I loved the premise of this book and was very excited to read a cute office romance in the world of publishing. However the book did not deliver.
Savannah is a very bland character. She repeatedly refers to herself as the boring, plain looking, less successful sister in her family, but there is nothing in the text to contradict this description. We are given very little description of what she looks like and although her sister makes many references to her size and weight, encouraging her to get more steps and lose a few pounds throughout the whole book, at the end we discover that she is only 2 dress sizes bigger than her size 2 sister. So a) weight is clearly not a problem for her and b) you seriously going to talk about a size 4 character needed to lose weight to be healthier and happier and no one in the entire book is going to contradict this??
But despite Savannah's plain looks, boring life, and complete lack of witty or funny dialogue through the whole book, men keep falling in love with her. There are three men in the book who show an interest in Savannah, Will the love interest, Ferris the sister's fiancé, and Tom the writer. But there is never any explanation given for why this men fall in love for her. And despite the fact that Savannah regularly disparages romance book tropes like insta love a lot of insta love seems to be happening to her.
Tom the writer is one of Savannah's clients. She is his editor. She acquired him as a writer after his previous editor was fired and all his clients redistributed to other editors. We learn no backstory on interactions between Tom and Savannah, but Tom shows up unexpectedly, overly excited to see Savannah and insists that they go out for dinner and dancing, during which he is overly handsy and doesn't take no for an answer until Will, the love interest and Savannah's new boss, shows up to rescue her.
Then there's Ferris. The first time we see Ferris is after Savannah returns home to the apartment she shares with her sister and waits outside the door listening to see if she can tell if there are two people inside or one. She is relieved to hear the sounds of only one person and goes inside only to be surprised by Ferris when he comes up behind her, stands way to close while trying to convince her to join them for a movie, and puts his hand on her waist for no apparent reason. Savannah reacts to all of this with horror while desperately trying to shrink away from his touch and extricate herself from his presence. It reads like she's terrified of him and gives the impression that he has somehow attacked or abused her in the past but her sister doesn't know. But then we learn that not only is Ferris her sister's fiance, he is also Savannah's ex boyfriend of 8 years. She's not afraid of him, she's just still devastated by the fact that he left her for her sister and desperately wants him back...
And if all of this isn't bad enough, Savannah, who is clearly unhappy with a lot of the circumstances of her life, for good reason, needs man number 3, the love interest, to explain to her why she's so unhappy. Until Will tells her that even though their family's motto is "do for family" none of the family does anything to support or help her, they just expect her to help and support them. He also has to explain to her that Ferris is still in love with her, which is obvious to him after 2 less than five minute interactions with the man, even though she can't see from the way he talks to her, tries to take her everywhere with him, and brings her flowers and coffee regularly. And my personal favorite. Until Will tells her that she's never had a good kiss, she thinks that all of the kisses she has are great, but she just doesn't like kissing...
There's also a severe lack of women in the novel. And the women that are there, aren't nice. Svannah has 4 women regularly in her life, her scary boss who fires people on a whim and thinks romance is trash, her manager who is catty and basic and hates any woman who could be construed as competition, her sister who stole her boyfriend but expects Savannah to help her plan their wedding and regularly tells her that her life is a mess and she needs to get it together, and her friend from work. So she only has 1 female friend and she only sees that friend outside of work 1 time, during which they never actually speak to each other because the friend is singing at a bar and Savannah is just there to support her. The depictions of women in this book gives off anti-female, i'm not like other girls vibes, which is just gross. There's even a moment when the two sisters are having a heart to heart, the sister, Olivia, says "give it to me straight, I don't want that frothy girl sleepover talk".
THere were aspects of the book I liked, and at the beginning I was willing to overlook the issues. But by the end there were so many things piling up that was relieved it was finally over.

This was just what I needed to read to get out of reading slump. It so fun reading about secret workplace romance setup. The main character, Savannah, became favorite so quickly, it truly made it difficult for me to keep the book down. It take me sometime to get used to the writing style but once I was in, it kept me very interested. And because this book had a book in the center it made it even more enjoyable.

Most people have a secret—maybe a secret wish or a secret goal—something they would love to do but are afraid to talk about it because it just doesn’t seem possible. In Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson, one woman’s hidden dream comes closer to reality when one of her coworkers discovers her secret...

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com - and aired on Shelf Discovery

This was a cute, fun and heartwarming read. Of course we always know how these stories will end but don't we love the journey we are taken on with the main characters as they navigate through the various obstacles placed in front of them.
I've been reading a lot of thrillers lately and this was the perfect tonic to all those heavy reads.
Looking forward to reading more from Melissa in future.

It was about time, I tried out a new author. Since the cover of Meet Me In the Margins caught my eye (what’s not to like about a cover with a book on the cover?), I was curious about the story.

