I know a book isn’t my favorite when I keep forgetting to pick it up again. This was that kind of book. The premise is soooo cute. And the title even more so. But the execution just left me wanting. Literally the best parts (and the parts that kept me reading) were the quilt dialogue between Andrew and Nora. That’s it. The rest actually seem painfully slow. Like, I knew the ending from page 3…..no surprising twists or anything. And not in the cute Sophie Kindella or dramatic Nicholas Sparks predictable-but-enjoyable way. This was just slow and expected. The title was really the best part of the book.

Although I am not the target audience for this book, I enjoyed it alot. Finding yourself is what we used to call it and this book describes it perfectly!

Must Love Books is the case of “looks like a rom-com but 100% isn’t”. Because I went in with that thought process, I was a bit disappointed. The book deeply discusses mental health particularly depression and suicidal thoughts. The author did a good job talking about these real-life struggles. While it was a beautiful story of self-discovery and gaining things in life you didn’t think of, Nora was a character I grew frustrated with and it was hard to relate to her actions. The romance aspect of this book also fell flat (maybe because of the lies) but I did love Andrew as a hero.

I had a hard time reading this book due to the mental health issues. It was not a light fun RomCom read. I did finish the book but it is not one that I would recommend as a fun RomCom.

Nora thought she had her dream job until she realized: dream jobs don't exist. A hopeful story about one woman's downward spiral. Get story of self discovery and getting what you didn't realize you wanted.

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

I thought after seeing the cover for this book that I would be reading a romance, so I was a little disappointed. But I still really enjoyed where this story took me.

3.5 stars

Meet Nora Hughes. Five years ago, she was an ambitious graduate with an English degree, hopeful that her first job as an Editorial Assistant at the long-standing business book publisher would launch her career into publishing - and into her favorite genre, fiction. Five years later, however, Nora is still at Parsons, and while the job was bearable before, with friendly coworkers and encouraging bosses, she is now among the few left after a long spurt of layovers. More work, less pay, and even less career fulfillment. Nora struggles to find her true calling in life with help from an unexpected job offer and a goofy, young, charismatic author.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and thought the voice of the book itself was wonderful. Robinson did a fantastic job making sure I felt everything Nora was feeling and understood each of those feelings. The writing was descriptive while also being very easy to read and relate to. I do love the key aspect of self-discovery in this novel as well.

However, while I did understand Nora's feelings, and her battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, I found her a frustrating character to root for. I felt so much anxiety and misunderstanding surrounding Nora's relationship with her romantic interest, Andrew. How much lying and deceit Nora accomplished while trying to plan out Andrew's professional life for her own gain was frustrating. While I understand the circumstances and think that the situation was very realistic because Nora was truly stretched thin on every penny she made, I don't think it's realistic that Andrew and Nora could build a truly successful relationship based on this. She knowingly lead Andrew on while also thinking things like "He doesn't deserve this" but then performing actions moments later that contradicted this. These moments in the book made me very frustrated.

Overall, I gave this one three stars. I was able to fly through the book quickly, and I do think writing was great and the story was good. I just felt a little too much frustration with the book to give it more than three stars.

real rating 3.5
This book was slightly unexpected. I liked how the author portrays real-life struggles and mental health issues. What Nora was going through was real, honest, raw, and -I know that for many- relatable.
The romance is obviously, not the main topic, which is fine. I really appreciate the fact that Nora knew she needed time to have a stable, healthy relationship because many romance books picture love as the answer to everything. And even though love certainly helps, it doesn't solve mental health issues. However, I did find the romance a bit flat and unexciting. I think it could've been a bit better.
Nora was a great character. I could totally sympathize with her about her struggles and life crisis. And I loved the fantastic growth she had. But I did find her a tiny bit annoying at some point. As for Andrew, I loved him. He was terrific, pure gold.

I wanted to love this more than I did - while the writing is engaging and I did feel sympathy for Nora (the protagonist), I didn't love the relationship between her and Andrew, and her lies felt a bit forced. I wanted a more realistic decription of the mental health issues that she goes/is going through. I might reread this to see if my opinion changes, but overall I'm looking forward to trying a different book from this author.

