I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the main character, but I did have a hard time connecting with this book. The concept piqued my interest the moment I knew this was centered around two people falling in love without meeting. And while I did find moments of joy, especially with the witty retort between the margins of the manuscript and the sweet interactions between Will and Savannah, these moments were few and far between.

I had a hard time connecting with the main character. She played the victim to her circumstances too much and it was hard to be sympathetic towards her when she didn’t exude the confidence I knew she had in her. While this was told in a first person narrative, I never fully understood why Savannah was in the situation she was in because she wasn't explained or developed well.

It had all the promise, but overall I felt like the execution fell a bit short for me. I wanted so badly to fall in love with this book. While there were aspects of the story I enjoyed, it severely lacked the romance aspect. I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of the publishing work and the inner workings of an author writing a book, but that shouldn’t have been the majority of the book. The pace of the story felt off and slow while the romance moments were few and far between leaving me feeling underwhelmed towards the end.

Thank you to Netgally for allowing me to read an ARC of Meet Me in the Margins.

This book was cute, but it did take some time to finally invest in the book. The beginning felt a little forced with the characters. For example, when she tripped in the meeting, while funny, it felt silly and contrived. Of course I rooted for the characters and their plots, but I never felt a deep connection with them.

I love all book lover troupes, so I did ENJOY the book, but I was hoping for a little more.

The kind of book you just have such a blast reading. You know exactly what’s going to happen, yet that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. The characters are delightful, the concept is charming just a lovely easy read. Would recommend to anyone who loves a good romance!

Melissa Ferguson's latest novel is a fun dive into the publishing industry, an inside look at the anxiety of getting a first book published, and a unique romance.

The romance here is so interesting because the characters are almost never together on the page. We get a few scenes of in-person contact, but their relationship builds largely in the margins of her manuscript where they write back and forth in secret. I loved getting to know the characters and their relationship this way.

The side characters were also intriguing because they seem flat at first, but they develop in surprising ways. There are a couple plotlines here that are all interesting and could easily be their own story.

I recommend it for readers who like books about books, clean romances, and slow-burn romances.

Savannah is a low-level editor at Pennington Publishing, which sticks to producing only the highest of highbrow titles. During the day, she is editing the highbrow, but she is hiding a couple of secrets - one: she is writing a romance novel and two: she has discovered the Book Nook - a secret room where she finds writing inspiration.

One afternoon, she leaves her manuscript behind in the Book Nook. She returns to the nook to discover that someone has written notes in her margins. She is quick to take offense, but soon she realizes that she needs the help of her mystery editor. Through a process of elimination, she discovers who her mystery editor is and realizes that she wants more than just his notes in the margins.

Oh my, I really, really enjoyed this book! I loved the secret back and forth on the manuscript that helped build the tension between the two. It was charming and witty, just so perfect!

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I usually enjoy a good rom-com because they pull me in immediately and are easy to follow. Meet Me in the Margins, by Melissa Ferguson, is a rom-com novel, but I struggled to connect with the characters and get through the novel. I was over halfway through before I actually found it enjoyable. It was not a bad book, just couldn't connect with this one. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Witty & wonderful with enjoyable characters. The perfect read for book lovers: sweet romance with enough angst and shenanigans to make this a delightful read.

Meet Me In The Margins by Melissa Ferguson
Tags: RomCom; Epistolary Elements; Sweet

This was a sweet, romcom with some epistolary elements and a dash of You’ve Got Mail vibes. The premise was a fun one, and as a book lover who doesn’t love a publishing house romance with an editor who dreams of being a romance novelist?

I could definitely see this as a Hallmark movie, it definitely had that feel in storyline and characters. I enjoyed the two mains, Savannah and Will – and the slow build to their story. Yes, parts were easy to see coming, but that’s what I expect in a sweet, Hallmark-esque romance, so I thought it was appropriate. A highlight of the story was definitely the ‘notes in the margins’ back and forth with her editor.

In terms of wishes, the story was a bit slow to start for me, but I did feel that it finished on a stronger note. I also might have wished for a bit more secondary character development – Lyla was really the only other character I felt I got a feel for.

I was happy with the ending, as I noted – I thought it ended on a stronger note. I enjoyed the HEA for the main couple, and was pleased with some well deserved comeuppance that was doled out,
which made for a satisfactory wrap for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Pub for the opportunity to read and review and early copy. All opinions expressed are freely given and my own.

