Her Big City Neighbor has been on my TBR for years now so I’m glad that I finally read it but I’ve also got very mixed feelings about it! There was a lot that didn’t work for me initially and I was close to DNFing it because I couldn’t tell whether I was enjoying it or not. I’m happy to say that I ended up liking this much more towards the end and it was enough for me to want to pick up the second book in this series!

What I struggled with the most was the writing. This was written in such a clinical “this happened, that happened” way that was very much ‘tell’ and not enough ‘show’. It made it difficult to connect with the characters and their predicaments and it read as quite awkward/stiff at the start. It did get better as the story progressed and we got to know the characters a bit more but the writing did not lend itself well to the story! The characters were also interesting in both good and bad ways. At times they read as quite immature, especially our FMC, Amy. She was this sweet, happy-go-lucky, eager-to-try-new-things young woman who just moved from a very small town to live in the big city. I liked her genuine enthusiasm and eagerness to try new things but occasionally, she came across as a bit too “small-town-girl naive” and it didn’t always work in her favour. In contrast, Victor was probably one of the grumpiest MMCs that I’ve read about. He has a lot of reasons to be the way he is and my heart truly broke for him but my initial impression of him wasn’t that positive. Thankfully, he grew on me just as Amy did and I liked their contrasting personalities and how well they fit together. Victor eventually stepped up and showered Amy with the love, appreciation and effort that she deserved and I found it super sweet! Their romance was a slight slow burn and I loved the will-they-or-won’t-they tension and their fiery chemistry that was very much sexual but also emotional. We love a grumpy-sunshine romance, especially when they start sharing their vulnerabilities and opening up about their pasts, and Amy & Victor just fit so well together!

Overall, an enjoyable grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract romance with its sweet sensual moments as well as touching emotional ones. I do hope that the writing becomes less awkward/stilted with more moments of showing rather than telling as the story progresses!

Have you read Her Big City Neighbor or is it on your TBR?

• Follow me on Goodreads!
• Follow me on Bluesky
• Follow me on Instagram!
• Follow me on Twitter!