Ah! This book was so funny and relatable. As a lifelong reader and also a writer, it was so interesting to read about the ins and outs of the publishing industry that we don't know about. This book was such an eye-opener. The author did a great job portraying real-life struggles for those working in publishing, an industry that is known not to pay well; yet, a dream workplace for many. It also covers many important topics such as overcoming life challenges that come our way. I feel that this version of the cover makes the novel look cheesy while the book is nothing but cheesy. I definitely will recommend it to my friends.

First, thanks to the author, Shauna Robinson, NetGalley, and the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark for a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I enjoyed this book so much that I read it in one sitting! It was frustrating at some points because I wanted to shake Nora, the main character, but i also recognize that its always easier to be level-headed when you have the vantage point of knowing what “she should do but chooses not to”. And also- without this angst, we wouldn’t have a novel, would we?

Why choose this book? Read the synopsis of the book- it drew me in because I love to read- I mean I LOVE TO READ!!! I’m constantly thinking about what my next book will be- even while I’m in the middle of reading. What avid book reader wouldn’t want to read a book about another avid book reader? However, I did think in the back of my mind that this could be a set up for a fantastic book or a set up for disaster! Very risky for sure and this first time author made herself extremely vulnerable to write on a subject like this. But it was well-played- that’s for sure!

Immediately, in the first chapter, Nora mentions one of my favorite author’s books- Jen McKinlay- and I was so glad to see it mentioned here. It made me feel that I would enjoy the book if she mentioned one of my favorite books in the first chapter- so I felt like we were off to a good start. By Chapter 6, I was realizing that I was loving these laugh out loud moments and I am flying through reading this. I love that we are inside Nora’s brain- every part of it. And her brain is quite easy to follow and her brain seems like we have met somewhere before. Hmm…

Then I started having some takeaways for my own personal life that made me pause… and pause again. If you haven’t read the book yet, then stop here. SPOILER ALERT! I want you to enjoy the book without interference from me.

Here are some examples that made me pause and think while reading this book:

Chapter 10
“I think it became clear in my first job out of college. I realized interpersonal relationships between colleagues, or managers and employees, or executives and managers, are a crucial part of the workplace. People weren’t communicating in the ways they needed to.” I started thinking- hmmm- maybe that’s something I need to apply at work.

Chapter 13
“What a bizarre, nebulous concept happiness was. Her father didn’t become an electrician because it made him happy. He didn’t wake up excited to lay cable. He did it because, as he told her once, it made sense. It was what he knew, a career path he started down at seventeen because it was a practical way to make money on limited opportunity. But now there was supposed to be more to it than that. She had the opportunities. She was told to take those opportunities and find her dream job, something that would fulfill her. It was internalized now, this idea of fulfillment. It made her feel weak to put this much stock in something her parents couldn’t even consider. They had managed just fine without tying their entire existence to their careers. She had the privilege to prioritize happiness, and she was getting it all wrong.”
This made me think that was an interesting truth to these statements and they define the difference between the generation now and our parents generation. I’ve never thought of this before…

Chapter 20
“There was a satisfaction in convincing her parents why a book was more important than their rules. It felt like she was letting them in on a secret: books were more important than anything.”
My thoughts on this? The words of a true book lover- right there! That sentence is my validation of why I chose to read this book. I just had to read this book once I read the synopsis and it was validated by the words of an author who was just like me. In a way, I felt like if I were to ever write something- it would have to be just like this. How else could I describe my love for books to someone else, when I have never written anything to publish?

Chapter 23
“”I think you should,” Nora said, meeting his stare.”
It’s at this point in the book that I’m starting to get really mad at the main character- she wants to have her cake and eat it, at all costs- that’s not true love- in my opinion!

And one more- also in Chapter 23
“But a bookstore is a bookstore is a bookstore. And there was always magic in that.” My thought about that? So very true!

Well- this book was a big win for me and I cannot wait for round two of what this author brings to the table the next time.

Enjoy!

This romantic, feel-good read is perfect for any book lover. As an avid reader, I am naturally drawn to books with any titles associated with reading, and/or writing, and this did not disappoint.

The author has created a great leading character in Nora, and I am sure a lot of people will find her extremely relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her, and although the topic of mental health is featured heavily, this is written incredibly well not to become draining for the reader.

