Sorry, I struggled to stick with this one! It didn’t capture my interest I’m afraid. I might give it a whirl again another time but other reviews made me think I wasn’t alone in my feelings.

This book covered love, loss, and everything in between!! I liked the character development, especially the parts that made the characters different from the norm. I know the translation may have missed some of the nuisances that made sense in the original copy, but overall a good read for me!

This was fun!! I wished I had a beach to read it beside, darn land locked state! Ya gotta love the opposites attract type of story, will I do anyway! Cute and sweet but lagged a bit in a few places. I didn't realize until I finished that this was originally written in French so maybe somethings were lost in translation?? Overall it was very enjoyable and would read more from Blaine in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will always be a sucker for a romance about books. This was amazing! Highly recommend for everyone to pick this up!

I want to think that this book lost its charm as it was translated from french but I’m not sure that’s the case. I initially requested this book as the premise seemed cute and the title “The Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams” was so enticing. Alas I was wrong. I mean, I still kept reading the book and finished it but I really didn’t get along with the characters. I’ve also never read a book who used exclamation points as much as this one!!

SPOILERS
The plot just seemed so unbelievable. Maxime was somehow charming enough to be a famous and cherished actor yet he had the personality of a goldfish. He got into trouble too many times for him to legally just be allowed to carry out community service in a bookshop. And shy Sarah who somehow thought she could change him and knew him better than anyone else because he stayed in her house yet didn’t talk to her for a couple of weeks? And his friend who somehow negotiated all his terms and conditions with the judge but worked on a vineyard and was in no way qualified to deal with the law…. I’m all about suspending my beliefs but I was just frustrated with how forced the relationship was and he was so toxic we shouldn’t have been led to believe our female main character would ever go near him. It’s a shame. With a revamp of the male character and some editing this would have been a very fun book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.  Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. This book was translated from French so there were some issues with translation. Because of this it took me out of the story a little bit, and I really couldn't get into the story or the romance. I ended up DNFing a little before half way.

Great book! It was cute, with multiple perspectives, set in a small town in France. The main characters are Sarah and Maxime. Sarah’s character speaks to my soul as a book lover, and after reading this, I really wanted to be her. Having my own place filled with books and a hunky man come stay with me, what’s not to love. The writing was great, and moved at a pace, where I just flew through this. It focuses on Sarah, who lives in a small town in France and owns her own bookshop. However, she is in the red and about to lose everything. So in a desperate attempt to save her store, she agrees to let a hunky movie star with a bad attitude, Maxime, stay with her and work off his community service there in private. The romance and banter were so fun. It definitely also had a more serious note that addressed anger issues that came about from past trauma, and other ways of dealing with them. Sarah was a great character. I really liked her shy, polite and quiet nature. While Maxime, I really did not like him, which was the point at the beginning. He had a lot of anger issues and by the end of the book I really did not see how he just resolved them and he just decided he was done being a jerk. Overall, it was a fun time and would highly recommend it.
Trigger warnings: suicide, fight, anger issues, child abuse and neglect
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for giving me a free ebook copy in return for a review.

This book really did not work for me. I chose it because it was a romance in a bookshop but there were a number of problems with it that completely put me off and basically stalled all my reading, until I’d finished it.

First thing is that the only reference to books is ‘there were books everywhere’ or she collected more books etc… barely any named or explained about why they’re enjoyable. Basically it didn’t read like it was written by an obsessive reader who has to share her love of books with her readers. It was a gimmick that didn’t work.

Secondly the male character was awful. He was a violent, angry, criminal who seemed to have no redeeming features whatsoever, whilst the woman could only do one thing and that was blush over everything. It just wasn’t believable that they two of them could/would ever be together.

Finally the writing was poor - perhaps because it was translated- but it was all ‘tell’ and no ‘show’ and it was so tiresome to read as a result.

I won’t be reading anything by this writer again and I really don’t recommend this book. I’m gutted that I read it and even more gutted that I felt I “had” to finish it. It’s put me in a massive reading slump!

