After the death of her estranged grandmother, book editor Emily Bryant returns home to the charming little town of Cascata in California. She is set to inherit her grandmother's estate but there are very specific stipulations to the will. Old family wounds are healed and relationships are reformed in this story of family secrets with a touch of magical realism thrown in for good measure. Fans of Amy Reichert will enjoy.

I already posted on Goodreads & everywhere else I could share but I'm adding my review here as well! Ellie Alexander is the QUEEN of cozy and this book proves it! This book is the perfect escape and offers up all the fantastic warm fuzzy feels. The setting, characters, and plot are all so incredibly charming. I think this will be my favorite comfort read for whenever I'm feeling down or need a nice buffer inbetween heavier reading. I just love it!

Book editor Emily Bryant is summoned to the charming town of Cascata on California’s Lost Coast, holding the keys to her grandmother’s rambling Victorian mansion. According to her grandmother’s will, Emily learns that she must edit old manuscripts to inherit the estate. It’s a strange request from a family member who was basically a stranger. Emily quickly realizes that there’s something different about these manuscripts. Any changes she makes come true. At first, she embraces the gift. She has a chance to help characters find true love or chart a new course for their future. But then things go terribly wrong. Her edits have the opposite effect. The sweet and funky seaside community of Cascata is reeling from the chaos Emily has created. Everything she thought she believed about her family and her past is in jeopardy, and no amount of editing can fix the damage she’s done. Then she finds one last manuscript addressed to her. If Emily can get this edit right, maybe she’ll have a chance to create a new narrative for herself and everyone around her.

I'll admit when I first saw this title, I read it as Lost Coast "Library" rather than Literary as I am drawn to books about books. However, I decided that the story looked interesting and started reading it and am so glad I did. In fact, I was up way past my bedtime to finish it as I had to find out what happened! The author reinforces the meaning of family and how we can affect the lives of others. The author's descriptions of both the location and the characters were so well done that I could see myself there. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for introducing this author to me and inspiring me to read more of her books. I highly recommend it.

I don't know what to say about this book because I loved it so much! I'm not sure that I can do it justice.

Emily Bryant is a book lover (aren't we all?) and she thought that she had finally found her dream job when she moved to NYC and was hired to be a book editor. However, things start to unravel when she gets a text from her uncle (she hasn't seen in 20 years) stating that she has to come to the family estate in California because her grandmother died. Being that Emily believes that this portion of her family abandoned her and her father when her mother died, Emily is reluctant to risk her new job and wants to settle things remotely. But the stipulations of the will won't allow that so she hops a plane believing that she should be able to take care of things and be back in NYC in a week.

However, what she finds and learns about her grandmother and her other relatives have Emily questioning her future. How is she to fulfill the requirements of the will? Why won't her uncle or her father answer her questions? What really happened when her parents took her away?

The multiple layers that were drawn throughout this book kept me going back for more. Could the "magical" ability of her grandmother really have passed to her and how does she handle it?

I was satisfied with the ending but I wanted more. I hope that the author will revive these characters and bring more stories to life with them.

I absolutely adored this book so much!! Ellie Alexander's writing is just so cozy and snuggles you in! I really felt like I was there with Emily and in Cascata, enjoying a stay at the Ballad. It feels like a Hallmark movie but without the cheesiness. I think this book will definitely appeal to all booklovers. There's something so comforting about reading a book about books and the literary world.

Protagonist Emily Bryant moved to New York to start her new career as an editor and she’s about to pitch her first book when she is informed her grandmother died and left her The Ballad, a mansion in Cascata. How rude!
She would love to just sell the thing, but no, according to her grandmother’s will, Emily must edit a pile of “Forsaken” manuscripts. Her father and extended family has been estranged since the death of her mother. She felt abandoned by them but has nagging questions she’d like answered—and her father won’t. She’ll have to go to Cascata.

Grandma Gertrude apparently had a business as an editor working out of a room in the mansion. It was Emily’s theory, fostered by her grandmother, that if she didn’t like the ending, she could rewrite it. After discovering and rewriting the ending of the first “Forsaken” manuscript, she is astounded later to watch it play out in real life.

