Beg, Borrow, or Steal

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Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams

384 pages | Published by Dell

The Set Up: Emily is thrown for a loop when her longtime rival and fellow teacher, Jack, returns to town, newly single and living in the house next door. But when she accidentally sends the manuscript of her secret romance novel to their principal, Emily turns to Jack to help solve the problem. Jack agrees to help her recover the email, leading to an unexpected alliance that blurs the lines between enemies and something more.

This was a cute read that I picked up for book club, and while it wasn’t perfect for me as a reader, I did like the world and I’ll definitely be reading more from the series.

Emily and Jack’s dynamic was such a fun mix of playful rivalry and real, meaningful conversations. I really appreciated was that their relationship didn’t rely *only* on banter—there were also plenty of genuine, heartfelt moments between them.

The book stayed pretty lighthearted, and I especially loved the inclusion of emails and texts between Emily and Jack, especially the ones from when they technically weren’t even friends yet.

I did wish we had gotten more about Jack and his family. That side of the story was really interesting to me and I would have loved more time to explore that. The writing itself wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was engaging, easy to read, and kept me invested.

Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable small-town romance! It didn’t completely blow me away, but it had enough charm and tension to keep me hooked, and I’d definitely be open to reading more from this world.