2.5 rounded up

Thank you to Netgalley and Spectrum Books for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book fell a bit flat for me. It may be that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but reading the premise made me expect I would have a good time with it. Unfortunately, the writing felt very weak to me and the characters were not at all likeable to me.

The writing told the reader too much without showing anything much at all. We were simply told how welcoming and wonderful the community was, how kind everyone was to them, but we barely saw this in the characters at all. Sure, Gwen was quite welcoming from the start, along with Lacey, but we absolutely did not meet enough characters to justify their view of the area. Whilst it was meant to be a bustling community, only having 2-3 named characters outside our protagonists who get any time on the page made it feel sparse, and almost all were quite unlikeable. The dialogue also felt quite stilted, and relationships felt somewhat forced at times, even between the main characters. There wasn't much chemistry between any of the characters on the page, which I suppose could have been somewhat intentional for certain relationships, but it felt very jarring to read.

If you're just here for the drama, I think you'd have a pretty good time though! The characters here were absolutely agents of chaos, messy as hell and filled with drama to the brim. The ending felt a little rushed for me, and using the exact same chapter from the beginning twice felt a little cheap. If it had been altered somewhat, it would have been a good nod without just copy-pasting it.

Overall, I think this just was not for me.

Packed full on drama you always hear about from nightmare neighbours and evil HOA leaders

This book is hilarious and the banter is great

Loved reading this book for Pride Month! It was light and fun but still had some great messages that are relevant to the climate today. This was an engaging and quick read!

Giving this book 3.5 stars.
The book was so full of drama. So if you like that kind of book this one is for you. This book was about a little neighborhood that had a strict HOA and a pretty straight forward style of rules that had to be followed. This book will also keep you on your toes throughout the entire book.
I didn’t really like how much this book went back and forth between different characters. I believe all the characters of this book were important but having every single characters perspective was a bit too much. It was a good read but it could have been a bit shorter.

I see lots of reviews stating how funny they think this book is and how they love the drama.
I feel like I read a different book, it’s just so boring. I was away on holiday when I started this read and my travel partner kept asking why the long face. It’s because of this boring book. In my opinion it just isn’t good

Gwendolyn Thornton, the President of the Home Owners Association in the rapidly-appreciating property enclave of Sterling Winds, prides herself on running the association with a certain flair. She also fancies herself as a political Independent, whereas the area is quite conservative.

Hence, she is determined to ensure that the first gay couple in the neighbourhood is easily assimilated into the community. Unfortunately, in this gossipy, clique-ridden group of residents, things don't quite go according to plan...

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it unexciting. It was predicated on a single idea ("the new couple are gay!!!"), and the writing was pretty pedestrian, with strange errors in tense use and phrasing. I gather that many people liked the story, so I think maybe it was just not for me. The portrayal of the petty politics of the HOA seems accurate enough...

This book was great. The characters were enjoyable. The plot holds your attention. I would read another book by this author. Thank god the book was not preachy!! B

This story is a sitcom in book form. There are a lot of characters whose lives all intertwine in the Sterling Winds neighborhood. Gwen is the president of the HOA and her life seems perfect but the drama of the neighborhood tells a different story. Each character has secrets and they all love to gossip with each other and about each other.

I had no problem keeping up with everything going on and the story followed a short timeline. I would have liked a bit more drama with the resolution at the end but the ending stayed in line with the story overall.

This book was really fun and easy to read. Some of the characters were a bit boring at times, but the others made up for it. My only criticism is that it is clearly described as a queer novel although the queer characters weren’t heavily featured until about 3/4 through the book. The author spent more time developing the neighbors in this community, as opposed to showing us who Carter and Preston Higgins were. Otherwise it was a great book & a good summer read!

A couple finds their dream house 🏡, hoping for peace ✌️ and tranquility. But when they meet the neighbors, things get spicy 🌶️! The homeowner's association adds drama 😱. This story is a hoot 😄, giving a peek into the neighborhood's secrets. Seriously cool! 👌

Up Your HOA Hole by B.J. Irons is a fun and wild read about the HOA and the hijinks the neighbors get up to. Drama, misunderstandings, and an affair make all of the neighborhood get togethers a little more interesting, especially when the liquor flows.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this read! I loved the difference in characters and felt like I was a resident of Sterling Winds, getting all the gossip from nosy neighbours! I would’ve loved to have gained more backstory into some of the residents, but overall it felt like a refreshing sip of iced tea in the summer sun.

My motivation for reading this was the fact I've been going through so much with my HOA lately. The storytelling in this book clicked with me and I enjoyed the drama.

I loved the drama and guilty read aspect of this book.
My issue was lack of sex between the Higgins husbands. They have several sensual scenes - yet it seems their sex takes place off the page. The other couples in sensual scenes have sex - some are detailed, others are not but not cut off.

This was a funny read and had so much drama in it that really happens with HOA’s these days and the residents of these subdivisions. I would really recommend this book to anyone that loves a good comedy with drama in it.

This was a good read. It shoes us how some people can be very quick to judge others before getting to know them and having the perfect little town isn’t always the way you think it should be

Exploring the intricacies of suburban life, this book delves beneath the surface of the idyllic facade, revealing the tensions and prejudices simmering beneath. Through relatable characters and engaging storytelling, it prompts reflection on the complexities of community dynamics and the struggle for acceptance. This was a fun read!