In the meantime, the reader is introduced to the charming atmospheric little coastal town and its inhabitants. Emily’s angst juxtaposing her New York position with that of her ability in Cascata got a bit taxing, as well as her still unanswered feelings of abandonment, but these were offset by getting to know the amazing characters, including her cousin Shay, who totally understood what was happening to Emily with her rewrites.

This is a heartfelt and thoughtful novel of family, grief, redemption, friendship, and connection. I received a complimentary review copy for a book tour. Immersive and entertaining. These are my unbiased thoughts and the book heartily recommended.

Thank You, NetGalley for a copy of Lost Coast LIterary

I am not quite done with the book but so far I am enjoying it.

once I'm done ill write a full review on this book

I appreciate it

I am a huge fan of Ellie Alexander's cozy mysteries and was intrigued by this new book by her. I enjoyed the magical realism in this story.

Emily received a call from her uncle telling her she needs to get to California due to the death of her Grandmother. Emily has inherited the grand house her Grandmother owned but there are stipulations.
She wonders why she has been called back to her family town?

A fun yet deep, sentimental, and heartwarming story. This is not quite what I expected. I didn't really know what this book was about when I picked it up and then as I read it, I figured out the gist of it pretty quick but there was a bit of a twist in the story I wasn't expecting. I thought this twist was great and it's a big part of what makes the book, which I'm not sure how much to say because I don't want to spoil anything either.
This is about Emily Bryant, who is a book editor, and how she ends up in a charming town called Cascata on California's Lost Coast to fulfill her grandmother's wishes to inherit her estate now that her grandmother has died. She finds that what she is required to do to inherit the estate is to edit some old manuscripts. As she starts to examine and check out these manuscripts, she discovers that there's something strange and different about them.
What she discovers is what I consider the twist that makes the whole story and makes it all so unique and interesting so you'll likely know what it is if you read the complete summary, but I don't want to say it here because I went into reading this blind and loved discovering the twist without knowing anything beforehand. This is about family, relationships, finding yourself, realizing, and following your dreams. It's reminiscent of a Hallmark movie-type plot with only a little romance, emotional and full of heart.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Sweet Lemon Press LLC for letting me read and review this lovely, charming, and heartfelt story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love just about everything that Ellie Alexander has written so I jumped at the chance to read what I thought was the start of a new series. Sadly, this seems to be a standalone. This was such a well written story. It drew me in from the very beginning and I only put it down once before I finished it. Emily was such a wonderful character and her newly found family, and the town on the whole, was so fascinating. So was the premise of the story with the stories she had to edit. I wish so much there would be more of these. I want to know what happens next!

What would you do if you had the ability to edit someone's story? Emily learns she has this ability, but it isn't what it seems.

Lost Coast Literary is a sweet story about reconnecting with family and finding yourself. I love that books play a central role in this story and how the author brings all that to life within it's own pages.

I can't wait to add this one to my shelves.

Thank you NetGalley and Ellie Alexander for the opportunity to read this book.

I have read and enjoyed, Ellie Alexander's cozy mysteries over the years, and was pleasantly surprised to read this story. This is a story of family, grief, loss, secrets, reconciliation and new beginnings.

Emily Bryant has moved to New York City from California after landing her dream job as an editor at a publishing house. She is about to pitch her first book when she receives a text message from her uncle that her paternal grandmother has passed away. She is also told that she has inherited her grandmother's old Victorian house on the Lost Coast of California but she needs to go to Cascata, CA, to discuss the details of her inheritance. Emily and her father have been estranged from his family since the death of her mother at the age of 13, and she is not sure she wants to go. Why did none of them have any contact with her for the last 16 years. She also does not know what caused the rift between her father and his family and neither her father or uncle will share the secret. When Emily arrives at her grandmother's house, she learns that her grandmother was a book editor and ran the Lost Coast Literary was housed in her home, known as The Ballad. One of the stipulations to the will is for her to edit the Forsaken Manuscripts left in an old chest. Emily wants to sell the house, so sets about editing them. What happens when she edits the first one, makes her think she is going crazy. When she rewrites a scene, the next day, it plays out in real time. Emily and her cousin Shay, begin working on various manuscripts and realize a little nudge can change the direction of someone's life. Can Emily change her own life as well?

