Thank you to Berkley Romance for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5 ⭐️s

Wonderful story with amazing characters. It felt a little too drawn out, and I didn’t think the follow through was great with the parallels to the book they were editing. I understand not wanting to focus the whole book around a how Nora is being portrayed in this new book she’s editing, but with it being such a prominent moment when she first realizes what Dusty’s written, I did expect more from it.

Nora’s relationship with Libby was simultaneously one of the best and worst parts of this book. As an older sister, I really connected with Nora’s need to protect Libby. Their moments together were often so reflective of a genuine sisterly bond, I would feel the need to call or text my own little sister. Libby herself, however, would often come across as selfish or crass with no real consequence. When she remarks on Nora’s life while at the play’s after party, she’s downright heartless, and it all is just pushed aside instead of being addressed. And the way she told Nora her secret…oof, I guess kudos to Emily for writing something so well because I was equal parts furious and heartbroken for Nora. I ended this book appreciating Libby because of Nora’s adoration for her, but I absolutely didn’t like her on her own.

On the other hand, I loved Charlie and Nora’s relationship! The way neither of them were great when socializing with others but fell into such an easy rhythm with each other really made my heart happy. And I like that Charlie is so similar to Nora whole having his own quirks as well. He was such an interesting character! I hated that all his problems were solved off page. It felt like a cop-out when it’s continuously addressed throughout the book.

Overall, this is probably my least favorite of Emily’s books so far, but it’s still amazingly good! Nora is going to be a favorite character of mine in the future - I loved her so much!

Spice: 1/5 🌶

"Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you,"

This was my first Emily Henry book and what a great way to know an author!

I was completely blown away by this book, I went expecting a cute romance and I received so much more. This book is so deeply focused on the characters that the romance is actually more of a "sidekick" (is this even an expression) than the actual focus of the thing. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of romance and I adored every single moment of it, but individually there was so much happening for the main character and so much character construction and foundation, and then growth that I was not expecting it!

Nora Stephens might have become one of my favorite characters ever, she is amazing. Used to be the girl that is always "left" in her previous relationships, meaning, her previous boyfriends all moved somewhere else, and while they tried long-distance the guy ended up falling for another girl that is more perfect and had a happy ending, so Nora has always been the one left, the workaholic at the romance story that is just a rock in the shoe of the two lovebirds and damn... I really enjoyed this character. there is so much more than meets the eye with Nora, and as you start to unpeel the layers it really becomes clear that she has her own traumas and fears and she is just trying her best to survive.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the relationship between Nora and her sister Libby, there was such a huge focus on that, and the author really dedicated time to constructing their relationship in a believable and strong way. I absolutely love these two, their bond is so pure and one would do anything for the other, it really made me so happy to read their dynamics, dialogs, internal jokes, etc.

Libby is obsessed with the book 'Once in a Lifetime' a book by an author that whom Nora is an agent to. In an attempt to spend more time with her sister Libby books a trip to the small town, Sunshine Falls, where the book is set with a bunch of "small-town romance book" activities for the two of them to do. At first, Nora isn't too excited about this, but she relents because after all, she'd do anything for Libby.

I think one of the things I most enjoyed about this book is that it has everything to be the most cliche ever (which isn't a bad thing) but it ends up crushing all the expectations and becoming its own thing. As I said, it is heavily focused on the characters, and from the main protagonist to the secondary characters everyone was so interesting to read about I could keep reading about them way past the last page. I also really enjoyed the fact that we only have one point of view in this, Nora's, because I feel that if we had the male love interest pov as well it would divert the focus of so many themes and plot points and just become messy. That isn't to say I don't completely love Charlie Lastra, because I do.

I have to say that although I was loving it already and ready to give it a 5-star, it wasn't until the last 20% that this book grabbed me by the heart and made me full-on cry and melt and lose everything. It really touched me and won a place in my heart becoming a favorite. I am so glad I picked this one up, it literally is everything.

