I had a hard time connecting with the main characters. I rated this a 2.5/5. It just wasn’t for me but it was not bad and I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. She is a very good writer though!


I had posted this review on Goodreads but didn’t realize I had to submit my review via NetGalley. I’m so sorry this is late!

Thank you Netgalley and Victoria Editing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After being a ghost writer for years one drunken night Bee sends her agent a drunken message with a pitch for a novel she she's been wanting to do for years. Now with a book to write and a deadline fast approaching she returns home after nearly 5 years of being away. Spending only one night on her brothers couch she ends up co-owning a house with her brothers best friend Sebastian Wolfe, So now with a house, a book to write and a fear of commitment what can go wrong?

I struggled a lot with this book. I kept putting it down and forgetting to pick it back up, In fact it nearly took me a total of 3 weeks to complete and normally with a romance book it'll take 3 days at most. I'm going start with a few things I loved before going into the bad things.
- Brothers best friend
- Dual POV
- Forced Proximity
- Age Gap (8 Years)
- Sebastian our BI king who was looking to settle down with the white picket fence and his plant babies
- Character growth especially Bee
- A cosy read
- No third break up act

I did struggle a little with Bee, I think her friendship with her Morgan and how much of a push over she was in really didn't help my opinion of her. It was like she had have her hand held, the path all laid out for her and too insecure.
I felt like the story was just loads of scenes wrote out separately, put together and made into a book. I was having to think way harder about what was going on that I should have for this kind of story.

Will I be reading more of her work in the future? yeh I think I will. I'm still a sucker for a romance book no matter what It is.

𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I liked this one but there was also a lot I didn’t like

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Forced proximity
Brothers best friend
Second chance romance
Mutual pining
Found family
Age gap
Daul POV
Slow burn
Bookish FMC

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
LQBTQIA+ rep
All the plants!
Mental health discussions
Relatable friendship breakup

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
The steamy scenes weren’t the best (and I didn’t really feel like there was much chemistry between them)
Romance felt a little rushed
Got repetitive

DNF @ 25%

I just don't feel any connection with the characters or any desire to keep reading at this point. There's not a lot of chemistry between the love interests.

3 stars.

I have read all of Dani McLean's work thus far, and unfortunately, "Mortgage of Convenience" is my least favorite of her books. I found the chemistry between Sebastian and Bee to be severely lacking. While the scenes featuring spice are (shockingly frequent, sometimes out of nowhere) well-written, I simply felt no spark between them, so they fell flat for me. I think a lot of my problems stem from them being pretty boring, sometimes contradictory characters. Bee seemed to be hugely outgoing when she moved away from her hometown, but when she got back, she turned into a shell of a person. Usually, McLean's lead characters have terrific chemistry with one another, but I just didn't feel it between Bee and Sebastian. I did not doubt that they both really liked each other, but it never felt end-game permanent, especially for Bee (even at the end of the book). Some of the romance elements felt rushed between them, while others felt like they took an extraordinarily long time (and not in a slow-burn type of way). I have seen many readers complain about the believability of the premise of this story, to which I say, what!? People will believe in shapeshifters and alien romances, but god forbid a person helps their brother's best friend buy a house to help them attain their dreams. In this economy, they need all the help they can get. I don't think this needed to be a full-length novel. I think this material would have been better served in a novella because a lot of the prose and plot details are repeated over and over ad nauseum. I also thought it was a little silly that Bee made such a big deal about her book in the beginning. I totally understand the apprehension of letting anyone see your work in progress. I have been in this position before, and it can be terrifying, but it felt like the bargaining was off between Sebastian and Bee...she helped him buy a house, and he... is going to read her book and give her advice? Like I said, silly. I'm sorry to say, this book is shockingly "mid," as the youths say. I will still read all of Dani's future works, though, because I know what she's capable of.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dani McLean, and Set the Mood Publishing for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

📚 OMG, can we talk about how adorable this cover is?! 😍 This book totally spins the marriage of convenience trope on its head, but instead of just tying the knot, they're diving into a mortgage together for a house! Sebastian had his sights set on the future, and Bee was a key part of it. His confidence was infectious, and it was heartwarming to see him empower Bee to find her own strength and capabilities. 👫💪

