I was really excited to see this book on Net Galley because I love stories with meet cutes, especially those in books. This book had all the elements of a cute romance between two people working at a publishing house.

The story gave a beautiful glimpse into the life of Savannah, with her new mystery editor. The romance was sweet and well played out, but I think there could have been so much more that the author could have done. I understood the need to try to add complexity (enter her ex), but there was so much potential that could have lead to more dramatic tension between the eventual couple. There was a slight twist in the end about who the mystery editor was, which led way to a few sweet moments.

Overall, the book was a one sitting read for me, and it was a cute story, it just wasn’t the best book I’ve read. It’s worth a read if you find yourself with a copy, but it isn’t something I would seek out or tell all of my friends about.

4.5 stars rounded up. I’m so happy I picked up this book! It was a laugh-out-loud funny rom-com with such a unique premise. The main character, Savanna, was so relatable and real. The story was refreshing, fun and had no steam, if that’s your thing. I really enjoyed learning about the life of a book editor and what it’s like to work in publishing. I also gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it’s like to be a new author struggling to get a manuscript out. While parts were predictable, which is given sometimes with this genre, I highly recommend checking out this book when it comes out in February!

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

Very light and cute love story. The romance was fine but nothing that stood out for me, I did like the protagonist a lot and also her love interest, they had some really cute scenes but they weren't super memorable for me. I did like how funny this book was sometimes, the plot was pretty predictable, however, and you pretty much knew right from the start where it was going. Still enjoyable though and perfect for a quick, fun read.

3.75 ⭐️

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Savannah, an editor for a prestigious publishing firm, is writing her own romance novel… but no one can ever know. But what happens when she accidentally leaves her manuscript at work? She comes back to find that someone made edits in the margins of her pages! So the question lies… who?

It was super cool to see the other side of the publishing world and I, as a reader, don’t get to see. This story was a slow slow slow burn, but I really enjoyed it, and I was smiling throughout it!

Savannah has a secret--she's written a novel that she wants to have published. The reason it is so secret is that she is an editor for a publishing company that doesn't "do" fluff, Pennington Publications. Their market is higher tier literary fiction--not romance.

Will Pennington has been brought in to stop the financial bleeding from toppling the Pennington empire. He's the son of the owner of the company and he recently left one of the big publishing houses in New York to help save Pennington.

This book gives a peek into the parts of the publishing world that aren't all hype and glitz. It gives a nitty-gritty behind the scenes look into the actual process of getting a book from inside someone's head to actual words on paper bound in a nice, neat package for the consumer.

Some of the plot lines that flesh out this novel include Savannah's over-achieving younger sister who polices everything Savannah eats, drinks, and every step she takes; all while planning her wedding to Savannah's former boyfriend, Ferris. Throughout the book, Ferris is portrayed as a nice guy overall, but still the fly in Savannah's ointment. It is not until the very end that his true, slimy colors are revealed.

When Savannah drops her manuscript during one of the weekly meetings, someone picks up the pages and reads them, giving her harsh, but not un-due criticism of her writing. She decides to ask for help from her mystery editor to get her manuscript ready for submission in forty-four days. That's all the time the publisher she's chosen for her book has to give Savannah for the book.

I am not sure why Will took such an interest in Savannah, nor what the original attraction was. He seemed to seek out her advice on things at the publishing house when she was not one of the premier editors for the company. She was definitely not one of his mother's pet editors and was rather on the outside of the inner circle. It was surprising that Will took Savannah's opinions to heart and made sweeping changes within the company based on those opinions.

The romance was very understated throughout the novel and when it did show up, it was very sweet. Melissa Ferguson knows just how much humor to add into the mix to make her novels enjoyable reads.

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review and I am surprised at what Thomas Nelson allowed in this book to be categorized as Christian Fiction. While it's a minor part of the plot, Ferris and Olivia (Savannah's sister) living together is rather unexpected. Still it is a four-star book. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Savannah Cade is an Assistant Acquisitions Editor for a small, high-brow publishing company called Pennington Publishing in Nashville. The owner, Ms Pennington, frowns on populist writing such as romance, Sci-Fi, westerns etc, preferring non-fiction titles. Whilst Savannah is very good at her job, she has a secret, she has been writing her very own romance novel! One day, when Savannah retreats to her secret bolt-hole hidden behind a cabinet in the ARC room she finds that someone has read her manuscript and made scathing comments on it.

Savannah's personal life is a bit of a car crash. She broke up with her long-term boyfriend, who promptly asked out her younger, thinner, more successful, more driven sister Olivia and they got engaged within three months. Now Savannah is reduced to renting her sister's spare room and pretending to be happy about house-sharing with her ex. Also her sister is obsessed with exercise and has started an annual Steps-4-Life Step-a-thon to raise money for charity which means she interrogates Savannah about her daily steps.

Then things take a downturn professionally when Ms Pennington's son William leaves his fancy publishing house in New York to run Pennington Pub with his mother, amid rumours that the business is performing badly. Then a well-respected editor of a romance publishing house who had expressed interest in Savannah's manuscript tells her that the novel needs a lot of work before it could be published, and she only has a few weeks before she retires. Savannah is devastated by the news, but the editor's comments are very similar to those made by her mystery reviewer. Can she persuade the mystery reviewer to give her further feedback so that she can whip her novel into shape?

I have commented so many times this year about the number of re-imaginings of You've Got Mail I've read this year, this is in a similar vein. Savannah gets over her dislike/fear of William Pennington quite quickly and they become friends, but she is also drawn to the wit and vulnerability shown by her mystery reviewer, who she thinks is a colleague called Sam, even though in real life Sam never seems to have the spark of his review comments.