I absolutely love the dynamic between Nora and Charlie, in fact for a bookish romance kind of book it delivered everything I was expecting and then some, it was this I was expecting when I first came across The Roughest Draft, and Emily Henry delivered. I loved the way both Nora and Charlie love books, their jobs, New York City, and the way they bring out the best in each other. I really enjoyed how there wasn't one huge fight where everything went wrong in like the last 20 pages of the book but then everything ended well, I'm kind of over this specific trope in romance books because it is so stressful to go through all that and I'm glad that Book Lovers doesn't have it. I loved loved loved the ending, how everything is wrapped up, I'm not gonna lie I 100% see this book becoming a book, it would be perfect.

I cant' forget to mention so many amazing quotes!! I'm going to have to add some of them here because I want to remember them forever:

"Somehow, it never occurred to me that this was an option: that two people, in the same hug, could both be allowed to fall apart. That maybe it's neither of our jobs to keep a steel spine. That we can both survive this pain without the other shouldering it."

"But maybe it's possible to have more than one home, Maybe it's possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hundred different people and places."

"Maybe that's why we as a species love stories so much. All those chances for do-overs, opportunities to live the lives we'll never have."

"Even if it hurts, it's like remembering a favorite book. One that left you gutted, sure, but also one that changed you forever."

Anyways this review became pretty much a ramble towards the mid-ending because I just can't put into words what this book means to me and how much it touches me. I just hope everyone picks it up because it deserves all the love.

I can not put into words how good this book was! Emily Henry is so good at writing characters that are not just extremely loveable but also realistic. I love how she makes them feel like old friends you just can't wait to catch up.
I swear Henry has such an amazing grasp of what her audience wants and she delivers every single time! If romance is your thing, hell even if it's not do yourself a favor and buy this book. You will not regret it.

I am going to be totally honest to start here, that I have read Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation and while I enjoyed them, I never loved them as much as I felt everyone else did.

This one though, friends. This is it. This book was the one for me. I enjoyed Henry’s writing and I think everyone else had pieces they related to in her previous books, and I just couldn’t connect. But Book Lovers is the one that got me.

I loved the characters, their relationships, their dynamics. The dialogue was so amazing, the banter is so well written. The build up, the story, the ENDING. I loved that this was not just a romance. I loved the focus also on Libby and Nora as sisters.

It’s hard not to compare author’s novels, but for me personally, this is my favorite. Everything about it was just so wonderful. I loved reading this (I read the entire book this afternoon.)

If you loved Emily Henry’s first two books, I think you’ll for sure love this one. A really big recommend from me. A perfect summer read. ❤️📚

Emily Henry's latest is a delightful one. The self aware style of narrative both using and discussing conventional romance tropes worked really well. Nora is "the shark". A book agent who fiercely represents her clients, and never shuts off her phone knows she's the one who doesn't get the happy ending. She's the one who gets left. Nora's sister Libby decides it's not only time for them to visit the real town of Nora's author's biggest seeing and most popular book -- it is also time for them to check off a list of all the expected small town things. Charlie, a book editor that Nora had one unsuccessful meeting with a year prior, has come back to the small town he left as a young man. Balancing family obligations - both real, and perceived - Charlie and Nora must figure out if they can write a happy ending for themselves. I enjoy this one far more than Henry's last release. I like the level of self awareness, the characters we well drawn. There are some tropes with communication (or lack there of) employed here that I didn't overly enjoy. But I would recommend this book, it's a great summer read.

Book Review:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Ever wonder what happens to the wound too tight, city girl that gets left behind when a male main character takes a trip, meets the girl of his dreams and leaves everything behind? Nora Stephens is it!

When Nora's younger sister begs her to take this month-long vacation to the middle of nowhere, Nora reluctantly agrees and they make plans to do all the typically small town rom-com activities--date a cute local, save a business, wear flannel... But she did not expect the cute local to turn out to be the brooding, not-so-nice editor that she recently worked with in the city!

I'm always a big fan of books about book people especially with insider info about publishing, because book people are more fun! I liked how lots of romance tropes we're called out and used to the plot's advantage without the plot seeming predictable. Nora's relationship with her sister, Libby, is really beautiful and Nora does a lot of self-reflection and learning about herself over the course of their vacation!