I could not get into this book for the life of me.

Maybe the style of writing, but I could not empathize with the characters, or really cared what was going to happen. Fell really flat for me.

Savannah is an editor at Pennington books, a staunchly nonfiction publishing house but is secretly writing- and doing some final edits at work on - a romance novel. Will is the CEO’s son and is brought on to whip it into shape. Savannah is almost caught with her book so she hides it in a secret room in the attic. She comes back later to find the pages organized and with editorial notes in the margins. But who can have made them? Who also knows about the secret room? And why is she drawn to the boss’s son?
It is a romcom with a light mystery twist. The characters were lovable and I enjoyed the comedy and pure zaniness of all the characters and plot. On the other hand, sometimes it veered from zaniness to base implausibility for me. Parts of the book made it hard for me to suspend disbelief.
I know it was supposed to be the quirky voice of Savannah’s but I was distracted by the overuse-of-dashes-between-words as if it needed to be super emphasized that she was creating one phrase or word. I did wish that there was more ‘romance’ between Savannah and Will. Still, I would give this a 3.5/4.0.

Savannah is trying to perfect her manuscript for her romance novel behind the scenes while also working at Pennington Publishing. She finds solace in her secret room behind the ARC room and leaves her manuscript there to work on. When she comes back to the room, she finds a secret editor has written suggestions all over her manuscript – suggestions that she reluctantly agrees with. After lots of notes back and forth, she realizes she is starting to fall for her secret editor.

If you are looking for a nice slow burn romance without any smut, this book is perfect for you! It is really heartwarming, and I love reading books about books! This book was a nice break from all the smut that popular romance seems to have. I actually shed a few tears at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Okay. I loved the heroine but I couldn't connect with the hero. I liked the set up, kinda epistolary, but it was just okay.

I wanted to like this one so much more than I did. The premise sounded great, I love the cover, but the execution fell flat. The writing was not for me. I didn't like being stuck in Savannah's head; she rambles on and on about minutiae, seemingly random topics. The choreography, probably detailed in an effort to slow it down and increase tension, was bloated and left me skimming, not immersed. I loved the secret ARC room and the idea of a secret editor, but I just had so much trouble wading through the writing that the story ended up flat for me, as well. There were a few things I had trouble suspending my disbelief on, too, like Savannah's ex dating her sister and then them announcing their engagement after mere months of dating—and the rest of the family celebrating that instead of questioning it. Sorry, that crosses the line for me!

Chef's Kiss was an aboslutely adorable book. I read most of it in one sitting. The illustrations are fantastic; I just wanted to look at them constantly and make sure I noticed every detail. The story was a good coming of age type story after finishing college; it felt relatable. The characters were likeable and relatable.

The blurb for Meet Me in the Margins made me feel like it was a promising read, but I mostly felt that it didn't live up to that potential. It started strong, setting up the main characters and the admittedly cute and fun plot device of the secret room. But by the end the whole thing just felt a little...superficial, I guess? While our main characters were relatively well-developed, I felt that the supporting cast as a whole was a bit one-dimensional. The plot unfolded predictably, and there was a surprising lack of romance in this romance novel. I'm giving it three stars because I did mostly enjoy it while I was reading it, but there's nothing of substance here that would prompt me to return for another read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an hones t review.

The ironic thing is that most of my criticisms are literally spelled out in the book via our editor hero’s notes on the heroine’s romance novel: “Slow beginning. Get to the meat. Give readers a reason to stay. If you bore them, you lose them. Awkward word choice? Drop this paragraph. We don’t need this character. Rabbit trail, stick to the point.” That quote resonated with me, because it so accurately reflected my issues with this book. It’s a very, very slow burn that barely pays off by the end, with an underdeveloped (PG) romance that bored me when it spent time focusing on other things. There were two characters who I wish hadn’t been included, and the writing didn’t flow well. I think the concept is super cute and I loved the You’ve Got Mail vibes, but the execution just wasn’t there.

The story follows Savannah, a woman who works for a publishing company. Things haven’t been going well at her job, and the situation goes from bad to worse when the boss’s son comes to work for the company. Will is stoic and serious, a suit who barely smiles… and he caught Savannah editing her own romance novel during office hours. Frazzled, Savannah hides the manuscript in the secret room she discovered at the office… and is shocked when someone makes notes on the pages. As Savannah and the mysterious editor continue exchanging notes about the book, they form a friendship that starts to feel like more.

