Beg, Borrow, or Steal

A Novel

De: Sarah Adams

Narrado por: Nelson Hobbs, Brittany Pressley

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this new rivals-to-lovers romance set in Rome, Kentucky—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rule Book and Practice Makes Perfect.

“Sarah Adams writes books with heart and soul. They speak to the people finding their way and being unapologetically themselves in the process. I love her style.”—Hannah Grace, author of Icebreaker

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Jack is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited about—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.

With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, he agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?

Look for all of Sarah Adams’s When in Rome books:

WHEN IN ROME • PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT • BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL (Coming Soon!)

©2025 Sarah Adams (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Feuding second-grade teachers learn they make a great team in this cute rivals-to-lovers romance, the third in Adams’s When in Rome series. This charms.”—Publishers Weekly

My new favorite Sarah Adams book!

I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book! The playful banter between Jack and Emily was pure gold!

“Just how often do you picture me, Jackson?”
“More than either of us is comfortable with.”

Beg, Borrow, or Steal is hands down my new FAVORITE Sarah Adams book!

Jack and Emily have been rivals since college where they met over a spilled coffee incident and shared much of the same ambition. They pushed each other’s buttons and competed for everything in their field until Jack moved away from the school they taught at mid-year with his fiancé. Now it’s the beginning of Summer and Jack has returned after calling off his wedding and ending his relationship. To Emilys surprise, her college nemesis is now her new neighbor.

Emily is the oldest sibling and after losing their parents, she’s sacrificed everything to love and support her siblings, but in the process closed herself off to anyone else emotionally.

“I happily take on the responsibility of everyone’s burdens because I only ever feel good when I’m being useful to someone.”

Having grown up with a narcissistic father, Jack has learned to read other people, especially Emily and although she drives him absolutely crazy, the more he’s around her the more he comes to understand the heart under all that sass.

Sarah’s ability to blend humor with emotional themes creates a perfectly balanced RomCom.

What you’ll find:
Rivals to lovers
The best banter ever written
Two teachers
Two secret writers
Red cowboy boots
He wears glasses and has tattoos
Scene blocking 🔥🔥🔥

Romance content: The story has 2 open-door scenes, but Sarah wrote the book with a closed-door modification, listing the 2 chapters to skip to make it closed-door - and it won’t affect the plot. I love that she took this into consideration.

Pub Date: January 7, 2025

Easy, clean read

I really liked the banter between the two main characters and it was sweet to watch their relationship evolve. Easy listen!

Narration is horrible

The female narrator is distractingly iver expressive. The male narrator sounds like a robot. It’s so distractingly bad that I have to stop listening sometimes to calm myself down. Thinking about just picking up the book instead. I’d return it but I’m not allowed.

LOVE, Sarah Adams is a Queen

I love Rome, Kentucky and I love these characters. These audiobook performances were phenomenal as well.

Loved it!

Loved the storyline, character development, narrators, all of it!
This has to be my favorite romance series and I’m so thankful to have another one to listen to!

Sweet story - not my favorite narration

I have been loving this series - have eaten up the other two (along with this one) and cannot wait for the next one (I havent looked into this but there has to be a Maddie story). But, I feel like the male narrator wasn't the best voice for Jack. He has a great voice for a mystery or historical fiction (that isn't a romance) but his voice for this story wasn't right. I would almost rather have the female voice the male part than have a voice that doesn't fit the character. I really loved this story though!

Did not disappoint!

Loved the Rome characters, A series is my weakness and this one did not disappoint!

Sarah Adams never disappoints

I absolutely loved this book just like all of Sarah Adams stories! She does a fantastic job and leaves you wanting more. Jack and Emily are the perfect amount of sweet and spice. Rome Kentucky has my heart for sure!

Great Story

I love this story. I love that in the prequel tha author tells you which chapters contain the steamy scenes. This is about two wonderfully described characters who build a relationship. It is NOT “I met you a week ago, fell in love for life and am now banging the heck out of you”. I appreciate the storyline so much. I laughed at some of the scenes and did not want to put it down. Thanks, Sarah Adams!

I like strong women characters

I love romance stories that address more than the romance. The mental health themes were not the primary focus but enhanced the character development and story line. I also love books about teachers and teaching, even though there wasn’t much about that.