A must-read for your own travels this summer. Book Lovers releases May 3rd.

Thank you @netgalley and @berkleypub for this Advanced Reader!

#BookReview #Bookstagram #EmilyHenry #BookLovers #BerkleyBooks #BerkleyIG #BookishLife #Reading #InstaBooks #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #Bibliophile #GirlsWhoRead #BookNerd #RomanceBooks #RomanceBookStagram #BooksSetInNC #Fiction

Nora Stephens is a literary agent, a driven professional and NYC lover. Nora's sister Libby basically forces Nora to go on an extended vacation to a remote, "quaint" town in NC to reconnect and recharge. It's a romcom, so Nora is supposed to fall in love with the "quirky" inhabitants of this town and a local hot lumberjack with a heart of gold and abandon her city life and high-stress job, right? But will she? Or is there another uptight city person who might end up stealing her heart? Hmm...

I think this is the best Emily Henry romance yet, with a huge appeal to all romance readers. This book has great banter, lovable main characters, and decent conflicts.

Clearly, Henry is well versed in all things romance, and she put this knowledge to a good use here. Book Lovers is a fun love story that is super meta and playful with the tropes.
Henry managed to twist some in a creative way, and it was nice to see an ambitious woman not mellowed by country scene and brawn for a change.

I found this book super entertaining. I also think Emily Henry is one of the very, very few romance writers with an actual sense of humor. The dialog in this book was fun and pun-ful in the best way. However, like Beach Read, at some point Book Lovers veered too much into women's fiction-type sad for my taste, but all in all, this was an enjoyable read. And if Netflix doesn't make a movie out of it, it'll be a crime against humanity.

P.S. A pet peeve. Just like n Beach Read, where nothing really came out of genre swapping between the leads, in Book Lovers nothing (or nothing interesting) came out of the book-within-a-book plot line with "Frigid." Whys? These were such great ideas that were not fully realized. Pity.

Outstanding, amazing, heartfelt, heartbreaking, hilarious, superb, and swoony, are just a few adjectives I would use to describe Emily Henry’s latest novel Book Lovers. A perfect combination of heartfelt emotions, rom-com hilarity, and book talk to delight any bookworm. Well developed characters, with a strong backstory creates a layered novel. The type of novel that teaches one how to let go of the past and trust in what is to come. I can’t be the only one who hopes for a spin-off of Shepard’s story in Sunshine Falls! Equally a romance novel while also being a novel about sisterly love. As a side note I loved the classic movie references, bringing up Baby and Philadelphia Story are amazing movies! If you love Emily Henry try Kerry Winfrey. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this amazing ARC.

So how is it possible that Emily Henry continues to amaze me with her wonderful stories? Let’s face it I am a sucker for a good romance and there have been some really good ones so far this year. I was blown away by this one.

Nora and Charlie are both from the publishing world. Both can be abrasive and so passionate about their opinions that when they meet it is far from fireworks. Neither walk away from the meeting with a good impression. Nora agrees to go on a vacation with her sister Libby, to North Carolina. Libby is the polar opposite of Nora. She is fun, personable and spontaneous. Nora has lists, is organized. As luck would have it Nora and Charlie run into each other and the snarky banter begins!!

The best parts of this book are the banter and the exploration of the relationships—parental, sibling and of course romantic. I was literally sobbing as I read into the wee hours of the night. Then as I turned the last page I was so satisfied and sad that it was over. I LOVED THIS BOOK!! If I could give it 10 stars I would. Definitely my favorite of the year so far. Kudos to Emily Henry for writing a book that is bound to be a huge success and one that I will not forget.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review
#NetGalley #BookLovers #EmilyHenry

There are few things in this world I love more than Nora Ephron's writing. She's got a grasp on this incredibly sharp, witty dialogue that makes you feel like kicking your legs and squealing, coupled with this warmth and earnestness that is equal parts coy and yearning. It struck me as ambitious when I found out that EH was going to take on her legacy (You've Got Mail, specifically) in Book Lovers, but I liked it so much when she rewrote When Harry Met Sally in PWMOV that my hopes were high.

