Good plot and two good characters who I liked and kept me interested. Again another good short summer read.

Max is a French film actor with anger management issues. When his temper takes him too far, his friend offers a solution: to do community service under house arrest at a friends bookshop in his tiny hometown. It's either that or prison, so he doesn't have much choice. At first he is angry and resentful toward bookshop owner Sarah. She is extremely shy and nervous to be sharing her home with tattooed and angry Max, but she needs help with repairs to the shop to keep her business afloat. As time goes on and she sees that his attitude is more to keep people away, she grows more attracted to him. But how can a relationship work when her whole life and livelihood is in this tiny town and he needs to be in Paris for his film career?
This book was just an ok read for me. Translated from French, I think some things just didn't translate well. 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. I did love Sarah's love of books, stuffing her cozy bookshop to the rafters and beyond. It really seems like someplace I'd really love to visit.
I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. My review is given voluntarily.

I enjoyed this quick read. It did have some plot lines I wouldn’t have expect (TW = suicide) but overall it was a good read for the summer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

I simply ADORED this book. I initially thought that I wasn’t going to overly like the book but I couldn’t believe how quickly I devoured this read. I can not recommend this book enough and I can’t wait for the time where I’ll eventually read it again

What a lovely, enthralling story this turned out to be. Tortured actor, forced to return to his hometown and face the consequences of his actions. A shy, homebody looking for a way to keep her dream alive. It was easy to fall in love with these too. Blaine did a great job of creating a cosy town that makes you want to jump into the book and be a part of it. I recommend for readers of romance novels, for those looking for a cosy, safe world to escape to and fans of the 'stuck together' romance trope. Thank you to One More Chapter, and Netgalley, for my free e-copy.

Sarah is an introverted bookshop owner who is more than a little stuck in her hometown. Max is a VERY bad boy actor who is forced to stay in the bookshop in lieu of jail time. This is an opposites attract, forced proximity romance that took a lot of ignoring reality in order to make it work for me. Max is a bad boy but on the edge of being too bad- violent, selfish, cruel. Sarah is a good girl but on the edge of being boring- achingly shy, stuck, lonely. This book was clearly translated from French to English and while the translation is most likely accurate, I wonder if it could have used some softening and adjustments for another audience.

Thanks to @netgalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Really loved this one! This book is about two people with so much to give thinking that they won’t find someone. Full of laughs and just an excellent story that I definitely recommend

This book was not for me.

I loved the cover of the book, and the story sounded interesting, but I found neither of the characters likeable. I actually greatly disliked them.

I DNF at 40%, so it may have improved somewhat, as the story progressed, but I couldn't continue. There were some parts with Maxime that I found concerning (his constant rage and just his attitude in general) but Sarah I also found very childlike. I tried to pick it up again a few times but those same feelings came back every time.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing the ARC copy but I won't review this on other channels, as I didn't read the whole thing.

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter and Emily Blaine for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I LOVE the plot of this book! I have not read another book with this storyline, which was super refreshing! And if you enjoy opposites attract, this one is for you! Sarah and Max could not be more different if they tried!

Sarah is most definitely your typical book lover, and had that well known problems of continuously accumulating books haha. She is painfully shy, but has a very kind heart. Max is the cocky, walls up bad boy, and I’m not sure he was looking to have those walls smashed to smithereens!

I easily fell into this story and got caught up in the romance that built in this one. And there are some
secrets that get revealed along the way (who doesn’t love a good secret?!?) Emily captured the essence of the characters so well, they really are a joy to spend time with and see their stories unfold. A great read!!!!

I requested to read “Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams” by Emily Blaine because of the title. Could this novel live up to its potential promise?

Sweet, well-liked Sarah owns a used bookshop in a quaint village in France. She inherited the bookshop from her grandmother, but is facing money issues. (Maybe because the story is located in France, I immediately thought of Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.”) Max, a movie star, has rage issues. He ends up being assigned community service in Sarah’s bookshop (you have to suspend belief a little here). If Sarah is Belle, does that make Max the Beast?

I did not find out until later that this book was a translation. That might have explained some of the continuity and pacing issues. I think this novel could have been a lot of potential if its characters were a little less stereotypical. You know Sarah is supposed to fix Max, but you are told versus shown why Sarah wants to. I also found Max to be very unlikable—if we are using the “Beast” metaphor, the reader needs to know more about why he is the way he is. Overall, if you come to this novel expecting a light summer romance, you will probably enjoy it more than I did.

Two and a half stars.

Thank you Emily Blaine, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.