I enjoyed this beautiful story with its touch of magical realism. It was full of interesting characters that were real and relatable. I felt for Emily and all that she had been through in her life. She was an extremely shy and quiet woman, who blossoms while in Cascata. The writing was descriptive and the setting and home became characters in the story. The town and all the characters that lived there were people that I would be happy to meet and talk to. One of the things I loved about this book were all the references to books, authors, bookish memorabilia, publishing and editing. There are a few titles mentioned that I will definitely be checking out. If you enjoy stories about families, reconciliation, healing, following your dreams, difficult decisions and secrets, then this book will tick all your boxes. I definitely recommend this book from Ellie Alexander.

Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander is not a part of her famous cozy mystery series, but is a single event. It is kind of a mystery, of a story about family, and mostly an exploration of self. Emily Bryant is in New York City working in a very low-level publishing position after several years of being a technical write in Silicon Valley, bowing to her father's wish that she have stability. She loves it; She is about to present her first pitch for a book that she really loves, when she receives a phone text from her uncle. She has been dodging him for a couple of days now. In this one he reveals that her grandmother has died and she has been left something, but she must travel to Lost Coast to find out how and what. Her boss was understanding, so off she went intending to spent a couple of days. She was left her grandmother's house, a gorgeous Victorian but to take legal possession she must edit the "forsaken" manuscripts to be found in her grandmother's office. Turns out the woman had been an editor and ran her business out of her home. As Emily reads and edits the first one, strange things start happening. Magical things.

Emily found her family, at first, her aunt and uncle and cousins, but as time wore on she got to know her grandmother, and then maybe, her mother, long dead, and then finally her father. It was a massive miscommunication that caused an estrangement, which had lingered far too long. In the beginning she is determined to return to her fledgling life in New York by as time moves on she wonders if she is meant to be in Lost Coast. She discovers friendships, something sadly lacking in her life. It was a wonderful story, full of emotions that many of us feel in our loves, if not in this order. Family is, indeed, everything. This is the theme and the lesson Emily learns as she navigates this painful situation. What a great lesson!

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Lost Coast Literary by Sweet Lemon Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #sweetlemonpress #elliealexander #lostcoastliterary

This was a sweet and at times very poignant read. We follow Emily, who is trying to make it in publishing in New York - in fact, it's funny how much it focuses on that aspect while we barely get a taste of that. She quickly gets contacted by relatives she doesn't speak to regarding her grandmother's inheritance and so she heads off to California to go deal with that.

Among other things, her grandmother left her her literary agency (what a coincidence....) and some manuscripts to deal with. I found that here the editing process was confused with the writing process as she basically rewrites sections of the manuscripts. The magical element comes in at this point as what she writes comes true. I thought it was a fun concept, although at times it felt portrayed as much deeper than it really was. It's like the novel was trying to be philosophical at times, without quite being able to manage it.

The whole world was very soft, very chick lit - in terms of everyone just being friendly and welcoming and recognising her. Same with the way she deals with racism - it was a broad brush. I really liked that the main character didn't have a love interest in most of the novel, but then it's kind of shoehorned a bit at the end. It was unnecessary really.

I liked the balance between the friendly encounters and the grief Emily is dealing with regarding her mother's and grandmother's deaths. I did think the disdain of the cousin was a bit much, especially knowing that she left when she was a child, meaning the distance wasn't her fault.

Generally, it was a lovely read.

When I first saw the description for this book, I was really excited to read it. I mean, magical manuscripts? That sounds awesome! Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.

When I first started this book, I did like it, and there were definitely things I liked throughout it. I liked the set up for the story of Emily finding out about her grandmother’s death and then having to go back home, where she discovers this magical power to change manuscripts. I also really liked Emily as a character, and I felt like I could really relate to her and her story.

