Meet Me in the Margins is a delightful rom-com by Melissa Ferguson. If you are looking for steam, this book isn't for you, as it is on par with a Hallmark movie. But the story is sweet and I found myself cheering for and empathizing with the main character, Savannah. She works at a publishing company housed in a Victorian mansion, complete with a secret room. I would love to have a hideaway like that! The scene on Valentine's Day had me laughing out loud and my favorite banter was the reference to Phantom of the Opera. I read this one in a day and it was a great pick-me-up and stress reliever. I received a complimentary copy of this book and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this opportunity. Meet Me in the Margins is out on February 15th!

Savannah works for a publishing house that publishes serious work, and would probably get fired if anyone knew she was secretly writing a romance novel and shopping it to another house... but she accidentally drops her WiP during a staff meeting, then hides it away in a secret annex (doesn't your office have a cozy secret annex?) and someone offers feedback instead of turning her in... meanwhile, she is recruiting authors, dealing with asshole clients, trying to retain her job as others are let go, and not getting along so well with the owner's newly in charge son.

Part Cyrano, part the Bookshop Around the Corner, I normally dislike hate to love and secret admirer type romances, but the writing about writing is always a strong hook. The mystery of the mystery editor is not so surprising, but that's dramatic irony for you. Overall this is a clever book.

I received a reader's advance review copy of #MeetMeInTheMargins from #NetGalley.

This was a delightful novel. I liked that the heroine was someone who wasn’t very confident in her abilities and her appeal. The other characters were a bit too cartoonish. The sister was too tightly wrapped up in her own interests and didn’t even feel badly that the heroine’s long-time boyfriend had dumped her and picked up with the sister. The others in the publishing house were caricatures that might appear on a TV sitcom, but not real life. But the relationship between Savannah and William both in their notes to each other and in their conversations in real life. I wanted to spend more time with them. That’s a sign of a good book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

A solid middle of the road romance. I was not blown away by any means but I was entertained the whole way. I liked the publishing industry setting and the characters have good chemistry. The exchange of notes reminded me a bit of *The Flatshare* and I wish we could have seen even more of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Yes, I LOVED it!

Anything to do with books is always going to be on my love it list. So the premise was bound to tug on my heart. I also loved the characters. Savannah is down-to-earth and working hard. Her sister is driven, and her parents are incomprehensible to me. Will is uptight, driven, and we're not sure how happy he is with being back in Tennessee. But if you get him out of the office, you see a whole different side to him. There's Savannah's friend who is quirky, Sam who is quiet—almost a seeming non-entity, authors with personality disorders, librarians willing to use force at conventions for merch, and even more! I laughed and smiled during this one.

This is one of those books that seemed to end a little too quickly for me (I know, I know—leave them wanting more instead of dreading the last few pages). I'm not saying it was a bad ending, just that I wanted to keep living in this little book world.

The second I read the description I knew I needed to read this!


Though it did take me a moment to get into the story, once I was into I has such a blast following Savannah her job and secret romance novel writing. The concept is so cute and easy to love, I do however wish that a bit more detail for Will had been added, his character fell a little flat for me.

This book left me craving more penpal esque banter and flirting.


Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for granting me an E-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 STARS - I love books set within the publishing industry, so when I read that this book centred around a nonfiction book editor who has secret aspirations of becoming a romance writer and the plot included a secret room and romance, my interest was piqued!

The concept of Savannah and her mysterious editor was cute, but the story unfortunately fell flat in its execution. There's a lack of energy to the story and I soon became frustrated with the cliched characters, predictable plot and the twist that was obvious very early on. I didn't like being stuck in Savannah's head as she rambles on about her lack of love life, family, horrible boss etc. and I wanted more explanation about Sav's rather unique family situation. There are misunderstandings, an overly pushy sister, and a cringy future brother-in-law which make for an interesting read, but the romance was much too tame.

I had such high hopes for a fun, light romance set in the world of publishing. I liked certain aspects (hidden room, publishing world, burgeoning romance between the main character and a mystery person), but it didn't go far enough with its characters and plot, leaving me with an underwhelming read that didn't have enough romance.

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

This is the first book I've read by Melissa Ferguson and I really enjoyed it. The cover and title drew me in. An editor at a small, but formal publishing house accidentally drops her own personal manuscript during a meeting and after frantically gathering it up needs a place to stash it. She has discovered a secret room in the attic behind where all the advance reader copies are stored and stashes it there, only to come back and discover that it has been marked up by someone else. As the story progresses, she relies more and more on her mystery editor for help with her manuscript. The question is, who is her mystery editor? As Savannah begins to get closer to her mystery editor, she also begins to have feeling for someone else. While I had my suspicions about who the mystery editor was, the book left me guessing along with Savannah until the very end. A sweet book that I highly recommend for lovers of romance.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson - FICTION and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I hear the phrase 'laugh out loud romantic comedy' all the time and it has always baffled me. The most I am usually able to muster up is a chuckle. Movies make me guffaw, but books don't usually make me forget myself and my surroundings that much. Well, this book did. I chuckled, I guffawed, I talked to the pages. This was a very fun read.

Savannah Cade would describe herself as a middling human - especially since the family she comes from are all over-achievers. She has feelings of inadequacy exacerbated by a boyfriend-soon-to-be-brother-in-law situation. Yep, her younger, more successful sister is marrying her ex-boyfriend of 8 years. Awks.

In the midst of budget cuts in the small publishing house where Savannah works as a junior editor, William Pennington, the boss's son sweeps as the new VP and wants to turn the company around. To Savannah's surprise he seems to want her to be part of the change - even though she doubts her own value. He seems to like her work and seems to like her, even though he may think she is a tiny bit ridiculous.