I love the concept of the secret room and exchanging of notes with an unknown editor, so I was really excited to dive into this. And those parts of the book were fun. There was just so much other stuff that got in the way. I don’t know that I’d call this full-on women’s fiction, but the romance is so slow moving and underdeveloped that it’s certainly not the star. It’s single perspective, and Savannah doesn’t confirm her editor’s identity until the final act, but… c’mon. It’s obvious. There’s a lot more that could’ve been done with that. Instead, we get an uncomfortable subplot involving Savannah’s fitness-obsessed sister (who she probably shouldn’t be speaking to) and the ex (she still seems to lust after) who is now her future brother-in-law. I didn’t want any of that, it just made Savannah seem like a doormat, and the time would’ve been better spent on developing the love connection either in person or via the notes. Ultimately, this wasn’t “bad,” but when my criticisms of a book overshadow the story WHILE I’m reading it, then I know it wasn’t successful either. I appreciated receiving an early copy (and am voluntarily leaving a review), but this was more of a miss than a hit for me.

A perfect slow burn romance where our couple doesn’t even have to see each other face to face to begin to fall in love. The writing style was easy to read and flowed very nicely.

Savannah Cade’s life is a bit stuck. She’s 29, living in her younger sister’s home, and feeling forced to help that sister plan her wedding to the man who broke Savannah’s heart. Savannah works as an assistant editor at a stuffy-and-struggling publishing house in Nashville (who knew?). But she may be on the brink of her dream, as she was asked to send the manuscript of the romance novel she’s been secretly writing, Pining for You, to her favorite publisher. When the manuscript is found by a mystery person in what Savannah thought was a secret room in the office—a mystery person who, uninvited, offers some very helpful constructive criticism of her work—the two begin passing notes to each other in the margins (get it?) about the book and, soon, about themselves.

Meet Me in the Margins is a really straightforward story. The identity of the mystery person, the answer to the question of who Savannah will end up with, should surprise no one. The subplot involving Savannah’s sister Olivia and her fiancé Ferris was the best of the subplots. But several parts of the story could have been fleshed out to add more depth. I would have liked to have learned a lot more about Will’s time in New York, and why he is back in Nashville. Lyla was largely present for comic relief, but if she had learned about the manuscript and the mystery editor there could have been so many more funny conversations about it. There could have also been a little more friction if either the publisher Ms. Pennington or mean boss Giselle had gotten a little more screen time.

Meet Me in the Margins reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was cotton candy sweet. It was squeaky, G-rated clean; there were two kisses in the entire novel (and nothing more), and I don’t think there was a single profanity. It had moments of charm and humor, especially the scenes in the country bar and the courthouse. While it was not complex, it was interesting that both the actual novel and the fictional novel within were trying to write about a couple who will have a lifetime of happiness rather than just an insta-romance that may or may not last. And the story does reflect a love of publishing, writing, and reading (and when this pandemic is well and truly over, I’ve got to start going to these conventions where they apparently just hand out ARCs like candy 😄). 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of Meet Me in the Margins from Thomas Nelson. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I wish I liked this one more. It was easy to get into and then after the first 20%…it just kind of fell apart for me. I think the concept is cute, but I think it just needed more time in the oven.

It was cool to learn about some of the backend of working for a publisher, I think that gave a fun perspective to it. It was weird learning about ARC rooms while I was reading it as an ARC.

The part that made it hard to digest was that halfway through the book, nothing monumental happened in the romance section of the book . If it’s marketed as romance. I expect to see it in the front end of things.

Thank you to NetGalley, Melissa Ferguson and Thomas Nelson for the ARC. I received an advanced copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

For the sheer joy of reading, Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson is a must. This is the most fun I've had reading a book in ages.

The quirky Savannah Cade, ordinary daughter of an over-achieving family, had me in stitches and then in tears as she tries to achieve her dream of becoming an author. Working as an editor for a small, old fashioned publishing house in Nashville, she finds herself attracted to the owner's son who has just started to work there. She is also attracted to her mystery editor who leaves her notes "in the margins" of her manuscript in a secret room of the Victorian mansion where their office is located. Follow Savannah through her ups and downs (literally falling down) as she navigates the ins and outs of balancing family and work, and finding love.

No matter what genre is your favorite, you will enjoy this book, I was able to read an ARC on #NetGalley. It is scheduled for release February 15.