I am thrilled to report that Book Lovers delivers on everything I wanted. The feelings I have about this book are longer than I can fit into a review here, and I'll probably continue talking about this on tiktok, but it really is a book for the girls who are more Claire than Fleabag, more Nesta than Feyre, more Kate Sharma/Sheffield than Edwina. Nora is ambitious and type-A, the platinum blonde shark & forever-the-ex-girlfriend, Charlie Lastra is made of the same stuff as her (yes, a reference to Wuthering Heights, also found in the book), neatly packaged into a black merino wool Hermes sweater and $2,000 loafers. The book does the thing that Nora Ephron always does. She makes it about place. It's set in Small Town, North Carolina, but it's about New York. About West Village. It's about a book that Charlie and Nora are editing together, and it's about all the books they both love and it's about all the books that made them into the people they are now. it's also a book about sisterhood, about *oldest* sisterhood. It's about grief and parental loss. It's about PTSD and

I spent 70% of the book laughing *out loud*, so delighted with the experience that I couldn't stand myself. I spent 30% of the book highlighting chapters for therapy this week. I found myself holding my breath til the last page (EH really follows Nora Ephron beat-by-beat. I need 3 more epilogues to calm my heart rate). I loved it so much I can't even bear it.

Some notes-- CW for parental loss & grief, parental neglect, anxiety and PTSD, explicit sex on page (the good, consensual kind). I think this actually reads closer to Beach Read than PWMOV.

The ending raised what would have been a one star book to a two star book. This book about a literary agent and a book editor never really worked for me. I feel like Henry was trying to be clever with her use of tropes but they all fell completely flat for me. I wasn't expecting great literature but at times the writing was painful to read.

Community Service Announcement - YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!

Book Lovers has been so high on my anticipated reads list that I'm surprised I managed to wait so long before picking it up. As I was reading, I could already feel how special it was going to be. I deliberately read it slowly purely because I wanted to savour it. With witty banter, so much bookish referencing and characters who I simply adored, I'm not kidding when I tell you I got goosebumps several times while reading it. It's definitely one of the best books I've read this year and is worth all the stars.

My advice to you. Don't read what it's about. Go into it blind if you can. Enjoy the ride and thank me after!

Book Lovers will live in my heart forever! Amazing characters, a wonderful story, sister love, and shared grief over their mom's passing, makes this one amazing book from start to finish! Nora is a literary agent. All that is in her life is books and her sister Libby. Libby has2 daughters and is pregnant. She begs Nora to get away for a few weeks. Nora agrees and they end up in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina-the setting for a book Nora was the agent for and Libby loves! In the small town, Nora runs into Charlie who is an editor who didn't want to work on Nora's client's book. Nora and Charlie run into each other often as it is a small town. I love the chemistry between Nora and Charlie! I love the sisterly love between Nora and Libby. This book is just perfect from start to finish. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Emily Henry is my all time favorite author. Her writing feels like its /for me specifically/ in such a wonderful way, and I was SO excited to read this early. I think my ranking of Book Lovers in the EH canon is 3rd (out of the 5 that I've read). I was kicking and squealing at the banter, the writing was superb as always, and I really enjoyed reading the "grumpy x grumpy" dynamic which was very unique to the typical romance/WF novel. I didn't feel the same level of /completely understood/ as a person that i felt from the characters of January Andrews or Alex Nilson, but there were still definitely moments when I just started crying because certain lines were so me. I think audiences will love this just as much as they've loved Henry's prior two adult novels; it carries the same charm and authenticity that shines through the EH canon.

This is one of my favorite reads in a long, long time. Emily Henry has perfected the art of achingly deep rom-coms and her mastery of dialogue is unmatched. The characters in this book are beautifully complex, their relationships real and relatable. If you’re looking for a snarky romance that leaves you feeling a little bittersweet, this is for you.

