Title: Book Lovers
Author: Emily Henry
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: May 3rd, 2022
384 pages
5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming….
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Review
Favorite Emily Henry novel so far, hands down. I didn’t think it would be possible after loving Beach Read so much, but Book Lovers added in a laugh out loud quality that Beach Read didn’t have. I cackled throughout this book at the banter between Nora and Charlie in this dislike to love romance. This book doesn’t follow the stereotypical format of a true romance (even though there is a HEA) so I’m more inclined to call it women’s lit/women’s fiction with a romance element to it than pure romance – but don’t let that deter you.
Book Lovers also brings in romance in the context of the publishing world, Nora is a literary agent and Charlie is an editor so they are thrown together to work on a big project for a huge author in the company. I love reading books about books, it’s so very meta and the publishing world is a dream of mine to be in.
I didn’t personally love the aspect of Libby, Nora’s sister, and her plot line. I won’t say much because it would be spoiler-y but there is a decent amount of manipulation involved and I’m never a fan of those plot lines, no matter how well intentioned. Still, I give this 5 stars due to the grumpy/grumpy love story with a healthy helping of real life getting in the way.
Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Happy reading, folks!
Baltimore Bibliophile 