Love Next Door Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A warm, low-angst toaster-oven romance between a reserved tattoo artist and the single-mom baker next door, with a scene-stealing nine-year-old, a dog and a fake-dating setup — comfort food in book form, if you can wait out one of the slowest burns in recent sapphic romance.

Best for: Readers who want a sweet neighbours-to-lovers story with a queer awakening, a kid and a dog, minimal drama, and a slow build to open-door heat.

Heat level: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 — open door, per romance.io)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.1/5 — a 4.21 Goodreads average across 1,618 ratings)

Tropes: Neighbours to lovers, toaster oven, single mom, fake dating, friends to lovers, slow burn, found family, dual POV, low angst.

Love Next Door is Rachael Sommers’s 2024 contemporary lesbian romance from Ylva Publishing. Reserved tattoo artist Riley Foster has just moved into her first apartment of her own in Seattle, and she cannot take her eyes off the single mom next door. Kim Jackson is an outgoing baker with a bakery business and a nine-year-old son, Tyler — and, as far as Riley knows, she is straight. Riley is trying very hard not to fall for the straight girl.

It holds a 4.21 average across 1,618 Goodreads ratings, with 83% of them four or five stars, and 4.02 across 268 StoryGraph reviews. It is the kind of book readers describe in food metaphors: comfort food, a warm hug, a salted caramel brownie.

What Is Love Next Door About?

This is a friends-to-lovers romance powered by a kid and a dog. On moving day, Riley’s dog Cari runs straight into Kim’s son Tyler, who has always wanted one, and before long Tyler is finding every excuse to hang out next door. A friendship forms between all three. Kim, divorced for five years and building her bakery with her best friend, has sworn off the disastrous men her mother keeps pushing at her.

Then Tyler suggests the obvious: Kim should bring Riley to a family party as her fake girlfriend, if only to see the look on her mother’s face. Pretending to date Riley feels far too good, and Kim starts to wonder whether she is as straight as she thought. Riley, meanwhile, is determined not to risk a friendship she treasures on a woman who might never feel the same.

What Makes This Toaster-Oven Romance Work

Tyler and Cari: The most praised element. The relationship between Riley and Kim’s son is so sweet that one reviewer said it may have outshone the romance, and the dog is almost a character in her own right.
Low angst: Readers call it a feel-good read with little to no drama. The main tension is internal — Riley’s fear of falling for a straight woman and Kim’s uncertainty about herself.
A gentle queer awakening: Kim’s realisation is handled with time and care. Readers say her self-doubt feels realistic and that the relationship develops organically rather than being forced.
Healthy relationships all round: Kim gets on with her ex-husband and his new wife, Riley has a close bond with her sister Bea and Bea’s girlfriend Ash, and the supporting cast is described as diverse and supportive without being pushy.
Mature communication: Readers note mature conversations and clear consent once the romance begins.

Book Synopsis

Reserved tattoo artist Riley Foster has just moved apartments and cannot take her eyes off the single mom who lives next door. Riley is trying very hard not to give in to the cliché of falling for the straight girl as she gets to know Kim Jackson, an outgoing baker with an adorable nine-year-old son.

A friendship forms, and Riley even finds herself roped into playing Kim’s fake girlfriend to get her meddling family off her back.

What could go wrong — apart from Kim suddenly questioning whether she is as straight as she thought? As the tension slowly builds, it is hard not to wonder whether they would be good together for real. But is it worth risking a great friendship if Riley does not feel the same way?

My Review

The heart of this book is not really the romance at first — it is the little household that forms across the hallway. Riley becomes part of Tyler’s life before she becomes part of Kim’s, and the scenes between the tattooed, reserved newcomer and the kid who loves her dog and shares her love of soccer are the book’s sweetest. StoryGraph readers tag it lighthearted at 82%, and that is exactly the register.

Both leads have enough backstory to feel real. Riley dropped out of college to raise her younger sister and is only now building a life of her own; Kim has built a business after a divorce and is still fending off a mother with firm opinions about who she should date. The fake-dating setup gives the romance its push, and Kim’s awakening is written with patience rather than a sudden epiphany.

Riley’s side of the story is where most of the romantic tension lives. She is an out lesbian with bad dating stories of her own, and she holds back out of respect, assuming a straight woman could never want her. Readers liked that restraint: she is good with Tyler, careful with Kim and honest with herself, even when it hurts. Kim’s side is messier and more interesting. Her feelings arrive before she has words for them, and the book lets her be confused, defensive and scared of losing a friendship she has come to depend on.

Underneath both arcs runs a quieter theme about family expectations. Kim’s mother has firm ideas about the life her daughter should lead, and Riley gave up her own plans to raise her sister. One reviewer liked that both women make their own way in the end, on their own terms rather than anyone else’s. It is not a heavy book, but that thread gives the sweetness some backbone.

If you listen rather than read, Abby Craden’s narration is a big part of the appeal — one listener asked whether she can do anything wrong, and another called the audiobook well done and enjoyable. One listener did notice that the production sometimes runs scenes together without a pause, which can be jarring, but that is a technical quibble rather than a problem with the performance.

