Review: Meet Me In The Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Release Date: 15 February 2021

Synopsis ~

Aspiring novelist Savannah keeps her secret ambition from her romance-hating publishing house co-workers---until they see her drop the manuscript. She stashes it in a hidden nook, then later finds it critically marked up. Her editor-in-chief's feedback is even worse. Desperate, Savannah seeks the mystery editor's help. As they exchange notes, attractions grow. Can she unmask his identity?

Review ~

This was such a sweet, fun and totally charming romance full of heart, relatable characters and plenty of book references for us book lovers! I'd highly recommend if sweet, light, non-steamy romances are for you!

3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐💫

Review can be found on my Instagram/Bookstagram, @a.f.reads

What I enjoyed:
-Fun Nashville setting.
-A book about books (always a win for me).
-Loved the premise of her secretly writing a novel and him secretly editing it.
-Adored them getting to know each other via notes passed back and forth on her manuscript.
-Secret reading room at the top of the old house / publishing office? Yes please!

What didn’t work for me:
-Savvy. For the most part I found her both boring and irritating—not a great combo.
-Toxic everything. Toxic work environment, toxic family relationships, toxic self talk…
-Savvy’s inner dialogue was often frenetic and so scattered that it really bothered me, pulling me out of the story. In fact, I found a lot of the dialogue to be a bit clumsy and worded awkwardly so that it lost its flow.

Overall a cute premise, and I can never be mad about reading a book about writing and editing books, but it fell a bit flat for me.

This was good and a quick read for those that enjoy wholesome love stories set in the literary/publishing/writing world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for providing me with an e-arc of this book! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoy romances with bookish characters and so when I saw this book I knew I had to give it a try. I’m sad to say this was unfortunately not a hit for me. The story is told from Savannah’s point of view. She works for a publisher as an editor and is an aspiring writer herself. As she is working on her manuscript she finds herself with a bit of a pen pal in the margins of the book. A mystery editor is helping her get her story up to snuff for submission.

Here’s the thing, I’ve been an avid reader my whole life. When I picked it up as a teenager, Shopaholic by Kinsella was the first book I ever dnf’d. So I knew I was in trouble when that book was referred to multiple times in the first few chapters. The truth is I have never been a fan of an overly critical, clumsy and self deprecating main character. Nor do I like to see characters whose self esteem is so low they doubt every last thing about themselves and their lives. So Savannah was a hard sell for me.

The writing of this book is good quality and there are some funny moments and enjoyable bookish references which made me smile. Sadly this was not enough to get past the fact that I was not at all fond of the main character of this book. I found Savannah aggressively mediocre and her lack of self-esteem was very off-putting to me. It was too bad that the entire book was from her perspective because I would have very much enjoyed seeing more of Will and getting to know him. Without his perspective it was difficult to believe in their attraction and to care about them getting together. I wanted to see them together more and to have their chemistry build more beyond the margins of the manuscript.

The pacing of the book was nice and I enjoyed how the relationship moved along at a comfortable and natural pace. I liked the premise of the story and the plot was enjoyable. Every moment spent editing her manuscript in the book nook was a joy to behold. While this book did not work for me I know that it boils down to taste and is not a reflection of the story itself. I hope many readers have fun with it!

A little different romance this time. A writer who live a romance. Well a writer that search for her pubplisher.any things happens in the punlishers house. Ans she wrote romances under a different name but a fun fact happens and some people get to know her better. She has secret help and she has no clues who that could be. She has also a very strange story home but that is not relevant for her success. At least I think so. A.very hard world mist be there to publish a book. A big bow to all out there.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers for this Arc.

Meet Me In The Margins is a fun, quick rom-com with an adorable premise. Savannah Cade works in a publishing house that wants nothing to do with “trashy” reads, so when she brings her rom-com manuscript to the office one day, she needs to find a place to hide it from her coworkers. Luckily, she has the perfect place–a secret Book Nook off the back of the company’s ARC room. She’s pretty sure she’s the only one who ever visits the book nook, until she comes back to find notes in the margins of her manuscripts.

