really enjoyed the journey the characters went on. Them realizing what they wanted out of life and wanting to not be alone but at the same time not seeing what they actually had right in front of them.
The banter between the characters was really enjoyable and all the characters felt really realistic not everything was perfect all the time and they reacted like you would expect normal people to react which was nice to see.
The book ended a little bit abruptly in my opinion.
But Sarah and Rory have an absolutely adorable relationship and I had a fun time meeting all the side characters and seeing how they all fit into the story
Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Mr Right Next Door by Rachel Dove

First of all, the author's note in the beginning touched my heart. I love the message Rachel Dove is trying to convey through this book. It's depressing how many girls and women go for "bad boys" who are mean, rude but handsome rather than the good ones who respect everyone and have good morals.

The thing I loved the most is the multiple perspectives. All the important characters, be it the protagonists, supporting characters or the antagonists- got their point of view when required t explain the situation. And it came out very well. I certainly enjoyed reading the story from many angles.

As promised, it is a hilarious and heartwarming novel. I look forward to read more of Rachel Dove's books.

I think the book got really jumbled as the plot went on. They are were just too many people involved in the love triangle/square/hexagon? Anyways, I LOVED the characters, especially Sarah’s daughter AnnaBelle!

Sarah and Rory’s relationship lacked communication but they made it work so you rooted for them in the end.

I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

A story with a "Love, Actually" vibe of intermingled characters and complicated relationships.

I liked Rory and Sarah off the bat, as well as Gill and Dinah. The first chapter was heartbreaking to read, but set up the story well. Things did slow a bit after that, and I started to question whether the story would quicken its pace or pull me in... and I'm happy to say I was soon invested in all the storylines (especially hopefully Greg would get his comeuppance).

A fun romcom, albeit crude in sections, with a nice balance of awful people, lovable children, angst and laughter.

NB I received an ARC of this novel.

I really liked this book! Rory tries so hard to be a "good guy" but feels he's always looked over for the cads & assholes by women. I loved his relationship with his best friend Sarah-- he's so loving and supportive of her as a person and single mother, and is just the cutest uncle her adorable daughter. I loved how he realizes his attraction and feelings for her so suddenly, kinda like "oh wow, I think I love you." Rory and Sarah have the most honest, loyal, understanding, loving friendship that blooms into a beautiful relationship.

I had a hard time with the changing perspectives; the book is all written in third person, but it still changes the perspective from many different characters which was a little hard to follow. Overall I really liked this story! Thank you for the ARC!!!

There’s nothing new here,… best friends to lovers, will they won’t they, precocious child, dorky/sassy best friends…. It’s all comfortably predictable and there’s nothing wrong with that. An easy comfy read for this distracted mind.

⭐️ 3.5

Mr Right Next Door is a quick and easy ready for romance lovers!

It’s a good palette cleanser and has multiple points of view which helps keep the reading pace moving.

I thought the ending was rushed. I find it hard to believe the MCs waited this long to realize they were 🫶 made 🫶 for each other.

An irresistible slice of escapism and a joy to read. Compelling, absorbing and highly entertaining. Fast-moving and fun! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A very realistic story about single parent Sarah, who has a deadbeat ex boyfriend, Greg, who reminds me of the narcissistic ex husband of a friend of mine. Very realistically written how you can have an ex who is a lousy father but still stirs up trouble by canceling pickups or not taking good care of the child in question. Sarah had a guilty conscience because she needs to work a lot to provide for her daughter and het elderly mother. I think a lot of people can relate to that.
Rory is your typical ‘good’ guy, more so that he is boring. He wears brown loafers, cream slacks, a white shirt and blue tie, and on top of that a thin, cream cardigan. And he has glasses. In the book somebody says ‘Loïs Lane didn’t want Clark Kent, she wanted Superman’. And that is why not a single girl gives him the light of day. He decides to make a change, so his best friend Sarah takes Rory shopping and to a barber for a modern haircut, and he looks much better after that. Rory and Sarah both decide to get out more. After the makeover Rory finally scores a date with Sasha (who didn’t even noticed him before) and Sarah starts going out with Nigel. Sasha is repping Leon, a boxer, who in turn knows Greg, Sarah’s ex. They all turn up at Rory’s bar so that is how everyone crosses paths. Of course Rory and Sarah have their HEA in the end but it was wrapped up really quickly and suddenly. I missed chemistry between Rory and Sarah.
The secondary characters, Gill and Dinah, were a bit confusing, though. I don’t really see why they were added, since they didn’t really contribute to the main characters.
A very light read with some good parts that I know enough people will enjoy.
I received and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and I am grateful for this opportunity. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First of all, I did enjoy the characters (well most of them). However, this book fell short for me. I'm not sure what it was, but it missed the mark. And the Gill & Dinah story line? Why was so much time spent on their story?
This was a miss for me.

