It's almost scarily uncanny how much I saw myself in Bee.
The story is so beautifully simple that reading it felt like the most relaxing thing ever. There's no useless drama, stupid decisions, or miscommunication: just two truly wonderful people who finally confess their feelings after keeping them bottled up for so long.

A terrific relationship where they help each other grow in the most supporting way you could imagine.

Sebastian was absolutely fantastic, a remarkable person that everyone could see themselves with,
And the scene when Bee trims his beard? I was done for.

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

Thank you to Set The Mood Publishing and Net Galley for the arc!

The plot of this book seemed amazing and I was very excited to dive into this world but i really struggled to get into it. Dani McLean seems amazing but she seems like she is just writing to write, there is a lot going on and i understand wanting to address all your points and have your scenes come true but it just felt very rushed at times which made this book difficult to finish.

I really enjoyed the storyline, tropes and characters in this book.

Bee - I could deeply connect with the self doubt, not feeling enough and outgrowing some of your nearest and dearest. Such a beautiful self healing journey.

Sebastian - I mean a tattooed brother’s best friend plant daddy who’s helping her find her confidence…

I love how they opened up and leaned into each other and both grew through their pasts.

Cassie - she deserves a mention purely for
“Here, swap numbers with me. I want to know what you think of that. Feel free to send me all your unhinged thoughts.”

Although, at times I felt confused, not sure if my e-reader had skipped ahead, the timeline had skipped ahead or unsure who was talking. It also felt a little repetitive at times which I normally wouldn’t mind too much but already being confused at points made it difficult to flow with the story line at times.

The cute cover drew me in! This was my first read by author Dani McLean and I will definitely give another a go.

Okay where to start... Grab some tea bc I have big feelings...
Tropes
- mortgage of convenience (hey, that's the title!) - basically they both buy a house together because it's convenient, but we don't ever fully get an understanding of why Bee agrees? It's not that well fleshed out
- brother's best friend
- sexy ex-stripper (but this is barely mentioned)

Pros
- Sebastian is sexy. He's hot.
- Bee is writing a book. I liked that.

Cons
Holy fuck this book was disappointing. Firstly, was it just me or did it feel like the paragraphs and chapters ended at weird times? I got my boyfriend to read the last bit of chapter 22 and he agreed that it seemed like the author was ending the chapter mid thought. This happened a few times throughout the book and was so noticiable that I had to mention it.

Secondly, this book was SO POORLY FLESHED OUT. I'm not sure if the author had too many ideas, or too few. Nothing meant anything and the characters motivations were never truly explained. Why did Bee agree to buy a house with a guy she barely knows? Why did Bee move back home?(because she is writing a book is such a shit reason). Why did Sebastian want to buy that specific house? (again with the shit reasons, because the first house he and his mom rented was two streets away? Seriously? Again, what's with this specific house???)

Thirdly, who the fuck is Bee??? And I don't mean who is the character, I mean who is she as a person? I'm so sorry Dani McLean but Bee Montgomery (brilliant name) has to take the cake for the worst romance heroine in existence. She's such a nothing character that it fully mad me mad. She's annoying, she has no spine, and her biggest achievement of the book - ending her friendship with Morgan - was done not because SHE thought it was a good idea, but because SEBASTIAN did. Bee sucks.

Smut
- Yes this is going as a con. The smut added zero anything to the book and my god even somnophilia couldn't make it interesting.

Finally, I AM SO SORRY NETGALLERY AND DANI MCLEAN. I tried so hard to be positive about this book, the synopsis sounded so good, but by golly... It gets a (derogatory) three stars because I liked that Sebastian is a plant daddy and I want Dani McLean to keep writing because I know she can do better than this.
(Thanks for the ARC, sorry for the bad review xx)

QUESTIONS:
- I'll be posting my review to goodreads
- Review is live
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264312479

Mortgage of Convenience serves up a uniquely millennial premise layered with a few other beloved romance tropes, including: forced proximity, brother’s best friend, longtime not-so-secret crush, &, while we don’t get a marriage of convenience, we definitely get a partnership of convenience (it’s in the title). I was pulled in by the premise & the beautiful cover art, but this was a new-to-me author & I didn’t know what to expect. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed some elements of this story, overall it felt disconnected & fell flat for me.

For the FMC - Bee - her story is the catalyst of this pairing. She is returning home with a secret that really isn’t as huge as we’re meant to think it is. She pitched a book that she’s basically already written to an agent who already knows that she is a great writer &, while I can appreciate that the stakes are different/higher when the work is tied to your own name vs. ghostwriting something, it just didn’t feel believable, so I never quite got invested in Bee as a character. If you’re worried about your professional (see: financial) future, it’s difficult to believe that you would just drop $20k (basically your life savings) on a mortgage with a man you have a crush on but don’t really know, to buy part of a house in a hometown that you’re convinced you’re not going to stay in.

For the MMC - Sebastian - I loved him. His life experiences, emotional intelligence, & overall general outlook makes him incredibly attractive. Then you throw in his bi identity, self-assurance, ex-stripper status, & incredible found family of both humans & plants, & I was locked, loaded, & ready to swoon. I was able to get invested in his story & wished we were able to see a little more of that. The father storyline could have also presented an alternative way to approach the mortgage issue as a premise. And at the end, I think maybe he & Bee’s brother should have ended up together instead ha.