I loved how the story delved into the importance of adult friendships, both forging new bonds and navigating the natural drift that happens as we grow older. People change, and sometimes we drift apart, which felt so relatable. 🌟

While I was totally into the story, I wished we had more of a glimpse into their dynamics before moving in together. Around the 60% mark, things got a bit steamy—like, a lot. 🔥 Don't get me wrong, I love some spice, but it felt like it overshadowed the emotional depth of their relationship for a bit. It was like they were dancing around their feelings while getting busy, rather than diving into a real connection. Still, there were these sweet, tender moments that melted my heart. 😌

The side characters were a fantastic addition, and overall, this book was like a perfect blend of spice and wholesomeness! 🌶️💕

Tropes:
- Brother's best friend (who totally ships them, BTW)
- Forced proximity
- Ghostwriter meets ex-stripper
- Age gap
- Bi representation 🏳️‍🌈

i love love loved this book so much, it was so lovely and cute to read - the romance, the chemistry, the descriptions, dialogue … everything just hit the spot. would highly recommend

I don’t have a great deal to say about this book, I enjoyed the majority of it when I got into it, we have Brothers best friend trope however I don’t really feel like we see that happening so it’s mostly just mentioned.

Forced proximity with our main characters suddenly owning a house together and I have enjoyed watching their story develop, parts of this story has kept me interested especially with Bees wishes to become her own writer rather than Ghost writing. Some elements I could have skipped like the inner sexy monologue as it didn’t feel as necessary, the main actual smut was decent smut though!

3 ★ Mortgage of Convenience is the story of Bee and Sebastian. Sebastian wants to buy a house and Bee needs help finding her self confidence so they decide to make a little deal. Together they buy a house in exchange for Sebastian helping Bee put herself out there and write her novel.

What you’ll find is:
✨forced proximity
✨brother’s best friend
✨happy ending

With Mortgage of Convenience, I felt like I was being told a story with endless detail and over explanation without ever once feeling immersed in the story. I hate when this happens because I so desperately want to find some sort of connection to the characters that drag me in but this one just didn’t do it for me. And honestly… who just randomly buys a house on a whim with someone?!

That being said, the ending really turned things around which is why I decided on a 3 ★ rating. Bee and Sebastian navigate their growth in the most beautiful way. Overall, just a middle of the road read for me. Not one I hated but also not one I’ll be recommending.

i have very neutral feelings, sadly. i didn’t love this, i didn’t dislike it.

i struggled to connect to the characters and their chemistry wasn’t really there.

it was a fun, quick read.

Had so much fun with this book. Loved the characters. It was a good read.

"I’d rather rip my own heart out then keep her from hers"

Sebastian Wolfe 💖

Before I start this review, I need to say this quickly…. Author is a Non-binary Australian just like me and the main characters name is Bee… just like me…

I got a jumpscare seeing the name in the first chapter because I never see it in books ever.

Anyways, to the actual review.

Mortgage of Convenience follows Bee, a ghostwriter who returns back to her hometown after five years being away. Sebastian, her brother’s best-friend is short on the house deposit and she offers the rest in exchange for his help.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to. I loved the dynamics of Sebastian and Bee and how they truly brought out the best in one another, especially when it came to what they were needing with what was happening in both of their lives.

I do feel that the romance aspect of the book was a bit rushed but that is possibly just a personal preference of mine. Overall, I loved the characters and I loved seeing some representation.

It was also a great palette cleanser when all I’ve been reading lately are Thrillers and Horrors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Set The Mood Publishing for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a sweet read. Bee has always had a crush on her older brother’s best friend, Sebastian. When she moves home and realises he might not be able to afford his dream house, she offers to go in on the mortgage with him since she needs a place to live anyway and figures they might as well help each other. I thought the title and premise was very clever!

I do enjoy a dual pov when both characters are pining for each other and you’re waiting on them to figure it out. And it doesn’t take long for Bee and Sebastian to realise this and get it on, which is quite refreshing! There wasn’t an agonising or tedious slow burn element that you sometimes find in roommate/forced proximity romances. Although they were complex characters and their relationship had issues to figure out, a lot of the book was just a drama free relationship - two people falling in love and figuring it out. Worth mentioning it is 🌶️ spicy 🌶️ Also found the portrayal of Sebastian’s bisexuality very interesting - like a reminder that it exists on spectrum, with him being physically interested in guys but not having any real desire to have a relationship with men, and reference to his journey to equate that with being bi. Oh, and a VERY cute epilogue.

