I had a hard time struggling with this book. The characters, the story... Everything! No, unfortunately I didn't enjoy this at all...

Are you ready for your next romcom? If your answer is yes, Two Doors Down should be the next book you add to your TBR list.

Spoilers included:
As a romance lover, this really did not hit the spot for me. Yes, it could be classed as a verrryy slow burn but it didn't really feel like it was building up. In all honesty, it felt closer to a female fiction book focusing on a character's journey to self improvement. The FMC did not feel relatable as she was so arrogant, work centric and self-absorbed that I really didn't like her. I understand that may be the point of the whole novel, to show her change, but I just really couldn't get behind her as a character because of it. That being said, the MMC being wholesome and charming did pull it back a little bit as he was sweet. Not to mention the fact that the element that tied them together was a stray cat who had chosen them (cat distribution system working overtime). Generally, an okay book but lots of things in here that irritated me or left me close to DNFing the book unfortunately.

Thank you to Joffe Books and netgalley for providing me with the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF@ 20%

This book isn't what I thought it was going to be. It was boring, I didn't like the the main character or the writing.

While I adored Adam and the cat, this book really didn't work for me. Eve wasn't a very likeable character although she had some redemption in the end. The writing was almost juvenile and the general plot was just boring.

This is a charming neighbor romance with a strong focus on personal growth and self-improvement.

Eve is deeply career-oriented, but as her professional life unravels, she becomes increasingly annoyed by a neighbor’s cat that keeps appearing at her door. Adam, loyal to a fault, is dealing with the collapse of his love life when he, too, is visited by the same cat, which leads him to Eve’s door. When the two finally meet, they realize the cat belongs to neither of them and decide to work together to find its owner.

The story is delightful, and the "Adam and Eve" jokes added a fun touch. While I struggled to like Eve for most of the book, I appreciate how the author made me root for her redemption. Eve made some questionable choices, but by the end, she owned up to her mistakes and earned her redemption.

I adored Adam from start to finish and was cheering for him to get his happily ever after. He’s a sweet character who didn’t deserve the hardships he faced. My only gripe is that the book ended too quickly—I would have loved to see more of Adam and Eve together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this title. This review is entirely my honest opinion.

I didn’t like how this book started out with the fmc on a date and spending the night with someone who isn’t the love interest in the story 🫠 it didn’t hold my attention long enough to find out who she was even going to be into.

Before requesting this, I had a quick nosey at some early reviews who mentioned this wasn’t very ‘romance focused’, I love a good cat yarn so I thought I’d give it a whirl. While the cat was sweet, the writing style didn’t work for me, the plot was unexciting, and the characters were so immature and ridiculous, I really struggled with this overall.

What worked for me:
👍 Tabitha the cat
👍 I didn’t mind Adam as a character (although his pals calling him “Ad” was weird as heck). Adam was the one character who felt multidimensional and the most human. I loved Adam and Hugh’s relationship and Adam’s friend group had a really great dynamic - I love seeing healthy male relationships in fiction and felt that these were a well-rounded, supportive, and good group of friends
👍 Glossary of British terms at the back of the book - can every British book have this pls?!

What I wasn’t so keen on:
👎 The writing style felt very simplistic and paint-by-numbers: there was no subtlety, no nuance, no depth, no beautiful prose… It felt very juvenile stylistically.
👎 The plot was boring: everything was telegraphed miles in advance, it followed a well-trod path, and it was full of many overused tropes (including refusal to communicate as ‘drama’). I was disappointed this book didn’t offer anything new or unique.
👎 Adam and Eve (don’t get me started on those names! Ugh!) took ages bringing Tabitha to the vet to get her microchip checked. They kept commenting on how unwell she looked and she obviously needed help. It was absurd that the vet would just give these clowns Tabitha’s owner’s home address and let them return her. Not only is this a serious breach of GDPR, Tabitha needed medical attention by the sounds of things!
👎 I could not stand Eve. She behaved like a teenager but had a toxic and harmful obsession with the job. She was a selfish user and bully with significant arrested development. I felt like the attempts to redeem her came far too late and weren’t convincing. She’d caused a lot of harm and hurt a lot of people and I didn’t like how easily she got off the hook.
👎 Eve’s job environment nearly triggered a trauma response in me because it was so toxic: the hyper-capitalist culture, the cut-throat employees, the obsessive vibe… it was horrible being trapped in that fictional space - this was compounded by Eve’s toxic relationship with the job.
👎 Many of the women characters were frustratingly immature: Why was Jess shrieking like a toddler all the time? Why couldn’t Kirsty and Eve just have an adult conversation? Why was Katie’s only characterization ‘villain’? These folks are around my age and I just didn’t find it plausible that they’d be behaving like this. Eve’s circle reads like teenagers (except Will/Nina) whereas Adam’s read closer to 30+ year olds.
👎 The romance was unconvincing and the match felt forced. I was sensing more of a connection with Adam/Becky (although Adam needs time and space to heal) and I think Eve needs to learn to be on her own for a while and get her act together.
👎 So much product placement in this, it felt like advertising

I honestly think this would read better as New/Young Adult fiction. By dropping the age to early 20s (still a stretch in some cases), it might be more plausible. The writing style, plot, and characterization might fit a YA audience better than an adult one.

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thanks for letting me give this a whirl, Joffe Books.

Two Doors Down by Mary Hargreaves is a heartwarming and uplifting romance that will captivate fans of feel-good, opposites-attract stories.