Nora's tale of personal development and growth had me intrigued from the beginning and had life events not stood in my way, this would have easily been a one or two sitting read.

Highly recommended to anyone looking for a cozy read this winter.

TW: Suicidal thoughts

Nora’s editorial assistant job keeps getting more bleak - coworkers have been laid off in a restructuring, her best friend at the publishing company moves on to a new job, and now her pay is being cut. When an opportunity to work part time for a rival publisher becomes available, she decides to do both (she needs the money after all). But things get complicated as she grows closer to one of her authors and the web of lies gets a bit too tangled.

Can I just say how wonderfully surprised I was by this book? I mean, a book about working with books is a fun premise, and add some romance into the mix? You’ve got me hooked!

I flew through this - it flowed really nicely and even though I was exhausted, I couldn’t put this down!

The description of depression was so relatable for me. The inability to reach out, to get out of your own head, and to feel like you’re fighting with a creature that’s sitting on your chest. The most accurate part is that things are chaotic, but hopeful - until they aren’t. It sneaks up on you until you realize you’re already chest deep.

While I really enjoyed seeing the depiction of depression as a “creature”, the main character never seems professional help, despite the suicidal thoughts she’s experiencing. I want to make it clear: suicidal thoughts should be taken seriously. They are not something to brush off. There are many ways you can seek help, and I encourage anyone experiencing them to call a helpline, or seek care immediately. You are not your thoughts, and you are worth the time and energy to seek the help you need.

Keeping this in mind, I’d still recommend this book, but remind you to be mindful when reading about mental health in all capacities, not just this one. Professional help and care like therapy, and medication are great options that can have a huge impact on the rest of your life if you are struggling. I hope more books seek to show that path, even just the first steps such as making an appointment.

I really struggled with this book and it took me so long to read as I every time I put it down I would just opt to pick up something else the next time I had a chance to pick up this book. I definitely think there's an audience for this book its just not me, I really disliked reading a book where someone just repetitively makes stupid decisions that obviously are going to backfire in their face. None of the characters really stood out to me, like I finished reading it a couple weeks ago and I can't even remember their names. Oh there was Andrew the love interest. Its just not something that I am going to remember.

DNF too depressing - the main character is too passive and it felt endless
I know the publishing world is low pay high work, but this was too much for me

Must Love Books follows the story of Nora Hughes, an editorial assistant who’s lost sight of *The Dream Job* she thought publishing would be and is starting to wonder whether Dream Jobs actually exist. It’s steeped in ennui and as a woman in her late twenties who has spent almost all of her twenties asking herself “what the fuck?” it felt very real to me. Nora Hughes spends the entire book asking herself questions that I think our entire generation has been asking, “what happens when the job I thought I would love turns out to be draining me of my will to live? who am I when I stop tying my identity to my career?” and “who the fuck does this old white dude think he is?” Shauna Robinson is able to write really big feelings in a way that felt more manageable. It was easy to see the paths Nora could take when we’re peering in from above. Dare I say it may provide a bit of hope for those of us who feel absolutely lost at this stage in our lives.

The pacing of this book was on the slower side, as readers we’re following someone through their workdays and their inner monologue. If you’re not into stories where a protagonist is just an average person living an average life and trying to figure out average problems, this is not the book for you. This book felt like the author’s way of figuring out what she wanted to do with her own life through the lens of a character, not unlike herself. Which, upon reading the author’s bio is almost exactly what she did. I personally love reading stories about people that I could meet in real life and I love it, even more, when I can see myself in a character.

The ending of this book was the sort of non-ending that lets readers piece together on their own that Nora will be okay, she’ll figure it out and bring herself up from that 3 on the happiness scale. This sort of open-ended conclusion gives readers the ability to figure out for themselves that maybe they’ll be okay too.

The cover seems misleading, but I realized I had an earlier cover that had Andrew Santos on the cover, which might cause confusion about if it was a rom com.

This book covers the quarter life crisis of Nora Hughes a Black biracial woman in publishing and how her work adds to her depression. The books is very slow and introspective. I wish there was more on her family or if she had some support beyond former co-workers.

