A condemned apartment building means I’m stuck sleeping in my car. My carefully planned future—gone. It’s just bad business to admit to being homeless when you’re the top selling real estate agent in the county. So when a fellow evictee, Nola, comes up with a solution to my homeless situation, I take her up on her offer.An empty house with a gorgeous roommate? Sign me up. I didn’t know that … up.
I didn’t know that staying at her friend’s house would lead to us pretending to be married. I didn’t know I would get elected to be president of an HOA I have no business being a part of.
And I’m beginning to suspect my beautiful, devious, fake wife isn’t telling me everything.
What happens when we get another roommate, and our deception moves to the next level?
Nola is the whirlwind I didn’t want in my life—but she just might be exactly what I need.
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I really enjoyed this slow burn fake marriage romance. Bane and Nola have amazing chemistry and there is plenty of sexual tension between them. They also have plenty of moments that make you laugh, like when she scares him. That is definitely one of my favorite scenes.I love that the author wrote so many interesting supporting characters. There are definitely many layers of secrets between these two and also those around them. They both learn that many things are not as they seem. The question is, can they put aside all of the secrets and lies to make their relationship work for real?
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
It’s a bit different and the story is good even if Nola motifs for her grunge are a bit weak. But nila and bane are complementing each other so well then the weak part of the story really stay in the back of your mind
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved this clean rom com! So many awesome moments. I loved the fake relationship trope and all of the wonderfulness that was included… security guard, fancy pants richies, HOA, and so much more. I cannot wait for the next book!!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
. ’ . . — ’.
AND HOW COULD NOLA NOT GET ATTACHED TO BANE WHEN HE WAS SO FLIPPIN’ AMAZING?!
So, y’all should know I haven’t read a story by Carina Taylor that I didn’t enjoy. And that statement still stands. Yep. She wrote another book for me to fangirllllll over!!
Mr. H.O.A was funny, romantic, witty, and so much more. Also, I loved the dynamics between Nola and Bane!! I feel like they really balanced each other out when it came to the different circumstances they found themselves in. And no spoilers here, but the plot twist about who owned the house that “Mr. and Mrs. Fox” were staying in was PERFECT! I truly didn’t see it coming, and it was a pleasant surprise.
As far as content goes: So, I personally wouldn’t consider the book to be a complete “clean” read, and that’s because of the accidental naked scene (which almost made this a 3 star review, but I reallyyyy enjoyed the rest of the book). The description/details of Nola being naked (due to her dropping the towel she had around herself) were vague, but it was very clear that Bane could definitely tell she wasn’t wearing any clothes. I honestly just felt like the whole thing was awkward all the way around…and out of place? However, this is just my opinion. Based off most of the reviews I’ve read, it doesn’t seem like this scenario bothered other readers, so it really just depends on what your preferences are. Other than that, there was some butt smacking/pinching, heated kissing, and the expected tension from living together when you like each other but “don’t like each other.”
Overall, Mr. H.O.A. was a superrrrr cute read, and I’m sure you’ll find yourself swooning over Bane…without a doubt.
Oh! And I loved seeing Ian, Tori, and Mumfordddd!!! I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention that, lol!!
~I received an e-copy of this story from the author, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.~
Bane and Nola’s story is so sweet and funny! The situations they find themselves in because not all of the truth is told are so funny. I can’t wait to read more from this author!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is an entertaining romantic comedy with strong characters in Bane and Nola. I loved the chemistry between these two. They have a fun banter with a slow burning romance. The author does a great job building the story with humor and a sweet romance. It’s well written with detailed scenes,moves fluidly and is a great read.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
More the story of a growing relationship than a romance, Nola and Bane bump into each other a few times and though a series of unfortunate incidents and ridiculous mishaps quickly jump to pretending they are an old married couple in the comfortable phase of their marriage to avoid another eviction and possible arrest- except it gets comfortable far too quickly.
