The Professor Next Door: A Steamy Friends with Benefits Rom-Com

Nicole Louie-Edwards enjoys the nightlife and bringing men back to her apartment, although lately, she’s gotten tired of the chase. Her quiet new neighbor, David Cho, isn’t her type, but after they get trapped in an elevator together on her birthday, she develops a friendship with the kind geology professor.

Then, blushing, he tells her that he can hear her having sex but tries not to listen. Except it’s clear he’d like to, and she’s surprisingly turned on. They embark on a friends-with-benefits arrangement hotter than any she’s had before. She didn’t expect him to be so naughty between the sheets.

David becomes a bigger part of her life outside of the bedroom, too, bringing her desserts and going viral on TikTok with her grandmother, but she can’t imagine he wants to be her boyfriend, and it’s not like she wants that, either. She’s convinced she’d lose her identity in a relationship, like she did ten years ago.

Yet she can’t help getting more and more attached to the professor next door…

* * *

Jackie Lau writes soft and steamy romances with Asian characters. This book is part of the Cider Bar Sisters series, a collection of interconnected standalones about friends who regularly meet up at a cider bar in Toronto.

1. Her Big City Neighbor

2. His Grumpy Childhood Friend

2.5 Her Pretend Christmas Date

3. The Professor Next Door

4. Her Favorite Rebound

5. Her Unexpected Roommate

Also available in audio. Read by Emily Woo Zeller.

KEYWORDS: friends with benefits, friends to lovers, neighbors, neighbours, thin walls, Asian hero, Asian heroine, nerdy hero, hero looks hotter with glasses, foodie romance, Toronto, spicy rom-com, romantic comedy, contemporary romance, steamy romance, big city romance, Canadian romance, happy ending