This book was AMAZING and I truly never wanted it to end. This is my first 5 star review of February, and it deserves all the stars and more! I’m currently experiencing a book hangover at this very moment.

What I loved:
▪️Everything about this book!
▪️The ‘You Got Mail’ vibe. Not as straight forward as you may think…definitely surprises here.
▪️Savannah. She was so strong (especially with the Ferris situation). I instantly loved her from page 1.
▪️William. He’s that guy that we all assume is a jerk, then we realize he’s not. He won me over with how he kept helping Savannah out of all her precarious situations. He was never rude, obnoxious or overbearing and I loved his non-nonsense vibe. *SWOONS*
▪️Their office being inside an old Victorian house truly fascinated me! I loved the detailed descriptions of the atmosphere and all of its rooms.
▪️The scene at the Courthouse was golden and hysterical 😂
▪️The Romance. No heaving bosoms and no bulging ripped muscles anywhere. This was 100% clean. It was so refreshing and straightforward which made for a realistic swoon worthy romance. I’m all warm, fuzzy and giddy inside. There was zero dialogue of wanting to rip each other’s clothes off and I loved ever bit of it. I do love my steam at times, but lately I’ve learned to appreciate clean books as well.
▪️The absence of many of my pet peeves. No Ex being lied to and tossed aside, no terrible MCs we can’t relate to and love, and no immature behavior. None of those cliches were present.
▪️The surprise twist and pure magical ending *swoons again*

What I disliked:
▪️Zero! I’m in love with this book - PERIOD 😍😂

I’m thrilled I had a chance to experience the greatness of this book. Thank you @netgalley and @thomasnelson for this #ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book releases February 15th and I highly recommended that it goes directly to your shopping cart. It will be for me because I now have to have a hard copy for my shelves. ❤️

I loved this book sooooo much! Everything about it was perfect in every possible way. I wrote a very detailed review of it on my blog, here: http://www.booksforwhat.com/2022/02/meet-me-in-margins-by-melissa-ferguson.html
The characters were super realistic, I enjoyed the setting (both Nashville and the publishing house atmosphere), I loved the whole idea of the book where Savannah gradually begins to trust herself and understands that she's the most (if not one of the most) important persons in her life, and of course, I really enjoyed the tension caused by the mystery editor!
In my opinion, this is a clean, cozy, charming, and incredibly funny book that focuses on plot and character development rather than the romance itself. No sex scenes are present (which I found refreshing).
I will be reading more by Melissa Ferguson in the future... I thoroughly enjoyed the banter in this one!

Thank you very much to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing book.
Goodreads review link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4541894846?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
I will post a review on the book's Amazon page after it is published, too.

3.78 Stars

I don’t know why I have such different opinions when I’m 80% into the book and when I’ve reached the end.

Because when I was reading upto the 80% mark I wanted to give this book a 5 star. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to share about how kind blowingly amazing this book felt to read. How I had a smile plastered on my face throughout the book because it was just that funny. How real and genuine the characters and story appeared. Finally, how I ruined my perfect sleep streak and couldn’t put it down until my sister had to snatch it off my hands to get some shut eye.

Honestly guys, this was a highly refreshing read.

But that all changed after I finished it and actually had time to reflect on what I read. That’s when I felt that overall, something was missing. The end didn’t really pack the punch I was hoping for. There wasn’t much physical interaction (like even the kiss wasn’t really described). I’m not asking for graphic content, but at least give me warm hugs and kisses. And they didn’t even use the many words they know to describe how they feel for each other. I also didn’t like certain bits (like when he uses her to gain intel on the inner workings of the employees).

I didn’t like how in the end the leads weren’t bothered that they had no interaction for weeks. And when they do get together it’s not sizzling.

BUT
that is all relevant only when you finish the book. Because while you are reading, none of this really registers because the story flows that well! The hero’s notes on the margins were the highlights of this book. It had me giggling nonstop.