I adored this premise and thought this book was so much fun. I loved the scenes inside the publishing house, and the weird situation with Savannah’s sister and her fiance. It would’ve been nice to get some more in-person scenes between the love interests, though. I liked that the majority of their relationship took place between the pages, but I was hoping for a little more in-person romance once the secret was revealed.

This book is sure to be a favorite among bookstagrammers. I think every single one of us would LOVE to spend five minutes in that ARC room, especially if we’re able to grab anything we want!

Savannah Cade is secretly writing a romance novel while working for a non-fiction publishing company. A company that does not publish “fluffy” love stories. Knowing that she needs to keep her manuscript out of sight, Savannah chooses the Book Nook/ARC Room that is a hidden room few know about. When she returns to get her book there are notes written in the margins. What follows is a budding romance that is happening in the pages of a book.

Book lovers rejoice! This was such a fun read, and very relatable for anyone who loves reading. I couldn’t get enough of the back and forth between Savannah and the mystery writer. While this was not the only part of the story, it was the main one. Savannah’s family is a little quirky, meaning that her parents are ok with her ex-boyfriend marrying her younger sister. What?! What happens there is a little predictable, but still fun to read about!

Overall I highly recommend this book!

✨ Review ✨ Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson
Savannah, an assistant acquisitions editor at Pennington Press, is working on finishing her first romance novel, while juggling changes at work when Will Pennington, the owner's son becomes her new boss. Savannah starts trading comments comments in the margins of her draft with a mystery editor - will she be able to revise her draft in time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: contemporary romance, Rom-com, sweet romance
Location: Nashville
Pub Date: Feb 15

This read was totally cute, and I was living for the publishing and book references. Nothing says romance like an ARC room. 😂❤️📚

The steam level for this is at like a negative 5...there is absolutely none. However, it was still really enjoyable as the characters shared brainy margin comments on the side.

It was definitely a quick read and I flew through it in an afternoon and evening. It was just what I needed!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Sweet romances without a lot of steam
⭕️ Books (duh) and writing
⭕️ Nashville bars and country music

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and #netgalley for a copy of this book!

What a delightful read! Quick, witty, and unputdownable! I don’t even like fun romances, but this fulfilled me with its relatable characters, realistic plot, and who better to enjoy a book about a book than someone who dreams of an ARC room magically appearing behind a shelf! If this book were a dessert, it would be sweet, a little tart, and topped with a deliciously surprising whipped cream. Key Lime pie, it would be key lime pie!

Savannah Cade’s day job is as an editor at Pennington Publishing, but in her free time she is secretly writing a romance novel. Savannah spends a lot of her time in the secret ARC room at the publishing house. A whole room full of advance copies of books 😍 plz bring me there ASAP! Being in this room provides inspiration for her novel. After leaving her manuscript behind one day, she returns to discover that a mystery person has been reading her book and leaving notes in the margins.

This was such a feel-good, fun, and cute book to read. I almost squealed when I saw the word “bookstagrammer” in the story! All of the talk about books made my heart happy. I love books about books! Melissa Ferguson’s writing is stunning and this one could easily be read in one sitting. I really loved Savannah as a main character. She was the perfect amount of quirky and awkward, while trying to live up to her perfect family’s expectations. The mystery editor was predictable, but I still loved how the story unfolded and wrapped up. Meet Me in the Margins is sure to put a smile on the faces of book lovers.

The plot of the story was super cute. I loved how the main character worked in the book industry and wanted to become an author herself.
I felt though some parts of the book were rushed through. For example at the very end when she meets her secret editor. The surprise of finding out who it was, lacked, and there wasn’t much surprise. It seemed like the editor knew all along who the mystery writer was and it ruined the hype.

Overall, I thought it was a cute story

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I devoured this book in a few hours, I couldn't put it down. Though it is extremely obvious that it was Will that edited her manuscript for her and the story tries to create that it was someone else. It's a slow burn but god I enjoyed that they romantically got together only at the end of it and the kiss scene was a delight, I just kept rereading that part and even showing it to my partner. It did felt a bit rushed at the end or that something was lacking in the part where Will and Savannah had a "fall out" and it felt a bit awkward too. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this over the weekend. It brought back my love for reading to say the least, thank you.

