Book Lovers - Review

Book Lovers

By: Emily Henry

Publication: May 3rd 2022 by Berkley

384 pages

Genre: Adult, Contemporary

Source: eLibrary

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Goodreads description--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.

I read a book called Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson earlier this year. I loved it, and I called it a love letter to readers, authors, publishers, etc in my review. Book Lovers reminded me a lot of Meet Me in the Margins. Any book that gives insight into the writing/editing/publishing process while providing me with a love story is a top pick. Emily Henry's book Beach Read fit this bill as well.

I loved how this book began. Emily Henry writes an intro to make all book readers (or Hallmark Christmas movie watchers) smile. Nora sees herself as the big city, uptight, blonde girlfriend that the leading male character leaves for the down to earth, small town, simple-but-deep girl. That's because it's happened to her 4 times. But she doesn't exactly want to change who she is. Not for a man, not for anyone. She is a literary agent, and a lot of the book focuses on her work with one specific author. She loves her job, and she loves New York. She's happy. Mostly.

Charlie is an editor Nora meets with at the beginning of the book to consider editing her longest-standing author's latest book. Charlie turns the book down because he wants something closer to the author's earlier books. The meeting doesn't go well from Nora's perspective, and Charlie becomes her business nemesis. He has a lot going on with his character. His father has recently suffered a stroke and is still recovering. At the same time, his family's financial state needs some attention. His mother's free-spirited ways makes managing the details difficult for her. And Charlie has to step in to get a handle on things.

Most of the book also revolved around the changing relationship between Nora and her sister. I can't remember the sister's name, and I don't have my library copy to refer back to anymore. Regardless, Nora has felt something off with her sister for a while now. And when her sister comes up with this plan to visit the small town of one of Nora's books, Nora decides to go with her to try to reconnect and help her sister relax before her next baby is born. Their relationship was as rewarding to read about as Nora and Charlie's. Having a sister myself, I can relate to their relationship so much.

I wish my library copy didn't expire almost immediately after I finished it. I would like to reference more than one part to better review this book. I feel like there were some passages I highlighted, as well, I would have shared in my favorite quotes section. Even though I read Book Lovers quickly, I still had to return my library copy before I got my review written.

Book Lovers was deeper than I was expecting. I expected one of those fast, happy books that stays a bit surface level. But now that I think about it, Beach Reads wasn't just surface level. So I should have expected more from Emily Henry. Anyway, Book Lovers was just the story I needed when I got around to it. I blew through it, and it helped me keep the ball rolling after a reading slump about a month prior to reading this book. Book Lovers gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read Book Lovers? What did you think? Let me know!