Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books.
Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he’s Nora’s work nemesis.
Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she’s the woman men date before they find their happy-ever-after. That’s why Nora’s sister has persuaded her to swap her desk in the city for a month’s holiday in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. It’s a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into…Charlie.
She’s no heroine. He’s no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?
Title : Book Lovers
Author : Emily Henry
Format : eARC / paperback
Page Count : 379
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : Viking Books / Berkley
Release Date : May 3, 2022
Reviewer : Micky / Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 5 star review
Headlines:
Diverted and captivated
Why yes, you can read almost a whole book with a smile on your face
Samesies, not opposites
We all need that special book that sings to your heart, that takes you on a journey, that has characters with depth, dialogue to get lost in and banter (because who doesn’t need banter). Book Lovers is that book, with a good dollop of chemistry to add into the mix. For me, this is Henry’s best work to date, it is refined, whip-smart and utterly belieavable. It’s going to be in my top crop of books for the year for sure.
Nora the protagonist, was a fierce, almost frosty at first sight kind of woman but the story lets you see underneath immediately to her soft heart and those who are beloved by her. Nevertheless, Nora found herself typecast as heartless because she was so damn good at her job and was a workaholic. Charlie was the yin to her yin, because they were something of a mirror of one another. Who says it has to be opposites attact? We need a new trope of samesies!
His eyes bore into me until there’s smoke lifting off my skin. I’m an ant beneath his sunlit magnifying glass, and then he looks away.
There was a strong sense of family in this book, the literal adventure Nora finds herself on with her sister Libby was mired in past sadness but also smattered with hope. These two and their sisterhood made for such a rich side story to the books and Charlie.
My highlight game was strong reading this book, so many lines, exchanges jumped off the page. I laughed, I even cried and absolutely loved how this book captured my imagination and took me to the places I wanted. It had feels, humour, great writing and dammit, I want to visit this backwater of a small town.
Thank you to Viking Books for the early review copy.
Hollis’ 5 star review
Surprising no one, I don’t often pick up five star reads (or maybe, rather, I don’t award them, because hey it’s all opinion, right?). Rarer still when I do find those elusive five stars do I know it early on. Because so often it can just be a case of a good-read drought that has you feeling pumped or rounding up. But for Book Lovers? I had that five star feeling well before the final page. And here we are.
Beach Read was one of my top ten faves of 2020 and so naturally I felt the stakes were extra high for Henry’s sophomore adult release. Which I did really like but don’t know if I loved (I need to reread to be sure, I might’ve been in a weird place for that one). So maybe my expectations were more conservative (though still high) for this one. But it’s also just that damn good.
Book Lovers is witty and sharp and delicious and delightful and just fun (seriously, my highlights are out of control). Once again Henry is letting her characters live and play in a very book-focused sandbox by having them be book editor and book agent, respectively, and the sheer entertainment of all the trope-talk was just.. well, sheer entertainment. But beyond the fun of the topics there were also the characters and I loved them all so damn much. And the romance? Hoo boy. The chemistry was palpable and all the false starts were agonizing — in the best way.
Outside the romance (and even sort’ve within it) we have some good emotional beats, too. The sisterly dynamic was one I both loved and was a little frustrated by but only because it felt so authentic. There were complications and false notes between them, from their history, but how it all unfurled in the end was a surprise not only to our MC but also to me. And I really loved it. And yes, I cried; maybe two or three times. But the third was directly related to our book lovers.
I could hardly tear myself away from this read. I absolutely adored it. I don’t want to say it tops my love for Beach Read but.. maybe it does? Sorta? Possibly? It’s just that good. Cannot recommend enough.
** I received a finished copy from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 