I really wanted to like this book. It has so much of the elements that i usually love but i just really could not get into it. Maybe it was just the wrong time in life. I DNF around 50%

I enjoyed this book. Overall, the characters were well-developed, and the message of self-care and mental health is an important one. It dealt with the topic of depression in the day-to-day living of the main character, but was not a "heavy" read because of the way it was woven into the overall story which I found to be quite effective.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love books about books and chick lit. I tagged this as a coming of age in that the MC is still growing in adulthood and coming to terms with her true “adult career.” I could see the ethical issues of moonlighting in the same field coming from a mile away. Cute, light read with some more realistic real world problems.

✨Book Review✨
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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Must Love Books is a book that I would highly recommend. Nora works as an editorial assistant at a company that mistreats her and devalues her on a regular basis. When they cut her pay, she can no longer make ends meet and is forced to find another job. She just so happens to find this job at a competing publishing house. All the while, she is assigned to signing author Andrew Santos, but where will she sign him? Is she just using him since she will gain from his success? Will this fact come between their blooming relationship?
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This book did a wonderful job balancing deep topics such as race and depression, with witty banter and light romance, all while taking Nora on a journey to find herself. If you like more mature coming of age books, this one will be for you. This book is really not a romance, but Nora and Andrew's relationship was one of my favorite parts of this story.

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson promises to pack a powerful punch, but unfortunately falls short of the mark. While I normally LOVE career-focused fiction about professional women (in fact, these types of stories are some of my favorite to read because I love learning about different industries), Must Love Books failed to grab my attention almost immediately. I kept waiting for it to get better, and when it hadn't by the halfway mark, I just didn't care anymore, although I did drag my feet to finish the book. I think part of the problem with this novel is that it gives too much of the technical, mundane details of working a publishing job, instead of painting the industry in an intriguing way. Unfortunately, this book was just "ok" to me, and is not something that I can enthusiastically recommend to others.

I thought this book would be a romance by the cover, but it was so much more. It provided a realistic picture of mental health issues, but not in a textbook kind of way. And despite that, the story was fun and I enjoyed it very much.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

[TRIGGER WARNINGS: Depression, racism, suicidal thoughts].

Must Love Books is a heartwarming, cleverly written book about Nora who works in the publishing world of books. But it's not all Nira was hoping it would be and she longs to find a spark of happiness and joy within her life.
This book tackles some serious topics such as depression and suicidal thoughts and even racism, but does them in a great way. I am going through similar feelings as Nora right now with feeling no spark in my life and suffering with depression and this book was a calming read for me to make me feel I'm not alone.
There are some romantic elements in this book which was great to mix up the story a little and I loved the romantic atmosphere between Nora and Andrew too.
If you love books about books and light romance you'll enjoy this read.

Must Love Books by Sauna Robinson follows Nora who thought when she landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, it was her first step towards The Dream Job. Because, honestly, is there anything dreamier than making books for a living? But after five years of lunch orders, finicky authors, and per my last emails, Nora has come to one grand conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist. With her life spiraling and the Parsons staff sinking, Nora gets hit with even worse news. Parsons is cutting her already unlivable salary. Unable to afford her rent and without even the novels she once loved as a comfort, Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet…and maybe poach some Parsons' authors along the way. But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie. Her new Dream Job, ever-optimistic Andrew, or...herself and her future.

I don't think this book is the most memorable book I've ever read but it was an enjoyable read in the moment. I related to the main characters career and life uncertainty and of course her love of books.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, but I had a hard time with the main characters toward the middle, especially Nora. I also wish the ending was a bit different. It was a decent read but not one I will go out of my way to recommend.

Nora is an editorial assistant who has stayed way too long in her position. She feels stuck in every aspect of her life. Work, personal, financial and most importantly, mental health wise. When anyone is in a bad place they aren’t always capable of making the best decisions for themselves. Rather than being proactive and job hunting as so many of her colleagues have done, she just sits, waits and stews and internally complains to herself and does a lot of “woe is me” thinking. Then in another blow her salary gets cut and increase her workload. She has rent to pay so takes an under the table job with a competitor and winds up both lying and disappointing everyone including herself again and again. It wasn’t at all what I was anticipating when I read the blurb. It did end on an up note, but it was a hard listen getting there.

I enjoyed Must Love Books for the most part, and I’m very glad I read it. However, it was a bit slow for the first half of the book. Nora has a terrible job, and her frustration and depression with her life are very evident during the first half of the book. But, it did pick up and I liked that Nora started looking at her job, and her life in a much better light. Must Love Books is a good look at what it’s like to find out your dream job, is not a dream at all, and it’s time to re-evaluate your life and make some tough decisions.