The character development in the story worked well, even though the circumstances were a bit fanciful. Nola seemed a bit flighty and reckless for how practical her upbringing had been and her current work with children at a group home. Most of the conflict in the book arose from her building fantasies rather than confronting people close to her and learning the truth, or admitting the truth herself – which is ironic considering she is introduced as a strong character willing to challenge others for the truth and the way she stands up for others. I will say the final scene resolving all the conflict worked well and showed good character growth on her part.
Bane has got the be the most unbelievably patient person ever! He is such a sweetheart too, providing coffee and ice cream for Nola from the beginning 🙂 His character was more static through the book as he is the knowledgeable, solid rock others depend on. Mr Practically Perfect in Every Way – and honestly a bit boring, but the comfort and stability Nola needed. Guess he needed a little of Nola’s zing too.
The chapter headings were great and some of the characters HOA issues in the small neighborhood were quite hilarious. I think my favorite was the singing lawn gnome incident.
Thank you Give Me Books for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Mr. H.O.A.
By: Carina Taylor
REVIEW
The cover of Mr. H.O.A. is so adorable, and I wanted to read the book as soon as I saw it. New to me author Carina Taylor has written a delightfully charming story about two “squatters” pretending to be a married couple. Bane and Nola were evicted from the same apartment building, and events led to an empty house, thus the squatting. Bane is elected to the H.O.A. with great irony. As Nola and Bane pretend to be a couple, could they legitimately become a couple? This book is a nice dose of lighthearted fun, and I’m so glad to have read it. It has a quirkiness that just pulls the reader into this world, and I didn’t want to leave. I look forward to Carina Taylor’s next book!
This was a cute read with an intriguing premise. I figured it would be a nice change of pace for me. There were some giggle worthy moments. Their conflict wasn’t an overly complex one.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with either of the main characters. Nola was a little too immature for me, and Bane unfortunately fell a bit flat as well.
However, it may be a case of ‘it’s not you, it’s me’.
When Bane and Nola get kicked out of their crappy apartments, their paths cross over and over and then their living situations gets interesting. I loved this story and it had me giggling so much. Bane and Nola were such quirky characters. I loved the other characters of the HOA and they cracked me up so much. All in all this story was just so entertaining. I highly recommend.
I received a free ARC copy of this book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the first time I am reading this author and I really enjoyed this story. It had a lot of humor, fun and good times with a couple that I liked a lot. That said I did not feel it should be listed as a romance. I felt it was very chick-lit rather than a romance.
Nola and Bane live in a crappy set of apartments when they are condemned and they are forced to move. These two start out as ex neighbors and end up as friends as they run into each other and try and find a solution to their homelessness.
Nola knows of an empty house in a very nice neighborhood while she continues to live at the condemned apartment. So she offers the empty house to Bane. He ends up squatting there and when she is forced to move, they end up cohabitating.
The house they end up living in has a very involved HOA and so the neighbors think they are married and so they become fake husband and wife. But Nola has a BIG secret that she is keeping from Bane and how will he react?
I loved this story and I loved their relationship. But Nola’s lie is really BIG and then later she conspired to keep something even bigger from Bane so I had issues with her. Bane and Nola play that they are married and so they never really date and before the book ends they are in love.
I did love them as a couple and together but I also felt they went from I love you to a marriage proposal way too fast. And I wanted less fake marriage and more real romance since I was reading a romance.
This romantic comedy was so much fun to read! The characters were charming and the plot felt very original for the fake marriage trope. Bane and Nola had great chemistry right out the door that had me completely swooning each time they “pretended” to be a married couple all while slowly falling in love. The way they teased each other and the well-written banter was a delight to read. The fun twists in the plot and interactions were all super entertaining, I was eating it all up. Seriously, if you want a clean rom-com that will highly entertain you with a fabulous dose of swoony romance, check this book out (actually just check all of Carina Taylor’s books out, they are super fun books to read).
I did receive an advance reader copy of this novel. I am voluntarily choosing to leave a review because of how impressed I was by this book and the author’s ability to weave a fun and enjoyable clean rom-com that still delivered all the feels I want as a reader. Definitely a book I will reread and recommend.