This book was so much fun to read. I devoured it in a single session, and by the time I closed it, my face hurt from smiling. The chemistry between these two is palpable from the beginning. I can easily see myself re-reading this over and over again. And I cannot wait for more releases from this author!

This book was an absolute wonderful read! It's a sweet clean romance that is a fun read, the perfect book to escape with for a couple of hours. I loved it and highly recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson--FICTION via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a sweet, cute, and fun clean read. This book does not have the steamy scenes (only two kissing scenes in the whole book) in it that a lot of the books I’ve read have had, but honestly I didn’t miss it.

This was a great slow-burn workplace romance fluffy read with a slight grumpy-sunshine vibe to it with Will being the scary new supervisor that came in guns blazing to make change and Savannah being optimistic for the most part.

The side stories in the book I didn’t feel detract from the story at all which I enjoyed as sometimes the side characters get in the way or are unnecessary, but they worked in this one.

The ending is predictable but honestly I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I knew what I wanted in the ending and it was delivered, what more could I ask for? I recommend this one highly if you are looking for a clean romance book!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC of this book! I was so excited to read this one in advance of its release!

This is a sweet romance, set in a publishing firm, where Savannah Cade is an editor by day and a romance writer on the side. When she finds herself in a rush to submit her manuscript but has to hide her work from her boos, she leaves her work in a small room, hidden in the attic. On her return, Savannah finds that her manuscript has been edited with notes in the margins. Not knowing who the secret editor is, she eventually decides to leave her manuscript there again in the hope of receiving more feedback. As time goes on, they start to exchange notes.
A thoroughly delightful book, with a clever storyline. The characters of Savannah and Will were both interesting, with Will trying to do the right thing by his mother, the owner of Pennington Publishing and the employees. He listens to Savannah, making her feel valued. I enjoyed watching this friendship develop, revealing more about the background of both Will and Savannah, which involves baggage from their families. I found the setting of the book fascinating and added to the charm of this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wasn't expecting this book to make me cry!!! I think this might be my favorite of all of Melissa Fergusons books so far ! Will was the epitimome of a dashing lead, the scene at the courthouse was just, heart eyes, all the heart eyes. I wish they would have gotten together quicker than the last chapter but that's my only complaint!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc copy of meet me at the margins !

I enjoyed this book - it's got a nice story arc, and although predictable from the beginning I found myself desperate to finish it to see if I was right! It's written nicely, the characters are believable and easy to like. It's a story to escape into where nothing too awful happens, a nice read! I was a little lost in it's American setting but it doesn't detract from the story

Honestly, I found Meet Me in the Margins to be an enjoyable but middle of the road romance novel. It had all of the classic elements of a sweet introduction between the characters but the plot was weighed down by the author's expansive writing. The irony that the first few pages describes how an author must sometimes cut out quite a bit of their hard work, was not lost on this reader as Ferguson should have done the same.

"Meet Me in the Margins" follows Savannah Cade, an assistant editor who aspires to be a romance author, which poses a slight problem given that the publishing house where she works specializes in literary fiction and nonfiction titles. On a particularly stressful day at work, she forgets her secret manuscript in a book nook she found in the company's ARC room only to find the manuscript full of edits in the first chapter. After a rejection from her dream publisher, she asks the mystery editor for help in strengthening her manuscript for publication and begins to start having feelings for the person behind the notes in the margins. At the same time, she also begins to have feelings for Will Penington, the owner's son who just started working at Penington.

This book was such a warm, cozy, page-turner that kept a smile on my face. I've noticed that I gravitate towards books involving writers and editors in some fashion and working at a publishing house has always been a bit of a dream job for me. I enjoyed the humor and the writing style and felt invested in the success of Savannah's novel. It reminded me a little bit of "You Got Mail" in terms of plot, and I liked the change of pace in terms of the development of the relationship between the main character and the love interest. However, I did feel that the first few chapters painted Savannah in too much of an unfavorable light and that the book lost a little bit of footing towards the end. I also found myself a bit frustrated with the main character when she convinced herself that another person was the mystery editor when it was fairly obvious that it was another character.

Nevertheless, this was a very fun read, perfect for Valentine's Day, and I would definitely pick up another book by this author.