However, there was some things I didn’t really like as the story went further on. First of all, the book presented itself as this magical mystery about Emily’s grandmother and family, and where the magic came from. I guess I just wish the magic and mystery had been a bit more present in the story, instead of focusing almost solely on Emily’s relationship with her family.

Speaking of her family, since the book focused so much on it, I really wanted it to spend a lot of time fully developing those relationships and taking the time to let them grow and change throughout the story. While I feel like that was done in some aspects, I kinda wished the relationship between Emily and her Dad had been drawn out a bit longer. It seemed to be setting up their relationship as a main focal point for tension in the story, but I feel like it was resolved too quickly. I just wanted more time spent on it to really flesh it out and make it a much deeper and meaningful relationship and reconciliation between the two.

Overall, I liked the book, but I just don’t think it really hit the mark for me in a lot of places

In a whirl of fun bookish references and cozy town vibes, Lost Coast Literary follows Emily, an Editor in NYC working her way up the ranks. When Emily gets news that her estranged grandmother has passed and left her a mansion, she has to fly to the coastal town of Cascata to sort things out among the rest of her estranged family members. And there's something more-- something magical is happening that's holding Emily at the center of a tightrope in her life, and she doesn't know which way to fall.

I adored this book. It was cozy. I wanted to go to the town and meet the people. And the touch of magic made it feel charming and whimsical. I find it difficult to find books along this vein that don't get bogged down in central romance storylines, so Lost Coast Literary was a breath of fresh air. Emily got to experience her story for herself, and I loved every minute of the ride. Of course, as a giant book nerd, I also loved the excuse to read as many book references as possible.

I highly recommend this book for a day at the beach, a stormy night in a cabin, or just for snuggling into a blanket with a nice cup of cocoa (don't forget the butter).

A digital arc was provided by Netgalley, but all thoughts are my own.

I was given a free e-copy of this novel by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book editor Emily Bryant finds herself unexpectedly in the charming town of Cascata on California’s Lost Coast, holding the keys to her grandmother’s rambling Victorian mansion. While sorting through her grandmother’s things, Emily learns that she must edit old manuscripts to inherit the estate. It’s a strange request from a family member who was basically a stranger.

Emily quickly realizes that there’s something different about these manuscripts. Any changes she makes come true. At first, she embraces the gift. She has a chance to help characters find true love or chart a new course for their future. But then things go terribly wrong. Her edits have the opposite effect. The sweet and funky seaside community of Cascata is reeling from the chaos Emily has created. Everything she thought she believed about her family and her past is in jeopardy, and no amount of editing can fix the damage she’s done.

Then she finds one last manuscript. If Emily can get this edit right, maybe she’ll have a chance to create a new narrative for herself and everyone around her. (Goodreads synopsis)

I have read Ellie Alexander novels before, and I normally love them. However, this novel was just okay compared to those others.

It’s definitely a novel that most book lover’s dream about. The ability to edit novels and see those edits in real life. I also love the house and how its history assists Emily with her decisions. It is Emily and the family that made reading this novel so hard.

I couldn’t stand how Emily didn’t demand answers from her father and uncle. I’m angry that her aunt waited until late in the novel to give her side of the story. I’m angry that Emily didn’t ever reach out herself to her grandmother, especially once she reached adulthood, to ask what had happened. Ultimately, I am not a fan of the timid, wishy-washy, not sure of what she wants attitude that Emily has throughout the novel.

Overall I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars.

Emily Bryant is in New York starting her dream career when she is notified that her grandmother has died. She has to go back to help settle the estate and part of that is to edit a set of manuscripts.

I really loved this book. I can relate to Emily’s relationship to books. Going along with her on her journey to reconnect with her family and discover her lost past was a wonderful experience. It was interesting what she learned about editing after making some mistakes after being a little heavy handed in her early edits. I couldn’t put this down. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time.

I would love another book to see how Emily’s plans for The Ballad and her personal life play out.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I am sorry, I DNF it :(. The plot goes slow, too much setting and not well-executed (in my opinion).

I think this is not my cup of tea. But thank you NetGalley for the arc :D.