Slow burn, friends to lovers, single parent

This is a difficult story to rate - there were some really great elements (Single Mum Sarah was brilliant and so well rounded), and some elements that didn't sit right with me (The general theme of the bad boys get the girls). The clear gem of the story was Annabelle - an adorable sweet girl who is just too clever.

This story just didn't hit the mark for me unfortunately

Mr. Right Next Door....

We are introduced to Rory right from the beginning, in a setting 30 years from the present time. In that beginning we get to understand who Rory is.
Enter present day, Rory decides he needs to change himself to find love. He hasn't been able to find love before.
Sarah is Rory's neighbor and best friend. She doesn't understand why Rory needs to change himself to find love when he is perfect just the way he is, especially for love.
Rory has always hated every guy that has come into Sarah's life, finally realizing that is is because of jealousy. As Rory changes himself to find love, what he doesn't realize is that maybe it is right next door.
This is a cute story, written in 3rd person. I am not quite used to that but was able to get into the book. You will laugh and fall in love while reading.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Straight away, the author does a great job at establishing who the characters are. Sarah is a wonderfully independent woman, willing to put up with so much aggravation from her ex for her daughter’s sake - I immediately had respect for the fierce way that she conducted herself. Rory is portrayed as friendly & sensitive, and it is clear very early on in the story that their friendship is one to be treasured; they were so naturally comfortable around each other that it made absolute sense for them to end up together.

The descriptive writing also made it SO easy to despise the villain of the story! Greg is the ex-husband of Sarah and his characterisation fits the image of a ‘typical alpha male’ to a tee. There are also parts where we get to see the perspective of more minor characters and I enjoyed this as it offered a well-rounded view of the story.

I did find the overtones of misogyny & toxic masculinity hard to swallow, especially with certain parts of Rory’s inner dialogue; it let his character down a bit, since he is depicted as a warm & kind-hearted person. I will point out that one of the main driving points of the book is the idea that ‘bad boys’ garner more interest from women, so some of the sentences & dialogue make sense in context. However, there was just so much of it that it unfortunately soured the reading experience somewhat as I believe these themes simply don’t have a place in modern-day romance novels, and it perpetuates the ‘nice guy’ persona that so many men adopt to make women feel guilty about rejecting them.

I was marginally mollified by the fact that Rory had genuine abhorrence for certain other male characters who were obvious chauvinists; I don’t think that he was a bad person per se, but he could have been painted in a slightly better light.

This is a light story that is satisfyingly wrapped up at the end! I wouldn’t pick this book up if you are looking for something that welcomes deeper critical analysis around the character & relationship side, but for fans of soft romance this is a pleasing choice.

This is a tough one to rate. This story was different for me. It was confusing in a way. You had the thoughts of every character in the book with very little actually said out loud . Which is very different from the books I normally read. I liked Rory a lot and Sarah. Their relationship was the main focus but there were other couples/ characters that I wasn’t as interested in their stories..
I thought it was strange how Doug went from a womanizer to a retired homebody. This was a quick and easy read, but just not the story I was hoping for..I

Good men like Rory are very far in between, especially these days. This book was so cute and a breath of fresh air. I love the representation this book gives. I would recommend this book to anyone. I will be on the lookout for future books by Rachel Dove!!
The only thing I didn't particularly enjoy, was the writing style. I'm not usually a fan of third person. I got passed it though because the book drew me in fairly quickly. I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

This story is definitely a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance. I'm always a sucker for the years of pining without realizing that your pining aspect of such stories, but with this story, I'm a little confused about how to rate it.

The real star of this story was Annabelle, the child genius with a plan. Frankly, she should've been the MC, because had it not been for her, the plot wouldn't have progressed the way that it did.

Rory is certainly an endearing MMC, and I wanted to roll my eyes every time he tried to convince himself that Sasha was night for him. Her certainly was a wonderful godfather and male role model to his "Belle".

Sarah was a great FMC, and her arc was quite satisfying, especially when she finally stood up to "dirtbag Greg". Unfortunately, her refusal to see the obvious (e.g. Nigel) made her character quite frustrating to read.

What confused me beyond anything was Gill's and Dinah's story. I'm not sure why this subplot was highlighted so much in the story when really it could've just been mentioned in relation to the actual plot. The fact that multiple chapters were dedicated solely to their relationship was very confusing.

The HEA was certainly satisfying, but I wish that it hadn't been so abrupt. I would've loved to have seen more of Rory and Sarah being a couple.

3 ⭐️