Book Lovers by Emily Henry

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. 

Paperback, 400 pages

Published May 3rd 2022 

by Berkley

5/5 stars

I went into this book a little cautious because of my past experience with Beach Read. Yes, I am one of those that did not absolutely love it like everyone else on social media did. Suffice to say with this reading you can see it was a totally different experience.

I loved Nora, I loved her life of books, not just her reading but her job, her independence and her loyalty to her sister Libby. Which is why she ends up spending a month in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina – which happens to be the setting for one of their favourite books.

I found Book Lovers to be a witty story with so many things going for it. It isn’t just a story of the love of books but also the relationship with family, the bonds of sisterhood and grief. With that enemies-to- lovers trope, this was an entertaining and captivating progression to watch, the tension was there and felt.

There really isn’t much more I can say without giving away part of the story, suffice to say it’s another five stars for me and I read in a matter of days. I have not read Emily Henry’s previous book People We Meet on Vacation but it has definitely moved closer to the top of my TBR.

This book was part of my 2022 reading off my shelf challenge