Header Image

Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Title: Book Lovers
Author: Emily Henry
Year published: 2022
Category: Adult fiction (romance)
Pages: 384 pages
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: (my 2022 Google Reading map)USA (NC and NY)

SummaryOne 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:  I have previously read two novels by Emily Henry and enjoyed both of them (my reviews of People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read) so was looking forward to reading this one. My daughter and I decided to listen to the audio book together and it was a great choice. The narrator is very good and it was fun to listen to the story with someone else. I was surprised my daughter liked this book as she is not a romance reader at all.

As I say every time I read a contemporary romance, I knew where this story would end up and I don't care and, actually, I wasn't entirely correct. One of the best things about this novel is the prologue in which the main character talks about romance books, the tropes, how predictable romance books are, etc. She just put it all out there from page one and that hooked my daughter and I right in.

I liked that this book is funny and light while still satisfying that need for a romantic storyline. And seriously, the main characters work in publishing. How can that not be fun?! I love the witty banter between Nora and her sister and Nora and Charlie; it made me smile. And how fun are the names of the businesses in Sunshine Falls?! All play on words, which are very clever and funny. There are references to books, authors, characters throughout the book, which just added to my enjoyment.

This is the best of Henry's books for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Challenges for which this counts: none


No comments