Devi Nair
š±š Read on Kindle š 220 pages ā± Duration: 4 hours š·ļø Publisher: Bold Strokes Books š To be published on April 14, 2026 š ARC provided by NetGalley Genre: Queer Romance
I'll be honest, I walked into this book skeptical. I requested an ARC without clocking that it was a romance novel, got approved, and decided I was going to read it with maximum skepticism. I was Sawyer. Fully, completely, embarrassingly Sawyer. And then, Jenna happened, and now I'm sitting here writing a five-star review of a sapphic romance novel like it's just a normal Tuesday, so.
Heavily pregnant Charlotte and Sawyer's mom (whose name escapes me, but whose energy I adored) bring real texture to the story without hogging the spotlight. There's a refreshing restraint in how little page time gets wasted on characters who are unnecessary drama (Amanda, you know what you did. Moving on.) The banter between Jenna and Sawyer is sharp, genuine, and flirty enough to make even the most cynical reader blush, but not too sticky to make you give up on romance.
What really hit me, though, were Jenna's impassioned defenses of romance genre. Her logic, that romance keeps the fiction world alive, is both funny and true. Through her, the book reads as both a love story, and a love letter to love stories. Jenna doesn't apologize for what she loves, and Beers clearly doesn't either. The writing has this lovely, confident energy, like someone who knows exactly the story they are telling and why it matters. As someone who picked this book up with a grudge, and put it down converted, I think the argument lands harder than any narrative ever could.
Would I recommend it? I came in skeptic and left a believer, which is honestly the most on-brand way to review a book that's literally about changing someone's mind about romance. This is a feel-good queer romance that earns its warmth, has just enough tension to keep things interesting, and features one of the most quietly compelling defenses of the romance genre I've read in fiction. Even if you think romance isn't your thing, The Girl Next Door might just prove you wrong.
š±š Read on Kindle š 220 pages ā± Duration: 4 hours š·ļø Publisher: Bold Strokes Books š To be published on April 14, 2026 š ARC provided by NetGalley Genre: Queer Romance
I'll be honest, I walked into this book skeptical. I requested an ARC without clocking that it was a romance novel, got approved, and decided I was going to read it with maximum skepticism. I was Sawyer. Fully, completely, embarrassingly Sawyer. And then, Jenna happened, and now I'm sitting here writing a five-star review of a sapphic romance novel like it's just a normal Tuesday, so.
Heavily pregnant Charlotte and Sawyer's mom (whose name escapes me, but whose energy I adored) bring real texture to the story without hogging the spotlight. There's a refreshing restraint in how little page time gets wasted on characters who are unnecessary drama (Amanda, you know what you did. Moving on.) The banter between Jenna and Sawyer is sharp, genuine, and flirty enough to make even the most cynical reader blush, but not too sticky to make you give up on romance.
What really hit me, though, were Jenna's impassioned defenses of romance genre. Her logic, that romance keeps the fiction world alive, is both funny and true. Through her, the book reads as both a love story, and a love letter to love stories. Jenna doesn't apologize for what she loves, and Beers clearly doesn't either. The writing has this lovely, confident energy, like someone who knows exactly the story they are telling and why it matters. As someone who picked this book up with a grudge, and put it down converted, I think the argument lands harder than any narrative ever could.
Would I recommend it? I came in skeptic and left a believer, which is honestly the most on-brand way to review a book that's literally about changing someone's mind about romance. This is a feel-good queer romance that earns its warmth, has just enough tension to keep things interesting, and features one of the most quietly compelling defenses of the romance genre I've read in fiction. Even if you think romance isn't your thing, The Girl Next Door might just prove you wrong.