Overall I think this is definitely worth a shot for any romance lovers out there who are looking for a quick, lighthearted and funny read!

I absolutely loved the premise of Meet Me in the Margins and I really enjoyed the author's writing style, my main problem was just the pacing. I found that it took quite a while for the premise to start to play out, however, once it did I really enjoyed this. The plot and characters were enjoyable and I really liked the setting (the main character works in publishing). This is a book that talks about books and publishing, but it never felt like pandering. My only other complaints were that the love interest was a bit unnecessarily rude at the start of the book, and I wish the main characters spent a bit more time together, but these are small issues and really didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book. I can't explain what it is, but this story and writing style really drew me in and I'm really glad I picked up this book.

I'm not sure I can accurately describe in words how much I loved reading this book. Meet Me in the Margins has reminded me that I can really love a romance that doesn't have any spice - or even much flirting for that matter. This romance is about communication and a deeper connection than insta-attraction. I found myself emotionally connected and filled with so much joy while reading this book - I literally did a few happy dances and laughed out loud more than a few times.

Our MC Savannah was so relatable, making me root for her wins and groan at her stupid decisions. The main premise of the story is that Savannah is a low-level editor at a small publishing house (who's main focus is nonfiction - no fluffy stuff). She is also an aspiring author who has been working on a manuscript. One day she leaves said manuscript in a secret room at the publishing house that she thinks only she knows about. Low and behold, the next day she comes in and someone has starting writing critiques in the margins. They write back and forth with each other over the manuscript, eventually developing feelings for one another. The thing is - Savannah doesn't know for sure who this mystery editor is. At the same time, she may be catching feels for her new boss, Will. I absolutely ADORE William Pennington. He has an air of mystery about him, and only seems to crack open his stoney exterior when he's with Savannah. They get into some hilarious situations - my favorites are the fake talent agent, and Valentine's Day in case you were wondering. You'll just have to read this yourself if you want to know why!

The side characters were really great as well. There were a couple I didn't like, but I think they were necessary. My favorite side character is Oswald, the sweet, introverted author who Savannah is an editor for.

The ending was wrapped up in a nice little epilogue that leaves you feeling complete.

I'm not sure that I'm allowed to share quotes from this ARC, so I won't in this review, but let me tell you - I was highlighting COMPLETE PARAGRAPHS. Melissa Ferguson is a phenomenal writer, and I saw many parallels between Ferguson's writing style and how Savannah (an aspiring author) develops her first novel and the points she fights her mystery editor on.

If you're looking for a clean, uplifting romance about writers & book lovers, this is it!

Meet Me in the Margins is an entertaining romantic comedy. The beginning was slow to get through with an overabundance of descriptions designed to be funny, but came across as too much. Thankfully, it settled down after a while. If I wasn’t reading this for a review, I don’t know if I wouldn’t have kept reading it based on the beginning. Let me encourage you. It gets better if you find the start as I did. While it's too predictable who the mystery editor is, the latter part of the book is enjoyable. When she gets confused who it likely is, the book never explains why there was a new comment on the manuscript when Will was gone for 2 days. Only why there is a candle lit.

You’ll like this novel if you like sweet romantic comedies. It definitely fits the clean and wholesome category on amazon. It surprised me to see it categorized as contemporary Christian romance. There are zero elements of faith or the characters expressing a Christian faith.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I DNFed this book about 30% in. From the very beginning the main character was obnoxious, the level of her obnoxiousness rose steadily as the book went on. The the other characters were even worse. The fact that one specific character (Ferris) managed to dismantle every notion that the MC built about her family was absolutely ridiculous. And speaking specifically about the "meet-cute" situation between the MC and the LI where a mysterious person edits the MC"s manuscript. Her reactions to the edits were not only annoying but also wholly unbelievable. As an editor shouldn't she have been able to see the sense. I mean one of the edits was basically a grammatical edit and she was up in arms and insulting the character of the editor. With qualities and reasonings she made up by the way.