The criticism is almost entirely about pace. This is a slow burn in the fullest sense: readers put the moment Kim and Riley actually get together at 70–80% of the way through the book. Most loved the wait, but it is the most common complaint by a distance. One reader did not finish because the pacing was “glacial”; another said the chemistry did not work for them until the last quarter. A reader who enjoyed the build still felt the payoff was anticlimactic — the steam promised by all that tension was not quite delivered — and several wished for more time with the couple once they were together.

The other honest note is that it is predictable. Readers say so cheerfully — there is little you will not see coming — and most do not mind, because predictability is part of the comfort. One called it a book they would recommend to anyone and probably not think about much afterwards, and meant that as praise.

My honest note: If you want a sweet, low-stakes romance with a kid, a dog and a queer awakening, this is a lovely choice. If slow burns frustrate you, know that the romance does not properly start until near the end.

Element	In Love Next Door
Central relationship	Riley Foster & Kim Jackson — tattoo artist and single-mom baker, neighbours to lovers
Core tropes	Neighbours to lovers, toaster oven, single mom, fake dating, friends to lovers, slow burn
Setting	An apartment building in Seattle
Heat level	3/5 — open door, per romance.io
Series	Standalone — happy resolution
Content notes	Mild homophobia and lesbophobia, a disapproving parent, misogyny, sexual content

How Spicy Is Love Next Door?

A 3/5. romance.io rates Love Next Door 3 of 5 and labels it open door. Because the burn is so slow, the intimate scenes come very late. Readers split on them: one said all the built-up tension was released “to perfection”, another felt the author clearly knows how to write a good scene and wanted more of them, and a third found Kim’s awakening between the sheets less world-rocking than the build-up had promised. If you want a steamy book, one reviewer put it plainly: this is not it.

The content worth knowing in advance is light. StoryGraph readers flag sexual content, lesbophobia and misogyny, and reviewers mention mild homophobia, mostly from Kim’s mother. For more books in this register, see our low-angst lesbian romance list.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you enjoy toaster-oven romances and queer awakenings, you want a cute kid and dog, you like fake dating and neighbours to lovers, and you enjoy a long slow burn. It sits on our late bloomer, feel-good and low-angst lists.

You may want to skip it if: you need the romance to start early, you want high heat, or predictable plots bore you.

In short: Comfort food in book form, with a very slow oven.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

This is a steady Ylva favourite rather than a viral book, and a web search surfaced no Reddit threads. Much of the early readership came through NetGalley advance copies, and it has kept picking up readers since, especially through the audiobook. On StoryGraph, 76% call it character-driven. It was not in Kindle Unlimited when I checked. The Tantor audiobook, narrated by Abby Craden and running 6 hours and 49 minutes, is widely praised.

Prefer audio? Listen to Love Next Door on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Tyler and Cari first — nearly every review mentions the kid and the dog. Second, the low-angst warmth. Third, the organic friendship that becomes romance. Fourth, the supportive side cast, including trans representation that several readers appreciated. A couple of readers said their only complaint was that it was too short.

What readers argue about and complain about: Pace, above everything — “the burn was so slow” appears in praise and complaint alike. Second, predictability. Third, a payoff that some felt was too brief or not steamy enough after all the build-up. A smaller point: one reader found Kim’s long journey from straight to unsure frustrating to sit through.

The standalone question worth asking first: Love Next Door is a complete standalone. If you enjoy it, Sommers’s Never Say Never is also reviewed on this site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Love Next Door a toaster-oven romance?

Yes. Kim believes she is straight at the start, and the book follows her realising her feelings for Riley, the lesbian tattoo artist next door. The publisher’s own description calls it a toaster-oven romance, and no reviewer describes Kim settling on a label.

How slow is the slow burn in Love Next Door?

Very. Several readers say Kim and Riley only get together somewhere between 70% and 80% of the way through. Most enjoyed the build, but one reader gave up at 20% because of the pace, and another found the chemistry did not click until the last quarter.

How spicy is Love Next Door?

A 3/5. romance.io rates it 3 of 5 and labels it open door. The intimate scenes arrive late because of the slow burn, and one reader felt the build-up promised more steam than the book delivered.

Does Love Next Door have a happy ending?

Yes. Kim and Riley end up together, and readers describe it as low angst with little drama. None of the reviews I found specifies whether it closes on a full HEA or a happy-for-now, and a couple of readers wanted more time with them as a couple.

Is there an audiobook of Love Next Door?

Yes. Abby Craden narrates the Tantor Media audiobook, released in October 2024 and running 6 hours and 49 minutes. Listeners praise her narration, though one noticed missing pauses between scenes in the production.

If You Loved Love Next Door, Read These Next

Start with more Rachael Sommers: Never Say Never. For another low-angst romance with a queer awakening, try Hooked on You. If it was the fake dating you enjoyed, our list of books like Written in the Stars has twelve more sapphic fake-dating romances. For more, browse our single mom lesbian romance list, low-angst lesbian romance, the late bloomer list, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Love Next Door sets out to be a sweet, low-angst toaster-oven romance, and it succeeds: the found family across the hallway is lovely, Tyler and Cari steal every scene, and Kim’s awakening is handled with patience and care. What holds it back is a burn so slow that the romance barely has room to breathe once it arrives, and a predictability that some readers find a little too safe. For readers who want comfort, it is worth it. Check Love Next Door on Amazon →

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, Love Next Door ranks as a very good comfort-read sapphic romance — warm, low in angst and lovely in its found family, held back by a glacial slow burn and a brief payoff.