great bookish contemporary novel - would recommend for bookclubs and libraries. would be interested to see if there is a sequel or if the sister gets her own book

Meet Me in the Margins is a highly entertaining romantic comedy. I adored Savannah and Will characters. The back and forth between the two of them was priceless. Ferguson’s voice is fresh and fun!

I think all fans of rom-com are really going to love this one.

Great big thank you to Thomas Nelson--FICTION and NetGalley for my copy!

The story has good characters, it has a good plot but I can't hook myself to its pages, it cost me to grab it again every time I left it but I finished it and it is a beautiful story, with a nice message I just wish I was one hundred percent invested in it

SUPER cute and fun read! A solid 4.5 stars from me. Thank you for allowing me to read and review this!

Overall, Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson was a sweet book. The premise was interesting, and I enjoyed the publishing house perspective. However, if you are looking for something beyond surface level sweetness, you will probably not find it in this book. No steam at all, for those who liked to be warned before they pick up a romance.

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

This is an ARC I received from netgalley and I am glad I didn’t miss the chance to read it. I was so absorbed reading this at every waking moment available, and if I didn’t have a job I would have stayed awake finishing it.

This is an escapist novel through and through. The description of the publishing house and the process of publishing was so vivid that I actually felt like an editor for the a week.
The writing itself is to the point with very rare moments of dragging descriptions. It was also so funny I had to keep myself from laughing out loud on the bus on the way home for the fear of people thinking I am crazy.
Finally, I recommend reading this novel if you are in a reading slump or at a difficult time and you need something light to read.

Sadly, I had to deduct one star from my review for the predictability of the events. I felt that I knew all the mysteries in the book before it was revealed on paper. It got to a point that there was a specific sentence in the end that I felt I have read or seen before in another rom-com, but this was made up by the writing itself and how grabbing it is, even though I knew what to expect, I wanted to know how the writer was planning to reveal it in her own words.

Thank you, to both the author and to netgalley, for the opportunity to review this, I enjoyed it immensely.

Found on goodread: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4361987140

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for a free eARC copy of Meet Me in the Margins in exchange for an honest review. I could not stop grinning the entire time I was reading this book! We're following Savannah Cade and her career as an acquisitions editor at THE publishing house for literary fiction and nonfiction, Pennington Publishing. The only problem is, Ms. Pennington HATES "commercial fiction", the likes of romcoms and thrillers for mass public consumption. And Savannah is writing a romance novel....throw in the added wrinkle that Ms. Pennington's son, Will is now Savannah's boss. As the deadline approaches for Savannah to submit her romance manuscript to her dream publisher, she is running out of time and ideas. Through a series of whimsical events, she ends up with a mystery editor who is helping her reshape her novel into the best story it can be. And Savannah is falling for this mystery man.

This was such a delightful read. I loved every single minute of reading this book. From the very first page, this book is a book lover's dream. Set at a publishing house, wooing authors, a seemingly magical ARC room, what else could you ask for?! Through in a grumpy-sunshine budding romance and this book is the whole package. The dialogue was so witty, the characters were dynamic, and the super slow burn romance led up to a grand gesture ending that left my jaw hanging. This is the perfect read to pick up for the Valentine's Day season, and I would be overjoyed to see this book as the Book of the Month club contemporary romance pick for the month of February.

This had a really cute premise and it was a really fast read. The romance between Savannah and William very back and forth which was fun as he keeps saving her from herself and it was very you got mail. I really couldn’t deal with how she is living with her younger sister Olivia who is engaged to Ferris who is Savannahs ex-boyfriend and everybody in her family thinks this is fine. Like nobody cared that Savannah and Ferris were still together when him and Olivia hooked up and that her family is just like just suck it up and be happy for your sister. So Savannah works at Pennington Press, as an assistant editor, which publishes nonfiction books only and she is of course is trying to a romance writer with her only inspiration being ripping off Hallmark movie tropes in her book. She gets a famous romance editor to read her book but it needs so much work she tells her she can’t try to submit it. Savannah has a month to get it edited enough that it can be submitted and there is someone anonymous in the office that is helping her edit her book that she is trying to figure out who it is. Of course she starting falling for the person editing her books as well as William at the same time and has to pick. So overall this was a pretty predictable plot and I liked reading about how it is working in a publishing house aspects of the book.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Here’s the synopsis: Savannah Cade is an editor at Pennington Publishing, a company that only publishes highbrow books. But Savannah dreams of writing a romance novel — which she is on track to do — especially after a prominent editor-in-chief of the most successful romance imprint in the country has offered to take a glance at her work Savannah’s manuscript is a secret to those at her company but after accidentally leaving it behind one day in a secret nook in the office, Savannah returns to find someone has left notes and critiques in the margins.

At first, she’s offended. Then she realizes she could really use the help of this secret editor. Soon, the notes get more personal and Savannah is determined to identify the editor. But as she does so, she realizes what she truly wants might not be what she ever imagined.

This one started out really slow. It did pick up the pace but at times it felt like this book tried to be about a few different things — love, books, family drama, etc. Books certainly can be about all of those things, but at times, those themes seemed to be competing instead of working together.

However, by the last half, I was truly rooting for Savannah and so eager to see how it all played out.


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

It was a milestone for me. The voice of the story became monotonous for me and as soon as I got to the part where her sister was engaged to her ex boyfriend and she still had a lust for him, and living in the same space...it was too much for me
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I spent it looking for positive interactions that would free me from the voice of the protagonist saying that everything is catastrophic and that it was not good enough, and constantly comparing hermself to her overachieving sister . I Finish the book on Will's premise and to every note in the margins of the manuscript , their exchange was really good and I enjoyed it
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The story has good characters, it has a good plot but I can't hook myself to its pages, it cost me to grab it again every time I left it but I finished it and it is a beautiful story, with a nice message I just wish I was one hundred percent invested in it
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Thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Melissa Ferguson for give me this book in exchange for my honest opinion

I was genuinely so excited to read this seeing the plot. But I am highly disappointed. I could not vibe with the writing style much. But the character as well as the plot felt very boring and non directional to me. Sorry but the book did not work out for me.