This book is so cute! The characters are so fun and sweet, and their interactions are both romantic and hilarious with their banter. The fact that the story revolves around books and the backdrop is a small publishing firm just made it so much more interesting for me!

This isn’t a steamy romance, but honestly I didn’t miss it. This story was a fun light read that left me smiling!

This was pretty slow and repetitive for the first 30-50% but it picked up a lot for the second half. I really enjoyed the concept and I thought it was a fun one but I wish it was a little bit faster at the beginning to get to the main plot rather than setting the scene for a good 20%.

I liked the characters but there wasn’t any that I really fell in love with, even though Will and Lyla were pretty great. My thought process throughout the whole book though was where can I get access to this ARC room? HA.

Overall I thought it was good and I would still recommend!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 12% because I was really bored. I was just really struggling to get into this book and caring about the events happening and while it's not THAT far into the book, I could tell I wasn't going to mesh with the writing style and characters, so I'm cutting my losses early.

I really appreciate the ARC, but again, I just can't bring myself to continue this book. I found nothing particularly offensive, but it was definitely giving me two star vibes from how little I was caring about the characters and their struggles. The writing wasn't doing anything new for me and I didn't find anything in the plot that struck me as remarkable.

Meet Me in the Margins was a good read. Not quite what I was expecting, but good.

This book had a fun premise of the publishing company. Unique and creative!

Where I was expecting more of a romcom (based on the lighthearted cover nature, romcom like title, etc), I felt like it was less of a romcom, and more of just a slow romance, or women's fiction. Nothing wrong with this, just wasn't quite what I was expecting.

All in all, a good story. If you're looking for more of a banter, romcom kind of book, this may not be what you're after.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson publications for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for a review. There are so many great moments in this book that checked all the marks for me in a rom-com. An mortifying fall, awkward & nervous banter, and of course those priceless misunderstood moments that we all love. Savannah is a woman after my own heart because her love of books mirrors mine completely. It’s also really nice to see not only a sibling relationship that needs some work but also a ride or die best friend relationship. I loved every second of this book. I read it cover to cover in one day. It was the perfect sweet rom-com.

Savannah works as an assistant editor at Pennington Publishing. Secretly she has written a romance novel in hopes of one day being published. She leaves her manuscript behind in a hidden room that she believed was her own private little sanctuary. Little did she know she wasn’t the only one who knew about it and finds that this someone has proceeded to write notes in the margins of her manuscript.

I came off a very tense thriller and needed something that was sweet, light and predictable (in a good way). This book was perfect! It contained just enough romance and escapism. It felt like a mix of You’ve Got Mail and your favorite cozy Hallmark movie.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for good banter, no spice, family drama and a lover of rom-coms.

I want to thank NetGalley, Melissa Ferguson and Thomas Nelson--FICTION, Thomas Nelson for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

This book is a nice entertainment for a few hours: a light-hearted romcom which made me smile and forget about my daily troubles.

The story started slowly but the second half kept me glued to the pages and then I finished it in one sitting. The characters are likable even if sometimes I wanted to shake Savannah and shout at her to get a grip.

For those who would like to get a sneak peak into the days of a publishing company, what demons and doubts authors have, and how a book is born, this is an ideal read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an Advance Reading Copy.

I sure wasn't interested in the characters and didn't feel any chemistry between them. Even though the chapters flipped point of view, Hayes wasn't developed at all and seemed like a shell of a human. The romance danced around a lot and never fully hooked you in, I could tell it was there but I didn't care.

This is the third book that I have read by Melissa Ferguson and it definitely won’t be the last. This was a really enjoyable read and I cannot wait for Melissa’s next story. I loved the interaction between Will and Savannah from start to finish. The chemistry between them just leapt off the page, and I was rooting for them from the beginning. I also loved Lyla ‘s character, she was very entertaining and had me laughing out loud a couple of times. I was so glad that Savannah and her sister were able to make up by the end of the story. I loved that Will and Savannah end up getting their happily ever after by the end of the story, but does she also have her dream of becoming a published author come true as well, read their story to find out. I loved how the characters were so realistic and wonderfully imperfect, which made them so much more relatable for me. I would love a follow up story that is focused on Savannah’s sister, Olivia and see her truly happy and making her dreams come true and also meeting the love of her life, so that she can get her own happily ever after.