What to expect:

- brother’s best friend
- forced proximity
- roommates to lovers
- bi MMC
- very spicy

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: childhood trauma (recounted), emotional abuse, anger issues, alcoholism/sobriety, CNC (somnophilia), mild homophobia (bi-erasure), emotional manipulation/toxic friendships
standalone: yes
final thoughts: SEBASTIAN. I loved his character so much 😍 I love an “it’s always been you” SIMP and when he said “Part of me wishes my mom still wrote my name on the tags of my clothes. It would mean having my brand on her right now. Goddamn, am I in trouble” I knew I was going to love this couple.
The mutual pining was so good and a slowburn without being too drawn out. I loved the uniqueness of the forced proximity and watching them try to navigate their shared space while pretending not to be in love with each other- SO CUTE. I loved almost everything about this book and highly recommend

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🏝️ forced proximity
💓 slowburn
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
🧠 “it’s always been you”
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
🌈 LGBT+ representation
💞 childhood crush
🔢 age gap (28/36)
👦 brother’s best friend

I have been trying to finish this book for forever and I have barely made it past 50% and I’ve decided to stop because it’s not for me. The concept of the story is cool, “brother’s best friend whom I’ve been crushing for years and now I’m back in town and he needs help with buying a house so I decided to help him and now we own a house together, let’s see what happens” kinda thing and I was here for it but the writing and characters themselves just aren’t interesting and “hooking” enough for me, maybe it is for someone else but I tried reading it and didn’t enjoy it!

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Dani McLean for the ARC of this book. I think this book was fairly enjoyable and of course the cover is gorgeous (done by one of my favorite illustrators).

Read this book of you enjoy:
✨Brothers best friend
✨Forced proximity
✨Open door spice
✨Bi rep (MMC)

I honestly kept going back and forth with this one. Admittedly, it took me much longer to read because I'd pick it up and then get distracted by another book, so I had to keep coming back to this one to make progress. I really enjoyed the Chance series of novellas that were published last year, and while this book isn't in a series with those - the FMC did move home from Chance so that was a fun little connection between the stories. Also, this is my first full-length book by this author as well.

I think the bones of the story are good. And there are some decent tropes highlighted in the plot. I appreciated the Bi-rep in the storyline and thought it was handled really well. There were times that felt a bit repetitive, the MCs were a little flat, and the repetitive insecurity from the FMC was a little grating at times. There was sort of chemistry between the two MCs, but then the open door scenes became a bit overwhelming. All in all, I'll definitely give more stories by this author a try, but this one wasn't my favorite of hers.

What I loved: It is so refreshing to see bi representation from a male mc! I also loved his nonconventional profession. The chemistry between Seb and Bee was amazing & I absolutely love the forced proximity trope. The spicy scenes were really well done. I also really enjoyed the side characters and a writer fmc.

What I didn’t love: introspective moments in books are always insightful and can give us a greater look into a characters motivation and past, however, I felt that this book was too much in the characters heads for me. I know the characters had always had feelings for one another, but I also found that this book was a little too insta love for my liking.

Overall, I am so happy I got the opportunity to read Mortgage of Convenience and am looking forward to future novels by Dani McLean. Thank you NetGalley!!!

Overall Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

This book was the perfect mix between plot and spice!
I loved that Sebastian made sure that Bee made the moves in order for her to essentially take control of her life and decide what she truly wanted from him, even if it broke his heart. I honestly think that everyone needs a Sebastian in their lives.
Bee was just trying to find herself and it was so amazing to go on that journey with her.

Spicy Rating
🌶🌶🌶 out of 5

This one surprised me! Definitely thought that this would have been more of a strictly plot book, but the spice was thereeeeeee. And Bee's fantasy.... that Sebastian played out, 10 out of 10. 🥵

The ending was the perfect conclusion to the story and it was so sweet.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book to review.

This was a decent read but didn't leave me with any excitement and felt a bit disappointing from my expectations. I was so excited for this but it just wasn't it for me.

I am super sad to say that this book was just not it for me. I loved the cover art, the summary and a little bit of each chapter but overall, it was pretty hard to get through. The spice level was unnecessarily high and it distracted from the plot moving forward.