I’m an avid reader who works in publishing and studies book science at university, so I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis about two characters working in the book industry. Emily Henry approaches the story with the perfect balance of love and criticism for the characters’ jobs, and I think it’s her best book yet. I adore how she managed to weave her witty writing style into a story that has so much heart and a sizzling connection between the main characters to create an outstanding romance novel. Every page either had me laughing out loud, fanning myself or wiping tears from my cheeks. Nora and Charlie’s hilarious banter and the witty narration paired with a very self-aware look at romance novels made for an incredibly fun and entertaining book. I always felt like the book was laughing with the romance genre instead of at it, and I really enjoyed how it played with popular tropes.

Nora, a successful literary agent who’s known as the Shark in the industry, is a confident, at times prickly woman that I immediately adored. She knows what she wants and then goes and gets it herself. I loved how her character got so much development throughout the book and we get to see her big heart and how caring she is, but she also never loses sight of who she is and what her goals are. Charlie was a great love interest that I couldn’t help but fall for head over heels. Book Lovers takes the grumpy x sunshine trope and turns it into grumpy x grumpy which I adored. Their chemistry was *chef’s kiss*, and seeing them fall for each other was a delight.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was definitely Nora’s relationship with her sister Libby. I loved that we got to see so much of them together and Libby’s lists of things to do in Sunshine Falls lead to a lot of entertaining scenes featuring the two of them (and Charlie). We get to learn a lot about their childhood and their difficulties growing up which gives the book a lot of depth. Old wounds are opened up, but there’s also so much sisterly love, and some of their shared scenes definitely made me cry a couple of times.

Another highlight was the setting of small-town Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. Exploring the unassuming town with the characters and getting to know its charming inhabitants was so much fun. It makes for a perfect summer read that makes you yearn for your next vacation away from the city.

Emily Henry blessed us with another incredible novel that will make you laugh and pull at your heartstrings. Book Lovers is a love letter to romance novels and the publishing world – heartfelt, hilarious and my new favorite Emily Henry book!

This was a highly anticipated read for me. I will start with that!
I love the fact that Emily Henry can take personas from the book world and book lovers and write around them. I don't think that is something easy to do but she does it flawlessly.
Personally, what I loved about this book the most is the big sister element! Being the older sibling from a south Asian family at that, there have always been certain things I have felt pressured to do, be or live up to. I felt so seen reading this book! I love Nora's relationship with Libby and how it plays a role in this book.
Noras character development
I loved Charlie's character development
Charlie and Nora's relationship
The ending!

It was only negative for me- it did take me a bit to get into it. It is slow-paced and I was sometimes confused with the internal dialogue that Nora had with herself regarding her thoughts around Dusty and her story,

Overall a good book and Emily Henry is a talented writer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the e-ARC of this title.

This was my first book by this author, and I must say that I was not terribly impressed. I know her books are very popular, but I was not blown away by this particular title, at least. That is not to say I didn't end up enjoying it, overall, however, I didn't love it. I liked everything about the main character and her relationship with her sister, and her love of her career, books, and for big city life. I could relate to a lot of that, and I liked that she felt those things, and didn't change over the the course of the book. She was always herself. My issue was really with the romance parts. I like the love interest by himself, and the two of them have some good, funny banter, but I wasn't really feeling enough of the chemistry to want them together or really care about their romance (though they would have made great friends, I think). I am not really sure what specifically could have been changed to make this different, but for a book with a love story as a major plot-point, not buying the romance really made this story feel like it dragged out a bit.
However, like I said, if you want to read about someone who waxes poetic about life in the City and about books and family, this is not a bad book to check out.

First off, Emily Henry is the reason I started reading romance novels and she has yet to disappoint. For me, a romance has to have fully fleshed out, relatable characters and a storyline that doesn't require me to suspend disbelief. Book Lovers is a testament to the fact that you can include all the typical romance tropes and still have a real story.

So cute! I loved the setup, the sympathetic protagonist, and the way everything played out. Emily Henry is a pleasure to read, and though I wouldn't consider myself a romance fan in general, her future books will always have a place on my TBR.