This was just lovely, I really loved the mystery reviewer's comment that Savannah can have one character with a fancy name but not both, because its not opera. I can also sympathise with Savannah reading the Word of the Day and then trying to work it into everyday conversation. It's funny, sweet, charming and I read it in a single weekend when I had much more urgent books to read because it was more appealing than the rest of my TBR pile :)

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

What a delightful book! Melissa Ferguson is a go to author for me. When I saw the title of this book and read the description, I was so anxious to read it. It did not disappoint. This book was sweet and fun with moments of laugh-out-loud humor. It was entertaining and hard to put down. I liked the main characters, especially Savannah who was a bit quirky.

If you enjoy a feel-good, clean rom-com, you definitely want to check this book out.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
A perfect book for librarians and book lovers! A sweet romance with enough angst and shenanigans to make this a delightful read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. If you like a cute and lighthearted romance with a slow burn this book is definetely for you. Yes, it is a bit cliché but that’s expected from these type of books and I found myself laughing more than cringing during the most part. The main character, Savannah, is likable and the love interest is certainly someone you have a risk falling for. The storyline is predictable but still enjoyable and fun to read. The main character is relatable without having the annoying ”I’m not like other girls” trate. Overall, this was a fun read and I would recommend it. I wish it was possible to give half stars, if it was it would have gotten a 3.5 instead of a 3.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited to see a new book by Melissa Ferguson. After about a three year reading slump I picked up her other book, The Cul-De-Sac War on a whim earlier this year and it helped me fall back into reading. I could not pass up the opportunity to read Meet Me in the Margins.

Meet Me in the Margins follows Savannah as she handles her editing job at a highbrow publishing house, Pennington, while trying to write her secret romance novel. When she leaves her manuscript in a hidden book nook in their ARC room she returns to find edits from a mystery editor. Initially Savannah took the edits as harsh criticism but after a turn of events with her potential publisher she now needs to adapt and learn to work with her mystery editor to get her manuscript published. But during the weeks of back and forth their notes slowly start to turn into something more.

Meet Me in the Margins was a refreshing and fun story. The plot is engaging and funny and feels like you are sitting down to watch a comfort rom-com. There is no smut, which is actually very refreshing in the current market and it felt light and fun. Watching Savannah grow and develop as an author and in her own life was incredible and her determination is admirable.

I wish we could have gotten more time with Will to fall in love with him like she did and that we had seen a few more interactions between them. I felt a little disconnected from their story and more connected with her journey to get her work published.

Overall, it was a great read and definitely lands on my bookshelf of all my comfort reads.

I read this in one sitting, a lovely fall day. This was a sweet romance with a lead character in Sav that felt so relatable. Lovely and well paced. A great story to lose yourself in.

<i>*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *</i>

<b>3.75 stars </b>

As I've said before, I am definitely a sucker for a bookish romance, and this one did not disappoint! Meet me in the Margins was engaging and witty.

We follow Savannah, an editor who is also an aspiring author, as she tries to navigate her personal life and figure out who the editor who has mysteriously been commenting on her manuscript, which she had hidden in the ARC room of her office, is.

The plot was a bit cliché and predictable, but overall this was enjoyable enough for that to be forgiven.

I do wish we'd had more time of our two MCs together, as this was definitely a very very slow burn.

I had a bit of trouble getting my bearings for the first chaper or so, which is unusual for me and therefore, I thought, worth mentioning. Beyond that, however, it's quite charming, with the added bonus (in my opinion) of not indulging in the overly smutty.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Thomas Nelson— Fiction, Thomas Nelson and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Cute book that is quite enjoyable.

This was SO cute. You've Got Mail is very much a comfort film, I always toss it on when I'm struggling and it feels like settling into a cozy blanket. Meet Me in the Margins has the same effect. This book is super charming, very sweet, and relaxing. This book isn't super fast-paced, but instead moves slowly and realistically - I know some readers won't love that, but this made it perfect to read over the course of an evening while relaxing.

Overall this is great, and I can't recommend it enough.

Meet Me In The Margins is such a fun and cute book. It had similarities to You’ve Got Mail and captured the warmth and cuteness so well.

My favorite parts were Savannah’s reaction to critiques on her manuscript. Every writer knows what it feels like. It was so true to life, I smiled the whole time.

Savannah is an assistant aquistion at a publishing firm.It's slow-paced and not as exciting as I thought it was going to be.

A delightful and unexpected romcom, perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella! This is a funny, romantic story with plenty going for it, and I highly recommend!

A 4.5 star review.

I was sent this book in return for an honest review, and I'm so glad. This is chick-lit when it's at its best. Fun, engaging, relatable and with a bunch of book talk that meant it was right up my aisle.

Other people have made the comparison to "You've Got Mail" and for good reason. While the two stories are very different, the general idea (falling in love with somebody through writing) and atmosphere is very much the same. However, "You've Got Mail" is one of my all-time favourite movies, so that's just an added bonus in my book... no pun intended.

While some of the characters were perhaps a tad one-dimensional, others were very relatable, and I really grew to love Savannah as she tried to navigate the waters of a new boss and attempting to edit her own manuscript, while still having to live up to her family's expectations.

Of course I had seen the ending a mile off, but that's to be expected with this genre. I still enjoyed the ride very much, and really appreciated that it didn't fall into some of the same traps that books like this often do (being vague to avoid spoilers...).

At times laugh-out-loud funny, this was one of the best new reads of the year. I'll definitely want to add this to my physical library as well.

This is a cute rom-com novel. The main characters and their story are enjoyable. It's not one of the best I've read lately, but it's still worth the read.