And it’s a cute and funny story. Savannah, a closet-author (still undecided if she will actually pursue her dream of becoming an author) and William Pennington, a closet- romance lover are the main characters and it’s very easy to relate to them. The comments and the post-its on the manuscript are cute and funny and although you can see the ending coming from miles away, it is still a very satisfactory funny and cozy read. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

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.

This book was so cute! I've already recommended it to all my romance loving friends. I also think this is a really good option for younger fans wanting to get into romance, because it isn't steamy, just a nice romantic comedy. The characters are so endearing that I want to befriend them and read about their lives beyond the story.

I received an eARC of Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson from Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

4 stars! This book reminded me of a cross between The Proposal and You've Got Mail. Such a cute read!

I received an ARC of this book on netgalley. I overall really enjoyed the story and the way the ending pans out for the characters. I found myself annoyed with The main character Savannah initially wanting her to realize her worth and stand up to her family and friends that were toxic. I found the plot of we dated forever but now he’s engaged to my sister as weird, but glad it turned around for ending the way it did. I would’ve liked to see more between the characters after they realize who the mystery editor is as they have good chemistry together versus a time jump to where we learn they’re now married.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4303014658

Rating 4.5
I really liked Savannah and Will they had great chemistry from the beginning. I hated her sister and her sister's fiance (Savannah's on again, off again ex boyfriend of eight years) throughout most of the book, but by the end I was ok with her sister. Overall, I thought this was a nice fun read and I'd definitely recommend it.

I loved this story, and even though it was a bit predictable, it didn't bother me! I thought the main character was loveable and the romance wasn't cringy! I loved the progression of the story, and the ending was wonderful! I highly recommend this to romance lovers who don't want spice!

I loved this book so much! The premise was just so cute and I thought that the author did a wonderful job of carrying the story out. If you need a fun Rom-com to pick you up, this is it!

This was such a fun and easy read. I loved the novel idea of communication through the margins and enjoyed seeing the story progress.
I felt like I had stepped into a Hallmark movie reading this book!

I really love books about books, about publishing, so this was a definite must read for me. Unfortunately, it fell flat.

The romance, which was another big pull factor for me here, really fell to the side and I don't think was developed at all. It's INCREDIBLY slow burn and they kiss once and that's it.

It just wasn't for me.

The heroine is an assistant acquisitions editor at a publishing company, as well as an aspiring author. What fun roles! I found these jobs relatable, and I think readers will like the behind-the-scenes elements of a writers’ life.

Her family is a passel of overachievers, so she cannot fail. Their opinions push her to try to measure up. Of course she can’t. Part of her never wanted to. That contradiction sabotages her. Readers may find themselves relating: do we be ourselves or try to be what we think others want?

I loved the author’s fun voice. We’re in first person, present tense—my favorite. We get some snark, lots of humor, and an unfortunate opening situation, (which tone I’m glad didn’t carry forward into the rest of the book).

The hero is icy and all business, authoritative. What's behind his façade? If he ever opens up, what will we find? How fun it will be to watch him melt. Also, can he champion her? And what will it mean to her if he ever does?

The setup for this novel’s mystery is delicious. They grow closer by passing notes. We have an editor who gives honest, even blunt, feedback. You gotta respect someone like that. After her defensiveness wears off, she does. She’s lost and earnest. He’s experienced and willing to help. A perfect team.

I laughed aloud several times while reading this novel. Just what I needed during the pandemic. A treat. I’ll watch for more books by this author.

The story has so many clichè: boss - employer relation; unknown helper who turns out to be somebody you know, family issues, all together. I found it predectible.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I absolutely love when stories follow aspiring writers, etc. Therefore, I was hoping that I would love this book, but I never got around to finishing it.
With that being said, I still recommend giving this book a chance. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me an ARC.

the author should have taken the in-book editors advise, "if you bore them, you lose them." I was sufficiently bored. The romance truly takes a backseat and the book suffers from that. it is so incredibly slow that i wondered many times what book it was that i was reading. i struggled to give it my undivided attention. I went into it not knowing it was a "clean" romance and, honestly, was super disappointed in that as well. at least do the romance right!

𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 by 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐧 is an awesome, quick, enjoyable RomCom. When I read a RomCom I want the author to deliver captivating characters and a laugh out loud plot line. 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐨𝐧 nailed it with this one! The bonus? It’s setting is centered around books and a publishing house! Definitely something I was happy about! This fun read is filled with so much fun and I highly recommend that you grab it up if you are looking for something quick, enjoyable and lighthearted. Worth 4 stars for sure!

This was a fun filled clean rom-com. While I did enjoy the chemistry between Savannah and Will I found Savannah's family to be absolutely awful. The fat-shaming and overall lack of support from her sister and parents isn't addressed at all and just continuously swept under the rug which I definitely found to be problematic. On the other hand I loved Savannah and Will's relationship and their build-up of trust with one another. Overall a sweet book.