Nora thinks she is on her way to her dream job. But her current position as editorial assistant remains stagnant, She discovers that what she liked most about her job were the people she worked with. Once they one-by=one leave the publishing company she works at, through lay offs and better opportunities, she realizes that her career needs a course correction.

Stuck at a crossroads, she realizes that she must find the courage to find a new job and leave her current one. When she is presented with the opportunity to work freelance for another publisher, although she realizes the fact that its not actually allowed, she talks herself into doing it only temporarily to build up a little cash flow for her to leave her current job, and build experience with the new publisher in order to find a full time position with them. In the middle of her ruse working two competing jobs, she finds a love interest that only further muddies her current situation. Does she use her contacts to further her own career? Is her current career path even what she ultimately is looking for?

This story was reminiscent of Shopaholic initially to me. A girl with good intentions who puts herself in less than upright positions with only the best of intentions. But this story was more serious and brushed on mental illness. Nora deals with depression. She gets stuck in a rut reliving all the things she wanted to do, to be and feeling lost in the path she is on. Once she broadens her ideas of what her future could look like, things start to look up. But once things start to fall apart, Nora will have to decide what will fulfill both her heart and her mind.

I would consider this more Women's Fiction than RomCom. Yes there was a love interest, but this story was about so much more than their relationship. It was about Nora's quest to find herself. To be true to herself. To be supported by her friends. And to see her strengths and weaknesses for what they were and use them to her advantage.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advance copy to read and review. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Pub date: 1.18.22

I loved this book. It’s exactly what I like to read and need to read right now.
Although the friend and co-worker characters are a little bit forgettable (I honestly didn’t know who was who at the end) I enjoyed seeing the publishing world and the feeling of not really enjoying where are you at right now in your life. I felt that really good portrayed and very relatable. Especially because it was the process of acknowledging that fact, accepting it, and doing something about it, which is not fast and it’s definitely not easy. And that the struggle is only for the person who is feeling that. It may not be a big deal for others but it is definitely for you. I felt Nora was like a normal girl, she was not the shy girl that lives in her introverted and quirky bubble. She was indeed normal, making mistakes, taking high-risk choices without really thinking, and just dealing with whatever her expectations were and the reality of them. I can’t wait to see if this is going to have a second part. But I really love how it ended, just a world of unknown and infinite possibilities.



Special thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this ARC.

It was an ok read, a little predictable, and not quite the page turned that I was hoping given the title.

4.5/5 stars

Nora Hughes has worked as an editorial assistant for five years when she begins to feel completely drained and unfulfilled by her job. This book follows Nora as she begins to spiral into depression and feelings of hopelessness about her future. She meets author Andrew Santos, an author and optimist, who asks her to rate her happiness on a scale of 1-10. When she realizes her happiness is a three, she knows she needs to change her situation.

I loved this book. I connected to Nora’s struggle of figuring out her career. It can be scary to change your career because there’s always a risk that it won’t work out. This book also makes you think about the myth of a “dream job” and how we often have pressure put on us to figure out what that dream is even though our dreams often change as we grow. This is advertised as a romance, but the romance is more of a secondary plot. Andrew is such a sweet guy and I loved the connection Nora developed with him throughout the book. This is a great debut from Shauna Robinson and I hope to read more from her in the future! I highly recommend this book, but please check the content warnings as there is discussion of depression and suicide.

*Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this eARC! Must Love Books will be out January 18, 2022 and is available for pre-order now.

Must love books is a refreshing take on a romance book that doesn’t just brush the surface of the characters, but truly gets a deep look into who they are. I greatly appreciated how Robinson was able to create our main character Nora who was refreshing and greatly relatable. We meet Nora while she is in a dead end job that is taking advantage of her and slowly sucking her dry. I feel like often we find ourselves in situations that seem too good to be true and it ends up just that and don’t fully know how to get out.

Overall I’ve never read a book set in this setting before and it was so fun to see! Definitely recommend picking this one up!

Nora thought her editorial assistant position would be the first step on the way to her dream job in publishing. But after five years of boring administrative tasks, she’s overworked, underpaid, and her career has stagnated – not that it ever really got off the ground. When a pay cut leaves her unable to make ends meet, she takes a secret side gig with a rival publisher. At the same time, her day job has her working closely with one of their bestselling authors, Andrew Santos – who is more than a little bit dreamy.