I really loved the dual perspectives of this book and the love story, but I definitely wished there was just MORE. I think the character development could have been better, and I really wish we would have gotten more personality from the side characters.

Overall, this was a fine read, and super cute based on the fact that it takes place in a b0okstore, but it didn't blow me away.

Thank you to the Publishing company and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Sarah and Max should never have met. She’s a shy bookworm who’s barely ever left her little village; he’s a bad boy actor with the world at his feet. But when Max crosses one line too many, he’s faced with community service in Sarah’s bookshop. With an unruly theatre group to run and a gorgeous, tattooed stranger under her roof, Sarah’s about to discover that real life is more complicated than anything she’s ever read in her beloved books

Review : The idea that someone that shy and nervous would accept living in close quarters with a complete stranger, friend of a friend or not, seems implausible to me. As a booklover myself I really wish that I enjoyed this book more than I did. But I had almost constant issues with the story and the writing. For one thing Max is a horrible human being. He is incredibly self-centered to the point of almost being a sociopath.

A sweet story set in France, good girl saves bad boy. Tagged Violent actor Maxine has to serve his sentence helping out in Sarah’s bookshop after it gets flooded, she helps to heal his inner turmoil with her patience and acceptance, and he shows her how beautiful she is both inside and out.

YOU GUYS THIS WAS SO GOOD, I’m just gonna say shy girl bad boy will never EVER get boring you might think that it might but it just a classic !!! Can’t wait to read more books from this author so excited

DNF! I am 50% through this book and I just can't finish it. I thought the start was okay and that Sarah was just the cutest character. However, as a character she changed drastically as the book went on that it didn't even make sense. The start of the book she describes her as quirky and shy. She can't even talk to Fredrick she's so shy and ends up behind the counter. Then all of the sudden has one conversation with Max and is willing to rub her hands on his body without any warning. Then they make out and she says the words "maybe I like to live dangerously" Like really? Those words don't even make sense coming from her. It was like all of the sudden I was reading a different book with different characters.

When film star Max is presented with the choice of going to prison, or doing community service in a bookshop it seems the decision is already made for him. Bookshop owner Sarah is extremely shy and nervous around Max, but deperately needs his help to repair the shop. Are they able to get past their differences and start a friendship, or more?

A quick good girl, meets bad boy read.

Just what I like in a contemporary romance. Bookshop girl meet bad boy actor, we all know the way it goes but I love it! A bit of cheese mixed in with some steam which is always a good thing in my book. I enjoyed the setting & even swooned at the bad boy actor myself! Light easy read.

I loved this book and stayed up ridiculously late to finish it. I just didn't want to leave Maxime and Sarah's world and the bookshop behind. Their blossoming relationship and what is gives to each of them is compelling to read and the cast of supporting characters are just lovely. This book gave me the all important warm, happy feeling and I'll definitely be looking out for more!

A sweet story with the added bonus of being about a bookshop. Sarah and Max were engaging and interesting main characters and although the story was a little predictable, it was a fun and easy read. The supporting characters were good fun and I especially liked Anita.

Good girl meets the bad boy...not really what I expected from this book but I enjoyed it. Any book that revolves around a book store, is a book for me. It was a short and easy read, not my favorite but cute summer book.

This was a wonderful read! Super shy and nervous Sarah inherits grumpy, tattooed actor Max (either that or jail time for him!) to help her with repairs to her bookshop. I feel that the two complemented each other very well, and it was a well-paced summer read!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams is a very sweet story and you'll want to read it all in one sitting. While the storycan be a bit predictable you'll find yourself rooting for Sarah and Maxime. Sarah's love for books and her creative ways to get people to buy books and give them a chance are adorable. Maxime is tortured and sexy and really grows over the course of the story.

If you're looking for a sweet, quick read for a relaxing afternoon this book would be perfect.
3.5 stars