Super cute book. It is a little familiar, I feel there is a trend of books about books recently. But this one was fun and interesting to read. I didn’t see the purpose of Lyla, but I loved the main character’s sister!

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson is a seriously fun read. The premise of this story is what drew me to this book — I love the idea of a relationship that blossoms into romance based on secret letters being passed back and forth. Yes, it is Jr. High-esque, but it’s also a great way to get the hero and heroine to be more vulnerable and honest with each other. The anonymity of the notes in the margins of Savannah’s manuscript provides both Will and Savannah a sense of safety to be themselves. There is no pretense to impress anyone, and in this, the relationship is allowed to grow into something a bit more authentic. I also like this book because it made me chuckle … a lot … and I really needed the laughter. Savannah Cade is a great protagonist and I really liked being in her head. What I love the most about Savannah is her ability to go from 0 to crazy in like 3.2 seconds in her thought processes. This is actually where most of my chuckles came from. I feel like Savannah is one of my fictional kindred spirits. I, too, have the unfortunate ability to take my thoughts from sane to spiraling out of control faster than Speedy Gonzalez can run. Another aspect of this story that I appreciated is the fact that this story is all Savannah’s. Yes, there is a great cast of characters — I really love her best friend Lyla and Will is the perfect hero for Savannah — but this story is all about Savannah and her journey to self-discovery, claiming her voice, standing up for what she actually wants, and finding her happily ever after. Meet Me in the Margins is a fun read, but it’s also a subtly empowering one I won’t soon forget.

Meet Me in the Margins is a unique, well-crafted Rom-Com that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. This is a novel I highly recommend, and I highly recommend you add it to your TBR pile today.

I received a copy of this novel in eBook form from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, via NetGalley, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I loved this book so much. I really can't say enough about how happy it made me. It was well written, touching, and included numerous laugh out loud moments.... always a big plus. The tension built at a perfect pace and it was enjoyable to watch the characters develop and grow. Savannah is extremely relatable, and Will is a lovely surprise.

I fully recommend this author's other books - they are excellent - but this is my favorite of them all. If you enjoy romantic comedy that is NOT typical and will keep you laughing until its happy ending, this is definitely the book for you!

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

What initially drew me to the book was both the cover and the fact that the main female character was a book editor. I've always loved the idea of being an editor so it peaked my interest from the start. The fact that said editor is trying to write a book of her own... a romance novel *gasp* further drew me in. Enjoyed the secret editor and pegged who the mystery person was before female lead in the book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5*

Very unique story with a wonderfully flawed protagonist.

Ultimately, this book is a romance. The thing about it that is so great is that it's also a book about a lead character who is growing and changing and finding her place.

Savannah is an assistant editor for a small publishing house in Nashville. She has been writing her own novel for about 4 years, but hasn't told anyone because it is a romance novel and that genre doesn't align with the mission of the company she works for. During a meeting, she trips and her manuscript goes flying. The final page gets picked up by the owner's son, who has just returned from NYC to run the company. He glances at the page, but Savannah is hopeful that he didn't read it. Because the pages are all askew and she cannot work on it at her desk, she takes the manuscript to her secret hidey-hole in the building and leaves it on the table. When she return there are editor's notes. Thus begins a clandestine relationship through the written word. It was cute, clever and lovely to read.

While Savannah writes her novel and notes to her mystery man, she navigates the fraught familial relationship between her sister and her ex-boyfriend. Savannah's ex, threw her over for her sister and they are about to be married. To make things more complicated, Savannah lives with her sister and has to be around the couple often. This relationship created some much needed tension and helps Savannah to grow.

There were a few moments in this book that were super cheesy and ham handed, but otherwise this was a great book.

I KNEW it couldn’t be Sam, but I was wondering how the you light up my life mugs fit in there. Love the Narnia closet. Perfect for a book about books and book lovers. The ex boyfriend/sister’s fiancee piece fit in way better than it might sound. AndI am so good Olivia got off that dang bike finally. Yeesh! Really enjoyed this one!

Adorably hilarious! I laughed so hard at the first chapter, I had a hard time putting this book down. A fun, sweet romance perfect for bookworms, librarians and hopeful romantics.

This was an enjoyable, low-stakes read. Considering it's a romance that takes place in a work setting, it could have easily followed the more stressful to read path of making it inappropriate to have a romance between the characters, but I'm glad it didn't because the consequences of that would have made the book far less like a cosy, happy romance.
Savannah is writing her own romance that is often likened to that of a hallmark movie, and to be honest, that's how this book felt as well - not that that's a bad thing. I would definitely recommend this to readers starting off in the romance genre, because for a romance novel, there were actually limited romantic moments, though it was cute to see the interactions that we did get.
The beginning of the novel felt a little rough and cringey to me, but when the "mystery editor" was introduced it really turned around for me. For those readers who love books about books, this would be a great choice.
I do wish that the romance was more heavily focused though, because at the end of it I could probably tell you more about the sister's relationship than I could about the focus couple, or even just the leading man. I liked Will, but he was no swoony hero.

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

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love books about books, and while this was cute - I felt it was extremely G rated in a way that didn't work for me reading about adult characters and their lives. I wish the main characters had more depth in their intimacy and conversations. But instead they fell flat. It was definitely a cute premise and quick read though.