I enjoyed Sebastian & the side characters, & the story overall was witty & fun more times than it wasn’t. Perhaps this book just wasn’t for me & that’s okay! Even if I hadn’t read this as an arc, I know I would have picked up this book at some point to check out!

Bee has known Sebastian her whole life (he is her brother’s best friend) and when he is need of a mortgage she agrees to co-sign with him in exchange for him helping her gain confidence and take charge of her life. When they move into their new house together, tensions and attractions between them rise.

———————

This felt like a book that had all the elements of what could have been a really enjoyable love story, but somehow those elements just didn’t connect properly. The plot premise was really cute but everything happened at too quick of a pace and some of it felt nonsensical. While the characters had plenty of sexual chemistry and history with each other, their quick jump to being attracted to each other felt a little rushed, awkward, and forced. Outside forces (such as her toxic friend Morgan) felt really contrived. Bee has low self-esteem. We know this because we’re reminded of it EVERY PAGE. The spicy scenes were nothing remarkable.

I admit I’m a little bummed out because the blurb about this book sounded so fun, and the cover is adorable, but I just didn’t connect with this read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I overall enjoyed this book, the bi representation was great, best friend's brother is one of my favorite tropes, but I just had a hard time with Bee at certain points throughout the story. Sebastian is such a wonderful character, very much a golden retriever and a sweetheart.

One storyline through the book I found interesting was the Bee and Morgan storyline. Sometimes it didn't feel like it fit but it was a very important storyline. Sometimes as you start to get older you start to realize friendships don't work anymore, and friendship breakups can be harder than romantic breakups.

Dani McLean does it again with this thoughtful and delicious romance. Bee is a ghostwriter working on her own novel, back in town after five years working away. Sebastian runs a bar and is trying to buy his own house. There's not many lazy tropes (although Seb is her brother's bestie). They buy a house together (hello forced proximity) and it's all go.

Bee is in her 20s, a little bit lost. Seb's in his 30s and trying to get it all together and get ahead. They help each other out and it’s kind and clever and queer and funny. No third act break up, no miscommunication. Seb has some family stuff to work through, Bee has to lose a friend and ditch the people pleasing.

It’s steamy that’s for sure, check TWs but everything they do fits their personalities and motivations Lots of respect and sex positivity, basically they have fun doing all the things and it's so good to read. Dani writes a great steamy moment 😉

I’ve loved Dani's novellas and this is even better with enough space in the longer length to really expand the characters and their story. Don't forget the fabulous cover either!

Recommended!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you NetGalley and Dani McLean for the ARC.

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨
𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐌𝐜𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐧
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Romance
𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜: 390
𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Bee comes back to her home town after 5 years away & Crashes her first night back at her big brothers.
Her crush Sebastian who also happens to be her brothers long time best friend is also there.

Then she somehow stumbles into buying a house with him the very next day when the bank wont approve his loan unless he applies with Bee who they assume is his partner...

They move in together and literally as the title says have a mortage of convenience.

The way Sebastian speaks about his d**k in the third person just felt weird & cringe.

This book had so much potential and there were some parts I enjoyed but it also felt a bit amatuer at the same time honestly felt very YA (except for the s*x scenes.

𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐆𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
ꜱᴘɪᴄᴇ: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the ARC!

I wanted to love this book, I really did. I picked this up solely due to the cover, honestly, these cute cartoon covers are my kryptonite. To be fair, the first half of the book was good and interesting albeit it’s a little bit cliche. Unfortunately, it all goes downhill after that. I have mentally checked out by 60% and considering to DNF for the rest of 40% but I pushed through. I will just point out what I like and don’t like about the book. It’s not a bad book per se, it just failed to grip my attention until the end. There are too many side plots going on where I don’t even get the main plot, which is why can’t she just be a writer and stay with him. Last time I checked, authors work from anywhere.

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒:
✅Queer rep, Sebastian is a bisexual king who used to be a stripper, talk about sexyyyy
✅Sebastian is a golden retriever for Bee, I love him so much
✅The amount of time he carried Bee to the counter, swoon😍
✅This book had one of the sexiest shaving scene I have ever read (Bee shaved his beard)🥵

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒:
❌As you can see, all good things are about Sebastian, because I do not like Bee, Sebastian deserves better, hell, I think her brother Aiden is probably a better fit for him
❌I don’t get why Bee is so hesitant to choose to stay. She already helps pay the mortgage and has been crushing on him since she was 18. The job excuse doesn’t make sense, you can write from anywhere. So yeah, that frustrated me.
❌ The plot with her and Morgan, I just didn’t care

Basically, after years of avoiding commitment, Sebastian now at 36 is ready to settle down, he wants everything, a house, a partner, some kids, and preferably with Bee, though he hasn’t seen her for 5 years. And surprisingly Bee, at 28, doesn’t want any of this and is ready to leave anytime if her writing gig doesn’t work out. The smut was pretty good, and I love how it included a kink exploration (somn*). I would be interested in checking other books from this author, and if you like this trope, you might like it.