Maxime is a famous actor with a shitty attitude. He is chronically filled with rage bc he had crappy parents. He spends most of the first half of the book needing to be dick punched by me. Sarah is shy, bumbling, and sweet. She runs a bookstore and has a vagina in a coma. She is Belle. He is a Gaston/beast hybrid.

Max gets in one fight too many and his lawyer, agent, and childhood friend (who must also be a secret agent given his involvement here) keep him from going to prison by sending him to Sarah’s dilapidated bookshop in a quaint French Village to do “community service” for two months. He also is forced to live with her and is essentially imprisoned in her bookshop. What?! The French legal system is F’d up. He’s a pouty bitch at first and she tries to be nice and not scared to be living w a violent man. After one not horrible conversation, Sarah’s iced vagina thaws and she develops the feels. Overnight Max becomes a normal human with human feelings and Sarah’s awkward shyness around men disappears and she becomes a flirty sex vixen. Will their love last after his bookshop prison sentence is over? Why doesn’t anyone actually talk about the forgotten dreams mentioned in the title?

This book was well written with lovely prose, but the plot, characters, and world in which these people live was just very hard to believe. Despite this the story still grabbed me and kept me interested throughout. Sorta torn on this one.

I got this as an ARC from @netgalley and @onemorechapterhc. I am fairly sure this book was written in French and translated to English, based on the fact that nobody I know who is a native English speaker talks like any of these characters. That is the extent of my research about that.

Smut- 3 stars (add a star is sexay times with an convict wearing ankle monitor is your kink)
Romance- 3.5 stars
Story- 3.5 stars
The French legal system using a meek book clerk as a parole officer/prison guard- 0 stars

Loved , Loved , Loved this one!
This story is set in Paris and also in a small country town outside of Paris. It's an almost enemies to loves story of Sarah a shy small town bookstore owner and Maxime a famous cocky actor who finds himself in some trouble. In order to himself out it he's gonna have to check his attitude and tuck his tail between his legs and head back to the small town he grew up in.
I really enjoyed reading how each of these characters grew in the story.
Do yourself a favor and pick up this book and give it a read!

Review: Sarah and Max are living my dream romance in this Parisian bookshop. Max has a plethora of issues and I was glad to see his arc actually move along and not leave him in this highly angry and voilent state. Sarah is stuck. She is stuck in her bookshop, hiding behind her books and when she's forced out things go from easy goinging to complicated.

I loved the setting for this book, and Sarah and Max's relationship was honest and interesting. I found them compelling and honest, and I was pleasantly suprising by some of the plot points. This is the perfect read for any reader who dreams of being the main character in their own romance.

Synopsis: Don’t miss this page-turning love story about two strangers learning to read between each others’ lines. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry’s Beach Reads!
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…

Who doesn't love a bad boy turned good.
Enjoyed the story and the characters. I didn't exactly get those RomCom feels but still enjoyed it and as this is the first time I've read or heard of this author I would definitely buy a book from Kindle

‘I’d been afraid, afraid to throw myself into real life, without the possibility of closing the pages of my book if a scene frightened me.’

One picks this style of book up knowing how things will play out. It’s the ‘quick fix’, the light and fluffy between the heavier reads. So imagine my surprise to discover that this book delved a little deeper than others of its genre. I liked the two lead characters and their journey of redemption. Of course, throw in homage to all things bookish and it’s a great little read.

“Why do you want to save this awful dude so much?” He took my cup of coffee out of my hands and finally answered: “He’s not awful, just lost.”

The Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams is the classic stereotypical bad boy meets good girl, yet … I found there to be this little added dimension that, for me, made all the difference. On this occasion it was the fact that both leads were on a journey of self discovery and I just loved learning about them and their backstory. Then, more importantly, how they sought to move towards their goals together. It was the realisation that they both needed to change in order to grow and with the positive influence on each other, they were able to achieve their individual evolution. Nice.

‘Sarah had succeeded where most people had failed … or given up. She’d taken the time, talked to me, given me time. She’d hung on, despite my warnings, and that was what attracted me to her: her selflessness.’

Now let's just talk about this massive focus on all things bookish - a delightful escapade for any bibliophile. Sarah’s passion for books is music to our literary souls and her bookshop somewhere I would love to visit and spend time. Being an introvert, Sarah’s life revolves around books and her bookstore as they provide her safe place and an escape. The way she speaks of books is sweet and intoxicating:

‘I thought about books every minute of the day … and I talked about them just as much … books had always been my passion. I read ardently, almost in a sort of uncontrollable binge. I would have done anything to escape my life, and books had quickly allowed me to do it.’

So if you are looking for that in between read then reach for this classic retelling of opposites attract for some light escapism.