“If there’s any hope of anything happening for us beyond the margins of my manuscript, I need him to see the real me, flaws and all.”

Savannah Cade’s official job is working as an assistant editor at the prestigious and high-brow Pennington Publishing. But what her coworkers don’t know is that she has a secret job too—well, more like a secret hopeful job: Savannah has written a romance novel and would love to become a published author. Pennington positively, absolutely, definitely does not publish romance and looks down on the genre as being the lowest of the low, so if Savannah’s secret was discovered, it could put her job at risk. But when she leaves her manuscript behind one night in the hidden Book Nook—a secret room concealed by a filing cabinet—she returns to find that someone has written critical notes in the margins of her manuscript. While at first defensive, Savannah soon realizes that she actually needs this mystery editor’s help if she wants any chance of getting her novel published. As Savannah’s life gets more and more chaotic and the notes take a turn for the romantic, she may just discover that what she thinks she wants and what she has might be the same thing after all.

Melissa Ferguson’s latest novel takes the anonymous pen pal and office romance tropes to the next level. As an author and someone who has dabbled in publishing myself, I absolutely loved how Ferguson honestly depicts the industry. I had so much fun reading this swoony novel, and I even found myself laughing out loud at times (*cough, cough* the courthouse scene *cough, cough*). Amidst the romance and writing, Ferguson also does an excellent job examining the sometimes toxic side of family dynamics with heart and hope. With all the chaos in the world right now, a good romance novel can be exactly what we need, and Meet Me in the Margins hits just the spot!

Content Warnings: Prior toxic relationship, enclosed spaces, sexual harassment

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

Meet Me in the Margins is perfect delightful rom-com to get lost in for a few hours! And what could be better than a rom-com about books? I absolutely loved this story, from the title to the plot to the characters and all of their mishaps and miscommunications along the way. Will is the perfect book hero - no-nonsense and all business at work, yet unexpectedly witty, charming, and thoughtful. Savannah and her quirks kept me smiling throughout, from her interactions with her sister to friendship with Lyla.

This is one of those books where you know how it will turn out in the end, but that doesn’t keep the story from being utterly enchanting. Melissa Ferguson is one of my must-read authors, and this book might be my new favorite of hers! I highly recommend Meet Me in the Margins for fans of romantic comedies by authors like Betsy St. Amant and Bethany Turner.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Meet Me in the Margins was a delightful, and lighthearted read. I was expecting it to focus more on the romance, but Savannah was an easy character to like and follow. As an editor herself, I am not sure how realistic it was that she would need that much help editing/rewriting her book -- but I am not a writer. I wish that there was more a focus on the romance and the growth of the connection between herself and her love interest. Perhaps if the reader were given more of his perspective I would've been able to connect more fully with the story. This was a good, solid read, but wouldn't necessarily have me looking for this author's next book.

“Life is about movement, and pause. Work, and rest. It’s about relationships. About valuing other and truly taking the time to show them they are precious. About valuing yourself, too, and your uniquely given, whispered-into-your-DNA goals and dreams.”

I resonate with this quote and book so much! Savannah (aka Holly) is working as an acquisitions editor for Pennington. While she loves what she does. She has a secret. She is writing a romance novel! Savannah is so relatable. She is not like your typical leading ladies. She is this average girl pursuing her dreams. She makes mistakes along the way but learns many unforgettable lessons. Pennington publishing house is in trouble and needs a fresh perspective. In comes William Pennington. He is room commanding, stern, and handsome. The relationship building is slow but sweet! I loved reading the epilogue and getting a glimpse into their futures!