House Rules

by Kate Love

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘏𝘐𝘔 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥.

My parents left for their honeymoon and I thought I’d finally have the house to myself.
Then Easton showed up—older, hotter, and somehow even more unbearable than I remembered.
He’s my stepbrother. He’s off-limits.
He’s also cocky, controlling, and walking around shirtless like that should be legal.
We fight. We push.
We pretend we don’t notice how close the bedrooms are.
But one look turned into a kiss.
And one kiss turned into something I can’t take back.
He told me I was his. That he’d never let me go.
And now?
I don’t want him to.
“You’re not a secret. You’re mine. Forever.”

A forbidden stepbrother romance full of heat, tension, filthy talk, and fierce devotion. All the steam. No cheating. Just one hard-headed alpha who’ll do anything to keep the one girl he was never supposed to touch.

66 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 8, 2025

About the author

Kate Love is a spicy romance author, smutty books lover, and cat Mom.

She lives in the heart of Romancelandia, spends her days daydreaming and drinking matcha lattes, and her evenings watching romcoms and pleasing herself in all possible ways.

Reviews

[Curvy Girl Book Nerd (Jen S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

House Rules is a short and steamy, instalove, OTT, age-gap, forbidden, forced-proximity, girl gets her stepbrother romance. Ivy is a 21-year-old bratty girl home for a month while her mom and new stepfather go on their honeymoon. She's excited to have the house to herself until her 26-year-old hunky arrogant stepbrother walks in. Both are secretly crushing on each other. As they spend time together, Ivy is determined to push him over the edge. Their chemistry was explosive and the ending was happy after a little bit of angst. Easton frustrated me at times with his hot and cold treatment of Ivy but I am glad he finally caved.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[MaeBae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Kate Love and BookSprout. I was given this book as an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

I’m an absolute sucker for a step-sibling romance so I requested the ARC for this as soon as I saw it. I enjoyed this read, I just wish it was longer. It is a short story and I knew that going on however, I felt like I went on a date, had a good meal, but got no dessert before being ushered out. The two main characters flirt, tease and tempt each other for a major part of the story before finally giving in. This is not a closed door romance but you are not given all the dirty explicit details. I would probably rate it between 2 to 3 chili peppers. I can’t say if this is typical style for Kate because this was my first read from her. I’m going to read a few more books by her before I decide to put her on my watch list.

Until my next spicy book review friends, happy reading
~ MaeBae 💚

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

She was expecting to have the house to herself while her mom and her new husband were away. The last person that she expects to see is her hot step-brother. As the days go on she tries his patients and determination to stay away from her.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shelly Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I’m reviewing today is titled, House Rules written by Kate Love. I enjoyed this short story very much. Ivy and Easton try to avoid the fact that they care for each other. The witty banter between them is endearing. I wanted more of their romantic story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself smiling right off the bat when I began reading this book, but just you wait because things are about to get spicy. Loved the storyline and have told my friends about this book and how they need to go read it.

[Teeana Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

This was a nice quick read. A good pallet cleanser. I was in a reading slump and this quick read helped me through it. The characters are headstrong but lovable. The ending is wild to me but loved it.

[psych0_4books · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chemistry and tension between the main characters was good but I didn't like Easton running away and Ivy's bratty ways. And the parents being cool with everything weirded me out.

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

yes it was short and sweet but Easton being so hot and cold with Ivy was a put off

[Bre Soukup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute story. I loved the dynamic of Ivy and Easton.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Easton and Ivy’s story in house rules. It was an interesting read. I received an early copy. And voluntarily leaving this review.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. All the characters were fun to read about. The main two characters were Ivy and Easton.

Ivy expected that she would have her parent's
house to herself. Her parents are going on their second honeymoon but instead her stepbrother show up. Now she has to share the place.

This was a fun story to read about. It had action and drama throughout. There were a lot of giggles and laughs within. There is some steamy parts too.

I saw this story and decided to try it. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.