She's also pursuing a dream to become a romance author but she's desperately in need of a good editor (that's not herself obviously). Hmmm - where would she find one? In the secret attic room of her publishing house of course!

I love the chemistry between William and Savannah - it's subtle but still electric. And this author can certainly turn a phrase. The other characters are superbly drawn, especially Lyla who is a lovely, sardonic treat.

This book is very well-written and I think it's going to be one of the most popular romantic comedies of the year.

The writing was witty and fun, I really enjoyed this book.
This is a romance and I was invested in the characters and their relationship. It gave me 90's hallmark movies vibes and I loved it.
a great contemporary book and a must read for romance lovers.

This is a very sweet book - that is definitely in the romance genre - but falls more to the side of Women's Fiction for me. .Savannah is an editor with a very small, very traditional publishing house - she has also been writing a romance novel in her spare time for a long time. She's pitched it to an editor - and on the verge of her writing dreams coming true -until that very editor wants her to do a major rewrite before she retires for a shot at getting the book published. At the same time, Savannah's day job is changing. The publishing house is in financial trouble - and the owner's son is there to take over and make a lot of changes. Savannah begins working on her book in a hidden room in the publishing house - and starts finding editorial notes in the margins. What offends her deeply at first - becomes a special relationship with her mystery editor - and has her falling in love with a person she's never met.

I have a great love of epistolary romance - and I had thought this book would be more like that - but it wasn't. It is a version of that - but we hear more about the notes than read them for ourselves. We also don't get a lot of time between Savannah and Will. The time we do get is quality - but it leaves so many questions hanging.

I liked a lot about this book - but some things weren't the greatest for me. It is very much a slow burn (Which is fine) - but I am not even sure we even get a kiss between the characters let alone anything more. IT also felt too slow for me at times. I would have liked more of Will and Savannah talking - or even more of Savannah and her mystery editor (Rather than just being told about it happening). I think that is where the connection was missing for me.

Overall this book had some great characters and the relationship between Savannah and her sister was particularly well done.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

I received a copy of this title in return for a fair review.

Savannah finally might get her book published! There are just a couple of problems: She only has a little over a month to completely rewrite it and she still has to do her day job at the floundering publishing company she works for. There is hope though, as she discovers a mystery editor who has promised to help her.

Sparks soon fly, but she finds herself torn between her growing feelings for her new boss and the budding relationship with her mysterious editor. Who will she decide is her perfect match? And will she make her deadline and have her book chosen for publication?

This is a super-cute quick read with fun characters and witty dialogue. Highly recommended for fans of a bookish romance.

I love books set in the book world, so I was particularly excited to read Meet Me in the Margins. I thought it was a cute (although not always) realistic story. I found it to be a quick read!

This book was adorable. If you are a fan of romantic comedy, it is perfect for you! I found myself lost in the story and in love with the characters. I wish I had a little nook, like Savannah. The perfect story for fans of the genre. :)

This was the perfect holiday book! It read quickly, the characters were likeable, and it had the happily ever after I'd been craving after reading several books on heavier topics. The descriptions of the crazy librarians trying to grab up books and merchandise made me laugh out loud!

I love it.

I really didn't want this book to end. The concept was original and interesting, and I enjoyed how it unfolded. I didn't think the secret room needed to be quite so far fetched, but there was charm to it.

My only real critique of this book is that it lacks any level of diversity. All characters seem to be straight, white people, not even any background characters seemed to be diversified even for diversities sake.

Other than that it lives up to expectation in terms of romance tropes and was a breeze to get through.

I really enjoyed this one! Definitely a slow burn full of yearning, familial drama, and everyone's favorite world: publishing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 out of 5

Savannah Cade is living the dream, working as an (assistant) acquisitions editor at Pennington Books and writing her own romance novel in her spare time. When someone discovers her secret hideaway in the ARC room and leaves edits on her manuscript, There were times I wanted to throw my kindle across the room, but I couldn't put it down once I got into it.
Savannah felt very real, in a way where I was ready to square up with her family and FERRIS... don't even get me started on Ferris. I loved the friendship developing between Savannah and William as he takes on more responsibility at Pennington. The banter between Savannah and her Mystery Editor was cute and fun throughout the book. The parts that detracted for me were sometimes Savannah seemed intentionally dense to a situation or tried to convince herself she was wrong when she was clearly right. Miscommunication is my least favorite trope, but I do love a happy ending!

Overall, a very enjoyable read!

This book wasn't what I expected but I loved it! I love when books surprise you. Sometimes when you get a book and you think it will be one way and it isn't that way it is kind of a letdown... This book doesn't have that problem! Can't wait to get a paper copy!

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley & Thomas Nelson--FICTION, for the opportunity to receive a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
For us, bookworms Meet Me in the Margins is an interesting book because it is a rom-com taking place in a small publishing house.
Yes, the couple is predictable, and the plot is a good fluff book for me. I certainly see it as a movie through Hallmark or even Netflix.
I love this trope where they fall in love over the writing. Yes, there are far-fetched parts in the story, like the Cade family’s idea of loyalty is a little warped, and Savannah draws out the mystery of her editor longer than is perhaps realistic. The other reason I reduced a star is that It could easily be longer and expand more of Will's background and personality. He's amazing, and it would be good to add more depth to his character. It would be good to have some more romantic moments before the ending.

3.5 stars A cute, if predictable, romance set in a book publishing company in Nashville. Savannah works for a small, prestigious publishing company that specializes in highbrow titles but she's secretly working on her own romance novel. She leaves her manuscript behind in a secret room one day and when she returns discovers that a mystery editor has left notes for her in the margins. As Savannah continues to share margin notes with her mystery editor she gradually realizes that she's falling for him. An enjoyable bookish romance with You've Got Mail/She Loves Me/Shop Around the Corner vibes and a main character you can't help but root for!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.