📚 brothers best friend
📚Force proximity
📚 dual POV

🌶️🌶️🌶️

|Thoughts|
There has been a lot of positive hype around this one and although it was fine, it just never really hooked me.

“One day, he’ll have someone special to lavish all that attention on. Lucky them”

Found Bee to be a bit one dimensional and although I did prefer Sebastian PoV, felt like the whole premise of him helping her with her confidence just didn’t really go anywhere.

The largest plot point seems to be with her frenemy. And it was just difficult to see the way Bee initially dealt with her friend just being a horrible person to her. Happy to say at least there is a satisfying conclusion to the tension between these friends.

Enjoyed the spice but never really fell in love with this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC in exchange for this honest review.

I was immediately hooked by the cute cover and the promise of forced proximity and crush on older brother's best friend. These were delivered but not quite in the way that I'd hoped.

This isn't a long book, but somehow still managed to be quite repetitive. The book honestly could have been shorter and it would have benefited from that. There were already quite big time jumps throughout the story, so omitting done of the repeated scenes would have been great.

Sebastian should have been a great name MMC and while he did have some great moments (for example being super sweet and patient with Bee, his love of gardening) we didn't get to see a lot of sides of him in depth. We mainly got to see his love/ lust for Bee with a sprinkling of the rest of his personality.

Bee definitely isn't my favourite FMC but she's not my least favourite either. I understood her struggles but at the same time I wanted to shake her for half the book. I just couldn't comprehend a lot of her choices and reasoning for things

Overall, a short light book that does technically deliver on its promised tropes, but not one I'll be reading again.

I really like the premise of brother’s best friend. I like the air of mystery that surrounded Bee’s return home. I think Sebastian is so good for her and we can see it in the way she slowly gains confidence throughout the book. It was a bit hard for me to get into it, but Bee and Sebastian are so cute. Also it gets steamy.

It wasn’t personally my cup of tea but I can see how others will enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Set The Mood Publishing for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity! I requested this ARC specifically for this cover… last time I will ever be doing that. It started off good and then just went down hill. There was way too much going on, everyone was just way too horny, everything was just a little messy and overall cringey. I was loving the bi rep from Sebastian. Just wasn’t for me overall. 1/5 ⭐️

More like 3.5-3.75. Thank you to Net Galley and and the Set the Mood Publishing for the read. This story is about Bee Montgomery and Sebastian Wolfe, who've known each other for 10+ years, but are living in the same area after Bee moves back to her hometown. Bee always had a big crush on Sebastian, who happens to be her brother's best friend, while Sebastian has also harbored a crush on Bee for the same length of time. Bee is a ghostwriter, but finds herself suddenly tasked with writing her first novel, after drunk emailing her agent. Writing this novel has always been her dream project, but she's starting to doubt herself, and moves back home, after five years away, to surround herself with family (her brother) and friends.

Sebastian's dream of buying his first home is finally coming to fruition, but he needs help to secure a loan with the bank. And in steps Bee, hence they form a "mortgage of convenience".

This was a very sweet story, but it took me a while to get into the characters and the plot. The beginning, approximately the first third of the book, felt heavy with all of the struggles both characters were handling: Bee - fear of rejection, not comfortable with advocating for herself, and toxic friendships; Sebastian - past childhood trauma (emotionally abusive father) and financial struggles. But once I got past this point, the characters' feelings for each other were revealed, and they each helped the other with their struggles. It was great reading about their support for each other, and to see side characters support each of them, but this dragged on a little too long.

The ending was great, though, very sweet and bright.

Okay, there is the thing this book was cute for a "brother's best friend" trope because the brother was very supportive. Overall it was kind of lacking in some aspects. It had cute moments, and slow moments. It was a cute couple.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Picked this one straight up once I finished the book I was reading and honestly, I was sold by the cover. I wish I’d read the reviews before requesting. This wasn’t one for me. I found the FMC to be annoying and couldn’t get further into the story.

This is my first ever ARC, and I am so excited because it's fantastic!! This comes out February 27th and will be available on KU. Bee is a ghostwriter homebody who is quiet and trying to find out which direction she wants to go in life while hiding the real her. Sebastian is an Ex-stripper and her brothers best friend who is more than happy to help Bee show her true personality. This is a perfect brothers best friend, forced proximity, and age rap romance. I love how kind, sweet, supportive, and respectful Sebastian is towards Bee and her boundaries. Bee is such a sweetheart, too, and she deserves everything 🥹 These two have such a beautiful relationship. I can't wait until February 27th, so you can all read too!

Exactly the kind of spicy fluff I needed. The characters were charming, the steam was steamy, and the cover was real cute. Definitely will be picking up more by the author.

This book had all of my fav tropes in it: Age gap, best friends brother, and lots of spice. The cover is what drew me in, as I have never read anything by this author. The spice was good, and Bee and Sebastian’s relationship was cute. I love the LGBTQ+ representation in this book, especially with it being the main male character. Overall, this was a cute read and I give it 3.5 stars. I would like to read more of Dani McLean’s books in the future. I am thankful for receiving this ARC.