‘… my passion for books had saved me from a reality that was too hard to take. I’d fallen in love with fictional men, dreamed of an ideal family, led investigations with great detectives.’




This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

The premise of this book sounded so cute, I love the idea of the bad boy being relegated to go to the local book shop. Originally translated from French, Sarah owns a little bookshop in a small town outside of Paris. Maxime, the bad boy movie star, gets sent to do community service at Sarah's store when he beats someone up. A twist on the typical flower shop/ tattoo parlor type beat. However, I couldn't get over the toxic masculinity.

Maxime is super toxic and aggressive, and I dont like the concept of the sweet girl 'fixing' the bad boy. While I do love a redemption arc, the characters weren't explored in depth enough to make it genuine.

A good concept, but the characters just felt very unlikeable and flat to me.

I absolutely adore the opposites attract trope in romance novels, so when I read the synopsis of The Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams, I knew it would be a fun read. Small town girl running a bookstore collides with a city boy actor with anger management issues? Combined with forced proximity? It had no choice but to be amazing. While I did find certain elements of the book required the reader to step back from reality a bit, especially around the hero's actions in the beginning and his subsequent punishment, overall this book was engaging, memorable, and a book that will make your heart sigh in contentment. Translated from French to English, I didn't feel that anything was lost, and the story moved along at a brisk yet satisfying pace.

Maxime Marechal has almost reached the point of no return. After numerous incidents of acting out and getting arrested, his reputation is close to going up in flames, and he has no one but himself to blame. Filled with anger and needing a release, he seeks out fights at every turn, and therefore the only solution is to remove him from that temptation and provide him a different outlet. So a deal is made with the judge - avoid jail and perform community service under "house arrest" for two months at a bookshop where repairs are desperately needed. Seeing no third option available, Maxime takes it. And finds himself living with a woman who tempts him in ways he never expected. Sarah is terrible with men and the prospect of sharing her home with a man like Max is daunting. Unfriendly and stubborn, he is the exact opposite of the man she is dating. But as they spend more time together, she begins to see another side to him, and that side appeals to her. It's the Max who could have been, and it's the Max who could be if he could find the motivation. Sarah may not be who he thought he wanted, but she is exactly who he needs.

Max did not start off well in this book, an obvious bad boy with a deep-seated anger towards others and a need to get what he wants without caring about the consequences. He treated everyone like crap around him, and he would rather crash and burn than accept help. But he definitely did not want to go to jail, so he was forced to accept the hand that was offered to him. Sarah had no desire to have Max in her home, but she was struggling to keep her bookstore alive, and after a flood with no way to pay for repairs, she needed help. Shy and awkward around men, she seemed like a total mismatch with Max, but what I loved is that over time, the reader starts to see Max change. He didn't even really see in himself the potential to change until he began to shed his shell, and Sarah showed him the way. I know it can feel cliche, that a woman's touch can turn a bad boy good, but it felt very genuine to me. He was so gruff towards Sarah in the beginning, thinking she was beneath him, and then when he realized how good of a person she was - too good for him - you could see him slowly starting to shift how he reacted to her. I think he wanted to be good enough for her, but he wasn't sure how. The couple had some bumps in the road, and all good things must eventually come to an end as he was only meant to be there for two months, but the way the story wraps up is so magical. I loved it so much.

Some other reviews I've seen mention that this book just doesn't feel believable, because of the sentencing of Max's crime and then how he suddenly becomes a better guy because of the right woman, but I think the love in the story is so beautiful. Could it happen in real life? Sure. Is it super likely? Probably not. But I don't read romance for how "real" it is - I read romance for the "what if," not for the "what is" of life.

Adorable. The characters are cute and quirky. The story writes itself with the a touch of humor in the right places. Fabulous book club read.

I liked this but I had trouble staying focussed throughout.. I think it had something to do with it being translated from French to English. It made for some strange phrasing. It was a nice story of opposites attract.

I enjoyed this book but I will say if you confuse a Romance book with real life or take it too seriously, this may not be the book for you. There were some bizarre plot points but overall I enjoyed the story and found the characters engaging. Is it wholly believable? Nope. Is it an entertaining read? Yep.

Maxime is a bad boy famous actor who serves a sort of community service in Sarah's second hand bookshop. Of course they fall for each other despite both vowing this would not happen.

I thought Sarah was completely likable and despite his anger issues I liked Maxime as well and was pulling for him to get his act together. Max's best friend Damien has some mysterious, never-explained ability to negotiate Max's punishment, curfews, and furloughs with the authorities which is indeed bizarre, but not a deal breaker for me. I still enjoyed the book.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.