Book Lovers

I've read Emily Henry's previous books Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation (5 stars!) and bought Book Lovers as soon as it came out ... and then proceeded to let it sit on my bookshelf for three months. Yikes! Good news is I finally read it and got to see what all the fuss was about.

This was an entertaining read that started off very strong. I liked that the two main characters work in the publishing world - a book about bookish people is always delightful! Nora is a successful, ambitious New York City book agent (picture Miranda Priestley from Devil Wears Prada but with a heart) who is known for her fierce support of her authors. I loved that Nora was a strong and independent, take-no-shit kind of woman who has a great bond with her sister, Libby. On Libby's request, the two sisters head to Sunshine Falls, the small town which was the basis for the fictional town in a bestselling novel of one of Nora's authors, for a bit of R&R. 

The last person Nora expects to see in this small town is Charlie Lastra, a book editor who Nora has deemed her arch nemesis. Things get a bit precarious between the two rivals and big-city Nora feels out of her element in the small town. Add in Nora's suspicion that her sister is hiding something, and Nora has a lot on her emotional plate. 

Nora and Charlie make a great couple with their witty, snarky banter in this RomCom. But is it a RomCom? 

I'd say the first third definitely had the RomCom feel, and my favourite part was the banter which was *chef's kiss* which had me repeatedly giggling to myself. As the story progressed, deeper issues are explored (what might have been, grief ...) and a coming-into-herself theme emerges as the story veers strongly into familial drama territory. I give the highest of high fives to Henry for showcasing Nora's strengths and professional prowess while also not apologizing for being an ambitious, career woman who doesn't see kids in her future. 

Do I wish there was more humour in the last 2/3 of the book? Perhaps see more of the quirky small-town residents? Yeah, I do. But I loved how unabashedly Henry dives into complicated relationships and doesn't shy away from emotional scenes. This book lived up to its hype for me with its interesting, well-developed characters, humour and heart in a story that is delightfully predictable.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Emily Henry

Genre: RomCom

Type and Source: Trade Paperback, personal copy

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: May 3, 2022

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.