Eve is struggle to root for but you keep waiting for her to get her redemption arc while Adam deserves so much more! Reading their two stories before they collide into one gives so much insight to their future relationship, and I love how Old Sausage brings them together. Zero spice, slow burner for the MCs, but a story that felt like real people dealing with real issues with a great found family.
Thanks Joffe Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this book was going to be a normal romance but I was wrong. Personally, I felt like there were two stories happening simultaneously for most of the book as the love interests didn’t start interacting until almost 2/3's of the way into the book. There was a lot more about self-improvement and personal growth than romance in this book. Eve and Adam were mostly living their lives separately even though they were neighbours and there were a few moments when they would almost meet but they didn’t. I think that the author wrote the characters really well I felt exactly how I should’ve felt about the characters and I think that they are good for each other. I did not love Eve for the majority of the book I just really wanted her to slow down and think for a second and I think that's what the author intended to do with the character which is why I think this book was written well. Plus Adam is just a nice guy who cares about people's feelings and is a good balance to Eve's problem-solving personality

3.5 stars! What truly intrigued me about this book was the brother of the MMC having Cerebral Palsy, it was really nice to see representation in mainstream books. My sister actually has the same condition as a result of the same way.

This book is very heavy in the dual POV, and sometimes you can feel that it is almost two different stories. I thought it was a very cute book! It had the dorky loveable, naive friend, stubborn overworked perfectionist FMC, and adorable, sweet, kind hearted MMC who can do no wrong! I enjoyed the story, it was a nice easy read, it was very British and reminded me of so many things back home. I do wonder how non Brits will cope with some of the terms/ wording and swearing, but overall I enjoyed the book and think it’s a cute little Rom Com. Thank you to Netgalley And the publisher for the e-arc of this book!

Finally, after searching for a lighthearted beach read and slogging through some major duds, Two Doors Down was exactly what I needed.

A FMC that you have a love hate relationship with, who makes colossal mistakes but learns from them in the end.

A lovable MMC who is just a good guy. A guy to root for. A guy you want to see triumph in the end. And triumph he does.

Lovely read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. i think this is an overdone trope but the book was fine. the characters felt fresh enough that the neighbors to lovers thing didn't bother me as much. protect the cat at all costs.

This was a cute neighbor romance with a lot of self-growth and improvement.

Eve is very career minded and as her work life becomes shambles, she is even more frustrated by her neighbor's cat that keeps showing up at her door.

Adam is loyal to a fault and as his love life falls apart, he is surprised by a cat that keeps showing up. He tracks it to his neighbor.

These two finally meet only to discover that it is not either of their cat. The decide to work together to find the owner.

This is a cute book. I thought the "Adam and Eve" jokes were a cute addition. I did not like Eve at all during most of this book. I always love an author that can make me dislike a character but still root for a redemption. This author delivered perfectly. Eve did some really not nice things, however in the end she owned up to everything pulled up her proverbial big girl panties and got that redemption she deserved.

I loved Adam through the entire book. I was rooting for him to get his HEA. He was such a sweet guy who did not deserve the things that happened to him.

The only thing I did not like was how quick this book ended. I would have loved to see more of them together.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe books for this title. This is my very honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Two Doors Down and the relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

What happens when a selfish, driven, unethical woman and an extremely caring and somewhat naive man end up getting visited by the same cat? A clash of opposites that they don't see coming - and a lot of self realization, eventually. Good for a vacation or weekend. (No spice, for those looking)

This was an unexpected read. From the blurb, I expected a sweet, standard rivals-to-lovers romance, but it turned out to be anything but.
I would say this is lighter on romance than it is being marketed, as the focal point appears to be more the development of the characters. Adam and Eve don't even know of each other until about 40% through the book. Overall, I loved their developments, and Adam's group of friends was especially a highlight for me. I wished Will and Jess were more fleshed out!

No hay romance, nada, cero. Trata sobre las consecuencias de tus actos y el de seguir adelante ante las adversidades.

Eve trabaja en una empresa de marketing y está por recibir un ascenso o eso es lo que cree hasta que se entera que su mejor amiga sin decirle se postuló como candidata y lo que es peor, le mintió a su jefe diciendo que Eve estaba de acuerdo.

Con la competencia por el ascenso, tanto Eve como Kristen y sacan su peor lado, no les importa hacerse daño.


Adam es profesor, está en una relación de seis años, pero descubre que su novia le es infiel. El pobre tendrá que ver como seguir adelante y conseguir dinero para comprarle la mitad de la su departamento a su ex.



Honestamente no tengo idea porque me gustó, tiene muchas cosas que no me agradan, sin embargo, se me hizo entretenido y quería saber como acabaría lo de Eve y Kristen.



Spoilers ⚠️ ⚠️

- Eve y Adam se conocen hasta la mitad del libro y después de eso sus interacciones son mínimas. Se vuelven novios en el último capítulo y no hay ni un beso.

- Ambos están con otras personas.

-No hay epílogo.




Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. I just couldn’t connect with the MC and the amount of explicit language was just too much for me. I was expecting a sweeter romcom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC

Such a cute romance novel. I loved it and had a great time reading it! What started out as an sort of enemies-to-lovers neighbourship developed to an adorable romance. I really liked the couple together and loved, loved the cat! Give me a cat and a romance and I'm sold. A fantastic summer read.