Nora is quite likeable, even as she makes bad decisions right and left. She appears to be battling depression, whether she knows it or not, and many of her bad decisions are driven by desperation, or the indecision and despair that can come with that kind of mental struggle. I’ve had those kinds of struggles, in part because of the same kind of dead-end jobs, so I felt Nora’s dread and anxiety really viscerally. The romance is cute – not enthralling or “swoonworthy,” but cute. At most times the book is less focused on their relationship than it is on Nora’s existential crisis, which I feel places this book more solidly in the “fiction with a side of romance” section rather than the straight-up “romance novel” section, but Andrew is the catalyst that brings her out of her funk and spurs her to change her life. The book ends on a hopeful note, both for Nora’s career and for her relationship with Andrew.

Representation: POC as main characters (MC is half Black, love interest is Filipino)

CW: suicidal ideation

This book exudes a very warm and cozy vibe, and the setting is kind of interesting. However, the main character was just really hard to sympathize with. I struggled to understand her and she annoys me from the start which also affects my mood throughout the entire reading experience. The book, in general, was okay, and I can genuinely see this being loved by other readers. But unfortunately, this ain't it for me.

I am having a very difficult time getting into this book. The beginning of the book doesn’t pull me into the story.. I’m finding it hard to get into the character and care about her.. I’m going to pick this book up again soon to see if it gets easier..

Nora works for a publisher in a job she doesn’t love that brings a lot of uncertainty, especially after her best friend leaves. Cue the hottest new author on the block that her company is dying to sign…

The chemistry builds through Nora’s time trying to court Andrew for the publishing house. As a romance buds, Nora’s quest to find herself gets her into some hot water - both personally and professionally.

I loved the character development of Nora - we’ve all been in a place that we can relate to her. Her character was so real and her predicament was just comical enough to remind you she was in a work of fiction. I loved the way that the author ended the story, it left so much open in a way that was welcome.

Nora is stuck in a publishing job where she feels undervalued. To make matters worse her favorite coworker left the company and her pay got cut. For Nora to make ends meet she picks up another job at a competing publishing company. Then she meets Andrew, a best selling author who is looking to sign a new book deal. Can Nora get Andrew to sign the contract and save her job at the same time?

This one was a little slow in the beginning but really picked up towards the middle/end. I loved how Nora knew she was in a mess and did not want to complicate things further by introducing a relationship in the mix. I also really appreciated how sweet and caring Andrew was to Nora even when he felt betrayed by her. Overall a cute read with a great appreciation for the love of books – right up my alley! Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

Must Love Books is a great debut from Shauna Robinson. Following Nora, an editorial assistant at a publishing house, as she navigates her career to find something she truly loves.

This book delved into multiple themes, including mental health, depression, self-discovery, as well as added romance.

I really enjoyed reading a book set in the publishing world, and found that I couldn’t put it down as I was rooting for Nora to find what she truly needed to be happy.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

MUST LOVE BOOKS is an enjoyable book that blends finding yourself with a dash of romance. Nora is an editorial assistant at a publishing house, and works in a division that publishes business books. She has been in her position for close to five years with little growth and her best friend in the company has joined the mass exodus for another job. To make matters worse, Nora's workload increases and her pay is cut as the company continues to streamline and restructure. She is unsettled in her professional life, and is looking for a change. Enter Andrew, who is a bestselling author for the publisher who Nora immediately makes an impression on when she blunders his lunch order. What could end in an adversarial relationship actually builds to a mutual attraction over time.

Robinson does a nice job of laying groundwork for the reader to understand Nora's history with depression and how circumstances in her professional and personal life contribute to a decline in mental health. The strain of holding down two jobs (one secretly at a rival publishing house in order to make up for her pay cut) leads to poor sleep and having to keep secrets. The relationship between Nora and Andrew is well-written and believable. The minor quibble I have with this book which is what I have with most involving romances- the miscommunication/lying trope which leads to a completely foreseeable conflict that I could have done without. I appreciated that Robinson left the book a bit open-ended, which allows the reader to decide for themselves where they see Nora in the future.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.